V2 Bike Hitch Rack and Pixie-V Accessory Stand
Let's Go Aero is at it again with another product designed to make hauling your gear much easier. Last time we reviewed their Gear Wagon AT and figured this time we would look at a different style product from this Colorado company. So on their recomendation we got a hold of the V2 hitch mounted bike rack and their Pixie-V storage stand to see what it was all about.
V2 Features-
- Independently adjustable wheel cradles carry adult and children’s bikes of any frame style in a level manner
- Natural stability is enhanced with foam bumpers and toggle ball tensioning system to eliminate any bike motion while protecting bicycle finishes
- Easily removable Wings (support arms) allow full rear vehicle access and compact storage
- Ultra-lightweight at 12.5 lbs and a modular system that is versatile, efficient, and convenient to use
- Engineered base with 4 inch rise for great ground clearance on low clearance vehicles
- Universal fit for both 1.25” and 2” hitches with an interchangeable shank adaptor and No Motion™ lockable pin for worry-free performance
- MSRP: $169.95
Pixie-V Features-
- VeeMe™ bicycle carrier Wings (support arms) not included
- Symmetrical design is inherently center balanced and tip free
- Lightweight at 4 lbs and small, 27” x 12” footprint
- Quick No-Tool assembly in minutes, easy to take on the road
- Matte black powder coat paint finish on steel construction
- MSRP: $59.95
The V2 is a great light weight system to haul 2 bicycles of ANY frame design safely on a hitch mounted rack. This system is designed to not only be fully adjustable but also compact so you can mount virtually any frame size ranging from a child's bike to an adults and they both fit just as easily by simply adjusting the mounting brackets along the removable vertical rails.
The rack holds two bikes out far enough to allow even the widest of bars to still clear the rear doors/hatch of your vehicle. The V2 also features a built in 4" rise to allow even low clearance vehicles to avid scraping the rack or trashing the bikes on uneven terrain. And have no fear the V2 is designed to be used with either 1.25" or 2" mounts so virtually any vehicle with a hitch can easily use this system.
The uprights of the V2 are easily removable to gain access to your vehicle should you need it and this allows you to stow the uprights when not in use, but keep the base in place for ease up set up in the future. I was able to haul a number of different bikes in the V2 with out issue and with the included foam bumpers that you can position on the uprights there was no damage to my frame or fork. You use the included toggle bungees to secure the bike to the rack and it hangs effortlessly and securely. I was a bit nervous about carrying the bikes supported by the wheels but I have since discovered that the force exerted on the rim is so negligible that it would not cause any more stress than when I am riding it. One bummer is that there is no integrated lock mechanism…so be sure to pack your cable lock if you plan on leaving your bikes unattended for a while.
The removable vertical up rights are not just a way to keep things compact, they also serve double duty by working directly with LGA's Pixie-V bike stand. Simply remove the pins and uprights from your V2 and slide them into the Pixie-V and you have a great compact system to store your bikes indoors.
The Pixie-V is a simple base that allows you to slide the vertical uprights from the V2 into this base and stand your bikes together off of walls and furniture and almost in the same footprint as one bike would take up. The system relies on you standing the bike up on one side as you would should you use this on your vehicle and then hang the other bike in the opposite direction on the opposite side, by hanging the bikes in opposite directions you can fit them very close to each other with out them rubbing against on another.
With both of the systems be sure and take a few moments to figure out the best manner to hang your bikes off of the system. This means moving the hangers up and down along the verticals until you find the sweet spot. At first I was a bit put off by having to think a bit about how to get the bikes to hang nicely together, then after I got it set and realized I could literally fit any bike I own on the same system it really did make me quite pleased with the well thought out design.
The final thought on this is that you can have both a 2 bike hitch rack that can work with any vehicle and a bike stand for storage in your house or garage for just over $200, which we think is a pretty phenomenal deal!
