RockyMounts BrassKnuckles Upright Bike Carrier: Rider Review

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Not all of us have a truck or van to get yourself and your bike to the trail. There are many choices out there when it comes to bike carriers for your car. One of our valued customers shares his thoughts on the RockyMounts BrassKnuckles Upright Bike Carrier. Check it out!

Overview

2020 has been a wild ride, but I was not wanting to be beaten down too much by this year, so I decided to buy my first NEW bike to lift my spirits. After purchasing it though I realized I needed a way to safely and effectively transport it. Having a smaller car comes with its challenges in terms of transporting bikes, especially ones with big plus size wheels as I soon realized. The bike I purchased and needed to transport was a Specialized Fuse Comp 29 with 2.6" tires, which is a phenomenal bike btw.

My car is a 2016 Hyundai Elantra GT and has a fairly small roof and after trying to fit my Kuat Trio fork mounted carrier on it, I realized it was too long and hit my hatch when opened. This meant I needed to explore other options to get my bike from point A to point B without too much hassle. I began looking for roof-mounted bike racks because I don't have a hitch and my car sits low so a hitch mount was out of the question. Also, after mounting the bike on the Kuat I quickly realized that a fork-mounted bike carrier is not ideal for through axles.

I was then able to then quickly narrow down my search to just upright bike carriers and after doing a fair amount of research I came across the RockyMounts BrassKnuckles Upright Bike Carrier. RockyMounts makes a less expensive version of this style carrier called the Tomahawk, but I am very glad I spent the extra money to get the BrassKnuckles.

The BrassKnuckles has a very clever design that is much more low profile and streamlined than that of the lower-priced Tomahawk. Anyone who has a roof rack on their car knows the lower profile the accessories the better. One of my favorite functions of the BrassKnuckles roof rack bike carrier is the simple fact that the front wheel chock folds away into the rack and that the front end has a more aerodynamic shape to help minimize wind noise. The arm also folds down flat in front of the carrier to make it virtually flat, unlike the Tomahawk.

Putting the bike carrier onto the rack was also nice and simple, so thank you RockyMounts. There are only a few pieces that, with the included tool either snap or bolt together. The entire thing can be assembled and on the car in 20-30 minutes depending on how fast you work.

A few things to note however, this mount is on the heavier side, which can be positive or a negative. Personally, I view it as a positive because I know nothing short of a hurricane is going to damage it. Additionally, the arm can be switched so that the mount can be utilized on the driver or passenger side, another big plus. Finally, my bike has a big 2.6” 29er tires, I would say that this is the biggest size wheel that can be run without purchasing the fat bike adapter kit. The arm is definitely maxed out when swinging up over the tire but locks down firmly and securely with zero issues thus far.

Final Thoughts

All in all, this is a great rack for the money and I would highly recommend it.