1UP vs QuikrStuff – And a few QuikrStuff hacks

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I purchased a 1UP 2″ 2x Super Duty rack in May 2022 to use on our Subaru Crosstrek to carry our Tern GSD ebike, road bikes, and kids bikes. It worked ok, but I never loved it. It was hard to adjust between the 4 bike sizes, awkward to install to the car hitch, hard to lock, and hard to pull the release to lower.

I learned about the QuikrStuff Mach2 and saw that it fixed most of my complaints. I purchased the base rack, waited a few months, and got it in October 2023. It mostly solves my issues! I then purchased an addon tray, 4x locks, license plate holder, and ramp. Thankfully it all shipped within a few days – no waiting for return customers!

Thankfully I was able to sell my 1UP on Craigslist for nearly what I paid a few days later. Here are some quick comparison notes.

Price for 2x 1UP 2″ 2x Super Duty Rack: $1165

  • Super duty 2” $460
  • Addon tray $295
  • Ramp long $159
  • 4x locks $24 each, $96
  • License plate $56
  • EZ Pull $99

Price for QuikrStuff $1762

  • Mach2 2” $699
  • Addon tray $499
  • Ramp $249
  • 4x locks $59 each, $236
  • License plate bracket $79

Lead time

  • QuikrStuff: 2-3 months for the base rack purchase. But anything after that (addon trays, accessories) ships within a few days.
  • 1Up: In stock, ships same week.
  • If you can plan ahead, the QuikrStuff wait isn’t that bad

Weight limit – single bike

  • 1UP Super Duty 75lbs
  • Mach2 120 lbs
  • Both work fine for my heavy Tern GSD ebike (Photo)

Addon tray install / storage

  • QuickrStuff Mach2: no tools, comes with a lock and matching key. Takes 20 seconds to add/remove. No bolts! But see complaint below. You can add trays in the future and they’ll match the keys by default. Very easy to fold and store
  • 1UP: I only had the two bike model, so I can’t compare addons. But I much prefer having one tray always live on the hitch, and to add the second one if/when needed. Much easier to lift and store the one tray than the heavy combined unit.

Lock matching

Single finger pull adjustment “easy access pivot trigger”

  • I spent 100 on the 1UP EZ Pull accessory and it still didn’t work well – it required an awkward crouch and tons of jiggling. Always was a hassle.
  • The Mach2 is so easy by comparison – a single finger latch. Automatically extends with addon trays as well so you never have to reach under the car.

Tray adjustment, tool free

  • I no longer have to carry around a 1/2” wrench with me
  • Easy to change between ebike, road bike, kids 20” bike

Ramp

Improved hitch / hitch lock

Now, onto the QuikrStuff complaints and my “hacks” / improvements

  1. Ramp doesn’t come with end covers (Photo). You can buy 2 of them from QuickrStuff for $15 each. Seems a little cheap on a $250 rack purchase.
  2. Ramp doesn’t come drilled to support the license plate bracket accessory. From support “The ramp doesn’t really obstruct the license plate from the view of traffic coming up behind you. If you are standing directly behind the rack it does, but from 15 feet away at car height it is visible“. So I purchased a set of SAE Drill & Tap Bits from Amazon, made a hole, and bolted on the bracket holder accessory. You can buy extras of that from QuikrStuff for $15.
  3. The no-tool arm tighteners usually don’t align right when you tighten them down. You have a 25% chance of doing it right on the first try – it’s annoying! The support reply suggested marking the bolt head in nail polish – not a great solution. Usually you try to tighten it randomly, fail, and then turn it 90 degrees to try again. I’m not really sure you save much time here over the 1UP bolts and 1/2” wrench.
  4. Related to the above issue, sometimes the long gold arm tighteners hit the bike frame and can’t actually be tightened down – there’s just not enough clearance (Photo). This happens often with my Tern GSD cargo bike. My “no-tool” solution so far is to use 5/16-18-Inch Stainless Steel Wing Nuts instead of the gold arm. (Amazon)

Overall, I still love it! These minor issues are still better than what I had with the 1UP rack.


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6 responses to “1UP vs QuikrStuff – And a few QuikrStuff hacks”

  1. Minkyu Cho Avatar
    Minkyu Cho

    Thanks for the review. I have a super duty rack as well as 2nd gen Tern GSD. I have not had a chance to mount Tern to my super duty rack yet due to the concern that, unlike the front wheel, the rear wheel is not engaged to the rack due to the frame blocking. I wonder if you ran into any issue carrying GSD while driving at high speed?

    1. maxelman Avatar
      maxelman

      I can get the rear wheel engaged at a small particular angle. No issues so far at freeway speeds.

      1. Minkyu Cho Avatar
        Minkyu Cho

        Thanks for the response! I will try today. Quickr rack says the engaging point is above the wheel axles, it should be okay.

  2. Douglas Files Avatar
    Douglas Files

    Where do you come up with the QuikrStuff parts links? When I try to find parts on their website none exist. like the end cap for the ramp.

    1. maxelman Avatar
      maxelman

      I emailed them and asked

  3. Melissa H Avatar
    Melissa H

    Hi and thank you for this review and comparison. I’m a smaller woman and interested in a rack for my Mazda CX9 with 2″ hitch. I have a carbon full suspension mountain bike and also a carbon road bike – so wanted a good solution with no frame touch. I occasionally would like to add a second mountain bike when riding with my daughter. I’ve spent just as much time searching for a rack than I did my last mountain bike 😉 and have come to terms that any good solution will be significant chunk of change unfortunately. I’m looking at Kuat Piston, 1Up, and Quickr. I really am not that comfortable with having to modify the rack on my own, or even tightening bolts to the point I would feel they’d be secure enough. Because of this, I was tempted to spend the extra money for the Quickr Mach2 with single rack and one add-on. I’d keep the single rack on most of the time but it sounds light enough for me to remove without issue. Any advice you could give would be extremely appreciated!

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