Kickstarter: Upside Racks is a new roof rack that fits any bike to any car with roof bars

Are you looking to purchase a car roof rack to transport your bicycles to events, holidays or new ride locations? Just launched on Kickstarter is the novel Upside Racks which promises to be able to mount any bicycle to regular roof bars in just seconds, and because it’s small and portable, it can easily be removed from your car when you’re not transporting a bicycle. 

"The ease of installation and removal takes this bike rack to another level,” says company founder Sean Stoney. “If you have more than one car, you no longer need multiple racks installed. Meeting a friend, just transfer your bike and rack to their car in seconds, all while protecting your carbon.”

Review: Thule ProRide 598

The Upside Rack first attaches to your bicycle, clamping at the handlebars and saddle, and then the bike is flipped upside down and the rack is secured onto the horizontal roof bars already installed on your car. The company says it is compatible with any bike regardless of the shape of the frame or size of the tyres, and is compatible with road bikes, mountain bikes, fat bikes, city bikes and kids bikes, with no need for any special adapters. 

Because it’s not fixed permanently to the car like a Thule or similar bike rack it’s not going to impact your fuel economy quite as much when you’re not transporting a bicycle. When it’s not in use, the Upside Rack is light and compact as it can be folded away. It can also be switched between different cars easily, provided they have the requisite horizontal roof bars.

The company is looking for AU$25,000 of funding to put the Upside Rack into production, and at the time of writing it’s halfway there. It’ll currently cost you AU$165 to pledge your support for an Early Bird discount with delivery estimated for April 2017. Check it out at www.kickstarter.com/projects/upsideracks/upside-racks-want-to-ride-more-...

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