FREEDOM COAST HOVR RACK & FORK MOUNT REVIEW

Words by Drew Rohde  |  Photos by Brian Niles

Freedom Coast’s HOVR and Adjustable Fork Mount Racks are some beautifully crafted bike racks for your van or truck. We’ve been hauling bikes around in the back of three different vans over the last 14 years and we’ve tried everything from DIY wood bike racks, to modified wheel chocks and our own customized Rocky Mounts racks ghetto fab’d to L-Track. With the purchase of our first “fancy van,” we decided it was time to go all out. Enter these fully machined, Made in USA L-Track mounted bike racks. While we opted to run them inside our van, they can be run in the bed of a truck or anywhere else you’d like to mount L-Track. Speaking of, Freedom Coast also makes some very fine L-Track, which we also used in our van. So, let’s dive in and learn about these two options and what we love about them.

WE DIG

WE DON’T

ABOUT THE FREEDOM COAST BIKE RACKS

The HOVR rack is claimed to be 30% stiffer than the previous version. We didn’t have one so we can’t verify, but this unit is quite stiff and sturdy, even for our heavy eMTBs and DH bikes. The system works with tires up to 3” wide and fits tires from 20” up to 29”, though we did mount my daughter’s 12” bike in there for fun. It worked.

In our Ford Transit 148 Mid we can run four of these racks, with bars turned or offset on different rows of L-track. If you don’t need to stack them so tight, you can easily fit two or three bikes without much finagling.

The Adjustable Fork Mount is a premium fork mount rack and will accommodate all common axle sizes. It’s also available in Toyota Rail, Bolt Down, Rivian CrossBar or L-Track configurations. We absolutely love this unit for trips where we need to move a ton of bikes! We can put bikes so close together they’ve actually overlapping thanks to the ability to offset the axle 180 degrees.

The Wolf’s Last Word

There’s no denying you’re paying a premium for the Freedom Coast HOVR rack, and the Adjustable Fork Mount Rack is a bit higher than some competitors. For those who want the finer things, you’ll be happy to know that you’re not just paying extra for a Made in the USA sticker. There is no denying that Freedom Coast’s in-house machine shop are doing some impressive work with their USA sourced materials and delivering a product that will look right at home inside the most dialed van builds or pickup trucks at the trailhead.

The HOVR rack holds our bikes better than any of the other in-van systems we’ve used in the past, is quick and easy to remove or install in L-Track and we like the versatility and quickness of adjustability. While we don’t typically transport bikes with the wheel off, the fact we have several Adjustable Fork Mounts has quite literally saved our butts when there’s no more room, but three more bikes to go! If you want a space saving way to move bikes securely, we highly recommend these products. 

For more info visit, Freedomcoast.net