PENDLE ERGORACK
£199.99 SPECIFICATION Weight: 3.9kg • Max wheelbase: 1,350mm • Max bike weight: 23kg • Contact: pbr.co.uk
In a market dominated by Thule, it’s great to see a small UK brand like Pendle Bike Racks offering something different to suit the needs of the mountain bike-carrying public. I’ve been impressed with its previous products’ sturdy construction and secure mounting, but the new Ergorack takes build quality to the next level.
The rack is little more than a simple bent steel tube with a T-mount welded on one end and a wheel tray bolted to the other. This carrier bolts into two receivers that you install onto your roof bars – they’re compatible with most extruded T-track bars.
Pendle has designed the carrier to be easily removable, so you actually mount the bike on the ground, then lift it into position. To begin with, fit the machined, orange anodised front mount into the T-track using the wide steel plate. Do the same with the rear mount.
Once you’ve assembled the carrier and threaded the correct adaptors into the fork mount (Pendle offers 15mm Boost, 15mm non-boost, 20mm thru-axle and QR options), you simply secure the fork to the mount with your axle and lash the rear wheel to the tray with the supplied strap. We found the best way to do this was with the bike upside down (which also makes removing the front wheel easier). Then offer the carrier up to the fork mount holder – this keeps the bike stable enough to install the hefty M10 bolt and the two thumbwheels at the back to tie the whole thing to the roof. It’s slightly harder to lift the bike and carrier off the roof together, but standing on the door sill reduced the strain. Even so, it’s still requires quite an effort, and there are a couple of loose washers under the rear thumbwheels that can easily go AWOL. We’d prefer to see these integrated into the nuts.
Once fitted, the Ergorack is exceptionally stable. Even with an e-bike mounted (I removed the battery) it’s rock-solid. Credit must also go to the wide T-track plates – they’re much wider than the ones Thule uses, so they really help spread the load across the roof bars.
Another bonus with the Ergorack is the length of the carrier. It’s rated for bikes with up to 1,350mm wheelbases, which should cover all but the largest Geometrons, and I’ve had e-bikes with wheelbases approaching 1,280mm on there with plenty of room to spare. And the load capacity is a generous 23kg, whereas most Thule racks top out at 20kg.
And if you’re worried about having to put a dirty front wheel in the car, fear not. Leave the pedals on, and you can wedge the wheel between the pedal and the handlebars, secured with a couple of toe straps.
At £200, the Ergorack is a similar price to Thule’s offerings, but it feels much burlier and better built. It’s simple, stable and well thought out. My only minor criticism is that the wheel tray bends slightly when you add tension to the wheel strap. But this doesn’t really affect the performance in any way. And the fact that it doesn’t look like a bike rack, and it’s super easy to remove, means you’re not advertising the fact that you might have expensive bikes in the house when you’re parked outside.