Pacific Bike Carriers

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gorilla monsoon
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Pacific Bike Carriers

Postby gorilla monsoon » Wed Jul 25, 2018 2:23 pm

A change of car means fitting a tow ball carrier and putting the bike on the outside rather than the inside.
I was looking at the Thule carriers but came across the Pacific brand carriers which are a little cheaper and while the price isn't a big issue I figure a few dollars back in my pocket can never be a bad thing.
So the question I need answered is: Is the Pacific platform carrier cheaper for a reason?
If anyone has any experience - good or bad - with this brand of carrier I'd like to know before I commit the dollars.
Not my circus, not my monkeys

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RonK
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Re: Pacific Bike Carriers

Postby RonK » Wed Jul 25, 2018 2:30 pm

I've been looking at these too. My new e-mtb doesn't fit on my trusty old Thule rack very well.

Feedback from any current owners would be greatly appreciated.
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RobertL
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Re: Pacific Bike Carriers

Postby RobertL » Thu Jul 26, 2018 11:20 am

I have a Pacific Square Hitch 4 bike rack. It cost me $209 from Velogear.

It doesn't get a lot of use, but it seems sturdy and well made. I'm sure that the Thule is extremely well made (I have some of their other products) but the Pacific rack meets all of my needs.

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find_bruce
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Re: Pacific Bike Carriers

Postby find_bruce » Thu Jul 26, 2018 12:16 pm

gorilla monsoon wrote:A change of car means fitting a tow ball carrier and putting the bike on the outside rather than the inside.
I was looking at the Thule carriers but came across the Pacific brand carriers which are a little cheaper and while the price isn't a big issue I figure a few dollars back in my pocket can never be a bad thing.
So the question I need answered is: Is the Pacific platform carrier cheaper for a reason?
If anyone has any experience - good or bad - with this brand of carrier I'd like to know before I commit the dollars.
I have a towball carrier that I am looking to offload. Free to pick up for an outstanding chap like yourself

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gorilla monsoon
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Re: Pacific Bike Carriers

Postby gorilla monsoon » Thu Jul 26, 2018 5:26 pm

Aww, thanks Bruce but this afternoon I gave my credit card to the nice man at the bike shop and he gave me a Pacific bike carrier. Thanks for thinking of me though.
Not my circus, not my monkeys

redned
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Re: Pacific Bike Carriers

Postby redned » Thu Jul 26, 2018 6:11 pm

A bit late to the discussion!
I have a Pacific brand 4 bike rack although mostly only use it for 2 bikes.
I think it is pretty good
I found on rough roads that the mounting bracket rotated a little on the tow bar tongue and the bike rubbed against the car. I now have a short tie so it can't rotate.
For my mountain bikes I found the conversion bar to be handy, especially for my wife's bike which has a slightly low-slung cross bar.
Don't tow a trailer with the mounting bracket fitted. I managed to bend the bracket, even though it is about 1cm thick.

Neddysmith
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Re: Pacific Bike Carriers

Postby Neddysmith » Fri Jul 27, 2018 10:08 am

I have a pacific 2 bike carrier and the limited use i have used it for seems to be OK, wiring was a little dodgey so had to be rewired and the light rack part seems pretty cheap plastic but thats just small part and now rewired all works fine, seems sturdy enough for the trips i have done, but does bounce around alittle and i havent doing dirt roads and i dont think id be confident 4x4ing.

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RonK
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Re: Pacific Bike Carriers

Postby RonK » Fri Jul 27, 2018 10:25 am

gorilla monsoon wrote:Aww, thanks Bruce but this afternoon I gave my credit card to the nice man at the bike shop and he gave me a Pacific bike carrier. Thanks for thinking of me though.
Your fame has spread far and wide. I'm impressed that you have a bike named after you. A very nice bike too :lol:

Gorilla Monsoon

Please report your impressions about the rack, I'm close to buying one too.
Cycle touring blog and tour journals: whispering wheels...

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gorilla monsoon
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Re: Pacific Bike Carriers

Postby gorilla monsoon » Sun Jul 29, 2018 2:15 pm

But don't forget, I borrowed that name from one of the old WWF (now WWE) greats.
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gorilla monsoon
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Re: Pacific Bike Carriers

Postby gorilla monsoon » Fri Aug 10, 2018 11:59 am

Well, the story so far is that I collected the rack and started assembling it. Observations are that the unit itself is quite sturdy and that's a plus. The assembly instructions, on the other hand, are mostly illustrations so you need to be interpretive to work-out how it fits together.
For example, three types/sizes of bolts and nuts and no real indication of which one goes where; four unexplained screws; a wiring harness that is not mentioned anywhere in the instruction sheet; two big plastic bits that are also not mentioned in the instructions - like I said, interpretation needed and much head-scratching time taken.
The really annoying bit is the putting-together some of it only to realise three steps later it has to all be taken apart to fit something else not previously mentioned.
Still trying to work-out how the lightboard attaches to the rack and how many cable ties (not included in the pack) will be needed to attach the wiring harness.

* As an aside, it was nice to note that the retailer, Gateshead Cycles at Warners Bay, was happy to come close to matching the online price when I mentioned it.
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RonK
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Re: Pacific Bike Carriers

Postby RonK » Fri Aug 10, 2018 1:18 pm

After reading a comment from an owner that he had somehow bent one of the arms, I realised that this carrier probably wasn't up to the job of carrying my new e-mtb.

I ended up getting a (significantly more expensive) Buzzrack Scorpion, rated for e-bikes, which I ordered from St Kilda Cycles eBay store. It was priced significantly cheaper than all the competitors, was shipped for free, and eBay generously gave me an additional 5% discount.

It arrived on Monday, and I spent about a half an hour after work perusing the instruction diagrams, assembly (4 bolts), trialling the towball mounting and testing the lights (which all worked). First use tomorrow.

Oh - and I had to drill two extra holes in the light board to attach the small Queensland accessory number plate.
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