The New RockyMounts Pitch Fork | White Sex (or other colors!) For Your Car
All great industries have well known rivalries. Mac vs PC, Coke vs Pepsi, SRAM vs Shimano....and so on. In the car rack industry, it's traditionally been a Thule and Yakima show. Unless you're in Colorado! And if you're here in CO, cars are awash in COLOR....brought to you by RockyMounts!
Folks invest so much in their bikes, Bobby Noyes, founder and owner of RockyMounts and his crew here in Boulder, allow you to PRO-ify your fossil-fuel burning ride with their array of colored racks, many with insane prints, all to show off your own style. And as Bobby says in his company's motto: "The racks (and thus your car) are for use only if you positively cant ride there." I did a '5 questions with..." episode with Bobby to learn more about this business of his, how it started and where it's going. Have a read of that to understand the company's history, but what needs to be understood is the core cycling focused approach RockyMounts has to its product design and to its own culture. It's about cycling and the lifestyle we all love and lead.
So recently Bobby, after months of engineering work, launched his latest incarnation of a modern roof-mounted bicycle transporter: The Pitch Fork! But with the release of the Pitch Fork, I think Bobby has a game changing product on his hands to turn the screws on the behemoth car rack manufactures and their benign, uninspiring, stove top black approach to market domination. I swung by the shop and Bobby walked me through the product and I was floored. I grabbed two new ones and immediately started to put them on my roof racks. I observed the following...
- Mine were of course white sex powder coated aluminum,but there are plenty of colors to choose from!
- The new trays are built from stout aluminum and combined with the new fork mount torque lever, bike sway was non-existent...and trust me I rallied my grocery getter to see what was going on on hard side to side turns.
- The trays work seamlessly with either Thule® and Yakima® crossbars so there is not this massive re-investment. Just install 'em on the system you have attached to your car now!
- The racks came complete with all hardware for quick and easy installation. It took me less than 5 minutes per rack to get 'em on nice and securely.
- The Pitch Fork includes the new stainless steel, long-throw, lockable quick release is the easiest to use in the rack industry. One sided smooth, positive adjustment, large knob is easy to turn, 12mm of closure (our closest competitor only has 7mm!). There is not a single easier to use mechanism that provides that much torque and security. My wife LOVES this because it's super easy for her to get the bikes on and off securely as she doesn't have the same hands strength I do.
- The new Pitch Fork now has a Nylon ratchet strap is adjustable and easily secures the skinniest road tire, and up to a 2.7” mountain bike tire
- MSRP $89.95
I was able to snap a couple of photos of the Pitch Fork and I'll walk you through some of the rad details....
Note the profile...incredibly low! LOTS Of reduced noise and super PRO looking.
This is the new torquing mechanism for the fork mount. Have a look at how it works! Also note the disc brake cut-out, now standard on the tray.
This is a shot demonstrating how my 29'er 2.1" tires fit. The tray is designed to accommodate from a road tire up to a 2.7! A rad feature here is that the straps slide from the SIDE of the tray, not the bottom, which means super small bikes (kids bikes) can be easily accommodated for without having to take the rack apart to slide the strap past the load bar.
Old and New: The Lariat (right) as compared to the Pitch Fork (left).
So who do YOU support? Big Co's stovetop black uninspiring racks, or RockyMount's innovative new product emanating from a company that BLEEDS cycling through and through? I know you know the right choice here...
You can Buy Online, call them or visit "Rocky Mounts world wide HQ" in the flesh to purchase the racks and other carrier supplies.
Reader Comments (6)
I think my photo shoot was better
Hey MT! Were you the one who shot the product for VeloNews above? It had no photo credits! But I linked back to the article.
Ah, MT....I know you, MS FaceBook! Ha! Indeed, your shots were hilarious! Send 'em on! We'll post them thangs.
Have you tried it with a road or 'cross bike yet?
I used a Thule one last year (the one that clamps around the down tube).
I put a cloth around the tube before clamping, and it still scuffed the paint.
So I'm seriously considering a fork mounted one like this.
bobby did it up right on these. but my question is, what tires you rockin on that sweet Ahrens?
Hey folks!
Indeed I used the Pitch Fork with all my bikes thus far. Works perfectly for all as it is designed to accommodate most forks (exception for thru-axle forks though although Rocky Mounts has adapters for those).
The tires on my Ahrens are Bontrager Jones 29'er tires. Possibly the bet tire I've used here in CO and great all around. Can be run tubed or tubeless. You can get them retail off the Bontrager site.
GK