Rooftop Tandem Bike Racks are a great way to secure your bikes on the roof of your car without taking up valuable trunk space. Whether you’re driving around town or hitting the open road, these racks offer an excellent solution for people who want their bicycles with them at all times. Check out our rooftop tandem bike rack reviews and find the perfect one for you!
Best Rooftop Tandem Bike Racks
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1. Thule Tandem Bicycle Rack 558P
Rooftop tandem bike carrier with innovative pivoting fork mount design offers easy single person loading and unloading is also suitable for many recumbent bike designs.
With a unique pivoting fork mount design, the 558P tandem/recumbent carrier can easily be loaded and unloaded by a single person. The 558P Tandem bike carrier attaches directly to Thule and Inno square load bars and Yakima round bars (not compatible with factory racks or Thule AeroBlade bars / Xsporter truck rack bars). Works equally well as a long wheelbase recumbent bicycle rack. Compatible with disc brakes too. We recommend purchasing a Thule Cable Lock (sold separately) for locking the tandem bicycle to the bike rack.
Features
- The unique pivoting fork mount design enables easy one person tandem or recumbent bike loading
- Stainless steel skewer is reliable and durable, but not locking. We recommend purchasing a Thule Cable Lock (sold separately) for locking the tandem bicycle to the bike rack
- Rear section of the bike tray can be removed for trunk/hatch clearance or for converting to a conventional bike carrier
- Mounts directly to Thule Racks square load bars, Inno Racks crossbars and Yakima Racks round bars
- Extruded aluminum wheel tray is 75” long
2. Yakima SideWinder Tandem Bike Rack
This tandem bike mount makes one-person tandem bike loading on a roof rack amazingly easy and secure, thanks to a swing-out fork mount, padded boom cradle, user-friendly ratchet straps, and a lockable skewer. Fits round and square cross bars only.
The couple that rides together stays together. But that doesn’t mean you have to load and unload your bike together, too. Thanks to ingenious swing-arm technology, the Yakima SideWinder tandem bike carrier makes it simple for one person to load and unload a tandem bicycle. Just pull the red pin to swing the fork mount away from the vehicle, lift the front bike fork into the carrier, and then lift the back of the bicycle into place in the rack once the front is secured.
The premium, lockable skewer, quick-release ratchet straps, and included handlebar strap are burly and secure, and the padded boom cradle protects bottom-mounted bike cables. Plus, the elevated fork mount offers hatchback clearance on most vehicles, too. The SideWinder roof bike rack can be locked to the cross bars with the addition of one SKS lock core (sold separately). This fork-mount tandem rack installs directly on round and square cross bars (not compatible with factory or aerodynamic cross bar styles).
Features
- Carries one tandem bicycle
- Mounts directly to round or square cross bars—not compatible with factory or aerodynamic cross bar shapes
- Skewer arm swings out from vehicle for simple one-person bike loading
- User-friendly long-throw skewer fits virtually any tandem fork
- Raised fork mount provides hatchback clearance on most vehicles
- Padded boom cradle with quick-release ratchet straps protects bottom-mounted bike cables
- Handlebar strap offers extra stability
- Carrier will lock to vehicle with the addition of one SKS lock core (sold separately)
- 50 lb. bike weight limit
- Cross bar spread must be between 24” – 36”
3. RockyMounts R4 Tandem Bike Rack
Because tandem and recumbent bikes are a bit esoteric, finding a roof rack for them can be trying. But thanks to the Rocky Mounts Tandem R4 Bike Rack, the exhaustive searching is over. Featuring a unique sliding tray system, the Rocky Mounts Tandem R4 Bike Rack can carry not only your longest-frame bikes, but also regular, single-person bikes without much hassle. Mounts directly to square and round crossbars and attaches to T-slot equipped aftermarket and factory installed aero style bars.
If you own a tandem bicycle, chances are good that you’re a bit of a hopeless romantic. You enjoy the presence of another human beings so acutely that you even subject yourself to sharing a bicycle with them. So, shopping for a bike carrier probably had you questioning the validity of your romance. That is, until you found the Rocky Mounts Tandem R4 Bike Rack. The RockyMounts Tandem R4 Bike Rack attaches directly to either Yakima round cross bars or Inno Racks and Thule Racks base rack square load bars as well as attaches to T-slot style bars like Thule Aerobars, Whispbar, Yakima Jetstream Bars, as well as T-slot equipped factory installed crossbars from Audi, BMW, Mercedes, Volkswagen, Volvo, and Mini using included T-slot mounting hardware.
The Rocky Mounts Tandem R4 Bike Rack holds standard 9mm forked bikes in place securely with RockyMounts’ reliable skewer system, and features a unique sliding tray design that allows users to carry a standard single bike as easily as a long tandem or recumbent bike. Sliding this tray forward when not in use also eliminates any possible contact when opening up your car’s rear door or hatch. But what really sets the Rocky Mounts Tandem R4 Bike Rack is a quietly ingenious pivoting fork attachment point. Simply rotate the fork attachment point towards yourself, lift the tandem’s fork up, fasten, and rotate the rear end of the entire bike up and onto the Rocky Mounts Tandem R4 Bike Rack. It’s a process that’s almost as easy as being the rear rider on a tandem bike.
Features
- Simple push button design and pivoting axle allows one person to easily load bicycle
- Internal bearings and headset technology make for silky smooth movement when pivoting the bike up or down from the rack
- Telescopic tray design allows for both tandem bikes and single seaters. Also works with recumbent bikes
- Attaches directly to Inno Racks and Thule Racks base rack square and Yakima base rack round bars, as well as attaches to T-slot style bars like Thule Aerobars, Whispbar, Yakima Jetstream Bars, as well as T-slot equipped factory installed crossbars from Audi, BMW, Mercedes, Volkswagen, Volvo, and Mini using included T-slot mounting hardware.
- The Rocky Mounts Offset Bracket (sold separately; see accessory add-ons below) may be required to use the pivoting function of the Tandem R4 on certain vehicle rack set-ups because the front chainring of the tandem bike can hit the window or doorframe while loading the tandem
- Universally compatible with any bike with a wheelbase from 35″ to 78″
- The Rocky Mounts R4 Bike Rack is constructed with the strongest non-corrosive, heat treated 6061 aluminum
- 9mm quick release skewer secures the fork to the rack, and works with both road tandems and mountain bike tandems
4. RockyMounts Tandem Tailpipe Hitch Bike Rack
If hoisting your giant tandem bike onto a dedicated roofrack sounds like a bit more work than two bike seats are worth, check out the RockyMounts Tandem Tailpipe Hitch Bike Rack. Fully-collapsible and easy to install, the RockyMounts Tandem Tailpipe Hitch Bike Rack is the premier option for the two-seater fanatics among us.
Tandem bikes could just as easily be referred to as twofer bikes. With a tandem you get a bonus seat and chainring on-top of the standard bike setup. The only downside to all that bonus bike is that it naturally equates to bonus weight. And if you’re a tandem couple on the move, hoisting a heavy tandem onto a rooftop rack is not that fun. With this in mind, RockyMounts brings the RockyMounts Tandem Tailpipe Hitch Bike Rack; a fully-collapsible hitch-mounted bike rack that fits both 2” and 1-1/4” trailer hitch receivers.
Utilizing rubber bike cradles, a unique stabilizing bar to eliminate rocking, and RockyMount’s fantastic anti-sway arm bars, the RockyMounts Tandem Tailpipe Hitch Bike Rack is the most stable hitch rack for tandems on the market. And unlike cheaper alternatives, the RockyMounts Tandem Tailpipe Hitch Bike Rack pivots at its base, allowing riders to access the rear of their vehicles without entirely unloading the rack system. The RockyMounts Tandem Tailpipe Hitch Bike Rack also comes complete with an integrated cable lock system for securing the bike to the rack, and an additional lock core for locking the RockyMounts Tandem Tailpipe Hitch Bike Rack to the hitch itself. Security, and ease of use in a tandem bike rack has never been so easy.