There’s no shortage of bike racks out there that you can use to park your bikes, whether at home, in the trailhead, or on the campsite. They’re very useful when taking bikes out with family and friends, since they give cyclists a place to neatly stow your bicycles, instead of having leaning them on trees or leaving them on the ground. Problem is, bike racks that can take multiple bike can get pretty big and awkward, taking up a lot more space on the boot than you’d probably like. That’s not the case with the AHHA Toaster.
Designed to take up to five bicycles, the portable bike rack can fold flat for taking up minimum space during transport, allowing you to slide it in a tight corner of the boot. Heck, you can even slip this in a large backpack (well… a very wide one, if that exists) and carry it on your back while riding, making for a convenient way to bring a bike rack along anywhere you go.
The AHHA Toaster is a five-slot bike rack that consists of a rectangular base and a main rack that pop ups to a vertical position. To set things in place, you simply pull the rack up using the grip on top and adjust until it’s fully vertical, then flip a hinged hook on the base to lock the whole thing into place. Collapsing it just as easy – you simply release the hook and fold everything back down flat.
Once deployed, each of the five slots can accommodate most traditional tire sizes on any bicycle, whether for road bikes, gravel bikes, or MTBs, so you can use it for your kid’s BMX, your wife’s daily commuter, and your weekend racing bike. Do note, each of the slots only measure 2.8 inches wide, so you won’t be able to use this for any of those extra thick fat tire bikes.
The AHHA Toaster is designed to work with a set of optional plastic grommets that you can put on the slots to create a flush fit for bikes with skinnier tires like you see in many road or gravel bikes, although you can also leave things as is, if you don’t mind the bikes tilting just a bit to the side. If you have more than five bikes in your group, by the way, you can daisy chain two or more racks together using optional connectors that attach two racks right next to each other.
When folded, the whole thing measures just 30 x 32 x 2 inches (width x depth x thickness) and weighs just 14 pounds, making it incredibly easy to stash in the car during transport. In collapsed mode, it’s held in place by a magnetic latch, so it won’t accidentally open in the middle of a drive. Construction is powder-coated aluminum for both the rack and the base, with the fastening hardware cut in stainless steel.
Originally a Kickstarter campaign, the AHHA Toaster is now available to the public in black, red, and white. Price is $399.