Eight years ago, Emily sold her trusty 2001 Subaru Forester, and together, we bought a used 2003 Ford E150 cargo van, which we now lovingly refer to as “our old white plumber’s van.” We drove off into the sunset for six months, living every influencer’s greatest dream. That year sparked our love of road trips and van travel. We attended the 2018 Bikepacking Summit in Gunnison, Colorado, organized by none other than Neil and Lindsay Beltchenko, rambled down rough roads in Death Valley, and slowly realized that if we were going to keep up this way of life, we were going to need a YouTube channel—just kidding—a larger van.

In 2019, we bought a lightly used 2018 Ford Transit cargo van, climbing the social hierarchy of van life to a place where people started talking to us in Walmart parking lots instead of veering away. We split our time between the van and house sits. Life was simple. The van contained everything we owned. We had room for three bikes under our bed, which was plenty at the time. Traveling so much had its perks, but the pandemic forced us to a new house sit on Vancouver Island, and we were starting to crave a community of our own beyond fleeting friendships and meet-ups across North America. This prompted our move to Powell River, on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast.

Thanks to our friend Natalie, Emily and I quickly fell in love with Powell River, especially the access to trails, forestry roads, lakes, and the ocean. However, we soon grew tired of loading and unloading bikes into the back of the van for quick meet-ups with friends, shuttling to trailheads, or group rides. We needed a bike rack!

But What Bike Rack?

A quick Google search for best bike racks for cargo vans will uncover loads of online discussions from folks who found the “perfect rack.” We already had storage for two bikes under the bed for road trips, so we mainly wanted something discreet, capable of carrying a pair of bikes, and able to swing completely out of the way of both rear cargo doors.

At first, I thought I’d be stuck forking out some serious cash for a separate swing-away hitch adapter, then finding an appropriate bike rack to mount to it. I nearly bought the $649 USD RakAttach adapter and a 1UP rack, but then I saw chatter about a different all-in-one rack with a built-in swing-away mechanism that seemed to fit the Ford Transit perfectly. Released in 2017, the Rockymounts BackStage Swing Away claims to be the first true 180-degree swing-away platform hitch bike rack. Most swing-away racks only swing 90 to 120 degrees, but the BackStage Swing Away uses two pivot points to let the loaded rack swing all the way out, parallel to the side of the vehicle.

With the optional hitch extender, the BackStage Swing Away has enough clearance to pivot to the side of the van, with or without bikes in place, and I can still open both rear cargo doors. When not in use, the rack folds up vertically against the back of the vehicle, which matters for sneaking in under the 20-foot length limit when traveling by ferry. It can also tilt downward, but I’ve rarely used that function. It’s a tray-style rack with an adjustable front-tire hook and rear-wheel strap. It’s not quite as fancy as dual-hook racks like those from 1UP, but it’s proven reliable and easy to maintain after over six years of daily use.

The rack itself weighs just 44 pounds (20 kilograms) and is rated for 60 pounds (27 kilograms) per bike. It has a maximum tire size of three inches, but I’ve been able to stretch that using a few extra straps. Thirty-two–inch wheels also fit, if that’s a concern. The main swing-away hitch tube is made from Chromoly steel, the platforms and tray components are made of aluminum to save weight, and everything is powder-coated and treated with an EPD (Electrophoretic Deposition) finish for rust protection. Notably, the BackStage is one of the only platform-style swing-away racks that doesn’t require an adapter or separate swing mechanism.

While Out Van Lifing

Despite our original intention to use the bike rack primarily for local use, we haven’t removed it once during its time with us. It has lived through soggy Pacific Northwest winters, trips to the desert, and thousands of kilometers on the road. The swing function isn’t quite as smooth as it once was, but most of the rack can be disassembled and serviced. Rockymounts sells a huge selection of replacement parts, so the entire rack can be rebuilt if needed. Every six months or so, I treat the pivot points with silicone lubricant, and I’ve had to adjust the fixing bolts on the two hooks a few times to keep them locked in place, but otherwise, the rack has kept doing its job.

Loading and unloading the bikes is self-explanatory, like most hook/strap platform racks, but swinging the rack isn’t as obvious. The blue T-handle at the front is unscrewed to release the platform assembly from the main pivot arm, but it can’t swing until you pull up on the emergency release knob. Once released, the entire unit swings a full 180 degrees, and two other pull knobs lock into place to hold it in position. With the rack folded up, the blue T-handle is exposed while reversing the vehicle, and I’ve gone through two handles in six years. When they’re in stock, Rockymounts sells replacements for just $3 each. The rest of the rack is looking pretty good considering how long it has been out in the elements. There’s some surface rust on the backside of the rack, where the van’s exhaust points, and if I ever upgrade my rack, I’ll probably reroute the exhaust to the side of the vehicle.

An unexpected benefit of having it permanently mounted on the van has revealed itself during bikepacking trips with friends. Nearly every trip that involves driving ends up with us putting our bikes under the bed and shuttling one or two more bikes on the rack. We store most of our gear in the back, beside the bike tray, so being able to get in and out of the van even with bikes on the rack is important. We’ve picked up stranded cyclists and shuttled friends to ferries, and I can’t imagine not owning a dedicated bike rack at this point.

After six years, the BackStage has been a reliable and fuss-free addition to our van, with my only complaint being how the hook and rear-wheel straps interact with the bike. Because Rockymounts instructs users to position the front-wheel hook against the fork, it inevitably rubs. I’ve seen it nearly wear through brake cables, and it eventually leaves a little scuff on the fork. I’ve gotten in the habit of stuffing a rag between the hook and fork on long drives to combat this. The rear-wheel strap is a plastic ratchet-style strap that also marks up the rim on long drives.

These complaints bring me to the Rockymounts AfterParty, released in 2023, which combines the swing-away base of the BackStage with the platform design of the GuideRail. You get the same 180-degree swing base, but the hook and strap trays are replaced with a more sophisticated tire-only contact design that uses two load arms, like those from 1UP and other high-end racks. It shares similar specs and dimensions with the BackStage but weighs more due to the extra metal hardware.

Something that has always driven me nuts is watching bikes sway aggressively back and forth on the back of expensive off-road rigs. While the Ford Transit isn’t an overlanding rig by any means, we’ve managed to get it into some fairly spicy places, and the BackStage has always been impressively stable. The van already has a high center of gravity, which isn’t great for chunky unpaved driving, and I expected the rack to bounce around more than it does. The rack includes a keyed locking hitch bolt, as well as a secondary locking cable to secure the bikes. It’s a basic cable lock that could be snipped with the right tools, so I make sure to treat it as such.

Pricing and Comparisons

I remember seeing the BackStage rack when it was released and thinking $575 USD for a swing-away tray rack was great value. Unfortunately, in the six years since then, the price has increased, like a lot of things, to $899 USD. Although there are more affordable racks out there, the BackStage still offers a lot for the price. For one, as mentioned, there isn’t another all-in-one swing-away tray rack that doesn’t require any additional adapters or mounts. The RakAttach is a popular hitch-mounted swing adapter that transforms any rack with a 2” receiver into a swing-away rack, but it costs $649, and that doesn’t include the rack itself. The Saris Swing Away is a similar adapter and costs a more reasonable $399, but both options are limited to 100° and 90° of swing, respectively, so they won’t offer as much clearance for larger vehicles, such as cargo vans.

Despite being nearly a decade old, the BackStage still exists in a category of its own. Most replacement parts are still available online, which is a good sign the rack itself will be around for a while. The AfterParty is the clear winner for those with deeper pockets, priced at $1,349 USD, but I’ll still recommend the BackStage to anyone asking about the best rack for their cargo van, as ours has treated us well.

• Load Limit (per bike): 60 pounds (27 kilograms)
• Made of: Chromoly Steel, Aluminum, Plastic
• Weight: 44 pounds (20 kilograms)
• Place of Manufacture: China
• Price: $899 USD
• Manufacturer’s Details: Rockymounts.com

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