1upUSA specifically made for 2" receivers. Super beefy all anodized aluminum construction. Very pleased with it so far.

I have the double down (4) and it works pretty good.. for $250 and be able to hold four bikes. Not bad. There is a little sway in the carrier, but I chalked it in.

Hello,

Looking at either the Yakima Swing Daddy or the Thule Apex Swing, but this question may apply to any trailer hitch bike rack. Will be putting a 285/70/17 spare underneath which will no doubt take up all the spare space behind the hitch. There have been reviews of these two racks saying they couldn't install them due to the rack going through the hitch and bumping up against the spare. Well if that's the case I'm extra worried about this given a larger spare. I see many of the folks posting on this thread have larger tires (not sure about the spare) and I'm hoping someone can share their experience and if they have any difficulty installing their racks. Thanks in advance!

Thule T2. Can't go wrong with the quality and stability.

I'll second that opinion. I recently purchased the Thule T2 plus the two bike extension so it now holds 4 bikes. Very solid and easy to load. I considered both the Yakima and Thule. The Yakima looks prettier but the Thule seems more stout. I like the Thule lever for releasing the latch to raise and lower it more than I liked the pull-pin in the Yakima. The big plus for the platform style racks is that they don't require an adapter for odd mountain bike frame geometry.

cool

Off-road use approved...check.
4 bikes at under $600...check
No wheel removal required...check
No frame contact...check

North Shore Racks

Not sure about the Thule or the Yakima racks but I have a 285/70/17 in the spare tire location and my Kuat hitch mount rack works great and doesn't hit the tire.

Your rack holds the bikes at the fork, right? How is that not the frame?

How is getting into the hatch with the rack on the hitch, with or without bikes?

Well, the fork is one part of a bike, the frame is another. The fork attaches to the frame. The wheel isn't the frame either, it attaches to the frame. Very similar concept there.

Getting into the hatch thru the window: easy, with or without bikes.

Getting the hatch to open:
w/ bikes: remove tilting pin, lean rack towards the ground. Takes 2 people, just like the Thule T2 does as one lifts/lowers, the other moves the pin.

w/o bikes: the angle that the upright holder is there in that picture allows the hatch to open fully when not loaded with bikes. It has to be this angle to allow the wheels to clear the spoiler when bikes are mounted (um, with 180mm forks at least).

I'd be happy to post more pics/answer questions!

So many things wrong with your statement, but I'll let it go.

Keep in mind this rack wouldn't work for road bikes or any other bike that doesn't have ~2.00 tires and a wide front fork, usually to accommodate shocks.

Thule 916xtr t2. Works great for me!

Not looking to get into a pissing match, ain't my game, hombre! I'm sorry to have not mentioned that the fork is mounted to the frame with the use of a headset and starnut. Other than that allowance, there is nothing wrong with my statement.

Frame-mount bike racks are the kind that hang bikes by the top tube or down tube - you know the type.


Bikes that fit the NSR-4 from my experience:
+My kids' Strider bikes (balance bikes),
+12" wheeled bikes and
+16" wheeled bikes
+26" wheeled mtn bikes

The kids bikes obviously don't have 2.0+ tires (not sure how tire width correlates with crown width, as most crowns go as wide as the front hub, which is pretty standard, suspension fork or not).


This rack isn't made for road bikes necessarily, and I don't own one so I cannot comment as to their usefullness, but sure, I could see how they might not fit since the fork crown is super narrow for aero reasons.

This works for me, which is why I bought it - I researched it for my needs and never claimed it would meet someone elses, so not sure where your beef is.

I currently have the thule T2 rack and have been lusting after the Northshore rack for a long time. I am glad to see that the are finally shipping to the US! A couple of years ago you had to drive to Canada.

The thule T2 rack does struggle in the offroad environment. I brought my T2 on the whiterim trail when I had my Tacoma and lost a bike off of the back. The problem is that dusty roads will cause dirt to build up in the mechanism that holds the front wheel and eventually bumps will cause the arm to pop off and send the bike flying. Right now I make sure the rack is all cleaned out before a big adventure and hope to one day buy a northshore rack.

Uh oh. The reason I the the T2 is for camping long drives and offroad adventures with the bikes and kayaks. Just got it about a month ago. This is making me kinda worried now as we have about $8,000 worth of bikes on this thing.