Trailer hitch bike rack

S

SoundersFan

New member
I thought I would ask around the forum to see if any of you have experience with trailer hitch bike racks. I'm looking for a two bike, trailer hitch rack, and thought I'd solicit your opinions (if you have one!) before spending my money. Yakima? Thule?

Thanks in advance!
 
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Yakima, Saris, and Thule all make a good hitch rack. I use the Saris due to a good deal I got on mine. But if I had the money to spend, I'd reinvest into a Yakima. They fold up smaller and cleaner and seem more fuctional in my eyes. Just DON'T buy a Kuat rack. The aluminum features and the mechanic stand all seem wonderful but they quality isn't there. I work a bike shop and our rep from yakima told us that they put the Kuat through all of the extensive testing that Yakima puts on each of their racks and did not pass. However the rep did say nothing bad about Kuats rack, but I'd prefer to buy a rack that doesn't have a higher risk of failure.
 
FactoryRide said:
Yakima, Saris, and Thule all make a good hitch rack. I use the Saris due to a good deal I got on mine. But if I had the money to spend, I'd reinvest into a Yakima. They fold up smaller and cleaner and seem more fuctional in my eyes. Just DON'T buy a Kuat rack. The aluminum features and the mechanic stand all seem wonderful but they quality isn't there. I work a bike shop and our rep from yakima told us that they put the Kuat through all of the extensive testing that Yakima puts on each of their racks and did not pass. However the rep did say nothing bad about Kuats rack, but I'd prefer to buy a rack that doesn't have a higher risk of failure.
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I don't work for a bike shop or know that much about racks in general but I haven't read any "higher risk of failure" on the Kuat. I certainly hope this is not true because I just bought mine over the weekend! Comes in the mail this week or so. I'll post my review on it (I got the Kuat NV). But from all the research I've done, I didn't see anything majorly bad about the Kuat but rather many good reviews.

I don't get it, the Yakima rep said these did not pass and at the same time said nothing bad about kuat racks???? :confused: If Yakima tests come out and prove these racks are bad then that's a completely different story but till then, I'm still gonna go with it and test this sucker at. Especially since returning it is a pain in the ass!

Factoryride if you have more info please share! I'd really be interested in knowing if I messed up on my purchase!
 
I've got a 4 bike Yakima doubledown on my runner. I really enjoy it because it will fold down to allow you to open the rear hatch. Also the arms fold down to minimize the risk of it getting hit while parked somewhere. They make this same rack in 2 and 5 bike models. Hope this helps.
P.S. - the arms on this rack have bottle openers on the ends :party:
 
I have a Yakima Swing-Daddy. I hate the name. I must say however, that my wife complimented me on my nice rack. :bravo:

No seriously, it's pretty good, it'll swing all 4 bikes out of the way to open the hatch, and comes with all the integrated locks and whatnot. For the price it had better be.
 
i bought a master lock bike rack when i still had my trailblazer. it holds 4 bikes and is very secure. it is kind of a pain in the a** to completely secure the bikes, but once they are on, they don't move. taken bikes on several hundred mile trips, and even some fairly rough roads, and they have always stayed secure. if you google "master lock 2896at" you will find it for about 100 bucks. better than the other big name brands out there? probably not, but it has worked well for me and it wasn't very expensive. also just drilled in a hole to the top so i could secure two padlocks so the bikes could not be stolen.
 
I have the Yakima Doubledown 2 and I really enjoy it. Just bought new wheels to throw on it as well! I only ever carry one on it. In this picture I have the tube top accessory on it to hold my bike.
 

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I bought bike carrier called "Sport Rack" in local store (Canadian Tire) over 4 years ago. It can carry 3 bikes and it's still pretty strong. Fits 2" or 1 1/4" hitch receivers. It can be tilted down to open liftgate .I don't remember how much it was, but not too expensive for sure. Hitch 'n' Drive Deluxe Series R3 - A30703 - SportRack®
 

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I've always went with the fork mount racks. The bikes are more secure IMO. You can't go wrong with Yakima or Thule. I had a Saris on my Jetta for about 13 years. It was okay. Yak Racks seem to be built better.
 
Yakima Holdup

I really like the Yakima. It folds down very compact and Yakima quality is always top notch.
 
Turn_down said:
I've always went with the fork mount racks. The bikes are more secure IMO. You can't go wrong with Yakima or Thule. I had a Saris on my Jetta for about 13 years. It was okay. Yak Racks seem to be built better.
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@Turn_Down - I'd get a fork mount rack, but I'm limited by the ceiling height in my garage. my last fork mount was great, but it got sold when I bought the T4R. So, hitch is my only option at this point.

Thanks to the rest of you guys as well for the info.
 
FactoryRide said:
Yakima, Saris, and Thule all make a good hitch rack. I use the Saris due to a good deal I got on mine. But if I had the money to spend, I'd reinvest into a Yakima. They fold up smaller and cleaner and seem more fuctional in my eyes. Just DON'T buy a Kuat rack. The aluminum features and the mechanic stand all seem wonderful but they quality isn't there. I work a bike shop and our rep from yakima told us that they put the Kuat through all of the extensive testing that Yakima puts on each of their racks and did not pass. However the rep did say nothing bad about Kuats rack, but I'd prefer to buy a rack that doesn't have a higher risk of failure.
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I've been using my Kuat rack since August of last year - almost daily until mid November and then daily again since mid March. I've had no problems at all and would recommend it highly (I also have many friends who would say the same). I've had both Yakima and Thule components over the years and have Rocky Mounts fork mounts on the top of my 4Runner and Kuat on the back because they are quality and they work. (although I do agree the mechanic stand is a bit of a gimmick. It sort of works for trail side repairs but I usually end up bringing my normal repair stand for races and there is very little to be done trail side that you couldn't do by simply turning your bike upside down.)

[edit:] If you are going to take your 4Runner off road with your bike I would recommend either a fork mount or the Kuat. The Kuat is the only hitch rack I've seen that doesn't bounce or sway due to their shim in the mount. No bike sway or rubbing against each other. Can you tell I'm a fan?? ;)

Side note, I had my bike on my friend's Thule fork mount two weeks ago in Moab and the attachment from the tray to the rack broke driving down a dirt road and almost had my bike fall-off. Never had those issues with Rocky Mounts or Kuat.

Yakima & Thule are decent products (although only Thule is made in the US) but not necessarily the best out there. Just the biggest distribution network.
 
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I'm very happy with my Thule 916XT T2. The bike tires sit on top of trays and an arm clamps around the front tire. This means no pinching cables against the frame and strange shaped or oversized top tubes don't cause any problems. It fits my hardtail (29er), full suspension (Scalpel), road bike (Madone), cross bike (Cross check), and my wife's hybrid (7.2fx). The mountain bikes have lefty forks and no issues. Basically, it works with anything other than a tandem! The sliding arms also have locks, so it is secure too. It pivots down to give access to the hatch. The only negatives is that it only holds 2 bikes in standard form and is pretty sizable. There is an attachment that adds 2 more bikes, but it sticks like 5' off the tailgate when all is said and done. I have some massive crossbars and a couple trays to handle anything more than 2 bikes.
 
SoundersFan said:
@Turn_Down - I'd get a fork mount rack, but I'm limited by the ceiling height in my garage. my last fork mount was great, but it got sold when I bought the T4R. So, hitch is my only option at this point.

Thanks to the rest of you guys as well for the info.
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Ermm, that's why you take your bike off the roof BEFORE you pull into the garage! LMAO I don't know anyone with a garage that tall.

They make, or at least they used to, hitch fork mount racks. I had one years and years ago on a Huandai Scoupe! Yeah, I know. It was funny haveing a trailer hitch on a Scoupe, but they didn't have roof racks for them at the time.
 
REI has an anniversary sale starting this friday May 20. All Yakima & Thule racks and accessories are/will be 20% off. you should hop on that if you're thinking of getting new.
 
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I have a Swagman bike rack. It's does a good job and is pretty solid. It also folds down so you can access the hatch and it carry's the bike by its tires instead of the frame. So the bikes sit nice and flat and you dont have to worry about trying to get the frame of the bike to fit onto the rack.

You can also insert pad locks on the hold downs and lock the bike into the frame that way so no one walks away with it.

Not only that but it's much more affordable then the other makes.
 
Deekoi..

When I said they didn't pass the test but the rep still had nothing bad to say. What I meant is that the rep really seemed to enjoy the idea of the mechanic stand connected to the ramp. The racks simply didn't pass the tests that yakima puts their stuff through. While maybe no one has had a problem, they still didn't pass the tests. The racks are nice, don't get me wrong. They look good, have very nice features, but according to our yakima rep, they lack in quality.

Here's a picture of my rig on my saris rack
 

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MemBrain said:
REI has an anniversary sale starting this friday May 20. All Yakima & Thule racks and accessories are/will be 20% off. you should hop on that if you're thinking of getting new.
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MemBrain, you know I'll be at that REI sale! Gotta spend that dividend money. :)
 
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