Archive for year: 2018

Are you ready for a real bike rack for your family’s mountain bikes? Tired of your mountain bikes getting scratched or damaged during transportation? In our opinion, these are the best bike racks for mountain biking families because each option holds 4-6 bikes; they all require a 2-inch trailer hitch. This results in safe, secure, damage-free transportation.

Yakima Hangover 4 or 6

Our current favorite mountain bike rack for families. It’s a well-priced, functional piece of equipment for mountain bikers who need to get more bikes on cars. The Yakima Hangover follows a similar approach as other vertical racks. A mast extends vertically from your vehicle’s hitch and 2 perpendicular bars span the width of your car. These 2 perpendicular bars (horizontal with the ground), are the base for attaching the crown of your bike and its rear wheel. Rotate a “H” 90º and you’ll get the picture.

Here’s how to load bikes onto this rack. Firstly, lift your mountain bike up to nestle the suspension fork between the brace and post on the top bar. Secondly, pull the strong rubber chain strap over the fork and connect it to the knob on the rack. Thirdly, tilt the bike towards the lower horizontal bar and fasten it against the wheel cup with locking plastic strap.

Unfortunately, this rack will not work with kids bikes with 20 inch wheels or smaller. Additionally, Yakima’s Hangover racks are made for mountain bikes with two stanchion suspension forks only.

To add convenience, the Hangover features a foot-operated tilt mechanism. You can adjust the angle of the rack for hauling bikes and accessing the rear of the vehicle.

The Yakima Hangover 6 is ideal for our family for a few reasons.  First, as a NICA coach, I often transport more than 4 riders. Second, our family of 4 often rides with friends. In the past, we had to take 2 cars in order to get 6 riders with bikes to the trails. Now, with the Hangover 6, we can easily get 6 full-sized bikes and 6 riders to the trail in our mini-van.

Kuat NV 2.0 Mountain Bike Rack With 2 Bike Add-On

The Kuat NV 2.0 is a bicycle rack that’s designed to be both stylish and durable. The original rack holds a total of two bicycles, but with the add-on option, it can handle up to four. This rack has an adjustable front tire cradle system, meaning that your front wheel won’t be dangling in the air or spinning around while your vehicle is in motion. This keeps your mountain bike extremely secure. The rear wheels are held in place with a strap.

On top of this, it has a foot assisted pivot system. All that you need to do is tap the pedal on the bike rack, and it will automatically pivot downward, making it simple to remove the bicycles. The rack itself mounts onto your vehicle’s trailer hitch with the included hitch lock and hand tight cam system. The cable locks, which lock your mountain bikes onto the rack are fully integrated into the device. Basically, your bikes aren’t going anywhere, until you loosen the locks by hand and remove them.

If matching your bike rack to your vehicle is a priority, then you’re in luck. The Kuat NV 2.0 comes in two different colors: gray metallic with orange accents, and black metallic with gray ones. The frame is made from metal, and the entire rack (the original without the add-on system) weighs a mere 52 pounds. Overall, the Kuat is designed to hold bicycles that have a tire diameter of between 20 and 29 inches, although a separate adapter is needed for the ones that are between 20 and 24 inches.

Yakima HoldUp Mountain Bike Rack with 2 Bike Add-On

The Yakima HoldUp calls itself the “serious bike lover’s rack.” This seems to be the case, as this mountain bike rack boasts that it only takes seconds to load and secure your bicycle to it, no matter the size of your wheels. It’s designed to help you cart around bicycles of all types with wheels that are between 20 and 29 inches, no adapter needed. It can also hold models with disc brakes, full suspension, and through axels. Really, there’s not much that it can’t handle.

The main model of the Yakima HoldUp securely holds two bicycles in place while you’re on the road, thanks to its SKS lock system. There’s an additional adapter called the HoldUp + 2 that attaches to the initial rack, allowing you to double its capacity. No matter which model you have (the initial HoldUp or one with the add-on connected to it) you can adjust the amount of space in between the bikes to keep them from bouncing into one another as you drive from one location to another.

The Yakima HoldUp comes in black with red accents and attaches to your vehicle’s trailer hitch. When you’re ready to load and unload, the rack tilts downwards to make this a breeze. You won’t have to lift the bikes over your head, potentially injuring yourself or scratching the bike, while trying to move it. Once you’re done using it, the entire device folds up and stays out of the way.

Thule T2 Pro XT Mountain Bike Rack with 2 Bike Add-On

The Thule T2 Pro XT bills itself as a “pro” level rack, and it certainly lives up its hype. It’s a platform hitch rack that has a frame-free ratcheting arm. If you’re worried about your rack putting pressure on your bike’s frame, then this is the one for you. It holds the bikes by the tires, and even adjusts so that you have plenty of clearance between the two bikes that the initial rack holds. You can always choose to upgrade the system with an add-on that allows for two additional bicycles.

This mountain bike rack weighs a mere 52 pounds when empty, and comes in a solid matte black. This ensures that it will match any vehicle. You don’t have to worry about your vehicle’s color clashing! The Thule was designed to accommodate many different types of bikes. It can handle mountain bikes, as well as downhill and fat bikes, as long as the wheels are between 20 and 29 inches in diameter, and no more than five inches wide.

The patented HitchSwitch lever makes it easy to get the bikes on and off of the rack. All that you need to do is press that lever, and it will tilt downwards for easier access. Plus, you don’t need to use any tools in order to install the Thule T2 Pro XT on the back of your vehicle. The AutoAttach system is just as simple to use as the entire rack itself.

If security while in motion is a concern, then you certainly don’t have to worry about it with this mountain bike rack. It comes with an integrated cable lock and lock knob, both of which keep every in position no matter how bumpy the road is.

Alta Racks, Alta Six GPR (General Purpose Rack) for Mountain Bikes

The Alta Six GPR is a vertical bike rack. It can hold up to 6 bikes very well. The front wheels of your bikes are nested and secured in baskets. The rear wheels are secured against a horizontal metal bar. We had the opportunity to test one of these and could see why this style of bike rack is becoming more popular. Read our Alta Six GPR bike rack review and see if this is the winning solution for your mountain bike family.

We have been through our share of bike racks, so when we got the opportunity to demo the Alta Six GPR (general purpose rack) from Alta Racks, we had some high hopes.

To qualify our expectations, here’s our family’s history of bike racks…

Phase One, Pre-Kids: No bike rack. My wife and I would just take the front wheels off of bikes and get them in a car somehow.

Phase Two, Pre-Kids: We had a rack that would strap onto the back of a car and it would hold a couple of bikes without rear suspension.

Phase Three, with Kids: A hitch rack where we would hang bikes off the back. This would hold bikes fine, but they would bang together resulting in broken components and scratches. We even had to get a couple of adapters so all four bikes could fit on the rack. This was a mess and a waste of money.

Phase Four, with Kids: A hitch rack with horizontal trays. We still have to put the bikes on a certain order so the bars and components don’t touch, but this has been a functional solution. Our current rack is only good for bikes. It cannot hold skis or be used as a foundation for other accessories.

Alta Racks Are Bike Racks For The People

The Alta Six bike rack is the next step in bike rack design and functionality. The bikes are attached vertically on an Alta Rack where the front wheel is secured in a slanted basket. The bike’s rear wheel is fastened to a a lower support and a 2-inch hitch is required for the system we tested.

With a background in military design engineering, the company’s principal knows what it takes to design a durable, ergonomic product that is easy to source and produce in America. Utilizing latest technology in metal fabrication to ensure high precision in build which leads to longevity, Alta Racks are build to last. None of the hardware on the rack is proprietary, and can easily be replaced at the local hardware store. As of this writing, racks are available in the following colors: black, red, dark gray, desert tan, and orange. Custom colors are also available.

The Alta Six GPR At A Glance

Capacity: Six bikes
Weight: 82 lbs

Everyone’s Heard Of #morekidsonbikes – What About, More Bikes On Cars?

The baskets for the front wheels are slanted to the left so the bike’s handlebars do not touch. This is a practical solution that not only succeeds in eliminating one bike touching another and getting damaged, but it allows up to six bikes to be stored on a rack instead of just four. The front and rear wheels are secured to the rack using heavy duty Voile power straps, again a solution that is non-proprietary. The rack will hold 24-inch mountain bikes to 29-inch wheel mountain bikes easily. The rack can also hold smaller mountain bikes with 20-inch wheels and bmx bikes, but there may be some contact with the rack. Bikes with wheels smaller than 20 inches need to be stored inside, or on top of the vehicle.

Attaching the rack to our mini-van was easy because the two bolts that needed to be secured to the hitch were accessible from the top side of the bumper. And, the weight of the rack is over twenty pounds less than our current tray rack.

Loading Up The Alta Six Is A Cinch

Loading the bikes into the rack was simple for me, my wife and my 15 year old son. Our 11 year old was just too short. It has to be noted that he is also too short to load all the bikes into our tray rack. To load the Alta Racks system, all you have to do is lift the front wheel of a bike high enough to clear the basket on the top support beam; angle the wheel to the left and gravity takes care of the rest. Align the bottom wheel below the top basket so the frame of the bike is straight up-and-down and strap the wheels in place using the provided Voile power straps. The bikes do not hang, they are nestled in the upper baskets and the weight is distributed from the front of the bike to the rear wheel’s contact point on the lower support.

It’s important that you load bikes from right-to-left due to the orientation of the baskets for the front wheels. This way, the bikes horizontally ‘stack’ so the handlebars and levers do not contact each other. My son started loading the rack backwards, from left-to-right and I just let him struggle. He had to work hard in order to put each consecutive bike under the preceding bike. In the video, you can see him do it in the correct order. Bikes can be secured to the rack with a cable lock (not included).

Moving Along With The Alta Six GPR

When the bikes were properly loaded I gave the rack a good shake to see if there was any play or movement from the rack’s tongue to the hitch and nothing moved. It was very secure and stable. For off-roading, you can increase the stability of the rack by attaching guide lines from the upper ends of the top horizontal tube to the hitch bar. Next, we hit the road.

It took a few minutes to get accustomed to a different style of mountain bike rack on our van when we started traveling. The rack did not vibrate at all. None of the bikes shifted while in transit. I even had clear vision between the bikes in my rear view mirror.

The current version of the Alta Racks, Alta Six GPR is the fourth iteration of the system. Initially launched in may of 2017, the rack’s dimensions, features and designs are still being tweaked. The owner of the company knows who to ask for feedback, too. His bike racks have been tested by shuttle companies in Moab running mountain bikers up to the top of world famous Whole Enchilada route. Alta Racks has even enlisted pro mountain bike freeriders who have competed in the Red Bull Rampage to help with getting important tips on how the system can be improved.

The rack will pivot from its base so you can open your vehicle’s rear hatch door or tailgate. Although our mini-van’s rear hatch could not be opened all the way, it did allow us to access the cargo in the back such as a travel bag or tool box.

Be sure to check the Alta Racks website so you can see all the options for this system. Other sports items can be transported and accessories can be used with the rack such as: skis, a repair stand, motorcycle attachment, hammock and table. Shade systems are on the way as well.

We enjoyed using the Alta Racks, Alta Rack Six GPR. Even though it’s designed as a utilitarian solution to be used for several applications, it’s ability to transport more than four bikes makes it a great option for mountain biking families. It checks off everything you want in a mountain bike rack. It’s easy to load and unload. It’s durable and made in the USA. And most importantly for us, the bikes get securely attached to the rack without touching. When you’re ready to upgrade your old hitch rack or need a system that can hold more than four bikes, take a look at Alta Racks.