Thread: Which rack should I buy?

I'm looking for a swing-out style hitch rack, and these two are looking good:

Yakima Swingdaddy
Thule Apex Swing


Anyone here have experiences or suggestions?

What hitch mount bike racks do you guys like?

Kuat Racks = awesome

I have no experience with either one of those, but there is a lot of good info in these two threads. Hopefully you'll find something useful in there.

Any reason your going with the hanging ones vs platform? The platorms seem so much more bomber. Like the Thule 916xtr t2

I would spend a bit more for the platform rack. It will be well worth it Especially if you are transporting full squish bikes. They are ussually dont hang well on those racks. You will wish you had got the platform rack in a year if you get one of the hanging racks.

I just bought the apex, so far I really like it, but you should know that the locking cable that it comes with is only long enough if you have a standard frame with a straight top tube. If you have a bike that requires to use a frame adapter the lock is not long enough.

If you get the frame adapter I dig the Thule one as it is super simple to get on and off the bike.

The locking mechanism on the hitch is sweet, I like how it locks into the receiver cutting down on the amount the rack sways.

shuttling at all? looking at rear clearance may be of importance.. if not, then it doesn't really matter.

wouldn't buy the hanging ones.

Unfortunately, the platform racks don't have the swing away option, which is important to me.

So far, I've only had hanging racks, and they've been perfectly fine for my needs.

this is a no brainer.

North Shore Racks.

no plastic. all metal. swings back out the way of hatch/truckbed/topper...with ease. My wife can load our bikes and swing the rack up and down with ease.

Family business in Canadia, BC.

Oh, and SEARCH. This has been discussed ad nauseam.

NSR FTW

I have two friends with Kuat racks and they're definitely nice. Noticably nicer than Thule and Yakima racks with all their plastic.

Recently two other friends bought these after seeing plastic parts degrade off older racks and steel bolts freeze up:
http://www.1upusa.com/TwoBikeHitch_product.html
About the same, if not a little more than the Kuat. I gotta say, these racks are the shit. All aluminum. Increadibly easy to mount and totally secure. Modular so that you can really easily go with one, two or three bike mounts. If I had the coin, I would buy a 1up without a doubt. Full hitch mount porn.

The 1 up racks are indeed the shit.

The 1up rack will hold a 5" tire on a Moonlander, for those that are interested in carrying fatties...

As far as Yakima's top-end racks vs. Thule's top-end racks, it's kind of 6 of one, half a dozen of the other.

A few years ago Thule played dirty and bought up a bunch of Yakima's racks, then sold them online at huge discounts, in an attempt to de-value the Yakima brand. Personally, I'd rather support a company that doesn't do that - so my money would go to Yakima. Or Kuat, or 1up.

FYI G the platform style racks all have a mechanism to swing down and out of the way for hatch clearance. A friend had that Yakima swing away and I thought it was a POS. The main pivot was loose and janky and all the bikes are smacking against eachother getting damaged all the time. If you have full suspension bikes with wide bars the pain in the ass is tripled.

Originally Posted by skinipenem

Oh, and SEARCH. This has been discussed ad nauseam.

I can't remember a thread ever posted about hanging bike racks.

G, I'm with wmb4f on this. Like most things they sell, it will mostly come down to personal preference. Are you able to check each out in person? If not, I'd say buy the one you can get the best deal on.

Originally Posted by beaterdit

FYI G the platform style racks all have a mechanism to swing down and out of the way for hatch clearance.

Yeah, the 1up will tilt down. That said, it's a little bit of a pain to use it when the bikes are loaded (and of course that's the only time you will use it). Still, the option is there.

Yeah I actually ran a bit of 1/2" webbing from the release on my T2+2 so I could make it a one man operation. Works great, still heavy as fuck though!

Originally Posted by bagtagley

I can't remember a thread ever posted about hanging bike racks.

G, I'm with wmb4f on this. Like most things they sell, it will mostly come down to personal preference. Are you able to check each out in person? If not, I'd say buy the one you can get the best deal on.

Exactly...

http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/s...-you-guys-like
http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/s...-rack-question
http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/s...-Is-it-just-me
http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/a...?t-180115.html


...35 seconds of effort.

I'm actually looking for info on racks that will swing away from the vehicle, not just tilt down. Thule and Yak are the only manufacturers I've seen who sell that type of rack.

In both racks, the swing assembly look kind of lame, so I'm wondering if anyone has experience in these specifically.

Also, I can get both of the above via shop-form, which is a big plus over the other suggestions.

I have the Thule. It's ok. I want to sell it and get a platform though. The swing away works fine for my jeep. Better than the spare tire swing!

Its a no brainer. North Shore Racks. I bought the 4 pack (NSR-4) a few years ago and have done some serious 4X4 with it packed full of bikes. Fully adjustable for any type of truck, suv rear doors and so on. Shuttle dream rack. Super bomber and stable, no wobble when full of bikes. Worth every penny as it should last forever. And does all that tilt shit so I can open my rear door which has a spare tire on it.

http://northshoreracks.com/NSR%204-bike.htm

I have the Yakima platform one on my Toyota Tacoma. Even with the tilt option, my tailgate still can't open fully without sitting on parts of the rack. It is annoying as piss because I can't sit on my tailgate, etc. I'm going to have a buddy that welds cut the up-curve out of it so it just comes straight out of the hitch and sits 2" lower so I can open my tailgate. Also, I have to tighten the bolts quite often on it or it becomes wobbly. I got it on shop form, so it was a no brainer. Overall I am happy with it, but those northshore ones look more sturdy.