Subie Outback XT w 4 bike hitch rack

[Mustonen]

The Kuat Piston is a similar design to the 1up, and tire size adjustment is done by hand in a quick second.

Lotta money to get to 4 bikes though.

[JPaul]

The Kuat Piston is a similar design to the 1up, and tire size adjustment is done by hand in a quick second.

Lotta money to get to 4 bikes though.

The Piston is a nice design for sure. Saris and Thule have figured out how to manage wheel sizes on similar racks, too. Dunno why 1up abandoned the effort.

Had to look up Piston pricing ->> wow! I'm going to start parking next to those at the trailhead instead of locking my rack from now on.

[toast2266]

Rocky mounts and Inno both make a 1up style rack as well (for a good bit less money than the kuat piston). The inno can change wheel sizes easily, the rocky mounts is more or less the same as the 1up. Both of those racks fold up easier than the 1up though.

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[alpinevibes]

Rocky mounts and Inno both make a 1up style rack as well (for a good bit less money than the kuat piston). The inno can change wheel sizes easily, the rocky mounts is more or less the same as the 1up. Both of those racks fold up easier than the 1up though.

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The Rocky can only take 3 bikes; they don’t have a four bike capable rack now unfortunately.

I like that Inno for $900

[Duffman]

Hey Duffman,
Awesome that you're gearing up to take the family riding -> brings back a lot of great memories with my girls (including the memory of being able to keep up with them on bikes!).

Good advice in this thread so far. If you're up for some more:
1. 1up are by far the easiest to install/scale/store due to the weight/size of their modules and simple design, IME. For a street-parked car in the city, they are perfect. Less than 2 mins to have a single tray rack off the back and stowed in the hatch. Add on trays are slightly slower to put on, but lighter/smaller to store. If they still support the config, I'd go with a single tray rack at the car + 1 add-on per family member. This is because:

2. 1up are not great at ease of supporting multiple wheel sizes from a single tray. A significant change in wheel size requires getting a wrench, keeping track of spacers, etc., while most other racks either have sliding bits* to accommodate, or can be managed w/straps. Having single/dedicated 1up trays for each family member would allow you to choose, e.g., just the one set up for the 24" wheels if you are only riding with the one child that day (assuming the base rack has the tray for your 29er). Add on trays can be attached in any order, and changing the wheel size of trays as your kids grow and get new bikes is no big deal. A single config can support 27.5, 29, 700c, so grown-up trays are more flexible.

Not sure if this link works, but I found a picture of a 1up with a similar use case to yours that shows how the arms are set up to grab different tire sizes, but also shows how massive these things get (any 4 bike tray rack) for your parking consideration. Also, that RAV4 is gonna steer pretty differently all loaded up!

https://images.app.goo.gl/u5TCh2aSKCTyin9EA

(It comes from this article I haven't read: https://kidsridebikes.com/1up-usa-he...e-rack-review/)

3. I know you don't want 2 in back + 2 up top, but for usability, with multiple kids bikes used daily (school pickups), I found it best to have racks up top that could slide to support different wheel sizes, fenders/racks, etc. even though a 1up single tray lived on the car. Maybe you can slide the roof box over & do 3 + 1? I did this on a 2004 Outback. If willing to consider a rack up top, we found tons of flexibility with RockyMounts Brass Knuckles (similar mech to SplitRail tray rack mentioned earlier). Those fork mounts Frorider linked look really cool, but few kids bikes have Thru or QR axles, so that means your Ibises would go up top, leaving the 1up wheel size conundrum for the rear tray rack.

Hopefully something useful in there, else sorry for so many words.
Good luck with getting to the right solution!


* 1up did introduce a sliding mechanism to adjust for wheel size as an add on a few years back, but I no longer see it on their site, and it doesn't look like any of the racks come with it.

I have 2 Thule Uprides on top of my A4 sedan now but theres no hitch and it's pretty low so a hitch would scrape like crazy . So capped out at 2 bikes mounted with that one with a disassembled kids bike in the trunk.

Now that we need to move 4 bikes as my daughter has long outgrown my Shotgun seat is why I was looking at this option and thought that 4 off the back of a hitch on our other car would allow me to get the roof mounts off and not be constantly whistling in the wind up there. But looking at the size and bulk hanging off the back, now I'm not sure that's the best idea especially navigating around an urban area. Does seem like 2 roof +2 hitch would be a good option, or maybe a Single 1 up with two add ons with the 20 in on the roof w the box which should fit , or in the back of the car for now.

[Duffman]

Bumping my own thread here as after taking in all the advice here , I've decided to go 2-3 bikes max on the back w the 20 inch in the trunk for now w the option to just mount my existing Thule Uprides on the roof if needed.

The decision seems to have been narrowed down between the Rocky Mounts Guiderail vs the 1Up , either heavy duty or newer Equid-D. Options listed from cheapest to most expensive .

1-Rocky Mounts Guiderail , 2 bike w 1bike add on. Seems to have eliminated some of the hassle points with the 1up design w the tilt mechanism and 1 hand tray release. May be a bit of a pain to get on and off w a 19mm socket needed in a fairly tight space . I can get 20% off so a few $100 less than the next option.

2- 1Up heavy duty , either 1 base w 2 add ons or 2 base with one add on. I like how modular this can be as I ride during the week solo and with kids on weekends usually. Still wouldn't leave even the 1 tray on very often because of limited street parallel parking issues in my hood so eliminates some of that benefit ,but the option to do so and still access backup camera and hatch is nice. The idea of simply adding and removing trays is sweet , but from my understanding the add on tilt pull release is really necessary for more that 2 bikes and this isnt nearly as modular and easy to change between a 1-3 bike tray setup. Also some concerns with theft and locking more than above.

3-1up Equip D. Most expensive by far, seems to fix the tilt to fold release issue above. Reviews seem more mixed here. Weight capacity no biggie as non ebikes here .


The Quickr racks look ideal with the easy modular installation and changing tray numbers w no tools, but the insane pricing with $700 for one rack and over $500 per add on is rough, plus the 6 week wait time from order could be a deal breaker.


What would Jeebus buy?

[carlh]

I need 3 bikes and went oneup heavy duty with a custom diy tilt handle. With the handle the third tray is not coming off but I have a 2 bike base so it’s not really worth it anyway. I leave it ulocked to the safety chain mount street parked in a nicer Seattle neighborhood.
The workflow is a bit more cumbersome than the single arm racks but seems more secure. I had a yakima holdup before and that was a major pain to tilt and crazy long in 4 bike layout so this was big upgrade for me.

[Duffman]

I need 3 bikes and went oneup heavy duty with a custom diy tilt handle. With the handle the third tray is not coming off but I have a 2 bike base so it’s not really worth it anyway. I leave it ulocked to the safety chain mount street parked in a nicer Seattle neighborhood.
The workflow is a bit more cumbersome than the single arm racks but seems more secure. I had a yakima holdup before and that was a major pain to tilt and crazy long in 4 bike layout so this was big upgrade for me.

So you just leave it on all the time? Unfortunately that's not really an option for me (parking, theft/vandalism ,using the hatch multiple times every day for work/kids / sports )

[Brasso]

Not to throw another option into the ring but what about a Thule T2 Pro XTR with the +2 bike extension? I run this setup with the closest tray removed (so 3 bike capacity total). This lets you open the liftgate without lowering the rack from horizontal. There's plenty of room to maneuver while loading up the trunk as well.

I have a 2005 Outback 3.0R. (~300 tongue capacity, ~3000 lbs towing cap in the US. That is more like 350, 3500 lbs elsewhere )

[carlh]

Yes I leave it on my Honda Pilot. I don’t have the parking issue and have the lock for theft prevention. I deal with the hatch by putting shit in my back seat. I miss the glass only opening on my old 3 series wagon that was perfect for using the cargo area with a folded rack.

So you just leave it on all the time? Unfortunately that's not really an option for me (parking, theft/vandalism ,using the hatch multiple times every day for work/kids / sports )