[633]

Going 900 mi each way on vacation, needing to take 6 bikes. Can disasseble and pack the youngest child's bike, but still leaves three adult and two 24" kids bikes. I've seen great reviews for the 1upUSA rack, but it's outrageously expensive and none of the reviewers seemed to be using it with the optional trays maxed out to carry five backs. Ditto the Thule Hitching Post 5 - don't see any reviews for it.

Any experience with these? Do the bikes really fit them that well? I've had trouble getting three bikes on our current 3-bike trunk rack because of difficulty getting bars and pedals to line up. Suppose I could turn the bars and remove pedals, but will one of these racks really carry 5 effectively over the distance I'm going? Am I better off just renting a U-Haul utility trailer?

 

[sircrashalot]

1 up

Going 900 mi each way on vacation, needing to take 6 bikes. Can disasseble and pack the youngest child's bike, but still leaves three adult and two 24" kids bikes. I've seen great reviews for the 1upUSA rack, but it's outrageously expensive and none of the reviewers seemed to be using it with the optional trays maxed out to carry five backs. Ditto the Thule Hitching Post 5 - don't see any reviews for it.

Any experience with these? Do the bikes really fit them that well? I've had trouble getting three bikes on our current 3-bike trunk rack because of difficulty getting bars and pedals to line up. Suppose I could turn the bars and remove pedals, but will one of these racks really carry 5 effectively over the distance I'm going? Am I better off just renting a U-Haul utility trailer?

I have no experience with 5 racks, but I do use the third rack on the one up. There is no reason for me to believe it would be a problem. Lots of room between bikes and the way it is set up, you can stagger them (left/right) so clearance of seats/bars is no problem. Make sure you load the heaviest bikes closest to the car, just to alleviate stress on the rack (common sense, but who knows). The rack is expensive but I love it.

 

[633]

I have no experience with 5 racks, but I do use the third rack on the one up. There is no reason for me to believe it would be a problem. Lots of room between bikes and the way it is set up, you can stagger them (left/right) so clearance of seats/bars is no problem. Make sure you load the heaviest bikes closest to the car, just to alleviate stress on the rack (common sense, but who knows). The rack is expensive but I love it.

Thanks for the reply. Anyplace to buy the 1upUSA rack at any kind of a discount? The reviews section linked me to Beyond Bikes, but they didn't seem to have them.

 

[Acme54321]

Yakima makes a 5 bike hitch mount rack that I think goes for under $200.

 

[Jeff in CO]

I have the Yakima 5..

I have the Yakima Slickroc 5 receiver hitch bike rack. It does take a little time getting the smaller bikes on and it depends on the layout of the larger bikes. My bike is a traditional top tube and is the easiest to get on. Next is the wife's K2 full suspension, takes a little more effort. Next is the 24" Specialized, again a little tricky due to the size. Finally it's the 20" bike that requires even more work due to the interference with the other bikes. Once they are all on, they seem to be pretty stable, however with all that weight in the back, they do bounce up and down a bit on hard bumps. 5 bikes will be difficult but they do fit with a little bit of work. You might have it easier because of the 3 adult bikes and only 2-24" ones. Just put those on in the end.
You can get it at REI and if for some reason, you don't like it, you can return it. Try it out for the trip and if you find it too difficult to load/unload, return it back to REI. 100% satisfaction guarantee there. Worth a shot for the price.

 

[formica]

Safety Tip

I've got an older Hollywood rack that goes into a 2" reciever, works fine but the point I want to make is that if you have a hitch rack full of bikes it's a really good idea to get a set of trailer lights to clip onto the outermost bike or the rack. People generally dont' think about how obstructed their brake, turn and tail lights get by a a bunch of bikes. We travel like this all the time - I've seen one other car set up like this and irt really makes a difference on whether your lights can be seen, either at a distance or at night.

formica

 

[SueB]

I've got an older Hollywood rack that goes into a 2" reciever, works fine but the point I want to make is that if you have a hitch rack full of bikes it's a really good idea to get a set of trailer lights to clip onto the outermost bike or the rack. People generally dont' think about how obstructed their brake, turn and tail lights get by a a bunch of bikes. We travel like this all the time - I've seen one other car set up like this and irt really makes a difference on whether your lights can be seen, either at a distance or at night.

formica

I have a Thule four bike 2" reciever rack. I've had four bikes on it without a problem. I leave it on all the time so I wish I'd waited a year for the ones that fold down at the top too. I always worry about impaling someone when backing up...... Great idea about the trailer lights though, never thought about that.

 

[sircrashalot]

Unfortunately...

Thanks for the reply. Anyplace to buy the 1upUSA rack at any kind of a discount? The reviews section linked me to Beyond Bikes, but they didn't seem to have them.

Because of the cost margin that 1up has on their products, they don't sell to retail stores.