Yakima DoubleDown 4-Bike Hitch Mount Rack

Product Description

, Yakima Spare Tire Carrier ">, Thule Spare Me 2 Spare Tire Carrier ">, Lund 601015 Aero Bag Waterproof Roof Top Carrier ">, Heininger 3020 Advantage SportsRack Soft Top Weather Resistant Roof Top Cargo Bag ">, Not only does the Yakima DoubleDown 4 Bike Rack carry four rigs to the trailhead, it also folds out of the way so you can get into the back of your car without going over the back seat. When you're not hauling around a bunch of cross country bikes or big downhill rides, the DoubleDown's support bars fold down to and say out of the way. Yakima used their SwitchBlade anti-sway cradles to keep the bikes from bumping into each other like kids fighting in the back seat.Product Features

• Bike Capacity: 4
• Compatibility: 1.25in hitch, 2in hitch
• Locks Included: no
• Recommended Use:
• Manufacturer Warranty: 1 year

This review is from: Yakima DoubleDown 4 Bike Rack (Sports)
I picked up this rack after reading a few reviews online. It is well constructed and attractively finished. Everything seemed great until I actually mounted the bikes and went on a trip. After about 20 miles I stopped to get gas an found the rubber cradles shifted. The rubber cradles had migrated along the support arms, so instead of the bikes being parallel to each other they were at an angle and now rubbing. Now I have some new scratches on the fork. All cradles were clamped as tight as the design would allow. In an attempt to fix this I tried putting a few turns of electrical tape around the metal support arm so when the cradle began to migrate it would be stopped by the barrier of tape. No success. The cradle just pushed the tape down the arm. I took the rack back to the store where purchased. They had no suggestions other than to say they had heard this before. I decided to exchange it for the Thule Roadway 914XT. It appeared to have a better cradle design. I have not had the chance to try the new rack but keeping my fingers crossed. As an extra step I emailed Yakima about the design challenges. They never responded so I assume there is no fix.

Edit: Just received this reply from Yakima:

The Double Down was designed this way so it had adjustability as to where the bikes were able to sit so when different sized bikes were placed in the rack they could all fit together. Our higher end racks such as the Flipside or the Swingdaddy have different arms that allow more positions for the bike to sit that are fixed instead of moveable on the bar, this eliminates that movement as well.

Thank you for your inquiry!
Yakima Support