 Yakima TerraGate 2 Bike Rack
Downside: Extends bike rack several feet out behind your vehicle Rating: ^^^^ (4 out of 5 peaks) Ideal User: Full size SUV.
With SUVs starting to look and feel more like Mac trucks, for
many folks getting your bike off your rig is becoming a big pain in the booty.
Recognizing the trend of ever-bigger SUVs, Yakima has continued to expand
their line of hitch-mount bike racks. These racks attach to your vehicle's
trailer hitch - providing ease of access to your bike, skis or snowboards. Better
yet, Yakima's Swing-Away technology pivots the rack away from your vehicle
allowing unlimited access to the back interior of your vehicle without the need
to unload your bikes and tear down the rack. A major improvement to traditional
rear-mounted racks.
The Yakima TerraGate 2 is the best value in Yakima's line of Swing-Away hitch racks. The rack carries up to two bikes with the adjustable and padded Rattler Strap, with cradles that snugly and lovingly hold your bike tightly in place. The cradles include stabilizer arms that swing down tight against your down tube providing additional torsion stability from your bikes swinging about on the drive in. By adding additional BedRoc cradles, you extend the TerraGate 2 to four bike capacity. The built-in stops on the rack prevent your babies from banging and scratching each other. We installed Yakima's TerraGate 2 on our test vehicle, a 2002 Ford Escape. Our Ford Escape comes standard with a 1 1/2" hitch mount, which we upgraded to 2". Most full size SUVs come standard with a 2" mount. Unlike some others, Yakima's 2" receiver hitch fits solidly into your hitch mount and includes a threaded hitch pin for additional security. We recommend having a professional Yakima dealer to do the install and ensure your precious bike makes it to the trailhead. Although for easy on/off, Yakima's QuickHitch, allows tool-free installation of your hitch mount rack in minutes. In addition to time/hassle savings of climbing all over your roof to get your gear, the TerraGate 2 does not require removing your bike's front tire, saving further time for the trail. Our most favored advantage is bike cleaning. After an early season mud ride (Oh yeah in the NW it is always Mud Season!), we simply hosed down and cleaned our bikes, while they remained mounted snugly on the TerraGate rack. Rear mounts also prevent the mucking up of your roof and also keep all the summer bugs from ending life mashed to your frames while mounted on your roof as you speed to the trail. The TerraGate 2 offers integrated bike frame stability, Convenient foot-pedal release triggers and easy swing-away access to back of vehicle. The rack also allows upgrade to four-bike capacity with Rattler Strap Cradles.
msrp: $319
— Reviewed & Written by Greg Prosl, MountainZone.com Staff |
