TESTED: Yakima GateKeeper Evo

Words: Hayden Wright
Photos: Gerard Lagana

Here at AMB we’ve spent more than our fare share of time doing the ‘hitch mount shimmy’ over winter with so many bike racks on test. That’s why I was stoked to see Yakima’s new GateKeeper Evo delivered to my doorstep. While hitch mount racks serve a great purpose for a wide array of vehicles, it’s hard to go past the no fuss functionality of being able to throw a shuttle pad on the back of your tailgate – should you be so lucky as to own a ute. I’ve had the previous generation GateKeeper for a few years now so was excited to see if the new version had addressed a few obvious flaws on my own GateKeeper. 

TESTED: Yakima StageTwo Tray Bike Rack

Installing the Gatekeeper Evo

The GateKeeper Evo is available in two sizes to suit both medium (Australian) and large (North American) tailgate widths, and in two colours. I mounted up the medium ‘Shadow Black’ pad to our Navara with no issues. It is held on with three large straps, which wrap around the tailgate itself. These straps were plenty long so even those with the thickest or deepest of tailgates do not need to worry. As is with the previous version of this pad, Yakima have included what they call the HindSight cover. This allows quick and easy access to your tailgate latch or to uncover your reversing camera. One negative here is that the HindSight cover does not have a half-folded option – it’s either all the way down or all the way up meaning if you want to uncover your reversing camera you lose one bike’s capacity. 

Strap in with confidence 

Typically, this style of bike transport is most popular with the downhill crowd because they are easy to use and applicable in both on and off-road formats. Across most brands the straps are fixed with Velcro; while being quick to use and cheap to produce Velcro tends to lose its ‘hook’ after a year or two. Following this inevitable break down of the Velcro’s function, the shuttle pad is as good as useless, and you’ll see riders reverting to using occy straps to keep their pride and joy in place. Thankfully, Yakima have done away with the Velcro and have instead chosen to use G-hook buckles on the new GateKeeper Evo. This change to a metal hook and strap interface allows for a much more secure, and longer lasting fit. Not only does it allow you to really crank up the tension in the strap itself, but the use of a mechanical anchor rather than Velcro means once the strap is done up tight, it stays tight! 

Strap length has also been increased and the downtube protector is now movable, allowing for a broader range of bike compatibility assuming it is within the 25kg weight limit. Undoing the strap is just as easy as before so there really is no downside I can see. Yakima have also included an integrated locking loop to the bottom right of the GateKeeper Evo – allowing you to lock your bike to the shuttle pad itself. While not entirely theft proof as the pad itself is still strapped to your vehicle, I would think it would be secure enough if you need to nip into the newsagents pre or post-ride to grab the latest issue of AMB.

Verdict

This new shuttle pad from Yakima is an improvement from tip to tail. It provides a more secure strapping mechanism than its predecessor without sacrificing any of the easy functionality that we grew to love. The decision to go away from the use of Velcro and instead use metal hooks with longer straps means you and 4 of your friends can load up the back of your ute with the confidence that the bikes are going to stay put and no one’s top tube is going to get thrashed by a wayward brake lever. 

RRP: $249.00

From: yakima.com.au

Hits:

• Improved strapping mechanism
  – Greater downtube capacity
  – Integrated bike lock loop
  – It isn’t plain black

Misses

• No half fold option for the HindSight cover