TESTED: Yakima TwoTimer bike rack

Are you an innie or an outie? It seems like a personal question, but whether you put your bikes in the car, or outside of it makes a pretty big difference when packing up for a road trip, or just driving to the trailhead. Yakima have been in the game a long time, and their HighRoller racks have graced the top of my Subaru for well over 18 months, reliably transporting bikes on freeways, dirt roads, and in the gridlock that is Sydney. Having been an ‘innie’ for so long it was a revelation having more room for luggage – and mates – inside the car, and keeping muddy bikes on top of it.

For longer trips though, the benefit of a rear-mounted rack are immense. From fuel efficiency, down to a reduced chance of slamming bikes into your garage/hotel driveway/McDonalds Drive-thru or anywhere else with low clearance.

Yakima have the HoldUp, which we reviewed a little over 12 months ago, but the new TwoTimer is substantially cheaper – and potentially a more versatile rack. It’s a hitch mount rack, and will fit either the large 2” or smaller 1.25” hitches – right out of the box. The hitch mount gives more stability than a towball mounted rack, and it will hold bikes up to 20.5kg each. Best of all, the size and shape of the wheel trays on the rack, and the adjustability of the arm that secures them, means you can fit bikes of all different shapes and sizes on there.

The base bar is stable, and sits low behind your car.

Unlike a basic tow ball mounted rack, your frame isn’t bearing the load. Two individual arms hold the bikes into the wheel cradles, which adjust for wheelbase length and how you have positioned your bikes.

The wheel cradles will support fat bikes, and kids bikes – thanks to a wide range of adjustment.

Fitting the rack up is fairly straight forward after bolting the base section to the bike carrying unit. Fitting it to your car does involve a bit of crawling on the ground to get it tightened up in the hitch. This is where the stability comes from, so it’s worth doing it right. If you’re likely to take the unit on and off, get a ratcheting spanner. I found it easier to load the inner bike first, drivetrain towards the car. But chances are you will need to experiment to figure out the best packing scenario depending on bar and seat height, and frame size of bikes you’ll be loading. The hooks are padded that push down on the bike, and in using this rack (and my roofrack) I’ve had less damage to my bikes than I’ve had putting them in the back of the car.

Your bike gets compressed – and locked – onto the rack.

While I didn’t have a kid’s bike, or a fatbike to test Yakima’s claims of versatile fitting – the rack did securely fit a cyclocross bike, 29er XC bike, 27.5” trail bike, and a road bike. Just not all at once. They do make a FourTimer rack for that though.

There’s a few small touches that are nice, like the built in bottle opener, and the safety catch besides the spring-loaded release for securing the rack in position. The rack locks to your vehicle, but the hooks also lock, which is great for peace of mind when you stop for a post-ride meal and can’t keep an eye on your wheels.

You’ll always find a bottle opener with Yakima.

Does that mean it’s perfect? Well, no. Like the Thule rack we tested in Issue 149, there’s no easy fitting area for a licence plate, which you legally need to have fitted in Australia. You will also need to get a light board for most states, but you’d be best checking your state road laws – or that of the states you’re driving through.

There’s a tiny bit of rocking, but nothing that was unsettling. I found it really easy to load bikes on and off, especially once I knew what order they fitted best. But I can’t say it’s as good as the HighRollers on the roof. I’m happy to leave those racks on, but didn’t feel the same leaving this on the back of the car. I also couldn’t get the boot of my wagon open with the rack loaded, it does tilt away – just not enough. It should offer enough clearance for a sedan’s boot to open.

All in all, the Yakima TwoTimer is a great value and secure rack, that’s capable of carrying a variety of bikes safely. Given my past experience with Yakima, if this rack doesn’t suit your needs, it’s likely that something else in their range will.

Hits:

• Good value
• Very versatile fitting
• Easy loading and unloading

Misses:

• Still hard to access your luggage
• Not as easy as roofracks

RRP: $449

From: Yakima.com.au