Carrying 4 bikes

[hunta]

I have the 'classic' style OEM bike rack. It's regularly pressed into use to carry four mountain bikes - two kids' 24"wheelers and two adults' (a 26" and a 29er).

It's usually a bit of a faff getting the first three on, but not too bad. The fourth one on the other hand is an absolute pig. I really struggle to get the last bike on without it coming into contact at the bottom of the front forks making it impossible to get the top tubes close enough for the final frame-to-frame arm to fit. I've tried all combinations in terms of order of loading and always the same result.

Anyone else have this issue? Are there alternative, longer arms available or perhaps courses available in the dark arts of bike loading?

 

[Broadside]

Don’t constrain yourself to leaving the 4th bike wheel trays in the same place. I’ve shifted mine across to make fork contact less likely. Even though the spacing on this rack between bikes is more generous than most it can still be tricky.

I spent an hour one day working out the exact tweaks and changes to load all the bikes easily and wrote it all down. I’m not usually like this but in this case it makes loading 4 bikes stress free, just follow the instructions each time without having to remember and it’s done very quickly.

 

[hunta]

Don’t constrain yourself to leaving the 4th bike wheel trays in the same place. I’ve shifted mine across to make fork contact less likely. Even though the spacing on this rack between bikes is more generous than most it can still be tricky.

I spent an hour one day working out the exact tweaks and changes to load all the bikes easily and wrote it all down. I’m not usually like this but in this case it makes loading 4 bikes stress free, just follow the instructions each time without having to remember and it’s done very quickly.

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Awesome, thank you. I see in your instructions that you have a note to twist the handlebars... Are you loosening the stem each time on every bike?

 

[Broadside]

Awesome, thank you. I see in your instructions that you have a note to twist the handlebars... Are you loosening the stem each time on every bike?

Yes that’s right, I just loosen the stem by undoing the side pinch bolts, the top cap pretensioner can be left alone so it takes a few seconds for the bikes that need it but makes loading a lot easier.

 

[drinfinity]

I have once managed to win the bike jenga game, with 4 enduro bikes. The important part is to stagger them as much as possible - wheels right at the end of the rails, on alternate ends. I think I did turn one bar round, with a torque Allen key to nip it back straight afterwards. Unfortunately I didn’t make a note of the SOP, even though that would be my day job, because I was an idiot, so I tend to stack them differently each time depending on the order they come out of the cellar.