Softride Element Hitch Mounted Bike Rack Review

Review of a Softride Element Hitch Mounted Bike Rack

Today we are going to review the Element bicycle rack from Softride, part number SR26248. A few quick facts about this bicycle rack are it is designed for a 2 inch receiver hitch and also for a 1-1/4 inch receiver hitch with the included adapter. And for a 1-1/4 inch receiver hitch, you can only use it on a class II receiver. The Element bicycle rack does come with two anti-rattle devices, one for the 2 inch version and one for the 1-1/4 inch adapter bar. The best part about the Softride Element is that it features a tilting parallelogram design. That basically helps keep the arms, that hold the bikes, level at all time. It also makes things a lot easier to load up when it is at a lower point towards the ground. The arms that hold the bicycles do fold down for easy storage and also are adjustable from a narrow stance to a little bit wider stance. That way, you can accommodate kid bikes as well as adult bikes. The cradles that actually hold the bikes are made of a rubber material that gently support the frames and also have groves built in them to accommodate the cables that are on a lot of bikes. And also the cradles come with rugged tie-down straps that hold the bikes in place while you are going down the road. 0:58

For this demonstration, we are going to use the bicycle rack in a 2 inch configuration but, for the 1-1/4 inch application, we will go ahead and show you how to change it out. It is actually really simple. This is the original bolt that will hold the bicycle rack to the hitch, which we will not need anymore. And this insert right here, you can just pull that from the inside out. And we are just going to use a plain screw-driver. And we are just going to barely catch the end of the plastic and part of the nut and just pull it on out. And then, this plate goes on the inside. Then you take the 1-1/4 inch adapter bar that goes on the bottom here and then your bolts run through. And then we are going to tighten these bolts down with a 5/8 socket. And with that, your bicycle rack is ready for service in a 1-1/4 inch receiver hitch, class II. 1:46

We will go ahead and install it on a typical 2 inch receiver here. The first thing you notice when we install the bicycle rack is that you have two hitch pin openings here and they are both threaded to use the anti-rattle device. The pin threads into place and basically bolts the bicycle rack to the hitch. Depending on how much clearance you have between the bumper and the bicycle rack, you can either use one of these two holes. That way, you can keep the bicycle rack as close to the vehicle as possible. We will install our anti-rattle bolt and then you can tighten it down with a 7/8 inch wrench. Alright, we are just going to snug it down and it is pretty secure. Alright, let us go ahead and load up a bike and show you how it works. Now, we are going to take advantage of the tilt on this bicycle rack to make it a little bit easier to load them up. 2:27

Disconnect the straps here and we are just going to put a bike on the end. It is always a good practice to load your bikes up with the heaviest ones closer to the vehicle. But, to keep things easy to see, we will just go ahead and put this one on the end for now. You can also see how the cable fits nicely into the groves of the cradle. Now we will take our straps and just put them into place. Then once you have all of your bikes loaded, you can simply push everything back together. The bicycle rack also comes equipped with four blue little straps. What those are designed for is to keep the bikes from swaying while they are on the bicycle rack. And your next bike will actually get tied off to your first bike. With that, our bicycle rack is loaded up and ready to go. And there you have it for part number SR26248.

All right, at this point we will actually go ahead and install a bicycle on the bike rack and give you a little better idea how it looks and how it gets tied down to it. We are actually going to install it on the end here for a little more clarity and visibility so you can see what is going on. But generally, when you want to load the bikes up on the bicycle rack - and this applies to all racks - you want to keep your weight as far forward as possible. All right, next we will demonstrate the best feature about this rack that makes it different from everybody else that is out there. It is how it tilts away from the vehicle. This whole arm will stay level as you pull it away from the vehicle. And you can see how the bike still stays level? And you have access to the back of the vehicle. Lastly, the Softride bicycle rack comes with a set of four straps. What you want to do is, you just wrap it around the bike rack and the bike itself, and this helps keep the bike from swaying around a little bit. It helps keep the bikes from swaying around. What you want to do is after you do your first bike, when you put your second bike on, and that chain links to the next one. All right, and with that, that covers it for part number SR26248 from Softride, the Element Bike Rack.