Video Transcript for A Closer Look at the 1 Bike Add-On for RockyMounts GuideRail Bike Rack

Hi everyone, it's Evangeline here at etrailer. And today we'll be taking a look at the add-on for your RockyMounts two-bike platform rack guide rail. So if you have the two inch version of the GuideRail, and you wanna turn your two bike into a three bike rack, this is gonna be the way to do it. So this is going to work the same way as your GuideRail. You have the same specs for your wheel base or your wheel sizes. This just adds an extra tray.

Another thing, though, is you do lose on weight capacity. So with the two bike version there's 60 pounds per bike. Once you get that add-on on there, you only have 45 pounds per tray. I do like how having multiple bikes up there, still work together. So you can see this has a true stadium feature, where your trays are higher than the other.

This gives you a lot more clearance for things like handle bars, seats, pedals. You can move them back and forth on the tray, to get the best clearance. And when you work with multiple bike bike racks, like three or four, you get to a really tricky part with taking the bikes off. But this one helps out with that. So what if you're carrying everyone's bikes You have your friends, your family, and you need a drop person off Well, they have the heaviest bike, so it's closest to the vehicle.

Rather than taking all of the other bikes off so you can get your friend's bike, you can actually just take one bike off at a time. And, to do so, you first need to loosen the levers by pushing in and then you release the mount out. And the way this works is you can push this all the way down to the ground. That gives you full access here to pull on your bike and get that out of the way. So that's their solution for the difficulties you get from more bikes.

Now, when you have bikes of similar sizes, similar weights, similar wheel bases, those can get tricky. Now definitely check out our full demo of the RockyMounts GuideRail, if you want an in-depth review about that. But your add-on is gonna work pretty much the same way as your GuideRail. Now when securing your bikes on your bike rack, you have those wheel mounts, but you also have some locks. So these are gonna be chain locks. The one included with your two bike rack is this longer chain, and the one included with your add-on, is the shorter one. So it really is designed for just that single bike. So this works as an extension piece, meaning you put your shorter chain in through the locking chain, bring it all the way to the end, wrap this around your bikes, and then loop it into itself before you lock. Since your end cap is the same, your keys are the same too, so unlock the end cap, so this pops out. Wrap your chain around your bikes carefully. Then you're gonna get your short end, fit that through the large loop, and then this is gonna secure into the rack. Push the lock core in, and now you're tight. So you can see how this creates a strong and sturdy chain around your bikes. Now I do not recommend driving around with this on, just because the road vibration can cause harm to your frames. So when you're parked somewhere, or you're concerned about where you are parked, just put this chain on, lock it down, keep the key. I personally would use my own extra cable lock, just because this large chain lock is kind of short and I'm not able to run it through the front tires of my bikes. So using them both together would be helpful. But it's nice to know that this gives you an extra lock that can be used with your current key. The add-on, though, does not add onto the tilt away lever. So notice we have the same location as with the two bike. So you are gonna have to lean in, and reach in to get to that lever. And once you pull the lever, you then have the weight of your three bikes coming down at you. But notice how with the normal height of my car, it still doesn't reach the ground. It's definitely an awkward move though. So I appreciate the 45 pound per bike max capacity, because that would be pretty heavy with a lot of electric bikes coming down. But it's nice to know I can tilt away, because then you can open up your hatch, lower your tailgate, open up your trunk to grab whatever you need from inside your vehicle without taking your bikes off. (hatchback door closing) Now when lifting up, I do recommend holding onto the frame of the rack, and not the frames of your bikes. That way you have good support. When you bring it up, it snaps into place. And just like that, you're ready to drive again. With more bikes, you also have more length added to the back of your car. So measuring from the center of our hitchpin hole on the hitch receiver, to the end of the rack, that's going to be 44 inches of length. As for ground clearance, so my hitch receiver is 10 and quarter inches off the ground. And this sits 25 and a quarter inches off the ground. So you have 15 inches of rise from the bottom lip of your hitch receiver to the bottom of the rack. You've seen how it looks like here in our studio, but let's take it out onto our test course to see the rack in action. So we're going through our slalom, which has the quick turns, sharp turns, U-turns, and this is pretty solid. I'm not seeing any excessive sway, side to side. Approaching our test course speed bumps. So we start with the alternating speed bumps, which has the side to side movement. And the bikes are holding on strong. There's a little bit movement for the wheels, but definitely sturdy. The up and down movement from our regular speed bumps shows the up and down of the shank. So the add-on did not add any extra movement to the bikes on the rack, so it has the same sturdiness and the same pros and cons of the GuideRail. Now let's start by taking these bikes off, so that we can take a look at the rack and later on show you how to install it. So remember that lever we use to tilt this rack away. Well, you also use that to fold the rack up. Slightly heavier, now that there's three trays. But this folds into the upright position. This will change for your backup camera and your rear window, so let's take some measurements. So for your closest point, that center of the hitchpin hole to the closest point on the rack, that's gonna be six inches away. And your furthest point, center of hitchpin hole to the end of the rack, is 16 inches of length, added to the back of your car. The height of the rack, I measure from the bottom lip of the hitch receiver to the top of the rack. That's gonna be 36 and a half inches. And that will help you figure out if it will cover your license plate, your backup camera, or your rear window. You can see the benefits of having a three bike platform rack over a two bike. So, maybe your family has expanded. Maybe your kid is ready to go and join you on the trail, so all three of you can now hit the road. Or maybe you have more friends and family and you wanna be able to carry your bikes around. So some bike racks say that their add-on process is easy and it's simple and you do it real quick. This one actually is. You can keep the add-on in your garage, put it on, takes about five minutes, and suddenly you have a three bike platform rack. So, let's take a look at that process. You get all the tools included, so you get a five millimeter and a six millimeter Allen key, or hex wrench. You have all of your little bolts as well. And you just need to start with your two bike rack, installed in your hitch. You can bring out your chair, your rolly chair, your camping chair. It's pretty easy. Start by removing your end cap, that has two bolts on the side. Once those are out, you can just pull this out. With our large, mass assembly, we're just gonna tilt it forward so you can see the large blocks. And that way we can push those large blocks into our rack. This will just help line things up, to keep it straight before we start threading. If it's pushed all the way in, your holes will line up. And then you can loosely thread these side bolts. These came from the side of your end cap. Now you can tighten down the add-on. So we'll start with the two middle bolts. Next, tighten down all four side bolts. Now you can get your trays, and slide them in until the middles line up. So do the left and the right tray. Now put the middle brakes in over those holes. So once all those holes are lined up, you can then pop the larger bolts in and through. I like to just slightly tighten them so it's not skewing one way to the other. And finally, pop that end cap in and tighten it down with those two screws. I like to just double check all the bolts and make sure they're all tight. But after that, that's it for the install. You we're able to set up your add-on real quick. So if you like the two bike GuideRail, the add-on is a seamless experience. You use the same key, you use almost the same chain. Or you can use your old chain too. You have that same experience for the mounts, as well as the wheel base, wheel capacities, et cetera. What you do lose out on though is the weight capacity. So having 45 pounds per bike, versus the two 60 pound bikes can make a difference if you're carrying around extra heavy, electric bikes. Also, this is a single bike add-on, while other bike racks may offer a two bike add-on, instead of just one. So, hopefully this video helped you out. If you wanna carry around up to three bikes, you like the GuideRail and it's design, you have the two inch GuideRail version, and you don't have extra, extra heavy, electric bikes, then this is a great add-on for you. And if you have more questions, check out our product page, our pictures, and our descriptions where we write out all the specs and measurements to help you find the best fit. This right here was a look at the add-on for your RockyMounts GuideRail two bike platform rack at etrailer.com. My name is Evangeline and I hope you enjoyed the journey.