Best 2015 Subaru Outback Wagon Bike Racks

Thule Hitch Bike Racks Review - 2015 Subaru Outback Wagon

Zach: Hey everybody, Zach here at etrailer.com. Today, we're taking a look at the Thule Helium hanging style bike rack on our 2015 Subaru Outback wagon. This is going to be a really nice upgraded hanging style bike rack. What I like about hanging styles is they're a little bit more affordable, even for a higher end version like this one, but it gives us a little bit better ground clearance with our bikes, so we don't have a big platform hanging out. Now the downside to hanging style is it gets a little bit more crowded. The nicer frames, carbon frames, those aren't ideal for hanging style because one, you're putting a lot of pressure on the frame, but two, they're close and you might scratch them.

Reese Hitch Bike Racks Review - 2015 Subaru Outback Wagon

Hi there Subaru owners. Today, in your 2015 Subaru Outback, we're going to be taking a look at Reese's Explore, hanging style bike rack. Our bike is secured to the frame. Here at the top, we've got two hook and loop fasteners that secure in place to the rubber pads, found beneath. The rubber pads have channels in them. The rubber Mount has a channel inside for your brake cables to pass through.

Yakima ForkLift Roof Bike Racks Review - 2015 Subaru Outback Wagon

Jake: Hey, guys, Jake here with etrailer. Today we have a 2015 Subaru Outback. We're going to be doing a test fit of the Yakima ForkLift Roof Mounted Bike Rack. This is going to haul your single bike to and from the trails whenever you might be going riding by yourself. It's going to have two different attachment points. You're going to have a nice strap here in the back on our platform holding your rear tire in place, and on the front, it's going to have this pin that's going to lock your forks into the front here.

Kuat Hitch Bike Racks Review - 2015 Subaru Outback Wagon NV22B

Jake: Hey, guys. It's Jake here, with etrailer. Today we have a 2015 Subaru Outback. And we're going to do a test fit, show you some of the cool features on this Kuat NV 2.0 bike rack. This is going to be a platform-style bike rack, and right away you're going to notice, and it's going to stand out, kind of pop to your eye, compared to those other bike racks. It's going to have a gloss powder coat finish, so it's going to look good.

Thule Archway Trunk Bike Racks Review - 2015 Subaru Outback Wagon

Today on our 2015 Subaru Outback Wagon, we're going to be testing the Thule Archway XT-2 Bike Rack, part number TH9009XT. We already have a bike installed on the rack. Let's go ahead and take a closer look and show off some of the features. First off, we have this integrated cable lock at the end of the bike rack. You'll wrap it around the bikes, and then attach it to this point here, and lock it in place to secure your bikes to the rack. The cradles are padded, as well as the straps.

Thule Hitch Bike Racks Review - 2015 Subaru Outback Wagon

Today on our 2015 Subaru Outback Wagon we're going to be test fitting the Thule T2 Classic two bike platform rack for 2" hitches, part number TH9044. We already have a bike installed on the rack. Let's go ahead and take a closer look and show off some of the features. Our first and most prominent feature is the fact that this can tilt away from the vehicle with the bike still attached. To do that we'll come up to the front here and pull this pin so once we release this lever it actually will go all the way down. Then, releasing the lever, holding onto the bike rack, we'll let it come down like so, and now we have full access to our rear hatch and plenty of space on either side to get what we need. We'll lift it back up into position, like so, and then reinstall that pin. How this bike is actually attached to the rack, we'll have two points of contact and no frame contact at all.

Swagman Hitch Bike Racks Review - 2015 Subaru Outback Wagon

Today, on our 2015 Subaru Outback Wagon, we're going to be test fitting the Swagman Dispatch 2 Bike Platform Rack for 2" Hitches, Part Number S64684. We already have a bike installed on the rack, let's go ahead and take a closer look and show off some of the features. The bike itself is gripped to the bike rack by 3 points. We have a padded frame hook up at the top, and it's padded to make sure your bike doesn't get scratched up once it's being installed. Then we have these wheel straps on either wheels. Now the wheel cradles are adjustable on the arms of the rack by loosening and tightening the knobs here. They're adjustable to assist with fitting different size bikes as well as just fitting bikes in general onto the rack. The bike rack itself does have a raised shank here, so clearance is not going to be an issue between the bike rack and the ground no matter how low your hitch sits.

Softride Element-Parallelogram Hitch Bike Racks Review - 2015 Subaru Outback Wagon

Today on our 2015 Subaru Outback wagon, we are going to be test fitting the Softride Element Parallelogram Tilting 4 Bike Rack for 1-1/4 and 2" hitches, part number SR26248. We already have a bike installed on the rack. Let's go ahead and take a closer look and show off some of the features. Now the most prominent feature of this bike rack is the fact that this can tilt away from the vehicle with the bike still attached to give rear hatch access. This is pretty unique for a hanging style bike rack. To do that we have this black handle on the passenger side of the mast. You pull that out like so, let it tilt forward, and now we have rear hatch access to get whatever we need. It is far enough away that we have plenty of space on either side to do so. We will just push this back up into its original position until you hear that click. Now, how this is actually held in place, we are going to have to rubber straps up at the top to hold it down.

Pro Series Hitch Bike Racks Review - 2015 Subaru Outback Wagon

Today on our 2015 Subaru Outback Wagon, we're going to be test fitting the Pro Series Q Slot, Platform Style 2 Bike, 2 and 4 Bike Rack for 2" Hitches, Part Number PS63138. We already have a bike installed on the rack. Let's go ahead and take a closer look and show off some of the features. How the bike is actually attached to the rack, we're going to have 3 points of contact. We're going to have this padded frame hook up at the top, and it's padded to make sure that you're bike won't get scratched up once it's being installed. We also have these hook and move straps on both wheels to hold those in place and the wheel cradle themselves are adjustable by loosening and tightening these knobs here. The movable length of the arms and this is to accommodate different size bikes and to assist with loading. The bike rack itself has this nice raised shank that comes on up here so clearance is not going to be an issue between your bike rack and the ground.

Curt Hitch Bike Racks Review - 2015 Subaru Outback Wagon

Today on our 2015 Subaru Outback wagon we're going to be test fitting the Curt 4-Bike Platform Rack for 2" hitches, part number C18086. We already have a bike installed on the rack, let's go ahead and show off some of the features. The most prominent feature of this bike rack is the fact that you can tilt this away with the bike still attached. To do that, there are two pins here at the base. We'll pull the larger of the two pins first, lifting up slightly on the rack. Then we'll loosen up the smaller of the two pins.

Thule Hitching-Post-Pro Hitch Bike Racks Review - 2015 Subaru Outback Wagon

Today on our 2015 Subaru Outback wagon, we're going to be test fitting the Thule Hitching Post Pro folding bike rack for an 1-1/4" and 2" hitches, part number TH934XTR. We already have a bike installed on the rack. Let's go and take a closer look and show off some of the features. The cradles themselves are padded and have these indentations here so your brake cables and such can actually fit through there without being crashed against the frame once you install your bike. They are padded as well so your bike will not get scratched and they are movable along the arms here. That's to assist with loading and with space in between the bikes. It grips your bike at 3 points.

Yakima SwingDaddy Hitch Bike Racks Review - 2015 Subaru Outback Wagon

Today in our 2015 Subaru Outback we'll be doing a test fit on the Yakima Swing Daddy hanging style four bike rack. That's part number Y02464. I've already got it loaded up on the outback just to give you a good idea of what it looks like and how it's going to work with our four bikes. Real quick, right away, I want to point out one of its best features. It has the ability to swing out around to the side of our vehicle so we can gain access to our rear hatch. We'll start right here with our black lever.

Yakima HoldUp Hitch Bike Racks Review - 2015 Subaru Outback Wagon

Today on our 2015 Subaru Outback, we'll be doing a test fit on the Yakima HoldUp Platform-Style 2 Bike Rack. That's part number Y02443. I've already got it loaded up on the Outback just to give you a good idea of what it looks like and how it holds our two bikes. It actually holds our bikes with zero frame contact. We have this wheel hook going over our front wheel putting down pressure into the front wheel cradle, and then for the rear we have a strap going over the rear wheel and it rackets down into place, so that's going to be nice and tight. One of the best features about this bike rack is it has ability to tilt away from our vehicle so we can gain access to our rear hatch. Go ahead and make your way over to the center pin here, pull out, and then we can get into our rear hatch.

Kuat Hitch Bike Racks Review - 2015 Subaru Outback Wagon

Today on our 2015 Subaru Outback, we'll be doing a test fit on the Kuat NV 2.0 platform-style 2-bike rack. That's part number NV22G. Now, it's also available in a 4-bike rack, and that's part number NV22G-NA22G. I've already got it loaded up on the Outback, just to give you a good idea of what it looks like and how it holds our bikes. It actually holds our bikes without any frame contact at all. We've got this large wheel hook going over our wheel, putting down pressure into the front wheel cradle, and then here at the rear, we've got a strap going over our rear wheel and keeping that in place.

Saris Trunk Bike Racks Review - 2015 Subaru Outback Wagon

Today on our 2015 Subaru Outback wagon we're doing a test fit of the Saris Super Bones trunk-mount 3-bike rack. That part number is SA802. Now we already have our bike secured down. We're first going to show you how we do that. We have three straps in place, two on our frame here and one as our anti-sway in the back. We're going to start by removing those straps.

Thule Passage Trunk Bike Racks Review - 2015 Subaru Outback Wagon

Today on our 2015 Subaru Outback wagon, we're doing a test of the thule passage 2 trunk mount bike rack. That part number is TH910XT. We already have our bikes secured down here. We're first going to show you how we secure it in place. We have 2 cradles with 3 straps, 2 on our frame and 1 as our anti-sway in the back. We're going to pull down and lift up on those straps, and then we can pull our bike off and set it off to the side. With our bike out of the way, we can take a few measurements.

Thule Trunk Bike Racks Review - 2015 Subaru Outback Wagon

See on this 2015 Subaru Outback Wagon, we're going to be test fitting the Thule Raceway Pro Bike Rack, part number TH9001PRO. As you can see, we have a bike already installed on the rack. Let's go ahead and take a closer look and show off some of the features. Now, it's going to have three points of contact with your bike's rim to attach it to the rack. We're going to have two straps up top here and one down here to the side, which is going to be an anti-swing strap, to keep it from going back and forth, possibly hitting the bike rack itself or the bike in front of it. Let's go ahead and take the bike off and set it aside. Now with the straps, once you take them off, it's always a good practice to put them back into place because you don't want to lose them while you're driving. All right. Now with that done, we'll go ahead and give you a quick measurement, and it's going to be how much distance is added with the bike rack actually installed on the back.

Thule Hitch Bike Racks Review - 2015 Subaru Outback Wagon th912xtr

Today, on this 2015 Subaru Outback wagon, we're going to be test fitting the Thule Roadway 2-Bike Rack, part number TH912XTR. As you can see, we already have a bike on the rack. Let's go ahead and take a closer look, and show off some of the features. First, how the bike is actually attached to the rack. You're going to have 3 points of contact with your bike's frame. We're going to have 2 straps up top here, and 1 strap off to the side, which is going to act as an anti-sway strap to keep it from going back and forth, possibly hitting either the bike rack, or the bike in front of it. Let's go ahead and take the bike off, and set it aside.

Swagman Hitch Bike Racks Review - 2015 Subaru Outback Wagon s64650

Today, on this 2015 Subaru Outback Wagon, we're going to be test fitting the Swagman XC2 Bike Rack, part number S64650. As you can see, we already have a bike installed on our rack. Let's go ahead and take a closer look, and show off some of the features. How this is actually attached to the rack, you're only going to have one point of contact with your bikes frame, and that's going to be the frame hook up at the top here. It's nice and padded, so your bike won't get scratched or damaged while you're loading it up. It also has two wheel cradles here, now if you want straps for that you can go on to etrailer.com to find some, or use your own bungee chords, whatever you feel necessary to secure your bike.

Kuat Hitch Bike Racks Review - 2015 Subaru Outback Wagon ts03B

Today on this 2015 Subaru Outback Wagon we're going to be test-fitting the Kuat Transfer 3 Bike Rack, part number TS03G. The first feature we like to show off is its unique ability to actually tilt away from the vehicle with all the bikes already installed. To do that, there's this latch up at the front here you're going to push down with your hand, or, while holding onto the bike rack, push down with your foot. Let it fall down. Now you have access to your rear hatch to get whatever it is you need with plenty of space on both sides. To put it back up in its original position, you simply take the bike rack again-never the bike-push up, until you hear it click with it going back into place. Now it's secure.

Swagman XTC4 Hitch Bike Racks Review - 2015 Subaru Outback Wagon

Today on our 2015 Subaru Outback, we'll be doing a test of the Swagman XTC4 platform style four bike rack. That's part number S-6-4-6-6-5. I've already got it loaded up on the back of the Subaru just to give you a good idea what it's going to look like. As you can see, it's a sizable rack; we're able to put three more bikes on here. We can fold down the center mast on the other two here when not in use. It secures our bikes in three spots. We have the hook going over the top tube here, putting down pressure into the two cradles, front and rear; and then we have our rubber straps going between the spokes, keeping our wheels in place. Let's go ahead and remove the bike.

Kuat NV Hitch Bike Racks Review - 2015 Subaru Outback Wagon

Today on our 2015 Subaru Outback, we'll be doing a test fit of the Kuat NV platform-style tilting 4 Bike Rack. That's part number N105-107. I've already got it loaded up on the back of the Subaru just to give you a good idea of what it's going to look like. It secures our bike in two spots. We have a wheel hook up front here that puts down pressure into the cradle keeping the wheel in place and then we have a rear wheel strap going between the spokes of the rear wheel and then tightening down through the buckle here. All in all, there's no frame contact which is really nice as well. One of the main features about this bike rack is it can be tilted away from our vehicle with all four bikes loaded up. We'll come down here to this gray lever ...

Yakima FullTilt Hitch Bike Racks Review - 2015 Subaru Outback Wagon

Today on our 2015 Subaru Outback Wagon we're going to be doing a test fit of the Yakima Full Tilt Hanging Style 4-Bike Rack, part number Y02462. If you look up here, you'll see we already have our bike in place, and that's so you can see what it would look like once you have the cradle arms extended and everything in place as well as your bike. Let's start off by getting a few measurements. Our closest distance will be first, and that's going to be from this spot here to the back side of the bumper, at about 4 1/2 inches. Our overall distance that we've added to the vehicle, to the rear of the cradle arms here from the bumper, is going to be about 36 inches, and our ground clearance, from the bottom side of the tensioner and fin here, at about 10 1/2 inches. Now let's move up top and talk about the straps. You're going to have your zip strips that are going to be securing the frame of your bike in place. You'll have two on top which are going to act as your frame straps and then you're going to have the one on the side where your down-tube is for your seat post.

SportRack Hitch Bike Racks Review - 2015 Subaru Outback Wagon

Today on our 2015 Subaru Outback Wagon, we're going to be doing a test fit of the SportRack Ridge Swing Hanging Style 4-Bike Rack, part number SR2415. As you can see, we already have our cradle arms extended, with the bike in place, so you can see what it would look like once you have everything in place and installed with your own bike on it. First things we're going to do is get a few measurements. That first measurement is going to be from our closest distance first, which in this case is going to be from the front of the T-handle and tensioner here to the back side of the bumper. It's going to be just over 2 inches. About 2 1/16 inches.

Curt Hitch Bike Racks Review - 2015 Subaru Outback Wagon C18064

Today on our 2015 Subaru Outback Wagon we're going to be doing a test fit of the Curt Premium 4 hanging style for a bike rack part number C18064. As you can see we've already got our bike up here and in place so you can see what it would look like once you have yours all the way fully extended and with a bike on it. It does come with that nice design where it's going to offer the most stability for two large bikes and two small bikes if you have children's bikes as well, or it's going to be good for all four of the same bikes. But it's just going to come with that shorter cradle arms up top to do so. Now that we got that, let's go ahead and move down and we're going to talk about a few measurements first. Our first measurement is going to be down here on the front side where our shortest distance is. That's going to be from the front of the T-handle bracket to the back side of the bumper.