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This 5-bike rack is perfect for a family who rides occasionally and has bikes with different frame sizes and styles. Rotating cradles keep bikes level to prevent ground clearance issues. Tilts without bikes loaded for cargo area access.
Features:
Specs:
Individual Rotating Cradles
The Swagman XP has cradles that secure your bikes by the top tube, down tube, or seat tube. Each cradle rotates to ensure your bikes hang level on the rack, reducing the risk of ground clearance issues. You can also adjust the spacing of each cradle to help keep your bikes from bumping into each other.
Soft rubber padding inside each cradle protects your bikes from scratches and scuffs. The padding has grooves on the surface that prevent your brake and shifter cables from getting pinched.
Easy Tilting for Cargo Area Access
The rack tilts down without your bikes loaded for easy access to your vehicle's rear cargo area.
To tilt the rack down, pull out the pin above the base of the rack, lift the mast out of the groove above the pin, and lower it. When you're ready to go, lift the mast up and re-insert the pin.
A threaded hitch pin is included to help eliminate rattle in the hitch receiver during transport. It fits the threaded hole at the end of the shank. To tighten the pin in your hitch, use a 5/8" wrench (not included). Clips are also included to keep each pin in place.
You can install the rack in a 1-1/4" hitch or in a 2" hitch. To use it in a 1-1/4" hitch, simply remove the adapter with the included Allen key.
A lock on the hand knob secures your bikes to the rack. Once locked, the hand knob will spin freely so a would-be thief can't operate it.
An anti-rattle hitch lock (sold separately) is available to secure the rack to your vehicle.
Available Adapter Bar
If you have a women's bike, kid's bike, or any other bike without a straight, horizontal top tube, you will need an adapter bar (sold separately) to properly mount your bike. The bar fits between the seat post and handlebar stem post of your bike to create a top tube so your bike hangs level on the rack.
Average Customer Rating: 4.4 out of 5 stars (129 Customer Reviews)
This 5-bike rack is perfect for a family who rides occasionally and has bikes with different frame sizes and styles. Rotating cradles keep bikes level to prevent ground clearance issues. Tilts without bikes loaded for cargo area access.Bike carrier works great. It is built well and does what I expected.
Purchased this after reading some of the other reviews and Q&A on etrailer - i hadn't thought about the fact that how the crossbars on the bike are configured makes a difference - 3 of our 5 bikes wouldn't have fit on a two bar bike rack because the openings are two small (I ended up measuring them before selecting a rack). I still ended up having to use the adapter for one of them which works great. Installation was easy (I had uhaul put a receiver hitch on my 2012 odyssey the week before) - you do have to pull a pin on the bottom of the rack when you tilt it, which some might consider an inconvenience compared to some of the other brands that just have release levers, but i view it as less stuff to break compared to those racks. If you're going to have it on a lot and park in a garage, consider the fact that it doesn't collapse because it does add significant length to the vehicle. 5 bikes are definitely doable if you set it up correctly. I think its the most versatile rack you can get based on the way it holds the bikes and would definitely recommend.
Pat D.
8/17/2015
i actually just put it on again this morning - we love it, i think the only thing i would say is that i wish there was some way to keep it a little tighter in the receiver hitch. the bolt tends to loosen after a bit of driving - nothing unsafe, just makes it sway and bounce a bit more and needs to be retightened.
Great rack--very solid and great for a variety of bike sizes/shapes. I had to grind a bevel on the end of some of the pins to make it easier to insert them, and I had to chop one of the mounts down (see pic) to allow mounting of our tiniest bike (a Woom 3), and to allow our second-tiniest bike (a Cleary 20") to go over the mount to be mounted in the second position in.
There's no other rack I'm aware of that would allow us to haul these five bikes around--this has been great for us, and I'd absolutely recommend it.
-1 star for the directions with pictures so small that there might as well not be pictures at all--it's absolutely impossible to tell what's happening in the diagrams, which fortunately doesn't matter much, as it's all fairly obvious. Except for the threaded 1/2" pin--I still have no idea what that's for . . . maybe some cars have threaded trailer mounts.
William
1/26/2022
One year in, still working wellits a tight fit and always a bit of an elaborate ritual to get all five bikes mounted, but this rack gets the job done, and Im still not aware of anything else that can do what it does. Figured out what the threaded 12 pin is for, tooit threads into one of the mounting holes on the rack and actually holds it a good bit more solidly than the other pin.
Good value. With creative positioning, I put 1 large adult bike with a straight crossbar, two adult bikes with angled crossbars, and two kids bikes with angled crossbars - with no crossbar adapters on any of them (by tilting the bike holders).
One complaint: the locking bike clamp handle stinks. I plan to buy a non locking replacement handle. The original required constant key pressure to unscrew the handle - you can't just not lock it because it essentially locks when the handle gets tight. Unscrewing via a flimsy key - when the handle is tight - may lead to a broken key and lock.
After several uses this bike rack has held up very well. I like it's versatility, you can adjust the clamps to work for any style of bike. My only complaint is the locking clamp. When it is locked it can still be unscrewed and when it is unlocked it is difficult to unscrew.
I will describe the few issues first: 1) the bike rack does not fold down. It tilts away from the car, but it doesn’t fold down when in use. So, the giant bar is always sticking out from your vehicle unless you remove the hitch. 2) the weight limit is 100 lbs total. For 5 bikes, this is typically NOT enough. My kids bikes (20”) are 20 lbs each, my bike is 30 lbs. 3) cross check the price. Prices from Swagmans own site are better than listed here. So I did price match.
The construction is sturdy enough and the clasps look good, but we returned for the first two issues above.
The rack is reliable and strong. We have made several long trips with 4 and 5 bikes. Never have to worry about a strap breaking on some models, the metal bracket and screws are strong. Happy with our purchase.
I love this bike rack! went on a 2400 mile trip and the bikes stayed on and did not wobble at all. We easily fit 4 bikes on comfortably. have not tried to put 5 bikes on rack. Just alternate the bikes, (one left-right the next right-left and slightly angle them depending the type of bikes you own. gets easier to use each time.
The bike rack is not as great as I thought it would be. Its super hard to get our bikes onto . Even with tightening, the cradles move around the post. Even as spaced as far apart as they can go, there still isn't enough room to easily open the cradles to get the bikes on/off. Its really hard to tilt down to get into the back of our van. I'm pretty bummed about the purchase as it was a big expense for our family of 6 where both parents lost jobs due to Covid. We thought we'd take the kids on more bike rides with our extra time, but so far the bike rack has been more trouble than it was worth.
Very good bike rack. We got it to hold all 5 of our bikes when we go camping. We've only put 4 bikes on at one time. I dont know if 5 bikes could even fit on it. It might have to be arranged just perfect to fit all five.My daughters bike is small enough we put it in the truck box. So for now it works perfect.
I have ordered several items thru etrailer and have been very satisfied every time. This product is very solidly built and should easily support the weight. I got this one because it is simpler with less joints that could fail. If you plan on carrying adult mountain bikes I would suggest getting the 5 bike rack for 4 bikes. I can barely fit my families 4 adult size mountain bikes on here and I also found it impossible to get the bikes on and off with the water bottle cages on the bikes. So if you don't mind taking those on and off before transport then I would recommend this rack.
- Very pleased with the ease of order and timeliness of shipping. It was straightforward and very quick
- The bike rack was easy to assemble and looks good. We recently used it for the MS150 in Columbia, MO.
- The only complaint I have is that it moves too much when driving. I tried to use the strap that comes with it, but that makes no difference it the rack movement.
This has worked exactly as expected - good for two trips into the Rocky Mountains with five bikes loaded. Very pleased.
Excellent. My families 5 bikes fit on this rack perfectly. I was going on vacation and needed this fast...ordered from Amazon first, but after 2 days they still had not shipped, so I ordered from etrailer and they got it to me in 3 business days. Very satisfied!
Excellent product! We get compliments all the time
Great design. Industrial strength.
good but expensiveI like it we use it. i think it was over priced.
Great product -
So far, so good. I just received this last week and installed it on the back of my fifth wheel. We have four bikes (2 adult bikes and two kids bikes), and fitting all four of the bikes on the racks took some creativity but it was possible. The rack seems very sturdy, but we will see if it stands the test of time as we are full-time RVers who travel about 6,000 miles per year. Our last bike rack (Swagman XTC4) was completely worn out after about 14,000 miles of use on the back of our fifth wheel.
I hate this bike rack. For a heavy is at it, 40 lbs, it is junk, wobbles and moves around like crazy. If you need an overpriced boat anchor, this will fit the bill. Better to cut the rope when you leave it. Terrible tolerances. I bought the chincy locking ring they want to sell you and it did absolutely nothing. Don't put a nice bike on it because you'll be sorry. Honestly I try to avoid etrailer whenever possible at this point. Why can a hitch fit well but this is really undersized and the fit it terrible
The service from etrailer was awesome.
I ordered on a weekend and yet by Sunday night I had an email saying the product was shipped. On top of that the shipping was upgraded at the same cost.... FREE!
The Bike Rack is great. Went together easily and is very heavy duty.
The only problem I have and it was anticipated is that my bike frame is not round, it is oval shaped and it barely fits into the gripper. But as I said I expected it to be close from the product description.
This rack should give me many years of service and I highly recommend it and etrailer!!
Works good can be a little hard to get first bike on but if it’s a full size bike it works fine
mostly good
pro's:
easy to install.
easy to open the swing bar.
Heavy duty construction
cons:
no receiver pin... nor does description indicate this
needed a pin that reduces movement of the hitch as well as locks the hitch. We handled this with the anti-rattle trailer hitch.
takes a long time to mount and dismount the bikes due to lots of turning the knobs.
mount is mediocre at best for our high end road bikes which do not have consistent thickness on the frame. We handled this by wrapping a thin piece of cloth around the skinnier section of the bike frame.
Lock: I doubt it is secure. I imagine I can get a hammer and bash it into the key hole of the lock and easily turn the knob to release the bikes... If it is to be used as security, the lock should be a higher quality. Probably OK to use while going to a bathroom at a gas station, but not much more.
All in all, the only thing that I would definitely recommend the manufacturer change is a mounting system that is faster and more flexible for bikes with non-regular frame diameters...
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Jeff
10/24/2023
Bike rack works great, can easily haul four or five bikes securely. Its a heavy duty rack. Sometimes it would be nice if it would fold so it doesnt stick out so far when not in use.