This heavy-duty, 3-bike rack is perfect for the serious cyclist and occasional riders. U-shape frame makes it easy to load and the tiered mounting positions prevent bikes from banging into each other. It's also safe for carbon frames.
Features:
Specs:
Note: May interfere with bikes with front fenders.
The SplitRail has ratcheting hooks that grab your bikes firmly by the front wheel - not the frame. It's perfect for carrying carbon bikes or bikes with a custom paint job. To load a bike, simply place your front wheel in the cradle, rotate the arm up and over the wheel, and press down firmly on the ratcheting hook.
The sliding rear-wheel straps allow the rack to accommodate bikes with wheelbases up to 48" long. The ratcheting, rubber straps hold your bikes' rear wheels securely in place on the tray and fit tires up to 3" wide.
Most platform-style racks force you to reach out and over the rack to load your bikes or walk around to the back of the rack to access the bike closest to your vehicle. The U-shaped frame allows you to walk inside the rack and get close to your bikes to lift them. Also, it won't block your backup camera when it's folded up.
The mounting positions are tiered so your bikes don't bang into each other. This helps prevent your bikes from getting scratched or dented.
The rack tilts down - with or without bikes loaded - so you can access your vehicle's rear cargo area. Because the tilt-release lever is located at the front of the rack, you don't have to worry about crawling through bikes or squeezing between the rack and the vehicle to pull it. When you raise the rack back up, you'll hear a click to indicate it's secure.
The lever also lets you fold the rack up for storage when you're not transporting a bike. This is great for parking in places where space is limited such as a parking garage
It installs with a threaded, anti-rattle hitch pin. Simply slide the shank into your 2" hitch receiver, insert the threaded hitch pin, and tighten it down with the included tool. This will reduce noise and movement while the rack is installed.
Average Customer Rating: 4.3 out of 5 stars (59 Customer Reviews)
This heavy-duty, 3-bike rack is perfect for the serious cyclist and occasional riders. U-shape frame makes it easy to load and the tiered mounting positions prevent bikes from banging into each other. It's also safe for carbon frames.
This rack is strong and well-built. It's easy to fold up and lower down, and easy to load bikes on to. I also like that the hitch arm has a 90-degree bend, which raises the rack up a good bit above the trailer hitch. This allows the rack to easily clear obstacles, including when backing out of our steep driveway (some other racks have problems with this).
A couple of minor complaints:
- The rear-wheel ratchet straps are hard to release. I which they used a cam-style ratchet strap like Thule racks.
- Some rust-colored water has come out of the tubes after having the rack folded up after rain. I haven't seen any true issue due to this, and I'm not sure what the design could do to keep 100% of water out of the rack tubes, but ideally they'd be sealed somehow.
One other thing to note is this rack doesn't work on bikes with fenders (the rack description says this), due to the way the arm holds down the front wheel. It needs to make contact with the front tire and fork to hold the bike in place.
Very good. It works. They may have it as good as practically physically achievable. We’d prefer less sway in transit, but it might be that tighter tolerances would make it to difficult to Mount in the sleeve. It would be good if there were built in constraints for the arm bars for application while the rack is not not in use for bike transit so they don’t swing and bang. We’re using bungee chords, but as you know they’ll inevitably slip out of your hands when tightening and then hit something hard. Something akin to the tire latches attached to the arm bars might be the best solution. Very good work. It has brought our family some joy. Thank you!
Jenny N - 12/21/2021etrailer.com is great! Fast shipping, good prices, and their installation videos are super helpful!
Jeremy H - 08/24/2021Product was ordered on a Saturday, shipped on that Saturday night, and arrived Wednesday (I paid for Express 3-5 day shipping). Single compact box. Assembly and first loading of bikes was straightforward and quick. I have an adult mountain bike, a 24 in kids bike, and a 20 in kids bike -- they all fit snugly and easily. I haven't driven yet, but I'm not at all concerned about wobble or bike security given the videos I saw and the assembly instructions/process.
One issue: the rack arrived with a significant scrape (see pic). Did not happen in transit because the packaging was intact. I covered it with electric tape and will touch it up with Krylon. Not worth shipping back and replacing. I did call E-trailer's 800 number and spoke with an agent within 2 mins and he credited me $10 for the purchase of the Krylon, no questions asked. Great experience with customer service at E-trailer.
It has been a great bike rack. Love all the features. The tilt feature is fantastic that allows to open back hatch while bikes are loaded. Also, the slope of the rack works great for different size bikes and backing up on slopes. It’s a great rack! Highly recommend
Holly H - 09/20/2021Review is for the Westside slope 3 bike rack. So far, I really like the rack. Have only used a few times and nothing long distance but seems to be well built. Easy to put together. I like the staggering height design to avoid handle bar interference. I have a cannondale lefty fork with three inch tires and fits well. Although, three inch tires is about the limit for the little ratcheting strap that hold the back tire down (but could easily substitute a small bungee cord). My son’s 20” bike fits well too. I searched around for a lot of different racks at different places and the Rocky Mounts Westside slope seemed to be the best bang for your buck. I also got the lock kit. etrailer.com was also by far the least expensive and shipping was great.
Scott - 09/05/2020A little bit difficult to put together (instructions werent as clear as they could be) but overall works well and looks good.
We’ve had this rack for about a year and we’ve been happy with it. On occasion, a bike gets loose (could be that we didn’t secure it well enough), but one has never fallen off the rack.
Overall it works good. My biggest complaint is that it’s heavy. No way my wife would be able to put the bike rack on the hitch herself. Sometimes wish we would have just got the cheaper two bar system that’s light and easy to put on. But the bikes obviously move around more on those styles.
This rack was perfect for what I was looking for. Wanted to move up from my old hanging style rack, but didn't want to pay $6-800. I also didn't need 4, only 3, which you don't see often.
Was pretty easy to install and got it all installed in under an hour. All pieces were included and it is a very solid bike rack! Definitely recommend!
I am happy with the product. Bikes are secure and stability on the road is good. I wonder about the durability of the plastic parts, but so far no problems. Tilting latch is hard to release and easy to get pinched if you are not careful. Easy enough to mount and unmount as needed.
Best bike rack we have ever owned or heard of!...very secure and super fast to load and unload bikes!...this rack does has a little heft to it, but it is built solid and built to last!..if you buy anything else, you are making a mistake.
Fantastic website and great reviews, this really helped me decide which rack to get. I feel the rack is a great compromise of price, functionality, and security. The rack is heavy quality steel, I have no concerns going down the interstate with 3 bikes on the back of my 2019 Ram 1500 Crew cab. Assembly was really easy and straight forward. The tailgate almost opens all the way but hits the Ram logo on the tailgate. Not a show stopper for me.
Bike rack is definitely made with quality in mind... there is nothing cheap about it! Would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a rack that’s easy to load and transport bikes securely.
The rack is excellent. Sturdy and stable. Assembling it was a task and a half. Sketchy directions and unclear pictures made it difficult. It does take a bit of hand strength to use the ratchet arms and the pull tab to lower and raise the rack. Fortunately, I'm always biking with my husband. Not sure I could manage alone. But over all I'm happy with its performance and the ease of getting the bikes on it. I also like that they will not be able to scratch each other during travel.
It was a little bit more of a pain to assemble than I expected. They powder coat the bolt holes and it was a complete pain to bolt down a set of torx bolts. Also I wish there was a way to keep the hooks securely in place e when they are folded down. It seems they may be able to inadvertently swing freely under hard braking and damage my vehicle. Other than that it is fine.
It was a little bit more of a pain to assemble than I expected. They powder coat the bolt holes and it was a complete pain to bolt down a set of torx bolts. Also I wish there was a way to keep the hooks securely in place e when they are folded down. It seems they may be able to inadvertently swing freely under hard braking and damage my vehicle. Other than that it is fine.
So far excellent quality and ease to load and unload Bike!
A great bike rack at a great price poin t.
Review from a similar WestSlope in Hitch Bike Racks
Just installed. Instructions were pretty easy to follow and it seems more solid that the swagman xc-2 it replaced as I needed a wheel mounted option for a carbon bike and a step thru bike. Hope it holds up well.
Review from a similar WestSlope in Hitch Bike Racks
Love this rack! was the best option I could find for a reasonable price. Needed a flip down platform rack and am very happy with this. I have it on a 2017 Chevy Bolt. I can't give 5 stars though because the lock set I ordered with it broke after less than 4 months and now I can't lock my bike. See my review of that for more info.
Review from a similar WestSlope in Hitch Bike Racks
Plastic wheel tray broke during transport.
5 stars otherwise
Brooke M - 04/28/2022
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