Super Rack
Written: Jun 25 '05 (Updated Jul 11 '05)
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Pros: Built very well, Reasonable Price, Ease of use, Functionality
Cons: Security hardware (hitch lock, or deadlock) aren't free.
The Bottom Line: I definitely recommend this rack. It is made exceptionally well and is very easy to use...and looks great. It does the job.
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| ceshelborne's Full Review: Yakima KingPin 4 Rack |
I purchased my Yakima Kingpin 4 Rack about a month ago and absolutely love it! The instructions were very easy to follow and I was very impressed with the quality of the item. This is my first Yakima purchase, but I did quite a bit of research before I bought it.
I had pretty much narrowed it down between the Yakima 4 Kingpin and the Thule Hitching Post Pro 4 Hitch Rack, but felt that the Yakima had the better rack for the money. Also, the Kingpin rack already contains hardware to minimize bike sway/movement (Switchblade technology) but it appears that Thule wants you to pay for this feature with their "no sway cages."
Another deciding factor for me choosing Yakima over Thule was that it seems to be far easier to get Yakima hardware (replacement parts) as opposed to Thule hardware. This could simply be based on the fact that I live in Alaska. The representative at REI said that the Thule and Yakima hitch racks were pretty much identical in every respect, except they had a few minor differences in the way the bikes are secured on the rack.
I am really impressed on how easy it is to mount the bikes onto the rack and secure them.
This hitch fits pretty much any type of bicycle and the dual-arm design eliminates the need for you to have to purchase a top-tube adapter (for most bikes).
I also love the fact that BOTH the carrying arms and the frame fold down to allow for more room, and easy access to your rear door. When the bicycles are off, I can fold the carrying arms down flat against the frame. Also, with the bicycles unloaded, I can fold the frame down toward the ground and gain access to the back of my truck bed. This is extremely important when camping! :-) I don't have to remove my bicycle rack to unload my truck.
The rubber straps stretch exceptionally well and allow you to really crank down on the frame of your bike to eliminate any bouncing, swaying, or rubbing against the other bikes. I haven't actually loaded 4 bikes onto the rack at this time (the most I have loaded is 2),but I am really curious on how well 4 bikes will fit on the rack....with 2 bikes on the rack it is definitely getting full! I'm sure it has something to do with the arrangement of the Yakima mounting hardware, and that I just need to slide the hardware back a little more to make room for the other bikes if the need arises. Once you get used to positioning the bicycles you will find little tricks to make more room on the rack (raise or lower the seat on some of the bikes and rotate two of the bikes handle bars backwards..etc..) Yakima may have included tips for this in the owners manual, but I didn't get that far in the manual. Once I got the bike rack installed, the bikes were loaded and I was gone!
I removed the unused rubber bands from the rack (the other 2 placeholders are empty) to keep them from getting lost, stolen, and away from the weather. I don't recall them being that expensive to replace (I think they were around 6.00 or so for 3), but it would definitely put you in a bind if someone stole them and you couldn't locate any at the store. For me it's probably more difficult since I live in Alaska.
If you purchase this rack and want to leave it on your vehicle a good percentage of the time, I definitely recommend getting the Yakima Deadlock kit for the unit($40.00). This allows you to lock the Yakima rack to your hitch as well as lock the bicycles to the Yakima. I believe you can purchase these two components separately, but then you will be dealing with two separate keys. It is best just to cough up the $40.00 and get them both at the same time.
These two security devices give me a little more piece of mind when I make a run into the store and have to leave my bikes mounted in the Kingpin rack. Initially, I purchased a regular cable bike lock from Walmart in the hopes that I could just use it to lock the bikes down to the Kingpin, but the way the Kingpin is designed it makes this very difficult. You would probably have to purchase two separate cable type bike locks and loop them together. Otherwise the cable will simply slip over the rack due of the rack's design.
The only gripe I have about the Deadlock security design is that the cable isn't long enough to allow you to leave your bike on the rearmost brackets (when only carrying one bicycle). It is designed to lock the last bike into the frame, which will essentially lock all of the bikes into the frame because you can't remove the rear bikes without removing the first one. If I am only carrying one bicycle, I would prefer to have the bicycle on the rearmost bracket and locked into position...simply because there is less bouncing and swaying when you are carrying your bicycle across rough terrain. You can play around with the Yakima Rack placeholders/brackets and get your bike positioned fairly far back in the rack and lock it into place, but the cable doesn't reach far back to reach the first set of brackets...not a biggie though.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 200.00
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Epinions.com ID:
ceshelborne
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Reviews written: 2
Trusted by: 0 members
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