Mountain Magazine – Yakima HoldUp

There is simply no better way to carry your full suspension mountain bike (or any bike, really) than an upright style hitch mount rack. Thanks to a pivoting arm and deep wheel trays, nothing touches the frame of the bike, there’s no need to remove the muddy front wheel and place it inside your rig, and loading and unloading is minutes faster every time—and easier since you only have to lift the bike to knee height.

YAKIMA HOLDUP – First off, these racks are fairly similar and they’re both top quality without getting pretentious about it. Initial setup time was similar for both racks (20 minutes tops). To load you simply stand the bike upright in the wheel trays and bring the pivoting arm down on the front wheel until the ratchet clicks securely once or twice. Slip through the rear tire strap and you’re ready to drive. The downsides of the HoldUp? Tilting the rack down for tailgate access requires that you remove a large safety pin and release a second pull pin. The rear tire ratchet straps need to be adjusted each time you load your bike. And the overall finish is a bit dull. But two features on the Yakima really stand out. First: the rear wheel trays pivot to accommodate different size wheels and bike lengths with no adjustments—that’s slick. And when you fold up the rack arms to travel without the bike, the pivoting arms slide securely into notches on the rear wheel trays. There’s also a bottle opener built in. $449; yakima.com