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Product Description
The Yakima KingPin Bike Racks allow you to carry two, four or five bicycles. With the bikes off the rack, you can tilt the unit down to give you access to most hatches and doors.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
52 of 52 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great for three bikes, but may be a challenge for four,
By
This review is from: Yakima KingPin Bike Rack (Sports)
We needed a way to haul three adult-sized bicycles from our home base to various cycling paths. So I visited a number of local stores to see what my options were. I settled on the Yakima BigHorn 4 as the best option for my budget, then discovered through some online searching that I could purchase the next model up, the Yakima KingPin 4 bike rack for a bit less than the BigHorn 4 would run me in a traditional retailer.
The KingPin 4 folds features a fold-down mast, a must convenience to allow access to a vehicle's rear hatch or door. Although I would not consider a bike rack without this feature, be forewarned: once you lower the rack while it's loaded with three bikes (more about the fourth bike claim follows), you will be hard pressed to single-handedly reposition it and slide in the lock or bolt. There is too much weight on that pivot point. I soon learned, therefore, that it was easier to have the mast folded up, not down, when loading the bikes. The dual bike arms are a must, allowing for more stability and easier loading and unloading. The bike arms fold down as well, though this option, while useful, is not essential in many cases. (These folding bike arms are the main difference between the KingPin and BigHorn racks.) A series of bike cradles and rubber "chainstraps" stabilize and anchor the bikes. You can slide theses cradles along the tubular arms to allow sufficient room to avoid any rubbing or scraping if you are carrying three bikes. (I looked as some less expensive racks that required hand-tightening one or more big bolts to tighten clamps that held the bikes. That system seemed like a royal pain and huge annoyance.) Despite the name and billing, I'm less confident in recommending the KingPin4 for transporting four bikes. I think it's possible, but would require great care to avoid scraping paint or entangling pedals and spokes. Plus, I prefer using four "chainstraps" per bike for a bit of insurance, so if you want to carry four bikes, I would recommend springing for another set of these. The unloaded contraption weights about 32 pounds, so it's not too heavy as you carry it from the basement or garage to install it. But be careful of the arms or you might shatter the glass in a door or an outside light. Also, you need to do a bit of assembly out of the box, so allow a good 30 minutes to set up and test the rig before using it the first time. The drawings in the instructions did not seem to match what I was actually looking at when I had everything before me on the floor, so I spent an extra few minutes considering the options. This assembly is not difficult---it's just that adage "never do anything for the first time" may stump one for a bit. I am using this rack with a two-inch hitch, and I purchased a locking pin to replace the bolt that is shipped for attaching the rack to the hitch. I also run one of the cable bike locks through the bike frames and around the spanner between the arms to add a measure of security. During our first foray, a 100-mile trip each way, the bikes and rack swayed just a bit from time to time, but overall, the sway was not a problem. Having a hundred extra pounds jutting up behind the rear window will change any vehicle's handling and hamper visibility through the rearview mirror, so be prepared to change your driving style as needed. To conclude, the KingPin 4 has performed well. We could load and unload three bikes in about five minutes, and neither the Durango or bikes were scratched during transport. But, again, I would suggest that this rack is great for three bikes, but may be a challenge for carrying four.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great carrier for the money,
This review is from: Yakima KingPin Bike Rack (Sports)
For the last several years we have struggled to fit bikes into the back of our mini van to take them places. This year we decided to get a bike rack. After much research I decided on the Yakima Kingpin 4. It has been a real pleasure to load the bikes up and take them places. The tip-out feature allows the rack to be on the vehicle and have the back door swing up without a problem. When there are no bikes on the rack we have no problem leaving the rack on. It makes no noise and mounts solidly to the hitch receiver. The bikes mount solidly with the way the mounts have the 90 degree attachment to the seat tube. The only additional thing I have added is a bungee cord around the frame and front rim to keep the wheel from pivoting while in transport. We have only used the rack with 3 adult bikes to date. The 3 bikes fit easily but I do think that 4 bikes will be a bit of a trick. If fitting four adult bikes is a must I would probably go with the Kingpin 5 to have a little extra space.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great rack but wobbles a bit,
By b_ong (New York USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Yakima KingPin Bike Rack (Sports)
Used the bike rack on a weekend trip and it was great. The anti-swing cradles definitely work well. As others indicate, the rack can hold 3 bikes for sure, but the 4th one is a bit tight. I had 4 adult bikes on the rack and there was not much room between the bikes; the bikes were touching each other. Thus cause the bikes to scratch.
The other concern that I have is that the rack is a bit loose in the 2" hitch receiver. It wobbles a bit especially w/o the bikes on the rack. I'm not sure whether it's intended to be that way or not. It also causes the bottom (male) piece of the rack to get scratched up rubbing against the hitch receiver. The tilt down feature works well also. It's useful when you need to get something from the cargo area w/o taking off the rack. Although you still have to take the bikes off first, otherwise, you'll need a second person to hold the bike up to prevent them being pinned from each other due to gravity. The other issue I had was that the rack doesn't allow you to use different locks other than their own proprietary lock; at least without hacking it by removing the piece that keeps the bolt in place. Once it's removed, I was able to use a regular hitch pin lock. 2115|R3H2MQVPZFU8U4;2115|R1B6KCD25K0TD2;2115|RA6QMALUXEDWJ;
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