Home » Car Sports Racks

This Yakima Double-Down 5 bike rack is not all that it is cracked up to be. It swayed terribly. Every time we went over a roughness in the road the whole rack of bikes bounced up and down. Finally, the extender bars were only 26" long. This did NOT accommodate our children's 5 bikes. We could only get 4 bikes on it. After a few weeks of being very frustrated, I took it back to the store and told them that it swayed far too much. I also told them that it did not hold 5 bikes.
While there at the store, I noticed a Yakima King-Pin 5 bike rack. This is the Yakima that preceded the Double-Down. I measured its arms and they were 31" of bike-carrying length. The store allowed me to trade the Double-Down for the King-Pin.
I am so much happier as the King-Pin does not sway at all. It fits much sturdier and solid. Also, I have 5 extra inches of bike carrying length which is what I needed to get that fifth bike on it.
I do not recommend the Double-Down. If you can locate a King-Pin (which may be hard since the Double-Down is replacing it), it will work for you so much better.
Overall, we like the Yakima over other leading brands as the bike cradles come with the rack. With other brands you have to purchase these cradles separately.

This is a great product. It doesn't take away from gas milage because it goes on a hitch on the back of the vehicle instead of increasing wind resistance on top. One warning. Only bikes that are 20" and greater have a frame large enough to fit onto the rack. Even with the 20" bikes, the bottle cage may have to come off to make this happen. Our 24" bikes fit well with the bottle cage on.

I've had this rack for about a month and taken it on a couple of long trips (200+ miles) and a number of trips around town. The rack's best attribute is that it holds the bikes very steady and secure at highway speeds. We ride quite a bit in the warmer months and the rack allows easy access to the back hatch when folded down, so it is possible to leave it on all the time which is convenient. It is fairly heavy, so getting it on and off the car is not easy. Standard road bike frames (diamond frames) go on and off with ease. Getting bicyles with non-standard frame geometries (very common for mountain bikes) on and off can be a challenge. You cannot fit 5 non-standard frames on there, but 3 fit fine.

It wasn't inexpensive after including hitch installation and purchasing a lock for it, but I'm very happy with the rack and I would give it a recommendation if you transport diamond frame bicycles and want a stable and secure rack.

Holds the bikes securely. Love the 3 points of attachment for the bikes. Just wish there was something included for the wheel. Works great for our adult bikes. Kid bikes don't fit but we knew that before we purchased it. We wanted room to grow! We've had it for a month & are very happy.

This is definitely a quality product but it was not cheap either. Everything on it like the fold down arms, and the tiling down features worked very very well. My only problem with it was getting my daughter's 24" bikes thru the two arms and thru the mounting points. The mounting points are very good does an amazing job. The bike really don't swing. And the rug coating on the mounts does a great job of not damaging the bike's finish (unlike my prior bike rack).

I did not try to mount 5 bike on this rack, so I can't give an opinion as to how it works with 5 bikes. However, I did get 3 bikes on it and it looks like I could easily mount a 4th bike, but it will take some doing to get a 5th bike on it. So, for those who just have 3 to 4 bike to deal with, I recommend getting this 5-bike model because it will be easier for you to deal with.

We haven't even left on our trip yet and I struggled trying to get five bikes on the 5 Double Down. The rack seems fine and sturdy, but I bought this rack so that I could fit all five of the family bikes on the back. Needless to say, we will be placing one of the bikes in the interior of the van. Not happy!!
I purchased the Yakima over the Thule based on the length being longer hoping for the best. Granted I have two 26" bikes and three 24" bikes, but after all of the reviews I read I was sure that I would be able to somehow work all five on. The five bikes are mountain bikes with some of the odd designs which posed a problem. I did purchase one of the tube tops for the girls 24" bike which seemed to help. To me, it seems this rack is for the common straight across road bike which would allow for the easy mount and anti-sway cradles to work.
As someone else wrote, "if you are going to mount three bikes, get a four bike rack. If you are going to mount four bikes, get a five bike rack." I wish there was a six bike rack because I would purchase it for my five bikes. If there is an extension for the five Double Down, would someone let me know?
I'll let you know how the rack holds up during the trip. For the way home, I may try something different by removing wheels and pedals which seemed to be a lot of the problem during the mount.

Our family recently picked up the Yakima Doubledown 5-bike hitch mount rack so we can take all our bikes on camping trips, etc. For me, it has to be easy or the product will rarely be used for it's intended purposes. I can say it worked out with flying colors.

The doubledown was very easy easy to put together and the directions were easy to follow. The bike rack is sturdy and well made. We have a 1 1/4" hitch and it went on smoothly. We used it to go camping in an unimproved campsite with moderately rough dirt roads. It handled the roads well.

Putting on My 18" Men's bike, 17" women's bike, two kids bikes with 20" tires (a girls, and a boys) was a breeze. The men's went on first, then the women's, then the boy's on upside down, and then the girls. Zero delays or issues. I could see five bikes be frustrating because of the tight space. For 4, it's perfect.

Our bicycle usage will go up because of this rack

The previous reviews helped a lot. The rack was advertised as being capable of carrying 5 bikes but since I knew I had my wifes bike and kids bikes I really only expected to get 4 bikes on it. Overall, it fits my bikes really well (road bike and adult mountain bike) and with some creativity most other bikes fit. I also agree with other reviewers that you should really plan on adding some additional rags and/or tie downs if you don't want your bikes scratched. I found myself securing the bikes to each other at a few places to ensure they would not rub/bang against each other while traveling. This worked great. I did not receive enough of the Yakima tie downs for 5 bikes which is likely gonna bother me at some point... but for now I am only putting on 3-4 bikes anyway.

The dilemma of wanting a 5 bike rack is that they are nearly impossible to find in stores. I'm a guy who really likes to get hands on before making a purchase, so it was gut wrenching spending this kind of $$ site-unseen. However, 3 weeks and 1,000 miles into having the DoubleDown, I'm very happy.

What I like:
First things first, I've got 2 adult bikes, 2 24" kids bike, and 1 16" bike on this thing. It takes me about 15 minutes to load it now. And I do have to get creative. What I LOVE about this rack is that the brackets and straps are infinitely adjustable and I've been able to get even the irritatingly small 16" on there solidly. Pedal placement is critically important putting on 5 bikes, so be patient, take a deep breath, and occupy the kids elsewhere while you work on it. But I can't imagine it's any different with any of these racks.

Second, it's solid. I installed a Draw Tite 2" Hitch (which incidentally I bought on Amazon as well) on my 2003 MPV at the same time I bought this, so it was a lot of new hardware carrying a lot of $$. I had a pit in my stomach the first trip we took to Tahoe from the Bay Area with this thing fully loaded. I looked in the mirror every time we went over a tiny bump, but there is very little play or bouncing. Several trips later, there hasn't been the slightest bit of play or tightening required.

What I don't like:
First, there are no rings/loops/cutouts to loop a bike lock through. Forgive me for not wanting to spend more $$ to buy a lock to put on the end of the arm. Yakima could have helped a lot by putting something on there to run a cable lock through.

Second, it sticks out very far from the hitch. I think this is to allow SUV's with a separate window from their trunk to open, but on our fixed window MPV it just means it scrapes the ground easily. I am considering cutting it down a few inches and boring a second hole, but something tells me that is ill advised.

Third, it's possible to swing it down fully loaded, but it's not recommended. Yakima tells you outright not to do it so it's not like they're misleading you or anything. I'd just like to be able to do it.

All in all, I'm very happy with the rack. I would have liked to have played around with more of them before buying, but I took a gamble and it was a good buy. The negatives keep it from getting a 5 star rating, but it does what it needs to do very solidly.

I bought this after looking at the reviews on this site and elsewhere. I had a Bighorn 4-bike rack and loved it (except it didn't fold down) but needed to load 5 bikes. It is a very well-built rack. Despite folding in two places it is strudy and when tightened I noticed very little sway--no more than my Bighorn which was a solid unit. My only complaint is that 5 bikes is a challenge, at least if some of them are kids bikes. 5 adult bikes may work but it took a whole lot of trial and error to get it loaded with non-standard bikes. The arms are 28 inches (I measured in the store), and 31 inches inches would have made all the difference in the world. In retrospect I think I would have tried the Allen, which mounts the 5th bike between the column and the car, but I couldn't find arm length specs anywhere (I wonder why that is?) and the Yakima brand has proven reliability. As for now I'm going to shell out $29.99 for those cross-mount adapters--not somthing I wanted to do for a $275 rack.

We purchased the Yakima Double Down 5 about 2 years ago. Up to now it has worked great with 5 bikes 4 mountain and 1 bmx. We have taken plenty of trips with all five bikes, we have have gone everywhere from the local bike shop(12 miles) to bike trails up to 60 miles away from home.
I purchased the Yakima DeadLock Hitch Mount Bike Rack Bike Lock with core for security when we leave the vehicle unattended with the bikes mounted.
My only problem has been the way this thing bounces up and down with certain dips in the road, it rattles my nerves everytime i see it in the rearview mirror. I should be used to the bouncing by now with as many trips as we have taken but I just can't seem to get used to it. Aside from the bouncing I am able to get the five bikes on there pretty comfortably, you do have to work on peddles. In order to make it easier for me and If I have the time I loosen the handle bars and turn them sideways then retighten, this makes it extremely easy to fit all bikes.
The DeadLock kit works pretty good and comes with the lock for the bolt on the hitch, cable to lock the bikes on rack, and the lock for the mentioned cable.
I must mention that I use this hitch on a mini-mini van a Mazda 5 vehicle(not an SUV) with a 1.25" hitch. took one star off for the bouncing.

The Yakima Double Down 5 is solidly constructed. It uses a 2" hitch and folds rearward when released from a drop down bolt so that the rear hatch can open. The horizontal bars also may be released and fold down compactly when not in use. The tie down system works well and one side has a strap to grab the vertical bike tube to keep the bike from swaying front to rear and into each other. The mount points can slide on the tube so that you can adjust the distance between each bike. You need a bikes with a traditional triangle based frame or use a optional frame extender. Extra Small frame bikes and kids bikes are sometimes a tight or creative fit.

The largest detraction is that it is not long enough. To fit 5 bikes you have to have the "right" bikes and significant thought needs to be given to placement and order. Five Giant MTBs will not fit; four will just barely fit with some rubbing. Multiple, similarily sized road bikes are not going to fare much better.

The lock cable and key cores are optional and expensive.

This is more or a vehicle issue than a rack issue, but because of the loaded tounge weight the rack often scrapes when approaching steep angles. AIR LIFT 60740 1000 Series Rear Air Spring Kit significantly reduces this problem and improves loaded vehicle handling.

You can't go wrong with this Yakima bike rack. You do get some bounces when you drive over uneven roads while having bikes on the rack which I think is normal. Please do make sure you tighten the hitch screw after each stop to make sure it is not loose or you will experience more bounce. Overall a great product. It would be very difficult for me to fit 5 bikes but thats why I bought this expecting only to fit my 4 bikes.

PS: This rack will not fit the smaller kids bikes as the frame on the smaller bikes will not fit even with the top tube attachment.

Hello, Wonderful bike rack. There is a challenge mounting kid's bikes and women's bikes. We ordered the Yakima Tube Top bikerack tube adapter to make mounting "smaller opening" bikes easier!!

Once installed it is noisy. The joint between the elbow and the mast, even though the nut is tight, the joint is loose. I put a piece of rubber in between and the noise is gone. This could have been done at the factory. It only carries 4 bikes, but I was guessing so before buying it, so I was not surprise or dissapointed. The craddles that support the bikes slide to the sides (which at the begining it let me get rid of the fifth set) but now I have to space the craddles evenly and place tape at both sides of each of them so they don't move around. It is sturdy and hold the bike firmly. The instructions indicates "not to be used off the road", if that is the case it should be called "Road bike rack"!(I use it off the road)

Bike rack works fine. Read different reviews that were not good. Went ahead and bought it anyway.

The bikes go on very easily and are quickly strapped on.
I recommend the rack.

yakima doubledown 5 bike rack. Its easy to put the bike and has a plenty of space .