Malone Runway Max Bike Rack for 4-Bikes - 1-1/4" and 2" Hitches - Tilting

Video Transcript for Malone Runway Max Bike Rack Review

Hi everyone, it's Evangeline here at etrailer. And today we're looking at our Malone runway max, four bike hanging style rack, here at etrailer. So this is a great bike rack if you're looking for something that is hanging style, as well as something that can carry multiple bikes. So Malone runaway comes in a three and a four bike version. This is the four bike version making it the max version, just because you can carry four bikes well. If you do happen to have an inch and a quarter hitch or a two inch hitch, it works with both of those.

So there's kind of two main categories for racks, which is hanging style or platform style. I usually like to recommend a platform style rack if it's gonna be attached to your hitch, just because it spaces the bikes around a little bit more and gives it a sturdy surface. Now the hanging style rack gives you a little bit of extra ground clearance, as well as some extra features at a kind of usually affordable price. So let's take a look at the features of this hanging style rack. So for features, let's start at the end.

So the end of our bike rack has two different things. We have a reflector here on the right, and that's a nice, shiny, and plastic reflector. So compared to stickers, it's a little bit more durable. And this is gonna help keep you safe at night, especially as you have your bikes loaded and some extra length is added, you wanna make sure that you are visible. Here on the left we have this key and this lock.

So you get two keys used to access your cable lock. So this cable lock is right over here, and you're gonna use this to go around your bike and lock it into place. Now, this is kinda on the short side, so if you want to lock up all your bikes, as well as if you want to lock up your bike rack itself, you can pick up an extra hitch lock or an extra cable lock here at etrailer. And now we have the cradles. So these are nice light weight cradles with grooves on the inside, just to help with your bike's break lines.

And they have these rubber straps on each end. So that rubber strap is gonna stretch over your frame and into one of these two tabs. I do like how they have two tabs, because then you get to pick and choose which one's the best fit and the right tightness for your bike's frame, making sure that it is secure. And on every other cradle, you have this anti-sway cradle. So this is that piece that just slides right down. If you're loading up your bikes, make sure it's in the secured position that way you get the most space. And when you're ready to mount your bikes, you just slide this down and then you can see here, on the inside of our cradle, how we have different features. On the inside of the cradle, you have this foam and that's gonna help protect your bike's frame from extra scuffs and scratches during transport. Also notice how it is curved, so that's gonna give you two different options for mounting your bike. So whether you can have it like this, or you need a little bit of extra room or extra length, if your bike is further away, it's gonna give you those different options, as well as those two different tabs, just to get the best fit for you. And when you are carrying around bikes, you might be concerned about the distance apart that you do get between the bikes. So from the center of one cradle to the center of the other cradle, we have a distance of seven inches. Now for other accessories, they do go on the cradles and you might want to know the distance from the front cradle and the back cradle, and that's gonna be 21 inches. Now for the length this adds to the back of your vehicle, I took a measurement from the hitch pin hole to the end of the bike rack, right where those keys and that reflector is, and that's gonna be a length of 41 inches. Now what's interesting about this hanging style bike rack is that it kind of sits lower, meaning the arms a little bit lower than other hanging style bike racks we have here at etrailer. So a quick run through of the measurements there is that from the hitch pin hole to the ground, I have it at 13 inches. And then from the top of the cradle to the ground, it's 46 and a half inches for me. So the measurement may be a little bit different for you depending on your hitch and your vehicle, but that will give you a baseline of how much clearance you have. So since it does sit lower, you can see through your rear window depending on your vehicle. But, it also depends if you do have a larger bike, you may sit a little closer to the ground. And when you wanna take your bike off, you just pull on these straps and release them from the tabs. So that's gonna be one, two straps. You can see how they we're holding it up on the top tube. And you go down here, to the anti-sway, get that third strap and from here, you can lift your bike up and through the arms. As you saw, I did kind of snag my bike here on the anti-sway cradle, meaning it was kinda hard to take it off the arms, so it can be very easy to forget that they are down. So always just try to remember to just slide those up, that way it's easier to take your bikes off. Now, Malone does recommend, and they do write it here on this strap just to remind you, but it is a wise decision to replace your straps every year. Also, if you're not replacing your straps every year, you can also rotate the straps. So if you use this cradle a lot, you can just switch it with the straps on the other cradles. Kind of like how you rotate your tires, you can also rotate your straps. Another feature that this bike rack has is that you can tilt it away. So the process to do so is you have a clip and your pin you're gonna need to take off. So just pull that clip up and out of the way and then you can pull this pin out. Now, if it does feel like it's stuck, no worries, just lift up on your arms. And that should give you enough to just take that out and lower down your arms. Once you have that pin and that clip back into place to secure it, it is now in the stored or the portable position. With it in this position, the length added to the back of your vehicle is from the hitch pin hole to the end of the bike rack is 14 inches. So this is a great position for it to be in, especially if you want to just like drive around town. You're not planning on taking your bikes off, but you also don't want to take your bike rack off. This makes it a lot more portable. Also, if you're storing it in your garage, or even in your trunk, you'll definitely want it in this position, since it's a lot more compact. As you can see with the arms in the stowed position, it actually sits below our bike rack. So if you are concerned about ground clearance, or if you do have a bunch of speed bumps, a bunch of inclines, like driveways or steep hills wherever you're going with this bike rack, be mindful that you will have a decreased amount of ground clearance with these arms. So if you are worried about ground clearance, you might want to just put the bike rack in your trunk before you get to where you need to go. Or if you do have your bikes on, just keep that bike rack arms up. And if you do wanna access your hatch or lower your tailgate with this bike rack on there is another feature for that. So that's the tilt away. To do that, you just pull that clip and that pin out, just like what you did with the arms. Note, you cannot do this with the bikes on the bike rack. Then you can just tilt this down and this gives you a bit of space to open your hatch. And with the bike rack tilted away, you now get access to your hatch or to your truck bed or to your trunk and you can grab your helmets, your bags, your water. And since you don't have to take your bike rack off completely, you just tilt it away, you can get back onto the trail faster. Now let's talk about how this fits into our hitch receiver. So this has an inch and a quarter shank with a two inch hitch adapter, just so that it can fit into two inch hitches, kind of like what I have right here now. Now note, if you do have an inch and a quarter hitch receiver, please make sure it is a class two hitch receiver and that you have enough weight capacity for both this bike rack and these bikes. If it is in class one hitch receiver, I do not recommend loading up any bike rack with more than two bikes. But if it's class two, then you're good to go. This does have an anti-rattle bolt just to tighten that down. Now it also has a tool to tighten it down, but I do recommend picking up a wrench with a three quarter socket, just because it's so much easier that way. Note how it goes through one side, but does not come out the other because it is a short anti-rattle bolt. So if you are concerned about security and you want a longer anti-rattle bolt, with a lock at the end, we have that here at etrailer. It is a Malone product, hosted here on our page. So now that we've seen the bike rack and taken a look at its features on its own, let's load it up with four bikes just to see it at its max capacity. So now we have our bike rack all loaded up with four bikes. So we're gonna take a look at how they work together, making sure that you have them within the weight capacity. You have a weight capacity of 33 pounds per bike. So if you have your slightly heavier bikes, it might not be the best option for you. Also, make sure your heaviest bike is towards the back and your latest bike is towards the front. You can also use this stabilizing strap that comes with this bike rack, just to stabilize those front wheels or the frames, whichever you want tightened down. Now let's see it in action on the test course. Here on our test course, we'll start by going through the slalom. This is going to show us the side to side action, which simulates turning corners or evasive maneuvers. Once we get to the alternating speed bumps, we'll see the twisting action. This will simulate hitting a curb or a pothole or driving over uneven pavement. Now, lastly, we're going over some full speed bumps and we can see here the up and down action. And this will just be like driving in and out of a parking lot, garage, or driveway. So you saw it there on the test course. There was a little bit of movement as we went over those bumps. That up and down motion was a little bit rough, but that's perfectly normal with hanging style racks, especially ones that have adapters. If you are super worried about that, you could also pick up a longer stabilizing strap just to keep everything closer together. If you just want it to go through some of the front wheels, this strap is fine, but it is kinda on the short side. Also, if you do have alternate frame bikes like women's bikes, children's bikes, or step through bikes, you may be interested in picking up a frame adapter bar. So I have a children's bike here on our bike rack so we can see how it creates that level base in order to put it onto our bike rack's arms. So my final thoughts about this bike rack is it's definitely an upgrade from the Malone runway three, since you now have that extra cradle. So if you do have your car, your truck, your sedan, your SUV, and you've filled it with your friends, your family, and you all wanna go for a bike ride, this is a great option 'cause then you get to carry all of your bikes. Now it also does sit a little bit lower to the ground compared to other hanging style racks. Some people like that, because then it frees up your rear window on some of your SUV's. Now just make sure that you do have the ground clearance for that, since it does require a bit more ground clearance than those other bike racks. This also comes with a cable lock, this comes with an anti-sway cradle, it also comes with a strap. So that's great 'cause then you have all of that included and they all work together to make sure that you can transport your bikes from one point to your adventure. And that was a look here at our Malone runway max four bike hanging style rack here at etrailer. My name is Evangeline and I hope you enjoyed the journey..