Installation of Trek X Caliber 7 Mountain Bike with Alternative Frame onto Yakima Ridgeback 2 Y02457

Question:

I have a Trek X Caliber 7 Mountain bike - wondering if this bike will fit the Ridgeback 2 without the adapter. Also, Ive read some reviews that say you cant actually get 2 bikes ON the Ridgeback 2 - theres little to no chance that Id ever need 4 bikes on a rack, but am seriously considering bumping up to the 4 to make sure I can at least get 2 mountain bikes on the rack when I get it. Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

asked by: Chris O

Expert Reply:

Thanks for including the model of your bike, it was a great help in my research.

Due to the slant of the frame, you will want to use that adapter bar to properly mount your bike to the rack. It is possible that you will be able to mount your bike to the rack without the adapter bar but your front tire will then be much closer to the pavement and could cause clearance issues when going over large bumps(like speed bumps) or in and out of parking lots. The adapter bar will also allow you to more easily mount your bike to the Yakima RidgeBack 2 # Y02457.

There are a couple reasons you may have heard these type of reviews for the rack, one of them is customers are trying to mount bikes without the adapter and because of the slant there isn't as much clearance to maneuver the bike around the cradles on the arms. The distance of the arms from outside cradle to outside cradle is 13-1/2 inches. When you get to this tight angle in the frame of your bike there is no wiggle room which causes issues. With the bike adapter bar like # UB01 this changes the mounting point and not only allows you to carry your bike properly for better ground clearance it helps mount it to the bike rack with greater ease.

Another reason is because when you load more than one bike you will want to have the handle bars of the bikes facing opposite directions so they will not make contact. This is the recommended and proper mounting style per the manufacturer and with good reason when your handle bars facing towards the drivers side for your first bike and towards the passenger side for the second bike they will extend over the rear tire instead of lining up which makes that second bike fit much better without having the bike rack extend to far from the vehicle.

It's worth mentioning that the cradles on this rack can be moved up and down the bar if you rotate while you pull they will slowly move for better bike to bike clearance if needed. You shouldn't need to get a 4 bike rack to load 2 bikes on.

I have linked the Yakima RidgeBack 2, 4, and the adapter bar to this page for your purchasing convenience.