Recommend a bike rack

[Syllieann]

I want to carry 5 bikes on something in a 2" hitch receiver on an odyssey.  I can live without quick install and tilt-down, but it needs to be sturdy enough that I can drive 80 mph for many hours without swaying or other safety issues.  Do I need a tray style?  Help me, I'm lost.

[Katy]

My mom had something like that custom ordered through a local bike shop when I was young. It had a locking mechanism but she also ran chain locks through the frames and wheels.  And she used these straps with a lever to tie everything down through some loops so the frames had 3+ points of contact (wouldn’t sway), and the tires wouldn’t spin.  It was heavy.  Something like 80 pounds.  I couldn’t lift it until she taught me to use my legs instead of my arms & back. I’d check local bike shops.

[zimom]

I believe they only go up to 4 bikes but I always highly recommend 1Up bike racks.  They are not found in stores:  

https://www.1up-usa.com

They are so easy to load and unload and the sturdiest bike racks you will ever find.   

 

[Amy in KS]

There are not many hitches that carry 5.  Those that do are mostly hanging style and have a limit of 30-40 pounds per bike. We have a couple bikes heavier than that, so it was a no go for us.   Thule and Yakima are highly regarded.  Hollywood Rack and 1Up are good (but sold out for months). I do recommend looking at etrailer.com.  If you have fenders, make sure you don’t get a hitch that clamps on them.  The biggest problem you’ll find right now is many hitches are currently back ordered (covid related shortage).  We ended up getting a used solid hitch that carries 4 (Hollywood Sport Rider SE4) on Facebook marketplace.  We had to drive a couple hours to get it.   One bike will need to go in the back when we carry five.   
 

Edited May 27, 2021 by Amy in KS

[Syllieann]

14 minutes ago, Amy in KS said:

There are not many hitches that carry 5.  Those that do are mostly hanging style and have a limit of 30-40 pounds per bike. We have a couple bikes heavier than that, so it was a no go for us.   Thule and Yakima are highly regarded.  Hollywood Rack and 1Up are good (but sold out for months). I do recommend looking at ehitch.com.  We ended up getting a solid hitch that carries 4 (Hollywood Sport Rider SE4).  One bike will need to go in the back when we carry five.  The biggest problem you’ll find right now is many hitches are currently back ordered (covid related shortage).  We ended up driving 2.5 hrs to get ours when we finally found one used on Facebook marketplace.  

I think we are going to do the 4 bike tray style and put the last one in the van or on the roof.  I will look at the brands you mentioned.  Thanks!

[SDMomof3]

We have the Thule 5 bike rack. It’s very sturdy, we use it for hauling bikes for Boy Scouts camping trips each month and it does really well off road and long distance.

http://Thule Apex XT Bike Hitch Rack https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07MXVG9W1/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_KQK0PTX7RBF3Y6FH61K1

[jen3kids]

I found an inexpensive bike rack at Walmart many years ago for our Odyssey and it easily fit 4 bikes.   It was similar to this one and it worked great.   It got a lot of use and was solid!