Lets Go Aero NEO4 Bike Rack for 4 Bikes - 1-1/4" and 2" Hitches - Wheel Mount

Video Transcript for What to Know About the Lets Go Aero NEO4 Bike Rack for 4 Bikes

Hey, everyone. It's Evangeline here at etrailer. Today we have the Let's Go Aero NEO-4. This is gonna be a very lightweight bike rack that can fit into your inch-and-a-quarter and your two-inch hitches but still allow you to carry up to four bikes from point A to point B. We're gonna talk about how it achieves that and how it is such a compact rack but the downsides to those features as well right here at etrailer.com. This is gonna be a great entry-level bike rack if you're looking for something that's at a similar price point to most of your hanging racks, but it offers that platform rack stability of the bikes.

Because it is entry level though, this is designed for your standard types of road bikes and mountain bikes with a maximum weight capacity of 40 pounds per bike. So if you're looking for an electric bike rack, there are some other options for you that are gonna be a bit beefier than this. Where this bike rack really shines is how small it tears down to be, as well as the ability to adjust all those different cradles, but there are some downsides to that too. This is gonna be one of the only entry-level racks that secures your bikes by the wheels. You do have to employ some extra techniques in order to get the best support on your bike.

So stick around in this video and I'm gonna show you what I did to make sure we have the best experience both on our vehicle and on our bikes. We drove around the test course just to see how our bikes would perform out in the parking lot. When we made our turns, we saw that there was a little bit of movement of the bike, but nothing crazy. Our quick stop showed a bit of up and down motion. When we went onto our alternating speed bumps, we saw a bit of up and down movement of our rack.

The bikes we inchesre held in place to the rack. It was just the rack that was moving up and down, especially visible on our up and down speed bumps. This is to simulate leaving a driveway or hitting a pothole. All in all, more movement of this rack compared to other platform racks, but I am pleasantly surprised by how the bikes did not seem to move as much as if they we inchesre on a hanging rack. So in terms of performance, while I do like how the bikes are held together, you also have to keep in mind that that maximum weight capacity per bike is only 40 pounds anyways.

So this is similar in price to your entry-level hanging racks with a little bit more support. It is lightweight and compact, which was great for putting it together, but it was a bit more of a hassle to get the bikes loaded. What I recommend doing is once you do have your four bikes loaded, go ahead and take a picture. That way, you can remember the placement of all the different bikes, and that will make the process much easier moving forward whenever you have to take your bikes on and off several times. With it being so lightweight, I'm very easily able to put it into the hitch receiver of my car. However, you can see that the bike rack makes contact with the car before I get the hitch pin holes lined up. So what I'm gonna have to do is, in order to fully install it, we're gonna have to do this in the down position. You're then gonna have your anti-rattle bolt. So you're going to have your spoked washer as well as your flat washer, and this goes into your hitch receiver. If you are using a two-inch adapter like what I am doing, make sure to put the bolt in where the hitch adapter is the thickest. Tighten down until that first washer flattens out. I use a 3/4 inch wrench to make sure this is all secure. Secure that bolt with a clip at the end, and then don't forget to put your pin back into that mast. So this pin will only need to be removed if you need to move your base in either the compact or the out position. This rack does not tilt away. And now you're ready to attach your wings for your bikes. If this seemed like a slightly longer process compared to other bike racks when it comes to installation, that's because it is, and that's just gonna be the trade-off you're going to get for having something that's very compact and very lightweight. You then have a lot more moving parts. The length of the carrier is going to be measured also from the center of your hitch pin hole to the end of the rack at 39 inches of length. On the longer side, but you're also carrying around four bikes. For ground clearance, you're gonna have a five-inch rise. That is measured from the inside edge of your hitch to the bottom of the bike rack at the end, so a little bit more ground clearance, but also consider that your bikes are gonna be sitting a bit higher than that most likely just because they're held up by the wheels on the cradles. Now it's time to load your bikes up. While Let's Go Aero has done a better job with making sure there's better clearances from bike to bike, the clearance from bike to vehicle might get a little close. So you have these cradles, and at their highest point, these are 23 inches above the top of the rack, and then the distance from the cradle to the center of the hitch pin hole is going to be nine inches right there. So depending on your hatch or your bumper or your tailgate, this may or may not make contact with your vehicle when you have your first bike loaded up. I already have three bikes loaded up onto the rack, and that was a whole process. I had to just be very careful of the location of the pedals as well as the handlebars and seat posts of the different bikes as I was loading up and making sure it wasn't making contact with the car, but when you do get your bikes loaded up, and we will load this fourth one together, the main thing you wanna see is the weight capacity of your bike and also making sure they're facing the correct way. You want the chains facing away from each other. Your bike goes up and into the cradles. I like to focus on the front wheel first so I can see if I have any clearance issues, especially around the seat post of the other bike. Then we get the rear wheel up, and it should all settle in place here. So since this is making contact, I have two options. I can either adjust this seat or I can adjust the cradle that the bike is attached to. There's different adjustment points along the mast for our cradles. So I'm going to put the cradle a bit lower down on the mast. Fit that through and secure it with a clip so it doesn't fall out. Then I'm gonna double check that our foam bumper is between our bikes and the mast. You can see it's touching on both sides. That's great. Once everything looks good, I can then tighten down on our wheels with the rubber strap, pulling as much as I can around the tire and then securing it with that nub. You then secure the bike with these toggle straps. So your first option is to secure the bike by the outside pedal. That involves fitting the loop around the pedal and then bringing the toggle strap into one of the tabs of your bike rack. The second option is to secure the seat stays as well as the front fork stays. You do get eight of these bungees. So I recommend just going ahead and using all eight, even though technically you are only required to use four, and that's because even with securing that pedal, you may have a little bit of movement of your front tire. So I'm gonna go ahead secure all front tires and all parts of the bike. An alternative that I would suggest is the Hollywood Racks Destination 4. This is gonna be one of my favorite entry-level, four-bike platform racks. Very similar when it comes to capacity and features. Both of them cannot tilt away. They're both compact, and they're both lightweight. You are gonna pay a little bit more for the Destination 4, but I do think this makes for an easier installation into your rack. Plus, it folds up with plenty of clearance with most vehicles. This is gonna be on the heavier side though compared to the Let's Go Aero NEO-4. Plus, this will not come apart to make for as easy storage as you're going to get with the NEO. So it does depend on what your priority is. If you like the clearance between the bikes as well as the lightweight features of the NEO-4, awesome. If you want something that is more likely to fit on more vehicles, then a Destination 4 is gonna be a really good option for you. If you have a recessed hitch or if you have a really large bumper, you really are gonna have to take those measurements to make sure that this bike rack can fit on your vehicle, but if it can, then it's nice to see that it has a lot of adjustability for those different types of bikes. So hopefully the process of installing this rack as well as loading up the bikes was helpful for you to see if this will fit your bikes, your vehicle, and your different adventures. For an affordable and entry-level way to carry around four bikes with a platform rack, this right here was a look at the Let's Go Aero NEO-4 bike rack at etrailer.com.