DIY Vertical bike rack full build

Hi, in this video I wanted to share how I've built a custom prototype DIY vertical bike rack. This type of rack is mostly suitable for mountain bikes.
Firstly I'd like to point out an ERROR in the video - at 7:12 seconds I read out that the hoops are positioned 26.5 cm above the T-bar, but the actual distance is 16.5 cm.
If you need one of these racks for your bikes, I highly recommend that you buy them from local retailers - just google "vertical bike rack" and you will get links to popular retailers.
The professionally built vertical racks come with all sorts of bells and whistles, they are high quality, professionally tested, roadworthy, reliable and come with warranty.
Warning: If you attempt to build your own bike rack, it is your responsibility to make sure that it's road worthy as well as strong and safe. If you are unsure please buy professionally built one or contact the steel fabrication professionals in your area for advice.
Check out my other custom A-frame bike rack for bigger/heavier bikes for square drop trailers:
• DIY e-Bike Carrier for...
Music in this video by:
Philanthrope, Brock Berrigan, Birocratic, iamalex - Brockoli chll.to/589cab9f
Rewind - Ofshane

[@glennh2965]

Mate, Well done. I just finished one today. I'II add those little hooks on the top rail that's a great idea. I used 40x40 x 3mm for the top and upright (Had it lying around). Very well gusseted, but I guess I'll find out if it's strong enough tomorrow on it's inaugural outing MTB to Lysterfield. 😆 PS: I welded a bottle opener to mine, just because I could. Keep up the good work.

[@ChilledBeans]

Bottle opener LOL. Great. I had bikes on mine and tested it on long trips. Works a treat. But make sure to screw that bolt tight on your towbar hatch so that it doesn't wobble.

[@dnbcricket]

Awesome build and awesome channel! Thanks for taking the time to document all of your steps and details. Bike racks, camper builds and ice baths... I've found a brother from another continent! Subbed and watching this space!

[@ChilledBeans]

Thanks Jesse. That's so awesome.

[@UntamedAustin]

It is very cool for people with the skill and tools. First DIY that does not look like a headache to use.

[@chriswalker12]

Great Video!! Would love to see you add a damper and hinge so it can be pulled back to open tailgate.

[@drzevodrzevo]

Man, what a great job! Here in Poland people do not use such bike racks at all. I am seriously impressed by this DIY bike rack. Gonna use your project but weld it to the cargo trailer. Many thanks and all the best to U :)))

[@tomwinkler7606]

I love seeing other videos on this! I made a video and making other videos to further explain as you did! Love what you used to tie the bikes on! That has been one of my battles!

[@jesusmg122]

Excellent work, thanks for sharing, greetings from Mexico

[@juancarlosloayza3001]

Thank you brother !! Greetings from Ecuador ! 🙌🏼

[@user-gj8mn4ce8d]

Friend used scrap aluminum and saved quite a bit. Super light as well

[@doncorleon9]

This is perfect. The cost of a 4 bike rack in my area is not feasible for me.

[@ChilledBeans]

Yep I agree.

[@frankish5314]

OK so I have finally built my rack and is ready for road testing. I have bikes with 29 inch wheels and found that 630mm hoops were not long enough to accomodate the wheels. I had to extend them to 700mm (27.5 inch) at 150mm (6 inch) above the top rail. Width was 114 to 130mm wide.. Seems awfully large but works for skinny and fat ties.. The vertical post is just over 1m tall but could have been even shorter.

[@martinhedman4629]

Awesome work! Thanks for tip and measurements! 🙏

[@user-gj8mn4ce8d]

Nice job! Considered this myself but someone backing into me parked or being rearended is always a worry. Using a Thule proride now

[@wblunck44]

Very well built bike rack. Great video!

[@ChilledBeans]

Thanks so much

[@ToolManTaylor]

Thanks for the video. I will be building the same :)

[@sebmtb6584]

thank you for this tutorial will definetly have to givbe it a try

[@henryyanezv]

Excellent job ❤

[@kennybuckley3405]

Great Job...........But on a safety note never use an angle grinder without a guard ......Discs can explode at any time and pierce your body.

[@ChilledBeans]

You are absolutelly right.

[@frankish5314]

Excellent. Thankyou so much for posting a detailed design! I am going to make exactly the same thing as was looking for someone who had already done this rather than invent everything from scratch. I think I'm cheaper than you though.. I made my own vehicle hitch from one a friend gave me and cut/re-welded it to fit my new SUV. Honda wanted $350 (US) for a hitch... Umm no I don't think so..:)

[@ChilledBeans]

That's awesome. If I could make couple of suggestions, make sure to cut the main backbone vertical pipe to fit your height requirements. I should have cut mine shorter probably 20cm at least), but it's not a big problem for m as i'm 6'1. But my wife wouldn't be able to reach and slot the bikes in easily. Second thing is make sure to fine tune the positioning of the main top horizontal bar a bit more to the left, so that the bike on the far right doesn't stick out past the side of the car. I could have moved mine another 10-15 cm to the left, but it's not too bad. All the best.

[@frankish5314]

@@ChilledBeans Great.. did you put your top bar centered on the vertical column (It wasn't clear to me from the video dimensions)? Looking at the Velocorax I saw that it had been moved to the left somewhat, so I assume 10 to 15cm left of center is about right?

[@ChilledBeans]

@@frankish5314 That's exactly right. Move it at least 15cm to the left. This is because your first (on the right) slot is welded/positioned on the far right, and when you put the wheel in, it sits at an angle, protruding more the the right side of the rack. Similarly the bike's peddals will be protruding to the right. Therefore you move the whole top bar to the left to counteract that.

[@frankish5314]

@@ChilledBeans Got it.. This will be a fun little project. Thanks again.

[@annakristinabalagosa745]

cool! thank you for your ideas. 😊

[@ChilledBeans]

You are most welcome

[@shinglebackoffroad9230]

@@ChilledBeans I have just sent you an email.

[@frankish5314]

OK, its been a year but I an finally ready to build my own bike rack.. Namely the Wife has cracked the whip and told me that if I don't get it done she is going out and buying one!..:)

[@dingeldiy]

Great Videos What angle did you put the brace at in regards to the loop for the front wheel?

[@ChilledBeans]

Thanks. Approximatelly 45 degrees.

[@noesida3413]

Que chingo te quedó

[@jesp735]

Thanks for this video and sharing the details. Just got couple of questions: will it fit a 29er wheel? Do you need to put aux license plate and lights or the cops dont bother you? Subscribed to your channel mate. Cheers

[@ChilledBeans]

Thank you for subscribing. I'm pretty sure lights have to be visible, and the license plate too. So I'll need to get a secondary plate with a temporary attachment. I'd probably just cable tie it to bikes or something.

[@HollowSandOrk]

Awesome vid mate. Can you verify that the front wheel hoops are 27 cm from the top of the bar? I replicated your project but it looks not quite right. pausing on the video and looking closer at your tape measure it looks more like 16.5 cm. maybe i'm not doing something right. please clarify .

[@ChilledBeans]

Hello. Yes you are right, I have stuffed up the reading in the video. It is 16.5 cm. My sincere apologies.

[@HollowSandOrk]

Thank you for replying. I'm only asking because the you've made such a good video and project and after following the instructions I have made one for myself. Its for a van but 90% its the same . thank you. @@ChilledBeans

[@ChilledBeans]

I appreciate your kind message@@HollowSandOrk

[@wingsonwheelsadventures799]

amazing built, how much is the angle you did for wheel basket? and did you try with ebike? thanks for the video

[@ChilledBeans]

Sorry, I haven't tried with e-bike. The angle bracket that holds the wheel basket is sitting at around 45-50 degrees.

[@lizardcycles5567]

@@ChilledBeans I have started to build my one, for sprinter van for 6bikes as soon I finished I’ll mention you, because you help me with some measurements on your video 😎

[@frankish5314]

Question.. The angle of the hoops seems to be 45 degrees to the top rail.. Is that about right?

[@ChilledBeans]

Yes thats correct

[@mcminecraft9203]

Great build. You mention that if you did it again you would make the width of the basket as 100mm internal rather than 90mm. Why is that?

[@ChilledBeans]

Thanks. Well, even as it is works ok. But I think it would be a little easier to slot in the front wheels if it was 100mm.

[@mcminecraft9203]

@@ChilledBeans Thanks for replying so quickly. I'm looking at doing a similar rack. Basket depth is my next thing. Great work though. Well done.

[@dennisestonilo4141]

Hi! Very interesting vids. Do you have the measurement of the gap / space between tire baskets. Im trying to build one. Your vid provides informative guides.

[@ChilledBeans]

I kept them spaced at 33cm apart

[@dennisestonilo4141]

@@ChilledBeans Thank you very much. Appreciate it.

[@frankish5314]

So the bike frames are 33cm on center?.. I.e center line to center line of the next bike frame is 33cm?@@ChilledBeans

[@lewiswilkinson6094]

What length and width do you reckon for 29” tyres? Thanks - great video by the way

[@ChilledBeans]

Sorry, I'm not 100% sure. You could probably need to prototype something from wood to check that.

[@user-gj8mn4ce8d]

Thinking about using aluminum for mine. With the option of bolting it all together. Do you think that would work or do you know anyone who’s used aluminum for these ??

[@ChilledBeans]

I have not come across anything like that. I've seen people build camper trailers using aluinium, but welding it. But not bike rack. Bike racks need to carry load (quite precious cargo), so my gut feel is that bolting alluminium doesn't sound quite as reliable to me. I haven't even seen any commercial alluminium bike racks... all the heavy duty ones I see around are steel. I would suggest to approach some sort of fabrication engineer for advice on this. Good luck

[@2theendofearth686]

Can the basket hold 16” wheels securely? Or do i can to make a smaller basket to fit smaller wheels?

[@ChilledBeans]

Hi. Could you please clarify what do you mean by "basket"? Do you mean inside the mudguards?

[@davidmonsigneur7384]

Hi mate just looking at doing a similar build but I need 5 bikes what is the spacing between the bike mounts and do you think you could squash them up a bit to fit a 5th bike

[@ChilledBeans]

Hi David. Yes, I think 5 would still fit very comfortably. I just came back from camping and I've seen professional ones built same size, with 6 slots. So 5 should fit no problem.

[@benson7600]

aye mate, what is the distance measurement between top cross bar and the below ones that sits the rear wheel tire?

[@ChilledBeans]

83 cm on this setup. My bikes are Large frame enduro/dh, but i can also fit just general cheap XC small/medium frame bikes. If I had patience, I'd probably build the bottom cross bas so that it can be adjustable.

[@doncorleon9]

What would you recommend for a security system. Bikelocks?

[@ChilledBeans]

I'd probably just use bike chain locks.

[@ericneuman9202]

Did you have any issues with the hitch? I am going through a similar process but 50mmx50 tube does not fit as the hitch's corners are more curved.

[@ChilledBeans]

Hi Eric. That's interesting. I didn't have such issue. My 50 tube had slightly curved corners already and it did fit without requiring any modifications. But i've seen on the road many different types of hitches ... so hope you can work out a solution. Worst case go with 40x40 tube, and then weld on each side an extra flat piece to reduce the gap aroudn the walls when you insert it.

[@ericneuman9202]

@@ChilledBeans Yea thanks a lot thats what i was thinking as-well.

[@gracepineda1743]

That's great if u have those tools..lol unfortunately for me both are not option 😕

[@ChilledBeans]

True. Yes, it takes a bit of time to collect bunch of tools as well as a bit of experience... But you can always start small and go from there...

[@itsmeagain8518]

I am wondering what diameter rod you used.

[@ChilledBeans]

The main square pipes are 50x50mm. And the solid rod for the wheel slots is 10mm diameter.

[@itsmeagain8518]

@@ChilledBeans Thank you and nice helpful video.