VelociRAX 6X Review

The VelociRax 6X rack is the 6-bike offering from the company that only does vertical racks. The 6X is a large rack built for shuttle laps and hauling an entire car full of riders. Velocirax manufactures 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 bike carriers that all adhere to the same basic design. A slanted wheel cradle holds your front wheel and prevents interference between cockpit controls.

Ease of Everyday Use

The Velocirax has a bit of a learning curve, which doesn't make it the most straightforward product that we've mounted to our hitch. The rack is incredibly large, which is almost redundant when we say that it carries six bikes, but it's larger than other racks with this capability, primarily because it doesn't fold out of the way when not in use. The rack preserves your vehicle's departure angle when driving off-road, but as a result, your bikes are towering above most vehicles. Each wheel basket is capable of holding 55 pounds, and your bikes are secured by a combination of gravity and rubber wheel straps that you stretch over welded-in bolts.

The 6X doesn't interface with your bike's fork; instead, it holds the front wheel at an approximately 30-degree angle while the rear wheel rests against the lower cross member with a stop and strap for each bike at 10 inches apart. The distance between bikes is less than ideal, and we encountered interference between bikes, especially those with wider, flat pedals. Since the handlebars sit at an angle, there is no interference between controls or cables.

The wheel baskets are a fairly simple idea, and they work well, but loading them without putting the rack in its low position can be difficult, as you need to get the bottom of the front wheel over the top of the basket. We appreciate that the basket gives you flexibility of 20 to 29" wheel sizes and bike types, while not rubbing the crown of your fork, but rubber clamps around your rims are the trade-off here.

A hinge assist damper at the base of the rack's main mast allows you to tilt the rack down for easier loading and push the loaded rack into position once it's at capacity. This feature prevents you from having to lift the bikes as high as the rack, but pushing 230 pounds of bikes back into the upright position isn't easy either.

Ease of Removal and Storage

The Velocirax 6X is a bear to manage for one person. Our rack weighed in at exactly 100 pounds, so lifting it from the center is possible for one person, but orienting it into the hitch receiver without guidance can be difficult, especially on vehicles with a recessed hitch.

Since the rack doesn't fold, it occupies a considerable amount of space in your garage. Our test rack measures 65" x 58" and the hitch protrudes by 20". Velocirax includes hardware that allows you to attach one side of the wheel baskets to a wall, and you can then use the rack for stationary storage. They also sell a bike rack floor stand that holds the rack in an upright position, allowing you to roll it around your storage space and utilize the rack for bike storage. It's a cool concept, but that feature will cost you an additional $275.

Versatility

There is a fair bit of versatility built into the Velocirax for conventional bikes. Cargo bikes, bikes with fenders, fat bikes, and road bikes with fancy carbon wheels are not recommended. The wheel baskets can accommodate tires up to 3.1" wide and wheel sizes of 20 to 29". Each space can hold up to 55 pounds, which provides utility for most electric mountain bikes and DH bikes, but falls short of meeting the needs of heavy-duty use for the majority of Class 3 electric bikes on the market.

This rack only works with a 2" hitch; we can't imagine the amount of cantilevered force being supported by a 1.25" rack. While you can use this rack on any vehicle with a 2" hitch and 500-pound tongue weight capacity, it's much taller than most vehicles and creates quite a bit of drag. Vehicles with low ground clearance require extra caution when changing pitch or backing up.

The rack sits so high to prevent your bikes from contacting the road in an off-road situation, but we didn't feel that this rack had the stability necessary to allow us to go off-road comfortably. Even with the hitch expansion wedge stabilizing the rack, there is still enough play at the mast that the bikes seem to rock and sway, bumping into one another when the road becomes uneven.

Ease of Assembly

The Velocirax 6X assembly is reminiscent of an Erector Set. 4 main sections and a couple of large bags of hardware come out of three boxes. While there wasn't anything particularly challenging about the assembly process, it required more wrench turning than any other rack we've assembled.

If you start with the main section secured in the hitch of your vehicle, you have a near-perfect working height and don't have to worry about the rack tipping or falling over. There are many bolts, washers, and nuts to account for, and a socket with a ratchet or ratcheting wrench is invaluable in this process.

Security

The Velocirax 6X includes a hitch pin lock that secures the rack to your hitch. An integrated locking system is also available for purchase for an additional $125. The wheel baskets are bolted on with no closed loop, so locking bikes to them only makes them as secure as the bolts that hold them to the rack. The back of the mast features a welded handle that allows you to run a cable lock through, but it's the only closed loop on the rack.

Removing a bike that isn't on the right side of the rack is quite difficult, so even without a lock, thieves will have a hard time extracting a single bike from the rack. Additionally, locking all of your bikes together likely creates a package that is too heavy to be removed easily, but that isn't the kind of security we'd like to rely on.

Durability

This rack certainly feels durable and robust. The steel construction and powder-coat finish give the rack a rugged feel and will likely bode well for its longevity. Throughout testing, we subjected the rack to harsh conditions, rough roads, and even a couple of kids doing pull-ups on it. It's no worse for wear and looks just as good as the day we put it together.

The only real wear items are the 12 rubber straps used to secure your wheels in place. Velocirax recommends checking the flexible rubber straps regularly for signs of cracking due to UV exposure or extreme weather conditions. The hardware all feels robust, and the only bits of plastic are non-essential end caps on the cross members.

Value

Almost all of this style rack is expensive, but fully utilizing the rack with a built-in lock and stand for the garage pushes it solidly into 4-figure territory. While the 6X is expensive, it doesn't feel overpriced for the market. The durability and versatility give the rack a leg up on others, but the bike's proximity to one another on this model negates some of the value we could find in it.

Conclusion

The Velocirax 6X isn't a slam dunk, but it hints at one. The five-bike version of this rack gives 15" spacing between bikes instead of the 10" that we found insufficient. Even with movement in the mast while driving off-road, the extra space between the bikes should be sufficient to prevent damage. After noticing damage to our bikes, we started asking friends with large flat pedals to remove them prior to loading the rack, and this seems like it shouldn't be the case. Velocirax provides rubber bands to attach to your brake levers, which help prevent movement, but this also feels like a band-aid for a product that could have been engineered better. I wouldn't recommend this particular model of Velocirax to most people, but the 5X and new 5X MAX quell most of our criticism and should make for excellent racks.