Steadyrack FAQ’s

We have designed a diverse range of Steadyracks to cater for all different bike types. The mounting brackets on our bike racks are the same, but the arms do differ in length and width to suit different bike sizes. If you are looking for the right Steadyrack for your bike, you can visit Our Products page to learn more on how to accurately measure your bike and to see which rack is best for you.

Your bike tyre only needs partial contact with the rest for it to be effective and perform its intended function. Carefully place the rear wheel of your bike to the side on which you want to pivot the bike. This rest is suitable for all bike tyre widths, including fat bike tyres. Narrow bike tyres will sit deeper in the bracket.

Yes, all four of our different bike racks can pivot up to 160 degrees, to the left and to the right.

Yes- all of our racks are compatible with eBikes, however specifications and weight limits vary for each rack type. (Please note the eBike rack which you may see on international sites was designed for eBikes with fenders and mudguards to accommodate City and Commuter eBikes, which are not prevalent in South Africa.) If you are looking to store your eMTB bike, the MTB rack will be the right choice.

Our Fender Bike Rack was designed to cater for bikes up to 25kg in weight, with mudguards and fenders. The plastic saddle can easily slip in between a fender/mudguard and front tyre, so that no part of the bike will be in contact with the bike rack itself.

We have taken your feedback into account, and so we have designed new and improved Rear Tyre Rests, which include a larger rear tyre rest for our Fat Bike Rack. Our new rear tyre rests are available in three different sizes: small, medium and large. The small tyre rest is suitable for bikes that are stored in the Classic Bike Rack and Fender Bike Rack, the medium tyre rest is suitable for bikes that are stored in the Mountain Bike Rack, and the large tyre rest is compatible with bikes stored in the Fat Bike Rack.

Some of the more recent plus-size MTB tyres have extra-large shoulder lugs (tread) which take the overall width past the actual measurement marked on the sidewall. If your tyres have extra wide lugs, you can still use our Mountain Bike Rack but it will be a tighter fit – meaning that you might have to push the bike into the rack and pull the bike harder to dislodge it for use. To avoid this, we highly recommend sizing up to the Fat Bike Rack. The bike will sit more comfortably in the Fat Bike Rack, however, the front wheel may slightly fall to one side due to the larger gap. This is not an issue as it will not negatively affect usability or performance at all, therefore the Fat Rack will make it much easier to unload your bike when needed.

Yes this is possible, but we highly recommend rather working to the weight limits that are set for each of our bike racks. When loading and unloading a heavier bike, you need to be careful that you do not bounce the bike on the front of the bike rack. You need to gently roll it in and out with even pressure applied. The extra weight and force of rolling a heavier bike onto the Fender Bike Rack could lead to the arms bending. Working to the weight limits as outlined for each of our bike racks will prevent damage to both your bike rack and your bike. If you choose to store a heavier bike in our bike racks, you should closely follow our installation guide to reduce risk. It is important to mount the bike rack in a position where the back tyre on your bike is as close to the floor as possible, as this will remove excess weight on the rack when rolling the bike in and out. We recommend a 2” clearance under the back tyre for ultimate performance.

We do not recommend storing bikes with wheels less than 16” in diameter in our bike racks. Bikes stored with smaller wheels risk not having the tyre come into contact with the two V-shaped cradling points, meaning the fork will rest on the bike rack before the tyre. We did find a solution by placing Velcro straps on the bottom arm to shorten the distance between the 2 points, however the bikes are not as stable, and you would also need to strap the wheel to the upper arm of the bike rack with Velcro.

Our Steadyrack Classic, Fat, Fender and Mountain Bike Racks all come in the colour black only, although you do have the option of customising your bike racks with our end caps which are available in a variety of colours, namely red, blue, green, yellow, and grey. You can learn more by watching our End Cap installation video here.

Our SteadyRack bike racks will not cause any damage to your bike’s wheels. No part of the bike frame touches the bike rack, besides the front tyre which is cradled in the steel arms of the bike rack.

One of the best features of our bike rack design is the fact that it is the most suitable bike rack for carbon wheels. This is because there is less pressure on the bike than when you are storing it and it is more efficient than hooks. The bike’s wheel is cradled between the two V-shaped cradling points created when the arms are folded down and the tyre cushions the wheel and bike. If you use a SteadyRack bike rack, you will not need to do any sort of maintenance on your bike rims or wheels.

Steadyracks are carefully and strategically assembled using a specific tension for the nuts (torque setting = 5nm) that holds the central spine to the top and bottom mounting brackets. This setting is specifically designed to give just enough tension to the pivot to ensure that the bikes can be loaded on any angle without the bike rack moving around too much. When you remove the 2 plastic caps from the top and bottom, the nuts are exposed. You can then loosen both nuts to free up the bike rack more, and equally you can tighten them to lock the bike rack into position. We recommend that you maintain them so that the bike racks are stiff but can still be pivoted. The bike rack can be quite stiff the first few times when using it, but it will loosen up after that. This happens due to the type of fibre washers we use to assist with the stiffening effect.

Yes, you can lock your bikes into our bike racks using a D lock or a chain lock. This is a good idea if you want to prevent opportunist theft and will work well if your bikes are stored in a private carpark. However, if your bikes are in a public location, we recommend installing a bracket or a steel rail to the wall underneath the bike rack to attach a locking device to. You should always be extra cautious when storing your bike in a public place, as professional thieves can generally get around any locking system.

You won’t be able to lock the bike rack in one solid position. However, you will be able to tighten the nuts so that the bike rack will become stiff and effectively hold the bike in one position. If you want to do this, you should first remove the two plastic mounting bracket covers (end caps). Then you can tighten the two nuts that attach the central pivot bar to the mounting brackets. If you follow these steps, we recommend making sure that they are extremely secure as any sideways pressure on the bike rack could cause damage to the mounting bracket.

In addition to accommodating bikes with fenders and mudguards, if you have an aero or a time trial bike, then the Steadyrack Fender Rack is the right storage product for your bike. These types of bikes usually have a very small gap between the front tire and the down tube. Thanks to the innovative saddle rest on the Fender Rack, the rack can slide easily in between this tight gap to cradle your valuable bike by its tire, not the frame.

We do not recommend storing bikes with wheels less than 16” in diameter in our bike racks. Our smallest bike rack is the Classic Rack and this would be the most suitable bike rack for kids bikes with wheel diameter in excess of 16 inches.

The main difference between the bike rack types is the length and width of the cradle arms which hold the front tire, this allows for the accommodation of various bike sizes and tire widths