Thanks for taking time to make this vid and share. If you leave the front wheels strap on while you release the top arm of the 1up, the strap will hold the bike on. Then release the strap when you are ready to pull the bike off. That eliminates the need to hold the bike on at the same time you release the top arm. I think the cable is supposed to take a little bit of the weight as well vs it hanging slack and simply being a backup. Adjust it so the cable takes a bit of the weight and not just the lower 1up mechanism. How rough of roads have you been on? Curious how this is holding up?
Thanks for the thoughts Mr Chad! Do you work for Owl Vans? That’s a good idea with the Velcro staying on. I just have to spin the wheel to get the top tire to release from the 1Up, which is hard with the Velcro still attached. We’ve never needed the cable to take the weight of the bikes. No problem after 2+ years of use. Still rocking strong. As for bumpy roads… I don’t know a rating for you but we’ve camped off the beaten path many times in places like Moab, which requires a high clearance vehicle. So, we don’t avoid rough roads. Cheers!
I understand your reasoning, the cable on the left tray will put pressure on the derailier, so we keep the cable slack. I should look to see if I can move the cable to the left of the left carrier, that would alleviate the problem. I don't know what the intention of owl vans is with the support cable, tension or no tension, they don't provide any instruction for use.
Great video. Thanks. I am very used to the 1UP rack when in horizontal position. Just installed 2 1up trays (like yours) in a vertical position on my truck camper. Bought from Owl vans. Request response to each question 1.)Due to space issues (will not get into), I only have each 1up tray bolted in 2 locations and not 3. Do u think that will be an issue. FYI, not using a Sherpa tray. 2.) I am getting the loading and unloading dialed in. Definitely an art to it. I am finding that releasing the upper arm is very difficult when UNLOADING a bike. I am definitely making the upper arm super tight when LOADING the bike into the tray making the unloading very hard. In ur video, it looks like u don’t pull down too much on the upper arm. It looks like it gets to a snug position and u call it good. I guess I am making it way too tight. Just so you know what I mean by super tight is that the bike tire gets very compressed by the one up arm when I have it in the loaded position. Does not look like your tire is getting conpressed much at all by the arm. Just worried that I don’t want my $7000 mtn bike falling off. Can u comment on what I wrote here. Thanks.
Hey there! Thanks for the comment and questions! Let's see what I can help ya with. 1. Our trays were only bolted in 2 locations, so although I'm not sure exactly how your setup looks, ours was solid with only 2. I did check the bolts about once a week for the first month to make sure they were staying tight. We also have that cable that acts as an emergency brake if the tray bolts were to fail. If you aren't using that I'd recommend it. 2. I do pull the upper arms until they are snug but not super tight. I did the same thing as you and pulled them super tight when we first started out, and had trouble getting the upper arm to release. We even had one day where one of the bikes got a flat while on the rack which caused the tray to loosen up (while we were driving), but even with the tray loose the bike wasn't close at all to coming off without releasing the top arm. We also use the velcro straps on the front tire/wheel that act as an emergency brake for the bikes. Are you using those? Hope this helps!
@@TheVantasticLife thanks for the awesome reply. Means alot to me that you took the time out of ur day to reply. I am using the velcro strap and the emergency cable. I will not pull super tight. It was so tight that the arm compressed the tire so much that the arm was close to the rim. I will take ur advice and just make it snug. I always check bolts for looseness. Looks like u go on national forest roads. Although i have a full size pickup with lots of power, i avoid serious 4 wheeling. Just like going on national forest roads with some bumps, wash boards, rocks, etc. Is that what u do? Jsut to confirm; Have u had any problems with bikes coming loose? thanks again
We are happy to share any info we can! We also avoid 4 wheeling. Mostly because it doesn't seem smart to 4 wheel with our house (we are full time). But we do drive up/down a lot of forest service and BLM roads to find trails and campsites. Our bikes have never come loose once with 3 full spring/summer/fall years of using them from WA to AZ, and everywhere in between. The biggest pain with the 1up trays for me was figuring out how to avoid having our bikes hit each other with the trays natural movement. It wasn't hard to figure out, but just to let you know what I had to figure out. Hit me up if you have any other questions!
@@TheVantasticLife I hope this is the last question. Do you leave the 1UP wheel locks in place when driving down national forest roads? My concern would be that the wheel locks end up damaging the spokes that they are close to. I always try to rotate the wheel so the spokes are not touching wheel locks but I am concerned that due to vibration of the roads that the wheel may rotate a little and spokes get damaged by wheel locks. thanks again
@@er7912 Yep, we have the wheel locks on 100% of the time and have never had one hit a spoke. I've broken many spokes in the last 4 years of mountain biking, but only while I've been riding my bike. :-) We do add an additional cable lock to the bikes every time we leave the bikes on the rack, and we DO remove that any time the van is moving. No worries on the questions. Happy to answer them at any time! Cheers!
Hi Lindsay, The Sherpa covers about half of the rear window. So, yes, it definitely limits visibility, but not so much that it bothers me or took any getting used to.
Nope. The van rear doors have limiters on them. When the Owl racks are NOT on the doors these limiters can be released which will allow the doors to open all the way to the sides of the van. When the Owl racks are installed on the rear doors they are designed to allow opening to the point of the limiters. If you release the limiters you just hit the Owl hinge stop point. Hopefully this makes sense. If not, let me know and I can make a quick video. But the bikes or rack can’t get close to the side of the van due to the Owl rack hinge system.
Ahh, yes. That is a good point. For those that might be following this… we’ve had one of the bikes get a flat while on the rack while we were driving without any issue. There is a Velcro safety strap that keeps the bikes pinned to the rack even if the 1Up arms fail. I’m not saying that our system is any better than another system, just that we haven’t found it to be unsafe at all after using it full time for the last two summers. Bikes on every time we drive.
How and where are your Lolo handle bar hooks mounted? Do you have a photo to share? I first bought a pair of Lolo DIY hooks intending to mount them to the Sprinter rear passenger door, but am leaning hard towards Owl Sherpa/1-Up for the complete mounting solution.
![The NV 2.0 Hitch Rack + Pivot Swing Away Ext. by Küat [In-Depth Review]](/img/1.gif)
Thanks for taking time to make this vid and share.
If you leave the front wheels strap on while you release the top arm of the 1up, the strap will hold the bike on. Then release the strap when you are ready to pull the bike off. That eliminates the need to hold the bike on at the same time you release the top arm.
I think the cable is supposed to take a little bit of the weight as well vs it hanging slack and simply being a backup. Adjust it so the cable takes a bit of the weight and not just the lower 1up mechanism.
How rough of roads have you been on? Curious how this is holding up?
Thanks for the thoughts Mr Chad! Do you work for Owl Vans?
That’s a good idea with the Velcro staying on. I just have to spin the wheel to get the top tire to release from the 1Up, which is hard with the Velcro still attached.
We’ve never needed the cable to take the weight of the bikes. No problem after 2+ years of use. Still rocking strong.
As for bumpy roads… I don’t know a rating for you but we’ve camped off the beaten path many times in places like Moab, which requires a high clearance vehicle. So, we don’t avoid rough roads. Cheers!
I understand your reasoning, the cable on the left tray will put pressure on the derailier, so we keep the cable slack. I should look to see if I can move the cable to the left of the left carrier, that would alleviate the problem. I don't know what the intention of owl vans is with the support cable, tension or no tension, they don't provide any instruction for use.
Great video. Thanks. I am very used to the 1UP rack when in horizontal position. Just installed 2 1up trays (like yours) in a vertical position on my truck camper. Bought from Owl vans. Request response to each question
1.)Due to space issues (will not get into), I only have each 1up tray bolted in 2 locations and not 3. Do u think that will be an issue. FYI, not using a Sherpa tray.
2.) I am getting the loading and unloading dialed in. Definitely an art to it. I am finding that releasing the upper arm is very difficult when UNLOADING a bike. I am definitely making the upper arm super tight when LOADING the bike into the tray making the unloading very hard. In ur video, it looks like u don’t pull down too much on the upper arm. It looks like it gets to a snug position and u call it good. I guess I am making it way too tight. Just so you know what I mean by super tight is that the bike tire gets very compressed by the one up arm when I have it in the loaded position. Does not look like your tire is getting conpressed much at all by the arm. Just worried that I don’t want my $7000 mtn bike falling off. Can u comment on what I wrote here. Thanks.
Hey there! Thanks for the comment and questions! Let's see what I can help ya with.
1. Our trays were only bolted in 2 locations, so although I'm not sure exactly how your setup looks, ours was solid with only 2. I did check the bolts about once a week for the first month to make sure they were staying tight. We also have that cable that acts as an emergency brake if the tray bolts were to fail. If you aren't using that I'd recommend it.
2. I do pull the upper arms until they are snug but not super tight. I did the same thing as you and pulled them super tight when we first started out, and had trouble getting the upper arm to release. We even had one day where one of the bikes got a flat while on the rack which caused the tray to loosen up (while we were driving), but even with the tray loose the bike wasn't close at all to coming off without releasing the top arm. We also use the velcro straps on the front tire/wheel that act as an emergency brake for the bikes. Are you using those?
Hope this helps!
@@TheVantasticLife thanks for the awesome reply. Means alot to me that you took the time out of ur day to reply. I am using the velcro strap and the emergency cable. I will not pull super tight. It was so tight that the arm compressed the tire so much that the arm was close to the rim. I will take ur advice and just make it snug. I always check bolts for looseness.
Looks like u go on national forest roads. Although i have a full size pickup with lots of power, i avoid serious 4 wheeling. Just like going on national forest roads with some bumps, wash boards, rocks, etc. Is that what u do? Jsut to confirm; Have u had any problems with bikes coming loose? thanks again
We are happy to share any info we can!
We also avoid 4 wheeling. Mostly because it doesn't seem smart to 4 wheel with our house (we are full time). But we do drive up/down a lot of forest service and BLM roads to find trails and campsites.
Our bikes have never come loose once with 3 full spring/summer/fall years of using them from WA to AZ, and everywhere in between.
The biggest pain with the 1up trays for me was figuring out how to avoid having our bikes hit each other with the trays natural movement. It wasn't hard to figure out, but just to let you know what I had to figure out.
Hit me up if you have any other questions!
@@TheVantasticLife I hope this is the last question.
Do you leave the 1UP wheel locks in place when driving down national forest roads?
My concern would be that the wheel locks end up damaging the spokes that they are close to. I always try to rotate the wheel so the spokes are not touching wheel locks but I am concerned that due to vibration of the roads that the wheel may rotate a little and spokes get damaged by wheel locks. thanks again
@@er7912 Yep, we have the wheel locks on 100% of the time and have never had one hit a spoke.
I've broken many spokes in the last 4 years of mountain biking, but only while I've been riding my bike. :-)
We do add an additional cable lock to the bikes every time we leave the bikes on the rack, and we DO remove that any time the van is moving.
No worries on the questions. Happy to answer them at any time! Cheers!
This is great. Thanks for sharing. Do you find the Sherpa limits your visibility out the rear window while driving?
Hi Lindsay, The Sherpa covers about half of the rear window. So, yes, it definitely limits visibility, but not so much that it bothers me or took any getting used to.
Is it possible for the van door opening too far that the bikes or bike rack smack the side of your van?
Nope. The van rear doors have limiters on them. When the Owl racks are NOT on the doors these limiters can be released which will allow the doors to open all the way to the sides of the van.
When the Owl racks are installed on the rear doors they are designed to allow opening to the point of the limiters. If you release the limiters you just hit the Owl hinge stop point.
Hopefully this makes sense. If not, let me know and I can make a quick video. But the bikes or rack can’t get close to the side of the van due to the Owl rack hinge system.
What a hassle. Love my Lolo Racks handle bar mounts. Way faster and safer.
Interesting. How is it safer?
@@TheVantasticLife handlebars don't get slow air leaks.
Ahh, yes. That is a good point.
For those that might be following this… we’ve had one of the bikes get a flat while on the rack while we were driving without any issue.
There is a Velcro safety strap that keeps the bikes pinned to the rack even if the 1Up arms fail.
I’m not saying that our system is any better than another system, just that we haven’t found it to be unsafe at all after using it full time for the last two summers. Bikes on every time we drive.
How and where are your Lolo handle bar hooks mounted? Do you have a photo to share? I first bought a pair of Lolo DIY hooks intending to mount them to the Sprinter rear passenger door, but am leaning hard towards Owl Sherpa/1-Up for the complete mounting solution.
@@ralpheburns3 i just looked at the lolo website and copied that.