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Quick review of the Atera Strada DL3
I've had this bike rack for about a year and to be honest it OK but really not great, however I've not had many other so don't have much to compare it to so it may well be the best of a bad bunch. But I really was disappointed considering it was very well reviewed in several group-tests. i used the rack about twice
At the moment i mostly use this to transport myself and my mates to go mountain biking so carrying 1 -3 modern mountain bikes with big tyres, slack head angles so long bikes, often large size. As such I'll caveat this review with the notion that many of the issues that affect me might not be so relevant to roadbikers, those with just hardtails, or family bikes of decreasing sizes. Indeed several of the group tests I mentioned were likely from road bikers or people with less high end bikes furthermore i think these people are more likely the target markets.
Whats good:
Its pretty lightweight and very easy to attach to the tow-ball, the whole process takes less than a minute. It's got 12 pin electrics (comes with the adapter for 7 pin) and therefore provides more than the bare minimum of lights on the back, i think this include reverse etc. The sliding off mechanism is pretty good and I've never had problem with it, however as its possible to access the boot space on my car by opening the glass hatch rather than the the whole boot and this does not require sliding the glass off i find I use the slide mechanism far less than expected. I have been able to use this with my plus-bike with no issues with strap length.
The Problems:
1. Loading wheels
The rack width is narrower than the distance between the two axles on the bike, so the bike is balanced straddling the rack only touching the two inner lower quadrants of the wheels. there wheels are not secured really at all until you strap them on. What usually happens at this point is the front wheel turns and the bike dives forward off the rack while your trying to attach the frame support. handlebars usually narrowly missing paintwork. Its not impossible to hold the bike up in place with one hand until you've done enough straps with the other to keep it in place but its just a bit annoying and fiddly. When this happens I always think of how well uplift trailers work and that it would be good to have a slot to drop the wheel into to prevent this happening
2. Loading arms
The arms that attach to the two rear bikes have to be threaded through the two front most bikes to reach the one at the rear, there is no way to change the order of them. This may be easier with big open road bikes or hardtails but with full sussers with shocks in the middle this gets to be a pretty challenging puzzle, if you do manage to do the arms are often touching other bikes and potentially damaging paintwork and carbon, this can be mitigated by tapeing on bits of foam but its still a pain in the ass
3. Spacing
Even with non boost bikes the bikes are too close together and the skewers are usually touching the frames or forks of the other bikes, sometimes other bits. Again you can put foam in all the bits that make contact but it doesn't make for quick loading when you go bikeing a couple of times a week
4. ratchets
the ratchet strap has to pass all the way through the frame clamp but becuase of the shape of the clamps they have to be fairly tight to hold securely, however the plastic lever for tightening the ratchets in the clamp seems to be loosing its teeth and the most well used one barely does much.
Your bikes are evidently much longer than mine 🙂
I recognise most of the issues you mention; for me they've never been a problem but it's easy to see how they could be. Luckily every combination I've used has worked very well (like you say: family bikes, all rigid/hardtail/road/etc). For massive DH or Plus/Fat bikes I can imagine the Strada wouldn't work at all. (Strada translates as "road", of course, which may or may not hint at the target market.)
I think you should be able to re-order the frame arms, though: there's a wingnut on their mounting brackets so you can take them off. Always thought that made a slight mockery of the lockable frame straps, to be honest…
I'd add a couple more minor niggles: the catch for the sliding mechanism does occasionally seem temperamental (I've had mine a bit over 4 years now) although it always frees up just fine; and the number plate holder is unnecessarily fiddly (I use mine on two vehicles so often end up swapping plates). But it's served us well, even when we added the fourth bike mount. Being able to get the bikes out of the way of the camper tailgate was the reason for buying it, and it's tremendously effective on that front.
Could the drops issue not be fixed by just offsetting the bikes? Or are you at full extension for the wheel blocks?
Hm, sorry to hear of your frustration.
recently went through same process as offloaded my T5 for a more normal car with a tow bar, and wanted a hitch mounted rack.
We went for the Thule Velospace XT which seems bloody fantastic, and overcomes all the issues you describe. I really liked the ‘sliding’ principle of the Strada, but the THule’s tilt was enough for our car, and the ability to remove, position and reinstall the arms is absolute genius. The mind boggles at the thought of trying to thread full suss bikes onto a rack where this is not possible.
Use it weekly with the lads’ big bikes, and recently also a trans European tour with 4 family bikes on it.
I think you should be able to re-order the frame arms, though: there’s a wingnut on their mounting brackets so you can take them off.
That only loosens them, they are double nutted inside the plastic so they can't be removed. It's a pain as above you have to thread the arms through the first bike.
Recognise all of the issues above on mine but it's still better than the Thule one I had before it.
I've got a Pendle strap on bike rack that I'm selling for £30 posted:
https://pendle-bike.co.uk/collections/strap-on-racks/products/standard-strap-on-rack
Well used, but it's absolutely solid.
That only loosens them, they are double nutted inside the plastic so they can’t be removed.
They most certainly can. I just picked up a second hand Strada recently and i've already had all of the arms off. The screw part doesn't come out of the plastic, but its doesn't have to. You just loosen it off until you can open the clamp
Hi
I would concur with the OP.
Had mood be about 18months and have similar issues.
Wouldnt recommend or buy again.
Cheers
Steve
Bit like tires and women I've found there is no perfect rack. But the strada dl is WAY better and cheaper than the vw official one i had prior to that and the fiamma before that. use mine about twice a month average, been to europe with it where it performed well with modern ish long ish bikes on it. with 3 "enduro" bike on it is indeed very tight but with some offset and padding this isn't an issue for me.
I’m on my second. Agree that wheel falling off, bar smacking you on the head is a bit annoying, as is playing 3-D chess attempting to feed the arms through frames with not much space in them.
I can do the opening window thing as well, but I do like the tilt. Rack also holds the bikes really well once you got them set up nicely. I generally only carry 2 so it’s less of a problem.
On my second Strada now and while I can sympathise on all the issues I'm not sure whats out there that is better at the moment?
Mine is a bit temperamental but its on the car most days and gets very little TLC!
My nu skool long and low bikes are really close to being too long for it now though...
I suspect almost all of those are standard on any rear mounted rack carrying multiple bikes. Got a 12 year old Thule Euroclassic and it is great but has those issues.
They most certainly can. I just picked up a second hand Strada recently and i’ve already had all of the arms off. The screw part doesn’t come out of the plastic, but its doesn’t have to. You just loosen it off until you can open the clamp
Must be different or older version as the clamp can't be opened on mine just double checked. It can't be opened this much
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There's a captive nut inside that square slot and a thread locked nut on the end of the wing nut so when the the thread locked nut butts up to the plastic it can opened no more.
(off course the nut could be removed with some long nose pliers which would allow the wing nut to undo completely)
Weird, looks identical (from what I can picture). Will try to remember to have a look later
Might depend on which arm you guys are attacking! I know on mine the longest arm is removable - I fitted it as an aftermarket addition. The shortest one doesn't seem to be removable. Might just be corroded tight though....
Recognise many of the issues you have. I tried a DL and sent it straight back because of the non-removable arms. Trying to find a way to mount the bikes is a difficult enough puzzle even if you can reorder the arms.
I ended up getting an Atera Evo which has removable arms. This has the opposite problem with wheelbase: the wheel holder for the first bike is split to make space for the handle, but this prevents you from getting the wheel holders close enough together for most road bikes. Not sure if it's the same on the DL.
Road bikes are also more of a PITA to sort out the handlebars as 1st and 3rd bikes overlap and drops require moving by more than an inch or so to get them out of each other's way.
Bez, Re number plate changing I think if you own the vehicle that is registered to the plate as well as the vehicle your driving the plates can differ as you are still traceable, at least this is how it works with our farm vehicles.
You can definitely remove the arms. Not sure how you have managed to fail with this - just undo the bolt and off it comes! There is a little captive nut there but it in no way prevents you from undoing it.
I think if you own the vehicle that is registered to the plate as well as the vehicle your driving the plates can differ as you are still traceable
Traceable, yes, but I'm reasonably sure it's still illegal.
Hi Guys
Thanks for all the comments
I agree with Tiger, the arms are definitely not removable on my version, at least without modifying the bolting setup but then that defuncts the locks.
As I mentioned in this thread i think Americans have good ones.
https://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/towball-bike-rack-recommendations-us-seem-to-have-good-ones/
Got a strada 4 bike and it isn't great. It might be the bestv option but some of the features are woeful. The non removable arms really boils my piss. Luckily 3 of our 4 bikes are small, but the enduro definitely doesn't really fit on the short bars.
The game of atera tetris each time the kids get new bikes is a nightmare. The non removable bars takes the piss completely. I think you need the 500 quid version or something for that
Still evangelical about my Aiston rack.
Yes it needs a spanner to lock it, doesn't tilt and looks a bit agricultural.
But nothing will ever likely need replacing given it's all heavy gauge steel box section.
Bikes (even the fatty which is pretty long and nowhere near the end of adjustment) sit in it rock solidly.
No need for wheel straps, bungees, or anything else, just nip up the toptube hook and its going absolutely nowhere.
Well worth looking for one secondhand if you can live without boot access.
Had to take a video on my phone of the atera Tetris end result on Saturday. Worked so well there’s no way I’ll be able to recall it for my holidays in a couple of weeks.
yes the wheel slots are too short- try fitting an alpine 6 onto one. I think the e-bike version has better bike-to-bike spacing but it only accommodates 2 bikes. Reckon they can’t change the design much as it’ll overload some towbars when it’s slid out.
My Pendle is simple bikes simply strap on with 3 straps. Wheel supports are easy to offset. Plenty of space between burly bikes without any need for protection.
Agricultural but effective.
Hmmm, can't seem to findbrian aisman racks anywhere, they seem to have stopped trading.
I have the evo, the one with removable arms. Major faffing when getting the bike Tetris ready, but works pretty good once you've figured this
currently on hols with 4 bikes, courtesy of the atera. Roof box on top and dog in boot means a rack like this is my only option
it could definitely do with more spacing though, but then the weight would be further away from the car
still impressive the way it holds everything and yet is attached at only one point
atera Tetris
Glad to have a name for this 🙂
Off to France on Saturday so have an hour set aside for a game on Friday.
Major faffing when getting the bike Tetris ready, but works pretty good once you’ve figured this
Gravel / Adventure bikes may get a bit of stick on here, but damn it if they're not much, much easier to load onto bike racks! 🙂
Good review LozBrown
Loading arms. Better to grip the front wheel, so no concern finding a way through or a good place to grip without damaging carbon or paintwork
3/ Spacing . DH bikes are wide. This towball rack version has 280mm between the bikes. Most other brands are 250mm at most.
