tttyyler

It depends a lot on the trails. I work remote and travel a lot, and some places my ebike collects dust, and others it's the only bike I ride.

@notsosikmik: Luckily for us, both are for sale

@adrennan: I really wanted to like the lolo. It seems like a cool company, and I like that they sell the hooks separately for people trying to do their own thing, for example use a ladder on the back of a van to carry a bike or two. I got into an email exchange with someone in customer service there trying to clarify whether it could carry DH bikes and they said, yeah maybe with the special DH hanger, but it also depends what kind of handlebars they run and how many stem spacers. I think if I was only ever moving my own bikes, and I confirmed they would fit, I would give the lolo a try, but the idea of showing up for shuttles and telling someone they are out of luck because they have the wrong handlebars turned me off, so it's just not for me.

@onawalk: for a simple load and unload with the same bikes every time, the only extra step is having a second strap for the front wheel. Doesn't sound too bad, but the cost of screwing it up is much higher. If you forget the single rope on a north shore the bike will swing around until you notice, maybe scratching the bike next to it. If you forget the top strap on the Alta it will dump your front wheel out of the basked, and you will drag the bike behind the car by the rear tire (ask me how I know). If you forget both straps on the Alta, the bike is gone. For more complicated scenarios with the Alta you are sliding baskets around, re-threading straps, moving those little wheel size adapter bars, and even if you just want to fold it down to access the tailgate there id a latch and a pin instead of just a pin. I see the appeal of the alta - I bought one after all. It is easier to load because the basket is a bigger target. If you get all the steps right, the bikes are more secure. It has cool add-on gadgets. But my experience is that I appreciated the simplicity and reliability of the NSR more.

After trying a much more expensive Alta rack that has way too many steps and ways it can fail, I think this is the best hanging design. I've had some luck adapting to different head tubes by bending out the prongs, but what I don't have a great solution for is the way that squared off fork crowns like a 40 cut through the rubber tube and start grinding themselves away on the steel below. I wrap them in tape but it cuts through the tape pretty quick too. Need some kind of hard PVC crown guard

I've carried BMX and road bikes by hanging them backwards from the handlebar

I find the single crown is easier on the hands for fast trails with braking bumps. Dual crown is too stiff.