 "Carry Bikes for less Bucks" | 2008-09-22 |
| - Reviewed By User: AE16VJMXOMLEG |
NOTE: MY VERSION WAS THE 2-INCH. CAN'T VOUCH FOR THE SMALLER HITCH VERSION.
This bike carrier is definitely in the "thrifty" line. No particular bells or whistles- just simple straps holding the bikes down. HOWEVER, it worked really nicely on the back of my '08 Chevy Silverado.
LIKES:
1. The fold-down aspect allowed me to full open the tailgate. I was able to get stuff in and out without having to remove the bikes.
2. Simplicity. The straps are stupid-proof.
3. The fold-down carrying arms is nice when the bikes are off the rack and you don't want people walking into the carrier in a parking lot.
DISLIKES:
1. It's a little wobbly. Not bad- you're not going to lose a bike. It's just worrisome for a person who likes nothing wiggling at 65 - 70 mph on a highway.
2. The straps are stupid-proof...but they do loosen a little in transit. Not enough to let the bikes bounce, but enough that there's more of that wiggle. I used a bike cable to lock the bikes in place, not to mention lock them to the whole hitch mount.
3. Security. It wouldn't be that hard for a truly inspired thief to pull out two bolts and take off with most of the whole contraption, sans hitch insert. If you're really worried, you'll need to figure out how to thief-proof those two bolts.
For the money- great! It's a sturdy, heavy son-of-a-gun that has no problem holding the bikes (even with the wiggle and extra security stuff). And here on Amazon, with the free shipping (which for once shipped the product quickly!) it saved me 30 - 60 bucks off local prices. Which I loved. :) |
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 "bike rack" | 2008-09-21 |
| - Reviewed By User: A143Z77KE63Q19 |
| Received the bike rack on time and it was very easy to put together. I haven't used it yet, but so far so good |
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| "Sturdy rack at a great price!" | 2008-08-26 |
| - Reviewed By sunbull |
| I tried a couple of other racks before and they had the wobbling problem. This rack came with the anti-wobbling bolt. It does require 2 wrenches, but well worth it. Once tightened, the rack did not wobble at all! The rack seems very sturdy and well made. I have used it and felt very confident and very happy with it. |
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| "Room for improvement" | 2008-08-26 |
| - Reviewed By User: AU2OCYLFILQOH |
| This is a good product, but don;t like the bolt method of attaching to tow mount. Would rather use tow bar lock insted, so I'll have to drill out the hole o make it bigger. |
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| "Solid Rack, Nice Features, Great Value" | 2008-08-23 |
| - Reviewed By User: A162X7T4VSNGZF |
This Allen Bike carrier rack is awesome.
I can easily load a mens and a womens mountain bike, my teenagers thick frame mountain bike, and my young daughters "little Pony" kids bike all at the same time. I had to think about the best way to load them up for a minute, but it was'nt to difficult to make them all fit (and I didnt have to remove any bike parts). I suspect that I would have an easier time loading 4 similar bikes rather than the variety of 2-wheelers that sit in my garage. My wifes "Womens Low X-Bar" bike easily mounted without the extra x-bar attachment that they recommend, so you can save yourself $20 bucks and skip that purchase.
The hitch pin snugs up to the 2" recieved and eliminates all the wobble I have seen on other carriers. The horizontal mount can be folded down by pulling a spring-loaded knob, and the entire unit will fold away from the tailgate by pulling the lower spring-loaded knob. The bikes are held in place by poly-straps and friction buckles. They snug down real nice, and stay secure for the entire trip to the bike trails.
I found this bike carrier to be a quality item, and when you compare the price to the top-name brands, this is definately a great value.
Bottom Line: It will easily carry 4 bikes, it has some very unique features that are nice to have, and its a quality carrier.
Cons: There is no way to "lock" the rack to the reciever unless you buy the locking hitch pin sold separately. (A crook will need a 9/16" wrench to to steal the rack, so its reasonably secure in most places without a lock). There is a gusset on the rack that you can run a cable thru, so I ussually just lock everything up (bikes and rack) to the 2-inch reciever chain holders using a cable and pad-lock. |
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 "Rack is fine but can't be secured" | 2008-08-14 |
| - Reviewed By webboy |
The rack itself is fine but there's no way to secure/lock this rack to a 1.25" hitch. The hole in the rack is only 3/8" wide but all locking pins are 1/2". Having a rack full of expensive bikes with no way to lock them makes this rack essentially worthless.
Allen Customer Service was extremely rude. |
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| "Receiver too short" | 2008-08-12 |
| - Reviewed By jsfald |
I purchased this right before a trip and had to use it or I couldn't take my bikes with me on the trip. Otherwise I would have returned it.
I had a huge problem with how long the "insert" that goes into the hitch is. When I had it all assembled I tried to put it on the hitch but the holes on the receiver didn't match the holes on the hitch! It was too short! The pull pin, with the ball on top that allows you lower the arm so you have access to the back of you vehicle, was hitting my bumper. I had to remove the pull pin and replace it with a bolt I had in my garage. This gave me an extra quarter inch to line up the holes on the insert and the hitch and put a bolt through them. So now the carrier is on my SUV.
The next problem was when the arms were in the upright position, so you can put your bikes on it, the rack is too close to my SUV. There is enough movement that the rack can hit the back of my SUV. When my bikes are on them the arms are loaded enough that the rack leans away from the my SUV. Luckily I didn't have to stop suddenly or else I'm sure it would have made a dent in my back door. What did happen was the rack scratched my back door. I assume this either happened from the off road we took to get to the trail head or by driving with the arms in the upright position without bikes on them. So I used some duck tape and put a small rag on the part that could scratch my SUV.
I looked at my brothers carrier and his insert was a good foot longer than this one is. Other than these two problems the carrier worked great and it was definitly the cheapest carrier out there. If your hitch sticks out further than your bumper and door than you should be okay. My hitch is an inch or two under (behind?) my bumper. So purchase with caution or don't purchase right before you need to use it so you can return it if necessary and get one that works for you. |
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| "Nice Bike Rack for the Money" | 2008-07-20 |
| - Reviewed By User: A3TQVIOBWM0326 |
Just finished a 500 mile trip using the Allen bike rack, sturdy, and easy to use. Very nice for the money! Two comments - one which I have read previously in comments.
Unless I was doing something wrong you will need to drill a hole in the frame in order to use the provided bolt and secure it to the hitch receiver. No big deal, took two minutes to do. When connecting the frame to the hitch receiver there is a little play - easily rectified with a wood shim!
All in all a very nice unit. |
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| "Nice rack =P" | 2008-07-11 |
| - Reviewed By djwone |
solid well thought out design. The bikes are held close to each other so I tie a few rags in key spots to prevent bike on bike contact. So far there have been no scratches. It works with my sons 20 inch as well as my 29er. It will also work with my Townie cruiser if I use the cross bar attachment. Hope this helps
Dan |
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| "Easy to use" | 2008-06-09 |
| - Reviewed By cosmo7 |
| Good, solid rack. You will need to carry two wrenches to get it on and off, but removing the rack only takes about 20 seconds. The metal hook on the strap could use a plastic or rubber coating to protect the paint on the car trunk, but I just added some padding of my own and all is well. |
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