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Every ride starts with the puzzle phase of fitting bikes on the rack. Most racks force a specific order, especially with non-standard bike frames, but the Shifts&Grins adjusts to your setup so you spend less time swapping spots and more time riding.
No more swapping bikes around to make them fit. The Shifts&Grins adapts to any setup, so you don't have to force a perfect order. The ratcheting hooks adjust to grab your bikes by the wheel or frame, while the sliding wheel cradles move independently to match any combination of sizes and styles. Just set, secure, and go.
Reaching your gear shouldn't mean unloading your bikes or wrestling with a clunky mechanism. With the push-button tilt, just tap it with your leg and keep both hands on the rack as it smoothly lowers out of the way. No awkward balancing, no hassle - just quick, easy access to your trunk so you can grab what you need and get back on the road.
Bumpy roads, tight turns, high speeds - none of it matters when your rack holds steady. With a rugged, no-wobble design and an anti-rattle hitch pin, this rack locks in place so you can focus on the ride, not on whether your bikes are shifting behind you.
Installing a bike rack can be a pain - wrestling with a heavy frame, trying to get the hitch pin holes to match up. Not with the Shifts&Grins. The hitch alignment collar guides the shank into place quickly, and the D-shaped anti-rattle hitch pin can be tightened down with one hand, so you can secure the rack in seconds and get on with your ride.
When the ride's over, the Shifts&Grins practically disappears. The shank folds up flat against the rack, allowing it to stand upright on its own - no extra stands, no awkward angles, just a rack that knows when to step aside. That means no more tripping over a bulky rack in your garage or wrestling to find space for it.
Sometimes, two bikes aren't enough - whether you're bringing friends along or gearing up for a family ride. Adding more bikes shouldn't feel like an installation project. The 2-bike add-on (B34FR - sold separately) slides into place and tightens with a simple hand knob - no bolts, no wrenches, no frustration. Expand your rack in seconds and get back to riding.
Excellent design and quite strong. Should last years.
I am an etrailer employee that tested out the rack. This is a solid rack for the price. I did have a small issue with the hitch aligner working with my OEM ford explorer hitch but I was able to loosen the screws and move the hitch aligner to make it work.
I purchased the full 4 bike kit, the thing is built well and tough, I mean really top notch quality. Price is really incredible as well, if we were to purchase something like this at a local store that may or may not fit all of our bikes we were quoted over $1k. The thing that sold me on this (other than price) was that fact that it holds bikes that have training wheels, so we are able to take our children's bikes with us without issue. There were some hiccups (UPS destroyed the first unit) but the customer service from Tegan and Lauren was outstanding, I had 2 issues and they resolved both super fast.
It is a very heavy rack and is rusting within 3 months of use (and not just where it goes into the hitch), Think it would have a better paint job, and knobs losen and come off if not kept tight. Bikes go on and off quickly.
We out this rack to work right away, hauling 4 bikes all over Wisconsin this Memorial Day weekend. It worked great
This is a very good bike rack for the price. The only thing I would suggest is to have a better hitch for the wheel strap. Also a YouTube video assembly I think would be helpful to prevent mistakes when putting together.
I've been using this rack all spring, and it's working perfectly! I'm able to get 4 full sized bikes to fit on it.
The only issue I've had is it's a little undersized for XXL mountain bike frames (Specialized S6 or equivalent). I had to fabricate a new wheel cradle to get it to seat properly. Still giving 5 stars however because it's an edge case. If you have that size bike consider other options
It is easy to install, and keeps our bikes secure during our long distance road trip. I love how easy it is to get the bikes on and off the rack and how easy it is to tilt the rack with the bikes back so we can still access the trunk. The rack is heavy, but not more than the other platform bike racks that we had been considering. I highly recommend this rack.
Every year my family picks a place for all of us to road trip for an adventure. This year was mountain biking in Bentonville Arkansas!
I have been biking for 30 years now and because I work at etrailer have used all the racks. For 4 bikes, or as a 2 bike this one is the one. Let’s be real, getting a family of 5 and extended family of 23 on a road trip is a shift show. The loading, unloading, pee breaks getting in and out is work.
This rack made a difference. The 2 bike extension attachment is far and away the easiest and simplest I have used. I was so surprised how easy it was I had my son try, and stopped a neighbor to try. Same result it took them about 20 seconds to get from 2 to 4 bike attachment.
Loading the bikes was easy not too much interference between seats and handlebars. Had to slide one set of cradles. Pretty easy stuff.
Then the tilting, fully loaded. The button and handle was easy. I’m not a spring chicken and didn’t have any trouble getting it tilted and back up.
For storage. It’s so easy to remove the extension I got to carry it in 2 pieces. So light enough to handle it. Normally carrying a 4 bike rack, that is 100+ pounds and an awkward shape to the garage is very challenging. 2 pieces of this rack was easy.
And it folds flat, game changer for the garage. Finally my rack doesn’t have to stick out for the whole family to trip over.
Heavy duty rack! Assembly instructions were good and easy to follow and assembly was pretty straightforward. All the parts seem like high quality and everything fit together. I got all my bikes on it and drove around a bit and I think it will work well for us. I put on a medium 26" bike, a medium 29er, a small 29er and a small 26" all at the same time and everything fit. Rack sits pretty high so I can get out of the driveway with a few inches to spare so that is nice. I used an Allen socket with ratchet wrench to make assembly easier instead of provided Allen wrench and recommend that.
I found placing the bar hook on the bike frame holds the bike steady better than just pushing it down on the wheel if your going to drive much distance I would do that. We will see how it performs but at least out of the box it seems good.
Came well packaged in perfect condition which I was a little worried about with shipping something so heavy across the country, but even though the box was a little beat up every thing inside was fine.
This rack is both excellent and poor at the same time. It's built like a tank, which is both good and bad. I expect it's good because it's going to last a long time and not break. It's bad because some of the components just aren't as good quality as they could be. Like the strap buckles for the wheel straps could have a stronger spring in the latch. As it is, the strap latches tend to not catch and the strap pulls out a little bit. You have to pull the strap tight and then mash down on the latch to get it to lock in to one of the ratchet positions. And it also doesn't have some pretty common features that even a lot cheaper racks have now. Like an anti wobble system in the hitch shank. Or like a locking hitch pin. Or some type of locking mechanism for the bikes that is built into the rack. Beyond those items however, this appears to be a really well built rack, and it's one of the few I have seen where the locking arms can be used on either the wheels if you want no frame contact, or on the frame if you don't or can't use them on the wheels (I e. fenders). The tilting system seems to work well and is very robust and I have no concerns that the tilt locking mechanism is going to release while I'm driving or going over bumps. The only other issue I have had up to this point, which I admit has only been assembling and one drive with bikes, is that the instructions were written incorrectly in a couple of places which made it literally impossible the way they had it written. I had to figure that out on my own, and found out that rotating one of the pieces 180 degrees opposite from what the instructions said ended up being correct.
I had no idea how to proceed getting a bicycle hitch and rack. The folks at Etrailer were very responsive, gave me links to the exact products that would fit my vehicle and were patient with all my questions. Products arrived sooner than I expected, and we can't wait to get everything installed and start using our bike rack. Thanks so much.
Things I like ….It is significantly less expensive than other racks. The frame and connectors are very stout. It goes together easy.
Things that surprised me …very heavy. I have concerns about the durability of the spring mechanisms on the sliding hold down arms and how long they will endure. We will see.
Service and shipping was smooth and on time.
Suggestion… product vides were great covered 99% of concerns and measurements. One stat missing…the approx. distance/clearence between a rack mounted bikes handle bar and vehicle with a strait vertical plumb rear end (like a van). I am not saying it’s a problem but I will soon find out.
Products look well made and durable but I have not installed the hitch yet. Your speed on getting them here was noteworthy. I must comment on your shipping packaging. Both packages arrived with several tears and punctures on multiple sides. A regular occurrence according to the UPS driver as he struggled to wrestle the box to the door. The problem seemed pretty obvious to me. You package a heavy, unbalanced weight in a box that is way oversized. The off center weight shifts and moves in transit every time it is handled. The larger box also makes it harder for those who have to move the box manually, UPS personal and the consumer.
Love the videos , very helpful.
Awesome product for the price. I would recommend this product. The only thing I would like to see is an option to order replacement straps. I don’t need them yet but want to be proactive in the event one breaks during a hauling experience.
Delivery was quick and the item well packaged.
slightest bit of difficulty with a few parts, but overall very good qualtiy. very easy to use, I am very pleased.I will note that this rack does not incorporate any locking ability, but that is fine for my purposes
The ordering process was quick and easy. The shipping was pretty fast and the bike rack was just what I wanted.
Solid rack, easy install (2021 Kia Soul) and exceptional value! Would recommend!
Great rack. Excellent quality. Good instructions. Love it.
Received yesterday, pretty simple to assemble. Like how compact it folds up for storage, like the flexibility to place the arms on the wheel or frame to secure the bike. It is heavy, but I was able to lift and attach it by myself. I was initially excited that it cleared my 2015 Jeep Wrangler JK's stock spare tire when folded up. But, my bike's pedal hits the spare tire (XL-sized MTB with 29" tires) so I had to use my hitch extension (already owned). No horizontal sway, but has some vertical sway at the hitch (with and without the extender) - but test drove it (bumps and hard braking) with no issues - but this is just my day 1 test. Thanks etrailer for all of the detailed videos on your bike racks - really helped me with the decision!
easy assembly
It is a little heavier than I thought it would be.
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Gwendolyn Y.
5/13/2025
Hey Travis. Thank you for giving us such a detailed review on the rack. If you are up with sharing, I did want to ask where in the instructions caused confusion. I'm more than happy to get that information over to Benton.