Most Popular Bike Lock for 2023 Chevrolet Express Van

Bike rack has been great. We've taken it on several road trips. It makes taking the bikes somewhere close to the house an option now. Before this we had one of the strap on racks that take 15 minutes to get the rack and bikes onto the car, the thought of going anywhere with the bikes was really annoying. This thing takes 2 minutes to get on or off, so taking the bikes somewhere is a breeze.

I installed this rack onto a Curt trailer hitch which is mounted onto a 2017 Honda Fit. I have been using it intermittently for several months, probably about 5 times with one bike and twice with two bikes. I give some pros and cons below and then elaborate. Pros: easy to assemble, easy to mount and dismount bikes, easy to lock and unlock, how to put the rack into different positions is intuitive Cons: inconvenient to put the rack into different positions, inconvenient to mount the rack onto the hitch, rack protrudes about 15 inches from bumper when in flipped up position (seems very vulnerable to someone backing into it in a parking lot, very inelegant looking I say the repositioning is intuitive because there is really only one way you could possibly place the pins for each position. But removing and replacing two pins is much less convenient than turning a knob or a lever, like some racks do. Also many racks fold and flip in such a way as to look very unobtrusive when in non-use mode. This one looks like kind of a monstrosity. That does not really bother me but it might bother some owners. The part that does bother me is how far it protrudes from the car. I back into parking spaces whenever possible to avoid someone bumping into the rack and damaging it (which happened to a friend). My number one suggestion for Curt is related to mounting the rack onto the hitch. Make it easier to tell when the holes are lined up so that the bolt/pin will fit and thread. As it is now, if you insert the rack as far as it can go it is way too far in. Ideally, it would be exactly lined up. Failing that, maybe some kind of click or other feedback to know at least that you are in the neighborhood. It would also be great to have an attaching device that is easier to fasten and unfasten than is the bolt/pin. Tip for mounting the rack onto the hitch: I assumed that it would be awkward to hold, what is it 46 pounds?, while trying to line up the rack probe with the receiver. If you have a garage with exposed collar ties, my solution could work well for you. I looped a cargo strap over a collar tie. Then I hooked both hooks of a bungie onto that loop. The idea is that you hook one of the bike frame holders of the rack onto the bungie, suspending the rack a few inches off the garage floor. This takes most of the weight of the rack so that you can just pull up or down and forward until you line up with the receiver. Tip for mounting bikes. Don't put the little screw into the post that prevents you from completely removing the bike frame holders. Remove both holders. Position the first bike, slide the holder into place, position the second bike, slide the holder into place. I found this makes it much easier, because you avoid parts of the bike hitting the holder as you are trying to get the wheels into place. The trick is that if you are mounting only one bike, don't forget to put the second holder back on - or maybe just stick it inside the car right away.

Click to Enlarge

Click to Enlarge

Expensive, but worth the cost! Easy to install with clear instructions. Folds away cleanly when not in use, you can use the shorter bike latch to secure the folded rack in place more easily than the included strap. The only problem I've had is that if you're about 6' tall, with the rack in the highest position it's just above your sightline but squarely in "crack you in the forehead" range, so keep that in mind when deciding which height to use.

Great product, poor sales and delivery execution. The good: This bike rack appears to be of typical Thule high quality However, at the time of this writing, I had not installed the rack on my 2021 Promaster. The rack arrived on time with decent tracking data. The bad: The installation process for this rack is far (FAR!) more involved than installing a roof rack or hitch mount. ETrailer made no mention of needing specialty adhesive in order to install per Thule’s requirements. Neither Thule nor etrailer provided this adhesive, and it’s very hard to find in bricks and mortar stores. I suggest ordering the required Sikaflex 252 on Amazon immediately after ordering the rack so the adhesive will arrives before the rack. It appears etrailer sold me a returned item, because the rack appeared to be thrown in the delivery box with loose parts and no protective packing materials; $XXX bike rack and that’s how much etrailer cares! UPS sucks; there’s no reason to candy-coat the performance of their deliveries (yay for union protected job apathy). Every (yes, literally every) box I receive from UPS arrives with varying degrees of damage which often impacts the condition of the contents of the box. I suggest buying this rack at your local bricks and mortar bike store.