# 1
Thule Hitching Post Pro Bike Rack for 4 Bikes - 1-1/4" and 2" Hitches
The good: I like the way the bikes are held in and the ability to add the upright adapters to the bike frame holders. The straps are quality too. For a jeep with a spare tire, this is the perfect length to clear it. This rack is 5 stars from the bike holders to the base of it. The bad: the 2"receiver adapter and bolt are insufficient. I wish they made this in a solid 2" hitch. The entire setup is held into the receiver by a very short bolt. It only goes about half way into the receiver tube. So your hitch is only "secured" on one side. A hitch pin or bolt should go through the receiver tube completely imo so it can be secured on the other end with a retaining clip or nut. Because this only goes in the one side, the entire weight of the rack plus bikes are held tight to one side of the receiver by the undersized bolt and washer. A few bumps down the road and that bolt loosens. Now instead of distibuting the weight of the rack and bikes on the receiver and post, it's completely up to the bolt to keep you from losing the rack. The bolt threads get damaged too. I took this down a dirt road and nearly lost everything. I had to buy my own bolt with hd fender washers and lock washers to correct this. Thule should've provided this from the start. The current short bolt design where only one side of the receiver secures the rack is unacceptable. This rack is 1 star at best for the connection to the receiver.
Hitch pin broke before I got it. Looks like a poor design for the locking pin, they might want to consider a different design. I got a 3/8 shear pin from Home Depot to replace and it works great. Bike rack is great!
# 2
Kuat Sherpa 2.0 Bike Rack for 2 Bikes - 1-1/4" Hitches - Wheel Mount - Black
All in all pretty good. The arms that grab the front wheel have loosened a little bit and move side to side. They have never failed, just feel a little wobbly. The hitch receptacle is also hard to tighten but might be due to the receptacle it self. Used rack on a long trip and the bikes moved slightly side to side, but nothing serious.
Car: 2017 Honda CR-V This is a great rack! There's not a lot to the assembly, other than getting the first two long bolts in, those were tricky. Once those were in there, aligned properly, the rest of the assembly was pretty easy. Attaching the rack to the hitch receiver was the easiest part of the whole thing! The rack is really nicely portable, and will easily store in our apartment during the off season. It takes less than a minute to get it loaded into the hitch receiver. The cable lock is a little bit flimsy, but should hopefully deter casual thievery. What I would have loved to have seen were locks in the retaining arms as well, so those couldn't be messed with by strangers. Otherwise, this rack is really great, and I would highly recommend it.
# 3
Swagman Trailhead Bike Rack for 2 Bikes - 1-1/4" and 2" Hitches - Tilting
etrailer has the best pre- and post-sales customer service I've ever seen! I started out not knowing anything about hitch-mounted racks. So I wrote to etrailer telling them about my car and type of hitch I was about to have installed. Samuel wrote back with lots of great information tailored specifically to my car. He even included a photo that looked just like my 2017 white VW GTI with a hitch and rack installed. Okay something of a coincidence. But the rest of the assistance I got from the crew at etrailer was just as prophetic. I went into this a novice and came out knowing lots more about hitches and racks and finding the rack best suited to my situation. I have a small car, a class 1 hitch and a heavy mountain bike. I got exactly what I needed. As to the Swagman rack itself, it works fine. If I had a different situation I would probably buy a platform rack as they are easier to load. There's no reason to buy a bike rack anywhere else.
First off, thanks to Jason T. or "Troop". The exemplary customer service he provided is rare these days. Troop made several calls to the various manufacturers to ascertain which bike rack would afford me the most ground clearance as my new VW Golf sits low to the ground and my old bike rack frequently scraped the ground when I went up even a slight up hill grade. His efforts paid off as he found me the best bike rack for my car, the Swagman Trailhead 2 Bike Carrier. It sits up off the ground just high enough that it doesn't scrape on my driveway. It is also sturdy and holds my bikes securely. And, the delivery was amazingly fast. I had my rack in about 2 days! Note to Troop, see my Pittsburgh Pirates Logo on my bumper in the attached pictures? Pirate Fans persevere! The Bucco's will be coming after your Cardinals this year! Thanks again Troop!
# 4
Kuat Beta Bike Rack for 2 Bikes - 1-1/4" Trailer Hitches - Tilting
I was looking for a light weight bike rack for my 2015 Honda Accord. Your videos stated that the Kuat Beta was light and easy to install. You were right. I opened the box, read the instructions, and had it installed in about 10 minutes. I don't use a rack lock. It is so easy to pop on and off the hitch that I keep the rack in my car trunk.
We've been using this bike rack with a 1.25" Draw-Tite receiver hitch (also purchased from etrailer) on a 2012 Prius C for a month with no problems. As shown on the pictures, it fits two bikes very well, even one with a baby carrier. I chose this model based on recommendations from etrailer that it can be easily detached from the car without tools. True to their word, it is very easily detachable from the hitch and folds up nicely to fit in your garage/closet/storage area. Basically, it uses a hand tightened ball bearing mechanism to secure itself into the hitch receiver, and then uses a 3/8" hand locked pin as a safety device. You can install and de-install this rack in just a few minutes. During driving, there is little noticeable vibration from this rack, even on rougher roads or speed bumps. The only downside is that the holes on the receiver hitch do not align perfectly with the holes on the bike rack (see picture). I believe a few other reviewers also noted this issue. There is enough room to fit the safety pin, but not quite enough to fit a 1/2" hitch lock. I called Kuat to ask them about this and the rep told me that not all hitches will line up with this rack. Kuat, coincidentally(?), sells a hitch lock that is also 3/8" (same size as the safety pin) and still fits.
# 5
Swagman Trailhead Bike Rack for 3 Bikes - 1-1/4" and 2" Hitches - Tilting
Draw-tite Sportframe Trailer Hitch Receiver Class I - 1-1/4 Swagman Trailhead 3 Bike Rack - Tilting The Draw-tite Sportframe class 1 trailer hitch and Swagman Trailhead 3 bike rack were ordered for a 2017 Honda Fit. The online order and shipping went just as expected. The trailer hitch and bike rack are very heavy duty. I recommend watching the trailer hitch install video before installing, whereas the video is very helpful. The bike rack has triangles that you can rotate to find the best fit for your bicycle's frame. The rubber straps are thick and secure the bicycles when you pull them tight. This bike rack will stay on the vehicle for 6 months each year. The tilt feature and folding arm feature are must haves for a smaller hatchback. I am pleased with this purchase, it appears to be good quality and good value.
My previous bike rack was a hitch mounted Yakima. It was sturdy but not well suited for my low Subaru Impreza. It stuck out too far and hung too low so that I had to inch my way down the driveway or over speed bumps for fear of it bottoming out. A roof rack or a rear window mounted rack was not suitable since I wanted to be able to also carry two kayaks. First, I tried to modify my rack by shortening the part that sticks out of the hitch. I tried to saw off about 6 inches so it wouldn't stick out so far but the steel was much too hard. I ended up ruining several metal-cutting blades on my power saw before I gave up. I looked for other rack options. There weren't many out there. But eventually, I found something that met my needs. I purchased the "Swagman Trailhead 3 Bike Fold Down Bicycle Hitch Rack" in 2013 from eTrailer.com. The part that enters the hitch curves up to increase clearance from the ground. It is sturdy and sticks out far enough so I can still open my trunk hatch without having to lower the main vertical bar on the hitch (though I could if I wanted to). It isn't often I am really excited about a piece of gear but this hitch rack has made me worry-free when I transport my bicycle(s) via car. The only thing I don't like is that it is advertised as being a 3 bike carrier but it only fits 2 hybrid bikes. Maybe it will fit 3 skinny racing bikes but for the average rider, don't expect to fit on more than 2. But my experience is that is the case for all bicycle racks.
Thule Hitch Bike Racks Review - 2015 Chevrolet Cruze
Today in our 2015 Chevrolet Cruze, we are doing a test-fit of the Thule DoubleTrack Pro Platform-Style 2 Bike Rack. That part number is: TH9054. Now we all ready have our bike secured down, we are first going to show you how we secure it in place. The front and back tire, we have cam-buckle straps. We are just going to push on the buckle on the opposite side and pull our strap through. We will take a look at those buckles at the front on our front cradles there. We just push in this portion here and pull the strap through.
Kuat Hitch Bike Racks Review - 2015 Chevrolet Cruze
Today on our 2015 Chevrolet Cruze we're doing a test fit of the Kuat Transfer platform-style 2-bike rack. That part number is TS02G. Now we already have our bike secured down. We're first going to show you one of the key features of this rack. We're going to move our hook out of the way. We can either use our foot or our hand.
Swagman Hitch Bike Racks Review - 2015 Chevrolet Cruze
Today on a 2015 Chevrolet Cruze, we're going to take a look at the Swagman Trailhead 4 Bike Rack. Part number is S63380. Now I have a bike on a rack, and we have our rack hooked to our vehicle. Just going to show you a few things about it. Now this is a 4 bike rack that we're using, but today we're using a class one hitch, so you can only load two bikes on this bike rack, just to keep that in mind. Then we'll go through the rest of the features here.
Saris Freedom SuperClamp Hitch Bike Racks Review - 2015 Chevrolet Cruze
Today on our 2015 Chevrolet Cruze, we're going to take a look at the Saris Freedom SuperClamp 2 bike rack platform style. Part number is SA4025. Now I have a bike on our rack and we have our rack hooked up to our vehicle. I'm going to show you a few features. How we have our bike hooked up to our bike rack itself is we have our frame hooks. This is a wheel-mounted bike rack, it has the wheel cradles down here that the wheels sit in. Toward the back, we have a strap to hold in our back tire.
Thule Vertex 4 Hitch Bike Rack Review - 2014 Chevrolet Cruze
Today on our 2014 Chevrolet Cruze, we're going to be test fitting the Thule Vertex, a tilting 4-bike rack for 1 1/4 and 2-inch hitches, part number TH9029. To begin our test fit, we'll slide the shank of the bike rack into the receiver tube of our hitch. We'll line up our pin holes, thread in our anti-rattle bolt and tighten it with a wrench. We can then secure it with the provided clip. With our rack secure, we'll have about 8 inches worth of ground clearance. The closest point of the rack to the back of our vehicle is about 4 inches away and overall we've added about 11 3/4 of an inch to the length of our Cruze. As you can see we have access to the trunk with our mast in the upright position, however pulling the gray lever at the base will allow us to tilt the rack away from our vehicle, giving us extra room. With our mast back in its upright position, we'll pull the gray lever at the top of the mast.
Thule Hitching Post Pro Hitch Bike Rack Review - 2014 Chevrolet Cruze
Today on our 2014 Chevy Cruze, well be test fitting the Thule Hitching Post Pro, part number TH934XTR. With the 2 adapter already removed from the shank, well begin our test fit by sliding the shank of the bike rack into the opening of the hitch. After lining up the pin holes, well thread in our anti-rattle bolt, and tighten it down using a wrench. With the bike rack secured, well go over a few clearance measurements to see how the two fit together. We have about 7-1/2 of ground clearance. The closest part of the bike rack to the closest part of the vehicle is about 7 away, and weve added about 17 to the overall length of our Cruze. Well now pull the gold pin at the top of the mast, which will allow us to swing the cradle arms of the bike rack outward. With the cradle arms in this position, weve added about 38 to the overall length of our vehicle. With the bike rack in this position, you can see that we do have access to the trunk. To load up a bike well undo the cradle straps, place our bike into the frame cradles, and then secure it with the straps.
Thule Doubletrack Hitch Bike Rack Review - 2014 Chevrolet Cruze
Today on our 2014 Chevy Cruze, well be test fitting the Thule Doubletrack Platform Style Two Bike Rack, part number TH990XT. With the 2 inch adapter removed from the shank, well begin our test fit by sliding the shank of the bike rack into the opening of the hitch. After lining up the pin holes, well thread in our anti-rattle bolt and tighten it down using a wrench. With the bike rack secured, well go over a few clearance of measurements to see how the two fit together. With the platform folded up, we have about 7 inches of ground clearance. The closest part of the bike rack to the closest part of the Cruze is about 2-1/2 inches away.
Thule Apex 4 Hitch Bike Rack Review - 2014 Chevrolet Cruze
Today on our 2014 Chevy Cruze, we'll be test fitting the Thule Apex hitch mounted four bike rack part number TH9025. With the two inch adapter removed from the shank of the bike rack we'll begin our test fit by sliding the shank into the opening of the hitch. After allowing the integrated hitch pin to fall into place, we'll then turn the black knob which will engage the anti rattle device. With the bike rack secured we'll go over a few clearance measurements to see how the two fit together. We have about ten inches of ground clearance. Closest part of the bike rack to the closest part of the vehicle is about four inches away and we've added about thirteen inches to the overall length of our Cruze. We can now lift up on the gray lever on the top of the mast which will allow us to swing the cradle arms of the bike rack out. With the cradle arms outward we've added about thirty seven inches to the overall length of our Cruze. You can see with the bike rack in this position, we do have access to our trunk.
Swagman Titan Hitch Bike Rack Review - 2014 Chevrolet Cruze
Today on our 2014 Chevy Cruze, we'll be test fitting the Swagman Titan hitch mounted hanging four bike rack part number S63410. With the two inch adapter removed from the shank of our bike rack we'll begin our test fit by sliding the shank into the opening of the hitch. After lining up our pinholes, we'll thread in our anti rattle bolt and then tighten it down using a wrench. With the bike rack secured, we'll go over a few clearance measurements to see how the two fit together. We have about ten and a half inches of ground clearance. Closest part of the bike rack to the closest part of our Cruze is about eight inches away and with the cradle arms down we've added about twenty inches to the overall length of our Chevy. We can now lift up on the black lever at the top of the mast which will allow us to swing the cradle arms of the bike rack outward. With the cradle arms outward, we've added about forty inches to the overall length of our Cruze. With the mast in it's upright position, you can see that we do have access to our trunk. To be able to load larger cargo, we can lift up on the black lever at the base of the bike rack and tilt the mast of our rack down.
SportRack Super EZ Hitch Bike Rack Review - 2014 Chevrolet Cruze
Today on our 2014 Chevy Cruz well be test fitting the SportRack Super EZ platform style two bike rack, part number SR2901LR. With the two inch adapter removed from the shank well begin our test fit by sliding the shank of the bike rack into the opening of the hitch. After lining up the pin holes well thread in our anti-rattle bolts and tighten it down using a wrench. Well finish it off by securing the lock on the other side. With the bike rack secured well go over a few clearance measurements to see how the two fit together. We have about 10 inches of ground clearance.
Saris Thelma 3 Bike Rack Review - 2014 Chevrolet Cruze
Today on our 2014 Chevy Cruze, we'll be test fitting the Saris Thelma hitch mounted platform style three bike rack part number SA4239B. With the two inch adapter removed from the shank of the bike rack, we'll begin our test fit by sliding the shank into the opening of the hitch. After lining up the pinholes, we'll thread in our anti rattle bolt through the pin holes, and then tighten it down using a wrench. With the bike rack secured, we'll go over a few clearance measurements to see how the two fit together. We have about twelve inches of ground clearance. Closest part of the bike rack to the closest part of the vehicle is about two inches and we've added about twelve inches to the overall length of our Cruze. We now can remove the gold pin at the base of the bike rack which will allow us to tilt the platform rack down. With the platform in this position, we have about twelve inches of ground clearance. Closest part of the rack to the closest part of our vehicle is about four inches away and we've added about thirty seven inches to the overall length of our Cruze.
Saris Axis 3 Bike Rack Review - 2014 Chevrolet Cruze
Today on our 2014 Chevy Cruze we'll be test fitting the Saris Access Hitch Mounted Aluminum 3-Bike Rack, part number SA843B. With the 2" adapter removed from the shank of the rack, we'll begin our test fit by sliding the shank into the opening of the hitch. After lining up the pin holes we'll thread in our anti-rattle bolt, tighten it down with a wrench, and secure it with the lock on the other side. With the bike rack secured we'll go over a few clearance measurements to see how the two fit together. We have about 8" of ground clearance. Closest part of the bike rack to the closest part of the vehicle is about 5" away and we've added about 15" to the overall length of our Cruze. We can now flip up the yellow levers on the upper left and right hand corner of the mast.
Saris Axis Tilting 2 Bike Rack Review - 2014 Chevrolet Cruze
Today on our 2014 Chevy Cruze, well be test fitting the Saris Axis Hitch Mounted Hanging 2-Bike Rack, part number SA832. With the 2 adapter removed from the shank of the bike rack, well begin our test fit by sliding the shank of the bike rack into the opening of the hitch. After lining up the pin holes, well thread in our anti-rattle bolt, tighten it down using a wrench, and then secure it with the counter pin on the other side. With the bike rack secured, well go over a few clearance measurements to see how the two fit together. We have about 8 of ground clearance. The closest part of the bike rack to the closest part of the vehicle is about 5-1/2 away, and weve added about 15 to the overall length of our Cruze. We now can loosen up the black tabs on the top part of our mast, which will allow us to slide the cradle arms over to the smooth side, and lift them up into the loading position. Well then slide them back over the grooves and tighten down the black tabs. With the cradle arms out and ready for the loading position, we have added about 22-1/2 to the overall length of our Chevy Cruze. With the mast of the bike rack in its upright position, you can see that we do have access to the trunk.
Prorack 4 Hitch Bike Rack Review - 2014 Chevrolet Cruze
Today on our 2014 Chevy Cruze, well be test fitting the Prorack Hitch Mounted Hanging Four Bike Rack, part number PR8062404. Now with the 2 inch adapter removed from the shank, well begin our test fit by sliding the shank of the bike rack into the opening of our hitch. After lining up the pin holes, well thread our anti-rattle bolt through the pin holes, tighten it down with a wrench, and then secure it with the clip on the other side. With the bike rack secured, well go over a few clearance of measurements to see how the two fit together. We have about 7 inches of ground clearance. The closest part of the bike rack to the closest part of the vehicle is about 6 inches away.
Hollywood Racks Traveler Hitch Bike Rack Review - 2014 Chevrolet Cruze
Today on our 2014 Chevrolet Cruze, we're going to be test fitting the Hollywood Racks Traveler, a tilting forward 00:00:07 bike rack for inch and a quarter and 2 inch hitches 00:00:09. It's part number HR8500. Speaking of our test fit, we'll slide the shape of the bike rack into the receiver tube of our hitch. We'll line up the pin holes, thread in our anti-rattle pole, tighten it down with a wrench. Then we can secure it with the provided clip. With our rack in this position, we have about 8 and a quarter inches worth of ground clearance. The closest point of the rack to the back of the Cruze is about 5 inches. Overall we've added about 8 and three-quarters of an inch to the vehicle. With our mast in its upright position, we do have access into the trunk.
Kuat Beta Hitch Bike Rack Review - 2014 Chevrolet Cruze
Today on our 2014 Chevy Cruze, well be test fitting the Kuat Beta Hitch Mounted Aluminum 2 Bike Rack, part number B202-114. Well begin our test fit by sliding the shank of the bike rack into the opening of the hitch. After lining up the pin holes, well insert our pin through the pin holes, secure the lock on either side, and then we can turn the black T-handle at the back of the shank, which will engage the anti-rattle device. With the bike rack secured, well go over a few clearance measurements to see how the two fit together. We have about 10 inches of ground clearance. Closest part of the bike rack to the closest part of our Cruze is about 6 inches away, and weve added about 12 inches to the overall length of our Chevy.
Thule Big Mouth Roof Bike Rack Review - 2013 Chevrolet Cruze
Today on our 2013 Chevy Cruz we'll be test fitting the Thule Bigmouth roof mounted bike rack, part number TH599XTR. We'll begin our test fit by placing the bike rack onto the vehicle's load bars. Starting with the rear we'll remove one of the wing nuts to position the rear bracket around the underside of the rear bar. We can then reinstall our wing nut and then slide it down. Moving up to the front, we can loosen up the black wing nuts to position the T-bolts into the slots of the brackets. We'll then tighten down the wing nuts and secure the front part of the bike rack to the front bar. Now that everything is all tightened down and secured, we're ready to load up our bike. We'll undo the strap at the front and the rear and then loosen up the frame clamp.
Thule Vertex 4 Hitch Bike Rack Review - 2013 Chevrolet Cruze
Today on our 2013 Chevy Cruise we'll be test fitting the Thule Vertex 4-bike carrier, part number TH9029. Now to begin our test fit, we'll slide the shank of the carrier into the opening of the hitch, line up our pin holes, thread our anti-rattle bolt through the pin holes, and tighten with a wrench. With the carrier secured to the vehicle, we'll go over a few clearance measurements to see how the bike carrier and this vehicle fit together. There are about 11" of ground clearance. The closest part of the carrier to the closest part of the vehicle at the rear bumper is about 2". With the cradle arms folded down, we've added about 8-1/2" to the overall length of the vehicle.
Thule Hitching Post Pro Hitch Bike Rack Review - 2013 Chevrolet Cruze
Today on our 2013 Chevy Cruze well be test fitting the Thule Hitching Post Pro, part number TH934XTR. To begin our test fit well slide the shank of the carrier into the opening of the hitch, line up our pin holes, thread our anti rattle bolt through the pin holes and tighten with a wrench. Now with the carrier secured to the vehicle well go over a few clearance measurements to see how the bike carrier and this vehicle will fit together. There is about nine inches of ground clearance. The closest part of the carrier to the closest part of the vehicle here at the rear bumper is about four inches. With the cradle arms folded down weve added about 13 inches to the overall length of the vehicle.
Thule Doubletrack Hitch Bike Rack Review - 2013 Chevrolet Cruze
Today on our 2013 Chevy Cruze well be test fitting the Thule Doubletrack platform style two bike carrier, part number TH990XT. To begin our test fit well slide the shank of the carrier into the opening of the hitch, line up our pin holes, thread our anti rattle bolt through the pin holes and tighten with a wrench. Now with the carrier secured to the vehicle well go over a few clearance measurements to see how the bike carrier and this vehicle fit together. With the platform folded up we have about nine inches of ground clearance. The closest part of the carrier to the closest part of the vehicle here at the rear bumper is about a half an inch. With the platform folded up weve added about seven inches to the overall length of the vehicle.
Swagman Titan Hitch Bike Rack Review - 2013 Chevrolet Cruze
Today on our 2013 Chevy Cruze well be test fitting the Swagman Titan four bike carrier, part number S63410. To begin our test fit well slide the shank of the carrier into the opening of the hitch, line up our pin holes, thread our anti-rattle bolt through the pin holes and tighten with a wrench. Now that our bike carriers secured to our Chevy Cruze well go over a few clearance measurements to see how the bike carrier and this vehicle will fit together. There are about 12 inches of ground clearance. The closest part of the carrier to the closest part of the vehicle at the rear bumper is about five and a half inches. With the cradle arms folded down weve added about 17 inches to the overall length of the vehicle.
Hollywood Racks Traveler Hitch Bike Rack Review - 2013 Chevrolet Cruze
Today on our 2013 Chevrolet Cruse, well be test fitting the Hollywood Racks Traveller 4 Bike Carrier, part number HR8500. Now to begin our test fit, well slide the bike rack shank into the opening of the hitch, line up our pinholes and thread our anti-rattle bolt through the pinholes and tighten with a wrench. With our bike rack secured to the vehicle, well go over some clearance measurements to see how the Traveller and our Chevy Cruse will fit together. We have 9 inches of ground clearance, the closest part of the carrier to the closest part of the vehicle at the rear bumper is about is about three inches. With the cradle arms folded down, weve added about six inches to the overall length of the vehicle. Well now pull the pin at the top of the mast to swing out our cradle arms and measure from the back of the vehicle at the rear bumper at the end of the arms and get a measurement of 34 inches.
What our customers are saying:
"Everyone that bought before me was right! I got my rack in time for my next days off and putting it together was fast too. And I'm a grandma!! Thank you for being fast and honest! You beat anyone in my town hands down!"