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This platform design has all the added comfort to ensure you will no longer dread lifting your bike up into the frame cradles. Simply rest the bike's wheels in the well, ratchet down the frame hooks, and you're ready to ride!
Features:
Specs:
A built-in adapter allows this bike rack to fit inside a 2" and 1-1/4" hitch receiver. The threaded hitch pin uses anti-rattle technology to secure the rack inside the hitch.
The wheel hoops accommodate wheels up to 2-1/2" wide, and turning knobs are used to adjust the distance between hoops to fit bikes of varying lengths. Rubber straps secure the bike wheels to the wheel hoops.
Bike hooks slide easily down the ratcheting system and click securely in place. The push buttons allow the hooks to slide up the ratcheting system to allow for bike removal.
This cross country model offers convenience and reliability for your traveling needs. With a two-bike capacity, it accommodates most frame sizes using wheel hoops and bike hooks. Constructed with soft-frame coating to protect the bike's finish, the bike hooks securely hold the bike in the wheel hoop cradles. The hooks smoothly slide up and down by using an easily-adjustable push button ratcheting system. The hassle of removing wheels is eliminated with wheel hoops that accommodate wheels up to 2-1/2" wide and adjust to fit different frame lengths. To decrease in size, the upright bar with bike hooks folds down when not in use. A powder-coated finish protects it from corrosion from the elements. This rack fits 2" x 2" and 1-1/4" x 1-1/4" trailer hitches.
Average Customer Rating: 4.8 out of 5 stars (968 Customer Reviews)
This platform design has all the added comfort to ensure you will no longer dread lifting your bike up into the frame cradles. Simply rest the bike's wheels in the well, ratchet down the frame hooks, and you're ready to ride!Nice rack and easy to put together. Feels well built. A bit challenging for loading these kind of bikes on there but it worked. The kind of bikes I am using this rack for are not like the usual ones that are previously posted. I plan on using this for my stretch custom beach cruisers also. I will post more pictures once I load those up. I only had time to do my lowrider bikes today.
First-time rack buyer / owner / installer. The rack arrived in a timely fashion, maybe a day or 2 ahead of schedule. It was well packaged. I’m LOVING this bike rack. It was easy to put together and to mount on my new Honda Passport. Thus far, no squeaks in my 2” receiver. Hardest part of initial set-up is figuring out the best way to position two bikes. Trial & error and some patience. The directions weren’t clear as to where the 2 left-over screws went. I found the answer in another review and have posted a pic in case others have the same problem (photo with pen pointing at screw). These screws go in the underneath side of both of the folding arms. They appear to keep the wheel wells from sliding off in case in you drive with an empty, un-folded rack, and forgot to tighten down the wheel wells. The folding arm push / pull pins can be difficult at times. I coated the tips with some lube. That and a little jiggling seems to solve that issue. I guess it’s better for the pins to be snug vs popping right out. I added a small Master lock to the hitch pin (in lieu of the provided cotter pin) as a theft deterrent. I read that a 3/16 shackle lock will fit into the bike clamp down arms to also act as a deterrent. I had an old 3/16 lock that did snugly fit and appeared to be locked. HOWEVER, I yanked on the lock and it came open as there isn’t quite enough clearance for the shackle to lock. I discovered that longer 3/16 shackle locks are hard to find. Have attached a photo of the lock that actually fits and works (Ace Hardware). One lock on the upper clamp down arm will secure both arms as the lower arm can’t be removed without removing the upper arm. The clamp down arms appear to be coated to prevent damage to your bike. I’ve tried a simple rag and ultimately settled on pool noodle pieces as a precautionary measure. I CAN NOT open my tailgate (regardless of whether or not the rack is fold up and in the bike carry position). If that’s a concern for you, then spring for the more costly titling version. My back-up camera still functions.
Excellent product! No need for an additional piece to accommodate my ladies bike. I can easily open my hatchback without removing the rack.
Delivery from etrailer was super fast and the price was very competetive. First the PROS: Basic assembly of this carrier was easy and quick. It does carry both our bikes within the width of the car (barely). The carrier is fairly light and attaches easily to the receiver. Mounting the bikes is easy. The latch release can be locked with small padlock, but I would lock both. The squared frame on my hybrid bike can be securely latched down with no marking. Now the CONS: Jiggly! My old Reese carrier was rock solid but this one really sways alot. The wheel carriers are not welded correctly and do not allow folding up to the latch point. Teeth on the hold down bar could be deeper. Getting our 2 bikes to sit within vehicle width took alot of initial finagling. Reflective surfaces were limited so i added my own tape for safety. Purchase of a bike post quick clamp was necessary to fit the 2 bikes on the carrier. And did i say jiggly! Oh, yeah. I don't know how long the rubber wheel straps or the hold down teeth will hold up. I can live with it not folding up as i use the rubber stap to grab the other side wheel hoop. ( i did call e-trailer support about this issue, CSR asked politely if i put it together correctly. Yes, i’m an engineer of 37 years senority). But the jiggling about really bothers me, and evidently, drivers behind as they do not tailgate anymore. So the jury is still out on the value of this product.
Dave - 10/09/2020Pairs very well with my 1-1/4" CURT hitch on a GTI. Solid enough connection that I'm able to move the car by grabbing the bottom of the rack and shaking it. Have driven around the neighborhood and hit a few bumps, very little movement from the rack itself. At most there's a little side to side wobbling but nothing more than other racks I've seen. Bike is held solidly in place. Installation was easy and straightforward.
I have only used the rack once so far, but it seems to work great! One downfall is that I have 33/12.5" tires on my Jeep and the rack does not extend out far enough past the spare to be able to fit 2 bikes. I will have to get a hitch extension to fit 2 bikes (see photo), but not a huge deal!
I love this rack. It was very easy to assemble after delivery and it's extremely easy to install and use. The bikes stay secure and don't move. When installed in the trailer hitch properly, the rack doesn't vibrate or move at all. The unit comes with the 2" adapter installed and it works perfectly. I used this with both a women's style bike with the angled cross bar and a men's racing-style bike and I couldn't be happier. The adjustments on the rack are simple to use and the bikes go on and off quickly. No issues with the bikes touching each other either. If there is interference between bikes when you first use the rack, you can simply move the wheel holders to offset the bikes as needed. Great product at a competitive price. Very happy and highly recommended.
chris - 09/21/2020Use this product on my MBZ Sprinter. Took a 200 mile test trip over highway and back road (and an unimproved campground road). Very little movement occurred even over undulating sections of road. Like how the bikes are well supported. Construction appears well done and finished nicely. I did have an issue with the distance the handle bar on the inside bike was from the back window (1 inch), but I solved that by simply rotating the handle bar 90 deg for transport. An alternative would be to get a 4-7" hitch extender. Price was OK, shipping was fast.
GDW - 08/18/2020Shipping from etrailer was fast....as usual. Assembly and installation took less than 30 minutes including detwrini g best way to mount bikes. The rack itself appears well constructed and holds the bikes securely. I did add a piece of "noodle foam" as additional protection for the paint based on concerns expressed in other reviews. I'll be ordering additional wheel straps shortly since my 2 year old Lab just ate one off the rack while writing this review......terrible 2s' I guess
Victoria B - 09/27/2019Just finished the installation, pretty easy, and it feels like a really sturdy bike rack. I'm going to test it out this weekend, see how it feels on the highway. I dont think I'll be bad. So for now I give this a 5 star!
This Swagman rack does the job it’s designed for well. It’s installed with a Curt hitch and they are solid together. I see many of these racks attached to fellow bike club members. This seems to be a popular choice. I can open my trunk with a bike loaded closest to the car on my 2012 Sonata. I considered the more expensive choices available, but couldn’t justify spending the extra money. I’m pleased. Thanks etrailer.
The Swagman XTC-2 platform bike carrier arrived very quickly from etrailer and in good shape, the actual carrier box is inside another shipper box, which I'm sure helped with its condition. Assembly was relatively quick and painless, even though the instructions could be a little more thorough. Installing the carrier on the back of our Jeep Patriot also was quick, it helps to have an extra ratchet & 3/4" socket laying around for just this purpose. Installing the bikes takes a little patience and trial and error the first time you try and put them on the carrier. It's easy enough to adjust the wheel holders to fit the wheelbase of your bikes, but for us at least, the challenge was trying to swing the vertical support bar up into position after putting on the first bike (closest to the Jeep). We couldn't angle the bike enough toward the Jeep to have the bar clear the bike. We learned that the easiest way to secure the first bike was to remove the ratcheting frame hooks altogether, put the bike in the carrier, swing up the vertical support bar, put in the pin, and then slide one of the frame hooks down on the bar. The outside bike is much easier because you can set the bike in the carrier at whatever angle you need, not being limited by the back of the vehicle. One thing we did to protect the bike frames was to use some foam pipe insulation as cushion between the frame hook and the frame (see pictures). Once you get a system for installing the bikes, it is very quick to load/unload them. The rack seems to be well made and doesn't wiggle excessively when traveling. All in all a good product for a good price, would definitely recommend it for anyone looking for a platform bike carrier.
For very low step through frames like your women's Townie bike, an adapter bar is the best option to use, even for platform bike racks with the center frame post. I recommend the Swagman # 64005. This bar will connect between the handlebar gooseneck and the seat post, providing a bar that the center frame hook will secure around. This will keep you from pinching the chain guard. It is easily removable, and will only be needed during transport, leaving your the step through frame functional.
-- Rachael H - 7/28/2014I own a 2009 VW GTI 4 door. The fact that I have a 4 door GTI may be significant to the 2 door GTI drivers out there because I tend to need to access my rear hatch less frequently since I just put things in the back seat. I did not want the standard hanging bike rack because my bike got scratched up badly, my brake cables became loose, and my bike pump cage got broken when using a 4 bike hanging rack with my brother and his family. I also do not like the idea of the weight of my bike resting on top of my bike cables in the hanging bike rack cradles. However, if you are frequently putting different types of bikes on your rack like my brother does, a hanging rack may work better for you. The platform racks need to have the wheel holders adjusted for different bikes. Not hard, but it is a little more cumbersome. I had been using Yakima roof mounted racks for 17 years on 5 different vehicles...until one of the roof clips popped loose on the interstate and my road bike did a wheelie and dented the roof of my GTI. Could not get my Yakima roof clip to lock in place again after that, so I moved to a hitch mount. I bought the Curt Hitch #11074 and can be seen in the photos. Not really noticeable, but I think it looks better than the Draw-Tite and Hidden Hitch designs. For platform racks, I looked at several designs with the following criteria in mind. - Ease of use - Ability to access the rear hatch - Extension from bumper I naturally started with Yakima, but found that their racks seemed overly cumbersome and extended far behind the car. The Thule racks seemed the same, and both brands were over $300. They did offer the ability to tilt the rack up when not in use, but this still blocks my access to the rear hatch. The Swagman rack has a simple, minimalist design. First is that it is very narrow, only one row of support arms to carry two bikes. Thule and Yakima have two support arms, one for each bike, which causes the rack to extend farther behind the bumper. The Swagman seems plenty beefy to handle two bikes. The support beams are easy to tilt up and down. Maybe not quite as easy to tilt up as Yakima and Thule, but still pretty easy. But until I watched the eTrailer video before buying this product (WATCH THE VIDEO!), I did not realize that the center upright also folds out of the way if you need access to the rear. This is what sold me. The ratcheting upright supports are easy to use and work as shown in the etrailer video. The rubber straps do their job just fine. The other manufacturers seem to have an easier method to move the rack out of the way of the rear hatch, but as I mentioned, I have a 4 door GTI, so this was less of a concern for me. The main selling points were: simple design, easy to use, fit a GTI, upright moves to access hatch, etrailer video, lots of good etrailer customer reviews with pictures, and of course...price.
The Swagman XTC-2 2 bike rack has worked out GREAT on our 2009 Smart ForTwo! Of all the bike racks we have purchased in the past, this one is the best. It can accomodate any type of bike from a standard diamond frame to a recumbent. It is easy to place a women's bike on there too with the sliding stabilizer hooks that hold the bikes down. The straps on the tire mounts along with the fasteners keep the bikes from any movement. Thumbs up!! BTW, the hitch also came from etrailer.com!
Phillip B - 05/05/2019Easy to assemble. This carrier will be used on a 2012 Nissan Sentra using the Draw Tite 24794 hitch. After the installation on that hitch, there is about 2 inches clearance between the rearmost projection of the rear bumper to the frontmost portion of the wheel carrier of the rack. It is easy to put the bikes into the rack. The trunk lid cannot be opened with the bikes mounted on the rack. The rack seems to be stable and doesn't wobble or bounce much.
Looks like a good bike rack. I had to get a front receiver hitch and this bike rack so we could take our bikes when we tow our a-frame trailer. The bikes don’t block our view of the road much if the seats are removed.
I bought this to replace my rooftop carrier and wanted the tray type that wouldn't touck the bikes finish too much. This carrier fits my needs nicely. The price for what you get is excellent and assembly is simple enough, just make sure everything is tight. I read reviews that said the carrier wobbled but that's not the case with mine its very solid perhaps because the hitch is new, I don't know. I'm happy with it although if I got another one I might consider the model that tilts away from the car for easier hatchback opening.
This was a breeze to install! It feels strong and very sturdy with no play in the hitch. I only regret not ordering the recommended locking pin which I will be ordering soon.
I received my order of the Swagman XTC-2 earlier than I had expected, so this gave me extra time to check out the parts and instructions before mounting the bike rack onto my Dodge Ram pickup. The installation was so straight-forward that I didn't to worry about missing a detail. It was very easy to adjust the wheel pockets and clamp bars. I have no doubt the the bikes will be secure during transport.
I looked at a lot of different hitch racks, priced from $100 up to over $500 and for the price the Swagman XTC-2 hit the mark. I've been using it now for a couple of months with absolutely no problems. First trip was 1600 mile round trip from TX to KS and it performed perfectly. Bike is easy off/easy on. Rack is a bit heavy but balanced enough to make it no problem with taking off and on. Etrailer.com was great to work with and rack arrived exactly as stated.
Brett T - 07/29/2015It was a toss up between this and the cheaper XT. I got this one cuz they said the wheel brackets are better and it was only a little more. I'm glad I got the XTC. Can't compare to the XT since I never saw one. But I like the XTC a lot. Easy to put it together and it fits the 1.25" hitch tight and nothing moves when you drive. I had no idea Sunday when I was driving around with my mountain bike that it was even there. Quality is good. Just HEFT the thing in your hands...it is pretty heavy duty. I appreciate the attention to detail on this. Holds the bike TIGHT. I would drive across the country with this with two bikes no qualms whatsoever.
Faty J - 05/16/2014I purchased the Swagman two-bike carrier, the long version, for carrying my recumbent bicycle. In the majority, the carrier works well, but I have an issue that makes the carrier almost unusable and a pain in the neck. I do like that my Tour Easy long wheelbase recumbent bike fits, although I have to use a small wheel to keep it from sticking out too far on the sides. I used a shim at the hitch attachment to try to help with movement. I also purchased straps to attach to the car to help prevent sway. I do feel that my bike is safe when mounted on the rack. The bike will not fit inside my current vehicle and the rack is the only way I can carry it. This rack is good value for the money. It was easy to set the rack up to fit the bike and I feel confident that the bike is safe. I did put some reflective tape on the rack as people who walked close to my car barked their shins on it and I heard a man comment that the thing should be folded up, which is not possible. I believe the tape helped and I haven't hit my shins. The issue I have that is quite problematic is that the pins that have to be removed and replaced in order to stand the center support upright and lay it back down are not durable or are even defective. Before I could use the rack, I had to get one replaced. etrailer was not able to provide the replacement part, but did help me contact the manufacturer. The second time I used the rack I almost could not remove one of the pins. The button was stuck and I could not sink it back in to remove it. Finally, after about 45 minutes, I was able to remove it. It is tethered to the rack and I left it hanging. Fortunately, I had another pin that fit and was able to use the rack. I have no idea why these pins are an issue. I have never had a problem with them on other devices, even the ones that the buttons can be a little hard to push in. I hope that a pin failure doesn't happen at a critical time. I have tried to think of an alternative to the pins but have not come up with anything yet that I would feel safe entrusting my bike to. I am going to look into pins that do not have a button to see if that would be easier to use. In the photo, you can see the three pins. They have all given me fits, but it is the center one that is critical to use of the rack.
Bike rack fits sturdy on my 1 1/4 Curt Hitch on my S5 with a couple of bikes on it
I love this rack! Very sturdy and you can have it a single bike rack if so desired, which I do usually only haul one bike. I was worried the gap between the vehicle and bike would be too close but that worry was short lived. I love the ratcheting top clamp, firmly holds down the bike. Adjustability of the wheel chocks is super, I worried about my 29 inch wheels fitting but again, no worries, fit's perfectly with the adjustable sliding chocks. Simply the best rack I've owned.
Scott W - 06/07/2018A year after installation the rack is used frequently and is dependable. As intended when purchased, it is lightweight and easy to install and remove. It mounts solid to the hitch with no sway or rattling noticed. The only negative is that the hold-down clamps require significant effort and finger strength to to release.
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