# 1
Thule Spare Me 2 Bike Rack - Spare Tire Mount - Folding Dual Arms
This bike rack works great. Took my bike on a cross country road trip from Tampa, Florida to Whistler, British Columbia and back with no issues. There was no slipping or excessive shaking with highway speeds up to 80ish mph. Encountered 105 degree heat, rain squalls and snow storms with no issues. No problems with the set up and the fact that the rear spare tire on my 2011 Toyota Rav4 is off center was not an issue as the rack can accommodate for this. It's a well made product from a reputable company. Make sure to read the directions as they advise against opening the rear hatch with the bike on the rack due to weight concerns. Shipping was quick as were replies to questions to customer service. Follow up correspondence from etrailer was also appreciated. Overall great experience, would highly recommend the product as well as etrailer. Thanks!
I wanted to respond to you to let you know that I had a really good experience ordering from etrailer. I was informed every step of the way, from the moment I ordered it online, all the way up until it was delivered to my doorstep. I was very impressed!! The bike rack itself was easy to install on my car - I have a RAV4 so it was important to me to be able to still be able to open my trunk with the rack on. Haven't gotten to actually use it yet (I've been temporarily deployed with the military), but I can't wait to! I've attached a picture as well - it looks so spiffy, and makes me seem more athletic than I actually am. Again, great experience, and I would definitely recommend etrailer to others in a second. Have a great day!
# 2
Hollywood Racks SR1 2-Bike Carrier - Spare Tire Mount
This rack is very easy to put on the spare tire. It works fine with most bikes. It does not work with the newer expensive mtn bikes whose frames are really wide. it doesn't sit in the rubber holders correctly. It's great for slim framed bikes.
I used to have a trailer hitch bike rack on a Toyota RAV4. It worked well but was difficult and messy to swing out of the way to open the door and put groceries in the back. The Toyota died and I got a similar Honda CRV. I knew the downside of the trailer hitch so I got a roof rack bike mount. It looked awesome but was VERY difficult to get bikes on after a long ride and in the wind on non-level ground. I had to carry a step stool with me. I still scraped up the side of my car. The final disaster was I forgot the bike was still on top and backed into my covered car port. DOH! So I looked into tire rack mounts. Both Honda and Toyota mount the spare tire off-center. Some of the brands cannot adjust for this and your bike sticks out a couple of feet on the passenger side. Some brands must be mounted to the spare tire itself and cannot have a tire cover. The SR1 rack below has held up great the last year. It was a fraction of the price of the big name bike carriers. I leave it on 24/7/365 and take it through the car wash with no issues. I live in the sunny SW and it has survived the sun and heat. It has not slipped at all when put over the vinyl tire cover. The only issue is you do need to supply a short bungee cord to keep the arms retracted when folded back and not in use.
# 3
Malone Runway Spare Tire Bike Rack for 3 Bikes - Adjustable Arms
I was excited to get this and eager to just pop it onto my spare tire like it shows in the video. 45 minutes later and I'm resigned to drilling an extra hole where the buttons are in order to tighten the hold over the tire, and chagrined that I had to "rear" my smaller bike frame angled upwards in order to seat it on the red rack receivers. This was because there wasn't enough room vertically on the frame or horizontally on the frame. Not sure how I would have been able to prepare for that, maybe there is some comment about smaller bike frames somewhere? One strap to secure the bikes is not enough in this situation, so things were strapped every which way, including the front tire of the bike so it wouldn't wobble everywhere. The bike and rack made it home for the maiden 60 mile highway trip, but I was not totally confident with it.
For the price, not bad. This bike rack is a simple design, that's easy to use, but doesn't seem very secure. I have used this on an older model Rav4, which means the bike or bikes are going to stick out more on one side of the vehicle. There seems to be a lot of movement when hitting potholes and bumps in the road. If you don't plan on using this rack often, don't want to spend a lot, this may be for you. Sufficient, but not very sturdy.
# 4
Yakima SpareRide 2 Bike Rack - Spare Tire Mount - Folding Arms
Great bike rack. I had tried several for my Rav4, but none were quite right. This rack is solid, fits nicely on my spare tire. I am now able to access my trunk with my bike rack in place! Relatively easy installation, though had some trouble unscrewing one piece.
Arrived promptly from etrailer in just a few days. very easy to install on my 2008 Toyota Rav4. the rack is very sturdy and high quality. i put my 29er mountain bike and my road bike on it with no problems. i used to have a roof rack bike carrier and this is much better.
# 5
Surco Spare Tire 3-Bike Carrier
I bought this to replace the exact same rack I've had for about 7 years. The first Surco OSI Spare Tire Bike Rack became corroded after a time. I live in the northeast and left it on the car all year, so it's life expectancy could have been longer, but it was a "task" to remove it. It's definitely a hardy rack, but in reality it's a pain in the butt to use. It's the nature of the design. Also, it is designed to hold 3 bikes, but not without some cosmetic damage (at the very least) to the bikes. The only reason I bought it again is because it's the only feasible and reasonably priced bike rack for my 2003 Toyota RAV, which I've had for 13 years. I'm not going to replace the car right now, so I didn't have much of a choice. I only gave it 3 stars because I really don't like it, but it is a solid bike rack.
Works great on my old 2003 RAV4. Easy to install. Great service
What our customers are saying:
"Found your site on google, after a quick search I found the bike rack I wanted at a great price. Placed my order, and just under a hour 3 emails,1, order recieved,2, order in stock,3, order shipped. Never have I had such luck with a online shop. Thank you"