# 1
Swagman XTC4 Bike Rack for 4 Bikes - 2" Hitches - Frame Mount
Great quality, awesome price I ordered this on etrailer Feb 1st, got the delivery on Feb 8th. Perfect packing. The product was very easy to assemble. There were finally 4 small screws that I was not clear what to do with. Called etrailer and they clearly told me where the screws go. The rack is built strong, really good quality. I was actually surprised to see such great quality at less than half the price of a Thule or Yakima. Overall the product is easy to use. Yes it has some quirks like when you fold the center rachet arm, the cotter pin to hold it in place is sometimes hard to push in. Not a big deal but something that swagman can improve on. Also one other key point is the total dimension of this rack. I have a Honda Odyssey and with 4 bikes mounted on the rack, it takes about 3-3.5 feet of space at the back (juts out). A thule T2 or Yakima hold up for 4 bikes will be close to 5.6-6 feet. The swagman has a great advantage in reducing vehicle sway and drag. As with anything this comes with a drawback that you need to play around and figure out the best positions for the bikes. Again not a big deal, one time job of 10 mins. Overall I am very happy with the bike rack and even more happy with etrailer. I will be coming to etrailer for all my future rack, hitch needs.
Solid trailer, not too difficult to put together. After putting it together I took a 100 mile trip with four bikes and it worked great. Two tips from others helped. I installed in "on the car" (and was able to do it by myself) and I took some time to put the bikes in the order we would always load it (with our current four bikes), essentially "setting" the wheel holders to the exact bike. Great product and great price.
# 2
Hollywood Racks Road Runner Bike Rack for 5 Bikes - 2" Hitches - Tilting
So, one year in, this works well for the price. I have successfully hauled around 5 bikes a couple times now including a couple vacations. Bikes got there securely despite 4+ hours of driving at interstate speeds, including one harrowing stretch on bumpy roads with 70 mph speed limits (wow Texas, seriously?) where the car got significant amounts of "air" at random intervals. Getting the bikes on and off is still a major pain. I had to buy the adapter for 3 womens/children's bikes. My own full size mountain bike barely fits on, too, the pitch between the bars seems a bit challenging and requires me to contort the bike dramatically to get it on and off. If you are trying to actually get 5 bikes on here, figuring out the bike handle tetris game is not easy. Will take you a bit. It still takes me ~15 min to load 5 bikes up every time. On short trips I sometimes skip the tiedown through all the bike wheels and it's fine, although I wouldn't do it for long trips. My biggest regret here is not buying one where the rack will pivot out to allow access to the rear minivan hitch with the bikes attached -- this means this is the last thing to pack in the car and the first thing you unpack, every time on vacation. It requires planning and forethought. The rack does fold down nicely which we used extensively on vacation once the bikes were unpacked, just don't drive around that way. On my Honda minivan the bottom of this sags a bit when fully loaded with bikes, to the extent I scrape hard every time exiting my slightly inclined driveway. We found a few other low spots along our way, from restaurants to other businesses, that resulted in similar cringe-inducing moments. We drove it on the beach quite a bit, after a healthy wash with the pressure washer there is some mild rusting where the handles rotate, but the rack is otherwise in good shape.
Bought several bike racks and trailer hitches from etrailer. They followed up to make sure all was good. I would highly recommend buying from them. Good people and they care about the customer!
What our customers are saying:
"I needed a hitch and bike rack for my 2006 Toyota Highlander. Placed the order for hitch kit, wiring harness, and Rola Bike Rack. Three days later the parts arrived. I installed and tried everything the following weekend. Everything fit and worked as expected. Great products and fast delivery. Thanks."