# 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 should say that I've owned a Thule canoe rack and a car top carrier and have been satisfied with both, so I may be slightly brand biased. The rack is rock solid and installed (on my 2011 RAV4) just as the video indicated. It holds my old mountain bike perfectly; my hybrid fits snugly as well but takes more of an effort to mount. Pricing was competitive and purchasing from the e trailer website was straight forward and easy. My rack arrived on time and intact, and I received email updates as promised. In my case, I would give high marks and recommendations to both the rack and e trailer.
# 2
Hollywood Racks SR1 2-Bike Carrier - Spare Tire Mount
Less expensive than some and easier to install on a Toyota RAV4 than some. Works great and like the fact that it can just stay on, and we can still open the door and use the rear wiper.
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.
# 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:
"I got the trailer hitch and bike carrier so fast that I couldn't believe it. The time it took me to install them is exactly what the web-page say it will take. Great doing business with you again"