Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I took some time to use this product before I wrote my review because I wanted to be able to help people decide if this was right or wrong for them before spending their hard earned money on this. So for starters, here is how I am using the bike rack. I have it attached to the hitch of my pickup truck and we usually only travel about 10 miles to where we ride. The pros are as follows. I bought the 4-bike deluxe rack really cheap. I paid $68.00 when I bought it and have seen it double in price. my suggestion don't pay more than $68.00 for it as it will come down again. I have seen this happen recently. It is fairly solidly well built and I only put it on the truck when I need it so I cannot say how it would hold up long term in the weather. this is definitely made from heavy steel and it is not light weight so that should be a plus as far as durability is concerned. the padded cradles that the frame of the bike rests in swivels 360 degrees so it accommodates odd shaped frames and girls frames without having to buy the extra support bar to mount on a girls frame style bike in order to use the bike rack. Instead of a locking pin to attach it to the receiver, it uses a tension bolt (bolt and nut) to remove the rattle. This mounting system is both a pro and a con. The pro is that it does a great job of stopping the bike rack from rattling inside of the hitch. The bike frame support arms fold down to give somewhat of a lower profile to store it away when removed or so that it takes up less space if you keep it mounted to the vehicle. So far the straps and buckles have been adequate to keep the bikes secured. I am unsure of how they would hold up if left in the sun and weather everyday. It also swivels down at the lower joint in addition to the bike support arms folding down. This is in case you would need to open a hatchback type SUV rear door. Cons As I list the cons, keep in mind I don't think this particular rack is terrible, I just think you can only design any hitch mount bike rack to do so much. I don't think some of the cons I list can really be much improved upon with this design. 1st. The bikes mount close together. This means that every bike you add after the first you have to manipulate pedals and handle bars etc..etc..as they do hit each other as you stack the bikes together. you will need extra bungee cords to secure spinning wheels and handlebars turning from side to side. Not because the bikes will come loose, but to prevent everything from constantly hitting together and scratching all of your bikes up. also the bottoms of the bikes swing front to back when starting and stopping if not bungee strapped. you will get some scratches no matter how carefully you mount things because they are close together and pedals and handle bars stick out. No way to avoid that. The pivot feature in my opinion is useless when bikes are mounted. It is far too heavy to lower the rack down with 4 bikes mounted if you would need to open a hatchback on an SUV type vehicle. (but then maybe its not supposed to be lowered with bikes mounted). I haven't tried this, but it would have to be extremely heavy and I'm not sure it would even lower down enough with bikes mounted to clear an suv door. I have it on a pickup, so no concern of mine. The con side of the tension bolt is that it isn't quick to remove like a hitch lock. You need 2 tools to loosen it from both sides as it is an aircraft style locking nut. Also I guess if someone wanted to take the time they could unbolt your rack and steal it. I already tried mounting it with a hitch lock, and it allows far too much play in the bike rack swinging and rattling all over the place. So the tension bolt will have to do for now. lastly, there is a bit of side to side play where the bike support arms mount to the upright. I think they could have designed this area to be a bit more solid and have less play to it, but I don't think it would be an issue with breaking. So those are the main points I've noticed form using mine. As far as this style rack is concerned, I could see some minor improvements but I'm not sure how you could vastly improve this type of rack. read the review and decide if it's right for you.