Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 6-10 of 82
 Yuehuei from South Carolina March 15, 2006
Yuehuei An (USA)
10 out of 10 found this review helpful
This is an affordable, easy to use bike rack. The hooks are loose, so I used some folded paper towel or sandwich bag to make them engaged well to the trunk edges. Feel solid after 750 miles ride.
 Bike doesn't fit on rack April 19, 2006
R. C. Kinkaid (Plano TX)
10 out of 11 found this review helpful
It's a nice rack, easy to install, and fits securely, but if you have a 49 cm or smaller road bike the support arms too wide to support the bike by the top tube. One arm will fit on the top tube and the other is wide enough for the seat stay. I am not willing to put a Roubaix on it if it doesn't fit properly.
 Good for one bike, not for two. July 22, 2006
J. Bonza (Kentucky)
8 out of 9 found this review helpful
It's easy to install, and compact. But, its too small for two bikes. Also, the bar holders and velcro strips don't fit small frame bikes. For two bikes, this rack is to small. The bike support bars are to short for two bikes. If the bars were 10 inches longer, it would be fine. I have to much invested in my bikes to let them bang together on the road, and also into my car as well. It works great for one bike, but not for two.
Not for long car rides January 30, 2007
Stephanie M. Johnson (Kansas City)
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
I was taking my bike back to school with me and the bike rack came unlatched and my bike was flying behind the car only attached to the trunk on one side. the rack isn't as secure as I would have liked but it definitely works for short drives, not necessarily the interstate.
 Early impressions April 5, 2008
Stanley M. Geidel (Muncie, IN)
7 out of 8 found this review helpful
Upon receiving the product, proceed as follows:
STEP 1. Open the box and remove the carrier and the instruction booklet. You may throw out the box at this point; you'll eventually be quite happy with the carrier.
STEP 2. Set the carrier aside and pick up the instruction booklet. CAUTION: DO NOT OPEN THE INSTRUCTION BOOKLET UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES. Instead, immediately throw it in the wastebasket. Purists may wish to shred it. In any case, do not open it; and please, if it happens to fall open of its own accord, do not read it! Get it into the wastebasket or the shredder as soon as possible! DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP!! I find nothing whatsoever of value in the instruction booklet. Even the illustrations are confusing. DO NOT LOOK AT THEM. This should not be construed as advice; rather, this is a warning. Reading the instructions or looking at the illustrations will most certainly delay the installation of this carrier. (Note to Bell: technical writing is a skill; a fine technical writer is relatively rare and commands a good salary. Bell, if you are listening: hire one.)
STEP 3. Having unpacked the carrier and thrown out the instructions without looking at them, take the carrier in hand and proceed to your vehicle.
STEP 4. Visualize; experiment; try various configurations. It took me three tries to find the correct positioning of the carrier on my vehicle. There are several options, as will become apparent once you begin experimenting. Once I found the correct orientation for my vehicle, everything fell into place perfectly.
STEP 5. Having discovered the correct orientation of the carrier in relation to your vehicle, loosely snug up the straps; do not fully tighten them.
STEP 6. Visually inspect the carrier in relation to your vehicle. Will any part of the carrier (other than the padded components) contact your vehicle if you tighten the straps further? Will your bike(s) be positioned a sufficient distance from the rear bumper so as not to come in contact with it? If one or both of these conditions is not satisfied, continue experimenting. Once you have found the correct position for the carrier, proceed to Step 7.
STEP 7. Position the straps. The upper straps are not a concern; they will attach intuitively and easily. NB: the lower straps should travel *inside* the carrier frame, then attach to the vehicle.
STEP 8. Having positioned the straps, proceed with tightening the straps as follows: snug up the upper left, lower right, upper right, then lower left. Having snugged them up, next fully tighten them, in same order (i.e., upper left, lower right, upper right, and lower left). It may be helpful or even necessary to push the top bar forward, towards the rear window of the vehicle, as you tighten the upper straps. In a similar vein, it may be necessary to push the lower bar downward as you tighten the lower straps. Have first snugged the straps, then tightened them, attempt to tighten them once more. If you cannot, you are done.
Having installed the carrier as described, I can grab hold of it and rock the entire vehicle back and forth. It feels like it is a part of the vehicle. There is no play whatsoever.
Rating: four stars. (One star deducted to encourage Bell to hire a skilled technical writer.) The apparatus is solid as a rock when installed correctly. Again, to do so, DO NOT LOOK AT THE INSTRUCTION BOOKLET. Do not be tempted. Use your own common sense, and you will be quite satisfied. Reading the instructions may cause you to attempt to follow them, and this will only delay the installation of the carrier.
Happy biking!
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