Best Bike Rack For Honda Fit (2023 Update)

I have recently purchased this product. More than I wanted to spend on a Hitch rack, but it has proved worth the price. I am very happy with the sturdy construction and the hitch tongue locking mechanism. The Pro's strong well put together, thoughtful design and easy swing away to open the hatch. Straps work well, as with anything you have a learning curve with putting them on and taking them off. When you have them on, they hold very well. I'm not sure about some of the things I have read about the straps, but they are a far better design than most racks in this range and they seem strong enough. The rack itself is built like a brick, very little sway as long as you have the bikes secure on the rack. Easy to utilize once you have put the straps on which is another learning curve. I typically hold two cruisers and I use the straight rods to secure on the rack. I would not be afraid to carry my bikes long distances and I will be doing this very soon. Cons, heavier than you think. Straps are a little tricky to put on and to secure bikes to (again learning curve) Caution when putting bikes on the first position as you have to get the frame through the latches. Can scratch up frames, but each carrier I have owned has lead to some scratches.Mack

I bought this rack in April 2020. There were four of us in lockdown, we all had bikes, and we needed a way to transport them if we wanted a change of scenery. The rack has been a mainstay ever since. Works just like advertised. The swing function is great. Installation is straightforward. Love the locking cable for added security when out and about with the bike on the rack. I read through many of the 1 star reviews as I am recommending this to a neighbor who asked me for the model. The only conclusions I can come up with for the poor reviews are (in order of decreasing likelihood): 1. User error 2. Newer ones are not made as well 3. I lucked out and got a peach instead of a lemon. Obviously, my vote is user error. It does take some effort to lock the stem into the trailer hitch but it is solid for me. Make sure you buy the correct sized product for your hitch. You do have to turn a couple of handle bars 90 degrees when loading up 4 adult mountain bikes. Have never had a problem with the straps. They are easy to use and keep the bike secure. Bottom line: my expectations were exceeded and I have over two years of regular usage with the utmost satisfaction.swmbkrn63

I got the product shortly after I ordered from Thule. Assembly is not very difficult, although there is a step missing as they don't tell you to use the flat key the first time that you need to insert the locks. Functionality is a mixed bag for two reasons: 1. the straps that keep the bikes on the rack are SUPER HARD to operate. You kind of need to choose between leaving them half loose at the risk of the bike falling on the highway or tightening the straps and being stuck as you will not be able to undo them later. I am considering throwing the straps in the garbage and replacing them with bungee cords. 2. The big feature of this "swing away" feature is that you can open the full trunk, unobstructed. This is true, except that when you are done and need to connect the arm back on the hitch, the sheer weight of the bicycles is pushing the arm down and not allowing the main bolt to go back in. You need to be fairly strong and push up the arm + bikes and wiggle with the bolt until you are lucky to find the threaded hole. It takes a ew tries and is a bit exhausting. So paying the extra money to have the swing away feature does not pay off. I would no buy this product again. The positive is that once you are done the bikes stay in place and the thing does not seem to move much.ddgzz

AWESOME, well built. One of few racks that can handle 3 bikes on CLASS 1 hitch without voiding a cars warranty. I wanted to carry three bikes on a class one car hitch without voiding potentially the car warranty. Only the Thule Helium 3 bike and the Saris Bones 3 bike fit the bill as both are very light weight. The Thule is made in aluminum and the Saris is only 16lbs I believe. Tongue weight capacity on a car is usually around + or – 200lbs. Thus if rack weightsstephanegti

First of all, despite the issues I have with this rack, it is a good rack that requires a degree of faith when fitted but after 4 hrs with a bike fitted I have not had a problem. My first issue was when building it. At first the instructions seem ok but they are not precise enough and, as I found out, it is very easy to fit a part the wrong way round. Secondly one of the bolt holes was not pre drilled so had to do that myself. Fitting the rack to the car was simple enough and only takes five minutes to do. The front wheel element has two settings, standard & 29". My mountain bike has 27.5" wheels and did not fit the standard setting so I have to use the 29" option. For me this was not an issue but I recently came across a Facebook post where some with the same size wheel and tyre could not get his bike to fit unless he deflated his tyre. My final issue is its size, it is big and doesn't collapse at all for storage, surely they could design some way of making it easier to store? Despite my gripes I do like the rack, especially the upright design meaning the bike doesn't poke out of the side of the car ( especially in lanes on the way to my favourite trails!) and you don't need a light board. It is definitely worth looking up the road test video to see how much movement there is and what it can cope with.Jontym

I use this rack on a 2009 Toyota Venza. I had trouble finding a rack to even fit my car (as I have no trailer hitch) that would carry two bikes, and this fits the bill. I am pleased with the rack overall. I did have to purchase a separate part from Saris to use with my Venza. You can't use the metal clips on the window on the side (there's no metal around the sides of my rear window), so I had to buy different straps with little foam cylinders to go inside the window. It would have been nice if those had been included. As another reviewer noted, no matter how I crank down those bottom straps, they keep coming undone from the bottom of the hatch and flopping around. I don't think it makes the rack less stable, because it's really being held in place by the top and side straps, but it's really annoying. The other modification I had to make, and this isn't really the fault of Saris, is that, because I have an Electra Townie, it doesn't fit perfectly in the rack. Because it's a pedal forward design, the bike has a longer base than a regular bike. It rests _almost on_ on the bottom holder but the included strap wouldn't quite fit. I bought a small nylon buckle-style dog collar, and it works well. My car is kind of tall, although it's not as tall as a regular SUV, and I'm 5'5". My bike and my son's bikes are not super lightweight, and it took some time before I was very good at getting those bikes up there. It can be kind of unwieldy and a bit of a knuckle-buster, especially for a woman, to load. I think I've gotten pretty smooth at it now, and it's a good opportunity to work on that upper body strength, but if you've got a bad back, you want to think twice. I don't want this to sound like a negative review…it's not. I do like the Gran Fondo, and I don't know what I would have done without it. Not have a bike rack at all, I guess. It looks cool, it fits my car, I feel confident that my bikes aren't going to fly off the back of the car on the highway, and I can load it myself. But it wasn't pop it on the car and done.Marcia

This rack seems solid and well constructed. It fits well on my Forester and I do not anticipate any problems. My only complaint is that it comes with only one bottom strap. As I feel that it should have two I ordered a second one directly from Allen.Jonathan

Pocket friendly bike rack for regular use. Mounting and unmounting is very easy but I found the buckle of the straps to be little loose. Though we purchased the 2-bike carrier but we prefer to carry one inside and one on the rack for longer distances.Sambhabi

I have a hatchback. Works great. Never had a problem with it. Rack two bikes easily, and for far distances, of 2-3hours at a time. I Knot the ends of the rope off just as an extra safety but you don’t have to.Love

Unless it's a classic men's ten speed style frame, the closest bike in will rub on the pivot mechanism. First two bikes I tried would have been horribly scratched up first use. Not listed on the box, but at the end of the manual, is there is nothing to support the bottom and keep it from swinging. They tell you to use a strap, which could be done effectively, but don't include one. The anti-wobble feature is more wishful thinking than real help. If you used it for two bikes it would be decent, but you didn't buy a two bike carrier. Disappointing as this is a very well built unit with a great powder coat paint job.John

I absolutely love this bike rack. Its great to just leave on your hitch and not have to deal with the constant putting it on and taking it off. One pin allows you to pull the rack back and open your teunk in seconds. I’ve been carrying 3 bikes on it for two years and no sign of deterioriating. Light rust that i could easily sand and spray paint. I had one of the pins break off, bit thats likely my fault for not leaving it installed. The ONE issue I have with the rack is that it only has one bolt for install and it moves just a smidge andcmakes a noise whenever your driving ove bumps and such. Make a new version with TWO bolts and tje bike rack is perfectly sound:)ChitownChef

I bought this in July 2020 and was hoping for something economical and sturdy. I definitely got what I wanted. The rack is only rated at 100 pounds, but I was able to fit three adult bikes with no problems. There are alot of comments here about the hitch being wobbly, but mine is sturdy with minimal movement. Tighten the bolts folks! I thoroughly inspected the rack after our trips and found no crack in the welds or bending of any parts. Someone else mentioned that the rack had no straps, but the rack I purchased had all three straps that had plenty of length to secure the adult bikes. We are happy with our purchase and would recommend it for the price alone.dpat3537

I needed a hitch rack for my 2012 Prius V ants after much searching and blog reading I decided to find the Beta-2. Luck would be on my side and I found the rack at a great price at OutdoorPlay. Shipped free and got it quickly. The Beta-2 works great , easy to use,store, and solid. Never knew of Kuat before this but I would recommend them to anyone looking for this type of bike rack.Tracy

Well built, nicely coated, no wiggle! Drove two bikes from NJ to NC with zero concern. I would strongly suggest other buying this bike rack – read a robust review from switch back travel and trusted other purchases based on their reviews and am incredibly pleased. Please note this bike mount has a hitch stabilizer so the whole rack keeps secure.Kelly

The rack was easy to assemble and the bikes went on easy as well. The rack looks great and is lightweight. I have not taken the bikes for a drive yet but look forward to doing so.Bryan

Looking for a bike rack made in USA, the Grand Slam 4 caught my attention for its simplicity and price point. I was concerned about using the adapter to fit my 2" receiver, but it's been easy to use and I believe the design prevents swaying or flip flopping around like you may find on lower priced racks. This is fitted onto a Wrangler with a 255/70/18 spare with room to spare….your mileage may vary.Chris

We bought the Grand Slam because it met all the criterai we were looking for: hitch rack, holds four bikes, economical. It was easy to assemble, easy to install/remove from the hitch, and it works like a charm. My only criticism is that there are a couple of pieces of hardware needed for the rack to work with a 2" mount. The rack came with no instructions for that part of the assembly (Saris, please include that in updates.). It was remarkably easy to assemble after watching a YouTube video.Josh

This is practically a 5* item. It fits my 21 Civic Sport Hatchback well and I didn't need to use the spoiler kit since the spoiler has a gap between the window. As installed, the rear wiper works just fine. I thought I was going to have to use the angled rubber bumpers but that was not the case. The flat ones are fine. THIS is where I take a star off. In the step to tighten the cables, it says to crank until you hear 2 clicks. I cannot get to 2 clicks because it pushes so hard on the glass OR the body of the hatch that it literally started to push the glass in away from the seal or create an indentation on the body. So, I settled for to "creaks" of the tightening apparatus. Weird to say but I can confirm it's tight, stable, and is OK. The flexibility to mount the bike(s), move the arms, fit the car, the locking cable (which I didn't even realize was part of it when I purchased), all good stuff. I'm looking forward to many uses of this rack going forward.Peter

Without a hitch mount, I chose this so that it could stay mounted on our hatch and still be able to raise it (something that could not be done with Raceway model). Once mounted, it's sturdy and should work well (I just installed it). My only complaint is with the stabilizer blocks. Thule should include a short block so that the bike can be secured while hanging vertically and not out at an angle. On our SUV the bike hangs close to the rack.alex19

Compact, solid and hold firmly the bike as intended. Do feel the clearance between bike for a two way carrier is tight even if you have spacers between provided. The cable torque that holds the carriage for some reason does not completely lock in place as recommended with a click sound. Instructions as everyone mentioned is completely not helpful at all. You either go through YouTube for a guide and the added harness for the spoiler support is nowhere to figure how it is placed. Also, the packaging of the items with all the moving parts is not well thought off. The boxes inside don't really make any sense to secure the items inside. By the time you receive the big box its either broken or you can hear the parts banging to each other. Thule should have placed this on a rigid foam instead of boxes. Or either put dampers of foam inside so that the parts will be secured in shipping and moving. They cut down on packaging cheaply and price products very expensively steep. Way too steep as if they hold the bars in terms of carriage in the market. Hope this makes sense for the company to make better consumer experience not just for the money.JyCruizer

bought to use on a nissan versa hatchback. could not be more perfect for this car. very stable and solid feeling. I never worried about the bikes. on a versa hatchback the only thing to watch out for is the added weight to the hatchback. the hatch will slam shut if you let it with an empty rack on it. the arms fold down when not hauling bikes. a good feature but watch your head when closing the hatch. i take the arms off when not hauling bikes. It should be obvious but the rear wipers don't have room to swing with this installed but not a drawback. overall a great product.gmc4chas

This product *might* fit 3 road bikes but certainly doesn't fit 3 hybrids/mountain bikes. If you are using this for anything other than road bikes, think twice about buying it.McDuff

My coworker gave me one of these racks for free. I just wanted to say if you try to use it on a Honda Odyssey van it will not work due to the plastic spoiler thing the van has above the back window. DO NOT BUY IF YOU HAVE AN ODYSSEY.Dad

We got our T2 Pro X a couple of months ago after getting a carbon frame mountain bike that couldn't be safely put on our old hanging rack. This rack is perfect for both our mountain and road bikes! Features I love: – Locks to hitch – Folds up out of the way when not in use – Easy to remove and stow in the garage – Folds down for rear hatch access with bikes loaded – Option to use the add on for increased capacity Features that need improvement: – Added lock cores to swing arms for bike security, but realized that it would still be really easy to steal a bike off the rack, so always add an extra lock. (only reason for four stars)JMag

I bought this bike rack with the 2-bike add on, and there are some things you should know before you do the same. Unless you're a big fan of Ikea furniture, in which case you'll be fine. 1) It's heavy. Like, really heavy. I ended up buying a wheel to fasten on the bottom so I could roll it around. If I had to do it over I'd spend the extra $250 to get the XTR, which already has a wheel installed. But it was such a pain to put it together I don't want to take it apart to return. If you have the four-bike set up, you need at least another person to move it around. 2) It's poorly engineered. As in, bolts don't line up with pre-drilled holes and key pieces are made of plastic. I stripped a couple of bolts and had to go buy extra because it doesn't come with extra hardware – I mean, for $1450… why would it? 3) The instructions are next-level terrible. I mean, when I finally gave up and Googled a 'how to' video, the first thing the person said was. "The instructions are terrible." Also there isn't an XT video anywhere to be found — just XTR. So prepare to take things apart and put them back together through trial and error. 4) If you're buying this rack because you want the flexibility to go between 2- and 4-bike set-ups… don't. Once it's set up for four bikes, it doesn't go back to two. I'm waiting for the kids to move out then I'll convert it just the one time. Now the positive… 1) The ability to stabilize and lock the rack on the hitch is a nice feature. Although the lock on the hitch also falls into the 'poorly engineered' category. I'm fairly sure it will stop working at one point and it'll be locked onto my vehicle. 2) The bikes are nicely spaced apart. And it's fairly easy to get in and out of the rear door without taking the bikes off. Bottom line, if you're looking for a 4-bike option that you put on your vehicle in the spring and leave it on until the fall, then this is an option for you. However if you're looking for something that installs easily, can go from 2 to 4 bikes, and doesn't take 4 hours to put together (counting buying the extra parts) — then keep looking my friends.MarkB

I've only had this bike rack for a few weeks and it's been perfect for us. Our hitch on an SUV didn't have room for a lock cylinder so the hook lock worked great. The bikes are se ure when mounted and easily moved out of the way to access the back of the vehicle. I bought a big cable to lock the bikes to the rack. Even if the rack came with little locks (it doesn't) I would still use the cable.Doc5605

Took me about 20 minutes to put this together. The instructions are pretty straight forward, and easy to follow. They remind me of Ikea instructions. It can hold many sizes of bike tires, and doesn't touch the bike frame, which is pretty much a 'must have' feature for me. It's super easy to load and secure a bike on the rack, and would really take something catastrophic to have it come out unintentionally. It's fairly light for it's size, which makes taking it off the car when not in use simple to do if you'd like. I use it to transport a mountain bike and a road bike. It does 'bounce' a little with the mountain bike on it, but it doesn't sway at all. This is the reason I gave it 4 stars (I would have done 4.5 if possible). If the bounce wasn't there, it would get 5. In Mike's review, he said the only thing holding the rack to the car is the safety pin, which is incorrect. If you tighten the knob shown in the video starting at the 2:07 mark, that expands the shaft in the receiver, and keeps it from moving around. You then lock the knob to the base, and then the rack can't be removed from the car- unless you break the knob and have a tool to loosen the hex bolt inside the base of the rack. The safety pin is only there in case that knob should loosen somehow- the pin keeps the rack from falling off the car.LeeJ

The Inno is as good as the One Up rack!! It fit perfectly!!! Low profile that is what I was looking for.. Locsl law enforcement doesn’t like rack that cover the license plates a this one doesn’t!! Great Rack!!!!!1030 Nowell Road B

I purchased the INNO Bike Hitch INH110 but, unfortunately, I am not happy with the purchase. The first thing I noticed when completing an inventory out of the box was that I was missing the six CAP BOLT M8 (instruction description). After contacting the INNO parts service and discovering that they did not have the bolts in stock, I was left with the unenviable task of finding the bolts locally. I asked parts service about simply taking the bolts from another box but was told there were none available. This resulted in me going to my local Home Depot and asking for assistance in allowing me to take various size M8 bolts to the car to determine which would fit the hitch. It turned out to be the M8X1.0X25mm bolt. Assembling the hitch was easy. I then inadvertently discovered that after “correctly” securing the ISP 1068 Safety Pin to the vehicle’s trailer hitch and “correctly” securing the SP 1074 Knob/lock, a fatal flaw was discovered in that I could physically remove the entire INNO bike hitch from the vehicle by simply unlocking the ISP 1068 Safety Pin. This means no manner how I secure the bike to the INNO hitch, a thief can simply undo the ISP 1068 Safety Pin and remove the entire INNO hitch “and” bike without difficulty. Hopefully, I have solved the problem by securing a bike lock cable to the INNO bike hitch and inserting the cable through the vehicle’s hitch post holes. In my opinion, it would have been better if the INNO hitch had a ½" or 5/8" hole to allow a receiver lock bolt to secure the INNO bike hitch to the vehicle. I would not recommend this hitch because of the fatal flaw.Michael1764

I wish I could have seen a chart of what vehicles this item was best suited to. The chart is on the back of the box, and it indicates that Nissan's Rogue Sport is NOT one of the recommended applications. Therefore I have found it rather challenging to securely install it on my vehicle, but I think I have found a way. As far as the product itself, the construction and material qualities are EXCELLENT. It is thoughtfully well-designed and constructed of powder-coated heavy gauge tubular steel and fittings. As a retired product testing technician I do recommend product.Wayne

I purchased this bike rack this morning to take my bike 60 miles to go on a ride with a friend. The rack was easy to install and worked like a charm. When I got home I started reading reviews on it and couldn't believe the issues I was reading. I had no problems with the hooks or with the feet lifting off while driving. I drove across the Chesapeake bay bridge, down highways at 65+ mph and across multiple speed bumps and down a section of highway that was being repaved so there were some good bumps at highway speed. Now I have only used the rack with 1 bike (hence the 4 stars rather than 5) and have only used it for 1 trip. But, so far so good. My only complaint is that I purchased it in store at Walmart and paid $60, and it wouldn't let me buy online and pickup in store the same day even though there was 3 sitting on the shelf in front of me (but that's a Walmart complaint, not a product compliant)Coco

Beware! I purchased this product based on the picture on Walmart.com of the product. When we brought it home, we took it out of the packaging and quickly looked it over. Unfortunately, we threw away the box and several days later, we went to mount this on the vehicle. It did not have the 2 side straps and was completely unstable and unusable. I wrote to the company to see if I could get the missing straps. I was told to send a receipt and picture of manufacture date. It turns out that it was made in 2015. I bought this in August 2020. The company told me that the side straps were not on there in 2015 and that was it. I now have an unusable product. If you buy this, make sure it has the side straps as pictured before you throw away the box. The first picture is the receipt of what we thought we got, the second picture is what we actually got.Jeffrey

Was looking for a bike rack that wouldn't get in the way of opening my back Jeep door. Read the reviews and found this on sale. Great price. Installed in 15 minutes. Some people say that their bikes don't fit properly on this rack. My answer is get creative. I first tried it at the bike shop where I bought my mountain bike. I hoisted the bike and thought they're right, how's this going to fit? A sales guy approached and lifted the bike up putting one of the brackets on the tube that connects the seat and the other on the front v of the frame. It held tight and was very secure. I used the strap enclosed with the rack to stabalize the bike by wrapping it around the bike and rack. Bike did not wiggle or shake at all while driving. I've had two bikes on the rack several times with similar great results. And I like that the holding bar easily folds down tightly against the wheel when you don't want to use the rack. I love this rack because I can still open my back door without a hitch rack in the way, it was inexpensive, and it works great.Jen in Bend

Have used it only once so far for a long road trip and so far so good ! But I must comment on the installation instructions. They’re so bad and Incorrect. One part specifically said based on your tire size, use these parts. It turned out it didn’t require any of those parts and it took and extra couple hours to figure that out- only discovered after watching a you-tube video. Secondly, the plastic “plug” for the lock portion was completely stripped while simply trying to take it out with a screwdriver, like the Instructions said. We had to completely rip apart the whole piece to eventually get it out, likely partially destroying it in the process. WHY would you make that piece plastic in the first place ?? Anyway once we actually got it on, everything seems fine.Jdon

My son purchased and used this rack for 16 months to transport his bike to/from college, and occasionally to bike trails. Yesterday his bike was on rack for two daylight hours before the included lock was pried open and his bike was stolen. Thule offers no warranty or theft assistance, unlike kryptonite who has a theft replacement clause on their high end locks(which he owns but wasn’t using because it was on Thule rack ready to ride that afternoon.) Don’t trust the included lock as it was pried off mid-day on a busy street. Don’t ever leave your bike on this rack and NOT have your car in motion! Don’t get me wrong, he loved the rack until he found out how easy it was to defeat the lock. Thule takes no responsibility, and said they would send the pried off lock pix to their product department. Do yourself a favor add extra locks if you intend to walk away from your bike, say into a coffee shop to study, that’s what happened to him.Scinquanta

Went to a local bike shop who normally sells another brand which was sold out because of supply chain problems. For less than $200 who needs China? Buy this made in Wisconsin all steel well designed well priced product that does what the European and Japanese brands do.Rick

The whole structure is great and I can see why this is so firm and stable, however, if only the arms can be maneuver with better ideas would be great. Maybe a quick release or something. Overall I'm happy as long as I can ferry my bikes and safely which is my main priority. Lastly, I think the price can be lowered slightly, I don't find the price justified to the product because of what I suggested with the arms. Implement with a quick-release would be great!Andy

The most difficult thing about installing a Saris Bones cycle rack is, on a hatchback, they suggest disabling the rear windscreen wiper. As the upper back feet sit right within the swing of the wiper, this is a Very Good Idea – if you can do it; otherwise, don't switch the thing on if it rains, and be very careful if your car is overly clever (like mine) and enables the rear wiper EVEN IF IT'S NOT SWITCHED ON if the front wipers are in use and you select reverse gear. Setup on a Saris Bones is a little awkward, as two of the arms on both sides have to be taken off the central spindle and slotted back on in their correct-for-your-car position; this is just a touch finicky as there are webbing straps down the centre of the spindle which dangle about and get gently in the way, but that's the worst of it. You can do the setup by yourself, but a second pair of hands is a bonus. The suggested maximum loading for a three-bike rack is 15kg/bike. I went over by 1kg and all was well, but I don't know what the limits are – higher than 1kg, I hope! Fitting to a hatchback went easily, although I did stop half a mile down the road and tighten the webbing, which hooks with metal hooks around the top, sides and bottom of your hatch or boot, as the feet were bouncing against the rear window. Sensibly, the hooks are labelled for top, bottom and sides (although I seem to have three sides and one bottom, but that's just one of those things, I suppose. At least I could find mine with one hand – something I'm rarely accused of being able to do). I'd suggest placing the hooks at the side of the rear door/hatch carefully: mine is glass up to the edge and I thought that hooking directly to it might be a bad thing, so I angled the webbing straps downwards to below the window and everything seemed to survive the journey without a problem. Fighting a bike into place over the straps the first time is a bit of a mission – do the straps up first and then everything is under control. They spring a bit if you catch the bike on them as you lift it over, but at least they don't get caught under the frame. A tip I had beforehand was to make sure there's no grit beneath the feet of the rack as that could leave you with scratched paintwork – a very good idea, especially if you've gone somewhere fun, have mud all over the place and have removed the rack from the vehicle for the night . Children's bikes (hopefully lighter) should go on last. I fitted a 20" children's MTB on safely, but would say that, especially with the short head tubes and tight spacing between top tube and down tube on children's bike-frames these days, you may not be able to hang the bike from its top tube alone and one of the forks of the rack may have to sit under the down tube. While the forks of the bike rack are no more than 30cm/12" apart at the tips, they do have depth, and that depth is certainly deeper than the gap at the head tube on the bike I tested with, The thing fitted safely though, and that was what mattered. Each bike position position has two retaining loops on top of the frame and one beneath to stop the bikes from swinging. Even so, give them a good rattle and make sure they're clear of your paintwork before you set off, just in case. Also remember that your car rear window will be half-blocked by bike frames and that your vehicle might be a touch wider than you expected, so side mirrors are a Good Thing, although you probably won't need extended mirrors as you might whilst towing a caravan. So far, it's doing the job and I have no real complaints – four stars on everything because I've not been using the thing very long and it might be better to ask again in six months when I've had to fit it in the dark while the rain is hosing down: we'll see how things are then 😉QuinB

I'd previously bought a cheapo cycle carrier from a well known budget supermarket. It didn't work so it had to go back. With the imminent arrival of my new bike I needed a safe and secure way of transporting it. I'd researched the Saris Bones and generally the comments were very positive. There are six adjustable arms that lock against a ridged central axle. All of the retaining straps thread through the axle and are easy to distinguish. You adjust four of the arms to arch over the back of the car and rest on the bumper and rear window. The other two are set to support upto three bikes at a time. The retaining straps are clipped top, side and bottom of the car rear hatch. Setting it up for the first time is a bit fiddly, but once you have it right it makes for a secure platform to mount your bike. A nice touch is the stickers so you can mark up the correct setting for future use. The product looks and feels a quality bit of kit. You may need some retaining straps or bungees to hold the front wheel steady when mounted on the bones. I needed to buy an additional beam bar as my son's suspension bike won't fit. I think it needs some webbing buckles to hold the loose ends together; the instructions suggest tying a knot in them. There is a danger that your number plate becomes obscured. That it works is the main thing.OldBones

We were a bit apprehensive at first, not necessarily with the bike trailer, but more or less with the 1.25 hitch that we had to opt for as the dealership misinformed us on the size of hitch compatible with outback.I am happy to report we have had no problems with the sturdiness of this bike trailer as we were afraid the 1.25 would result in a wobbly outcome. As other reviews mentioned the trailer itself was a bit difficult to assemble. However once assembled and loaded it was exactly what we needed. We are comfortably and securely able to load our 2 Trek bikes and have no problem with the arms or straps. The only complaint is the thickness of the pin used to lock the trailer to the hitch. Could use a better pin something a bit thicker and sturdier for it to feel very secure.JAAM

First off, I'll mention that assembly was a bit harder than I thought it would be. The long bolts connecting the two pieces of frame together took a bit of finesse (and a rubber mallet) to get them to slide in and line up properly. It helps if you take the part of the frame where they screw in (on the outer rail) off first and line that up separately. Once I figured that out, the rest was a breeze. I really like the ease of use with this thing – bikes go on and off in just minutes. Way easier than it used to be trying to squeeze them into my car. I also enjoy how light it is, and how quickly it comes on and off the hitch. Although the price is a bit high, it is well-made and worth it. Highly recommend.Nate

There are things I like about this rack, but I think it's quite overpriced for what it is. I found it easy to attach to the hitch and I like the overall design – the arms feel secure, I like being able to fold the rack easily, and it does hold my bike well. I was also able to use the farthest rack position as a makeshift bike stand while I did some work on the chain, which was handy since I don't have my own stand. However, for this price point, I expect more than to have to use my own cheap Velcro strap to secure a mountain bike with average/slightly wide tires. I'm not using some kind of niche fat or cargo bike here – why doesn't the Kuat come with an integrated, high-quality strap for this purpose or better yet, a design that doesn't require that extra step at all? I also find the ratchet strap for securing the rear tire to be poorly placed. You can't get the bike on the rack without crunching the strap down and having to yank it out from under the tire manually, which is definitely increasing wear and tear already. Finally, the lock that comes with the rack for securing the rack to the hitch felt very cheap and online reviews suggest it can be broken very easily (a problem when you live in a high-theft area, which is not Kuat's fault), but it did lead to an extra cost to buy a more secure lock. Long story short, I'm glad I have the rack and it gets the job done, but it's premium pricing for an average/good product. I can't give a 4 or 5 star review when the value is skewed like that. Highly recommend waiting until this goes on major sale.liz4500

Set up was easy and it felt secure. However I wasnt pleased about the metal part of the strap that latches on to the car. It had no protective fabric to keep it from potentially scratching my car. I loaded only one bike thus far, a MTB. I had to definitely tie down both of my tires to avoid it spinning and shaking on the highway. Otherwise, it is a decent rack with an old school design that works!Lena

This product available from 99 Bikes is just fantastic, the quality of its manufacture is excellent as is the engineering that must have gone into its development, fits onto the boot of my Ford Fairlane and does not block the number plate in anyway leaving a clear view for my rear camera with my bike attached. It’s a great product from the USA. 99 Bikes service was also great , delivery was within time line and in perfect condition .Peter

This bike rack Is not very strong whatsoever I have one electric bike but it is small 20th fold away bike and it is not very heavy in comparison to other electric bikes. It looks like a bmx bike with a battery. I do not feel safe connecting my bike to this rack. The rack is made for 2 bikes and I am only using 1 bike and it still doesn't feel safe. I have the smallest battery ever made and the bike is still pretty light by industry standards but the rack makes me feel uncomfortable. If it's said in I add that this was for children's bikes I wouldn't have bought it but I haven't returned yet because I tossed the Box and it's almost not worth it considering the price that was paid which was fair but I just do not like the lack of input in the add.mikevigg

I had seen a number of reviews that said this unit was difficult to assemble. Not so. My 17 year old son had zero trouble with it. Fits his 2012 VW Jetta perfectly and we love how it enables the trunk to still be accessed.darudolph

I purchased this rack in April. I had it on and off my car 3 times before my 4th trip where the metal wire/arm from the rack going to the top of my car snapped on the highway. This sent my two bikes toppling onto the highway attached to the rack at $55 mph. Luckily, no one was injured. However this caused $2500 in damage to my two road bikes (totaled them), broke part of my car, and made the rack unless. Neither Thule or REI will pay for the damages. So avoid this rack at all costs. Does not work on cars it claims to be approved for and neither Thule or REI will compensate for damages.Andy R

I just received this item. I have a XT2 Pro on a Jeep, so this would have been a perfect solution except that there is a space between the bumper attached on the main arm, and the swing away that allows the arm to move back and forth about 3mm and make metal to metal loud rattle when driving around. I took 2 videos and contacted customer support. The official word from Product Management: "A small amount of movement is expected and and acts to dampen vibration/bumps while driving". I find it difficult to accept that the engineers that designed this item realized and accepted that by design this would rattle so much. Maybe the builders did not create it within the intended tolerances, at any rate its discouraging to get this sort of response. All they need to do is develop a small hard rubber spacer to fit behind the bump stop. One other matter is that the unit sags down a little on the right side, so looking at the rack from the rear, the bikes look tilted a little. Nothing huge, but worth noting if that sort of thing matters to you.gmeink

Great product especially if you own a wrangler. The tilt away doesn’t allow for access to rear cargo area unless removing bikes.Doug G.

Good value rack for the price! Bought it for my 2015 Nissan Rogue. Wasn't sure it would work but after some early struggles in just figuring out how to best place it on my vehicle, got it to work. Seems pretty secure. My bike doesn't move around. Rack will be easy for me to put on and take off now that I've figured it out. One complaint is the rubber straps – they're quite stiff when you first get them and clipping them on takes some figuring out and working the strips to make less rigid. Requires some hand stregth as well. Otherwise, easy to install and should work on most vehicles. Instructions are very good an easy to follow.FastFreddyG

Used it once, left dings and scratches on my car. And yes I installed it correctly per several Youtube videos, I even used a mat between the car and rack because I was already paranoid about scratching. In addition to that, the straps are nearly impossible to use. So if you are a glutton for punishment, love scratches and dings on your car, and want to spend way more time necessary struggling to get your bikes on and off a rack…buy this one. Otherwise, stay away. Wish I read more reviews. Brought it back to the store and got my money back, but those dings are there to stay.Hollylujah7

I had to return this. When I bought it, the box was a little banged up like someone else had returned it. I followed the instructions to the letter. At the last step realized that the wrap around silicone straps had not been included in the box. I tried to make due because I really needed the rack for the week. Loaded two bikes very carefully (took forever because two bikes don’t fit comfortably on this thing) and then I made sure everything was very secure with some extra rigging. Looked back there 30 minutes into the drive and my bike is at an odd angle. I pulled over just in time – it had slipped from the cushioned rest, or rather, the rest had spun around, the straps had loosened, and my bike half fell off. Never had this problem with a rack before so it went back.AnnewithanE