Reviews Bike Racks
1: Allen 102S Premium 2-Bike Trunk Mount Rack
Allen 102S Premium 2-Bike Trunk Mount Rack
Only one complaint, otherwise great
I am overall pleased with this trunk rack because it stayed secure and my bike didn’t budge. I did use small bungees to secure my pedals and to keep the front wheel from turning during travel. The straps stayed secure for the entire 140 mile round trip. Once I tightened the straps, I did wrap the excess and tie a slip knot for extra insurance. The only complaint I have is that due to the sizes of the two bikes I was trying to carry, I couldn’t figure out how to get a friend’s bike into the second slot, even after trying various positioning options to get the bikes on. I believe the reason is that the 2nd bike was a woman’s bike with a slanted top tube and it was a smaller frame so we had to put the one rack bike slot underneath the bottom tube (at the front of the bike) instead of underneath the top tube like it was intended. The bike was too small to just sit the top tube down into place like a bigger bike. The end result was because of only being able to get the small bike on the rack by doing the above, the handlebars or other bike parts kept the 2 from fitting on the rack so I ended up having to take the front wheel off the smaller woman’s bike and put it in the trunk of the car. So, if you are hauling just one bike or two bikes that the handlebars don’t interfere with getting them both on, the rack holds the bike in place very steady.
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Allen bike rack
Just finished my first trip with the Allen bike rack. It worked great! Mounts on the back of our 2006 Accord and hauled two bikes 1300 miles. No problems whatsoever. A great product.
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GREAT BIKE RACK
I drove cross country from Richmond VA to San Diego California and I did not have one problem with this bike rack. When I was going through the desert and my constant speed was between 85-95 mph I decided to tie the bike straps to each other might sound confusing but you will figure it out and I did not have to tighten them for the rest of the ride. I have a 2004 Taurus and it fit perfectly and I am the worst with assembling things but it literally took me 5 minutes and I did it by myself. I only brought out one bike though so I can only comment on this using on bike but I fell in love with it and I use it all the time when I ride around CA. AWESOME RACK HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!
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Watch out for the result of cost reductions
I purchased the 102S model based on (i) the Company’s reputation and (ii) the reviews from Amazon customers. This looked good when the product arrived, it was properly packaged and free from damage. This a very intuitive product and this is necessary as the instructions packed with the product are marginal at best. Things went well until I went to adjust the top strap – the lever on the clamp broke off with just the slightest pressure. This of course made any adjustment impossible.
Upon examination it was evident that the quality of the metal used in the clamp was not sufficient for the purpose intended. The quality of the metal reminded me of that used in some of the cheap products that were imported after WWII. This problem was apparently not unexpected as I saw that one other customer reported it and when I called Allen they treated it without any expression of surprise an in fact they sent me two of the clamps an indication that I should expect a repeat of this problem.
The rack itself shows evidence of good engineering and reasonable workmanship which is a credit to the founder Dick Allen. My contact at the company was Alex Allen would is apparently in charge and frankly was not impressive. I suspect that this product has, and continues to undergo a “cost reduction” analysis that has resulted in the inferior clamps that can break at any time. One has to wonder what will be next? When a product breaks “out of the box” and the replacement part is no better than the one that broke it does not instill confidence.
This was a good product at a fair price IF the quality of the parts are not diminished. I am concerned that the current product does not represent a good value as a result of what I see as a deterioration in quality – Buyer BewareAllen 102S Premium 2-Bike Trunk Mount Rack
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Awesome bike rack
I was looking around for my first ever bike rack and finally settled on this one because of the numerous solid reviews it recieved. Couldn’t be happier with my choice! The rack is very sturdy and has plenty of room for two bikes. The points of contact between the bike frame and rack have thoughtfully covered by some black plastic tubes so no metal to metal rubbing. The thing that was worrying me most when i was thinking of purchasing this was the pedal of my bike rubbing against the trunk. However, the way the rack is designed actually keeps the pedal from coming close to the trunk. You just have to simply turn the inside pedal to the 12 o’clock position so that it rests against the bar.
The rack is perfect for normal shaped adult sized bikes but would be a bit problematic for smaller frame bikes such as kids bikes or womens bikes that have a slanted upper tube (there’s a bar you can buy that’ll easily solve this issue). So far the rack’s tie downs on the car and on the bike are super sturdy and don’t come loose or sway around during a drive and over speed bumps (i wasnt flying over those bumps of course). Best of all…the foamy parts of the rack that touch the car didn’t scratch or dent my car. It could mostly be bcause I always follow the manufacturers advice and wipe down the area on the trunk where the foam touches.
A few more things:
-It may seem a bit obvious but since the rack literally takes seconds to install and remove I would highly recommend not leaving your bike(s) attached to the rack while you’re away. Locks will be useless with this rack design.
-you will definitely need some rope/bungee cords/Velcro straps to tie down your front wheel to keep it from swinging and bouncing and ultimately damaging your car
-for those of you who would be concerned about this the rack makes it hard to see your rear license plate. Mine sits on my 2008 corolla with the bottom foam resting right on the lower third of my license plate.
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