Side by Side Comparison of: Allen Sports vs Keeper vs iKross vs Saris

I have a 2013 hatchback ford focus and it worked great! The instructions were clear and easy to follow and I had a easy and secure trip with my bikes from Tucson to Palm Springs with one aluminum road bike and one steel single speed (both 50" frames). My cross bar on my road bike was a bit thick and didn't settle into the cradle on the rack, but it sat nicely on top and I just used a couple bungees to ensure security.

The only negative thing for me was folding it up again the buttons are a bit stiff, but I would rather that than it collapse on itself when I don't want it to!

For my particular use this rack is functional, nice and small when it's folded up which makes it easy to store and even just keep in the trunk for whenever its need may arise, and a solid fit for my car. I highly recommend it.

Great value. This product perfectly serves it's purporse. We drove almost 600 miles with 2 bikes and haven't had any issues.

This was a very spontaneous purchase for my Toyota Prius C 2014. I just saw the price and pressed the 1-click, and I am not disappointed. This bike rack is very compact, letting me keep the bike rack inside my car, despite my car being so small. In addition, the bike rack is surprisingly sturdy. After securely fastening the three clips onto the car (2 on top, one on the bottom of the trunk door), the rack won't move. I was also a bit skeptical of how the back two legs also rely on the window for support, but that didn't become a problem as they are protected by rubber feet.

Some things about the bike: When using just one bike, the bike tends to swing up and down because only the top tube is secured onto the rack. You can use a rope to tie the bottom portion of the frame onto the bottom portion of the rack so that it doesn't flap around on the freeway. (I saw my bike going up and down from my rear view mirror going at around 70 mph).
Also, the front wheel will move from side to side, so I secured that using the extra long strap that connects the bike rack to the car. After tightening the strap, there's a lot of length left to double knot the front wheel to the frame of the bike.

Overall, very good spontaneous purchase that lets me go around places without literally taking my bike apart to fit it inside the tiny trunk that I have.

small, portable, works great. the bottom attachment doesn't stay attached though, but that's because of my car not the rack, I have a kia soul 2015 and the area of the trunk that the bottom tie on the rack attaches to is a bit sloped preventing the attachment from gripping well. The solution I found for this is just to extent the tie long enough to reach inside the trunk and have someone inside the car hold it in place while the trunk is closed on top of it. even if the bottom tie isn't tied off it still works fine but I'm paranoid so that is why I close it in the trunk.

What a surprise it was to receive this little box containing the Allen Bike Rack. It was fully assembled and folded out to a superbly constructed two-bicycle bike rack. And then folds back into a small package that barely takes up any room in the trunk. I don't worry about the rack shifting on the car loaded with my bicycle as I travel 120 miles to cycle with one of my best friends. I'm super happy with my purchase.

This bike rack is extremely easy to setup and has worked perfectly. I have not had the chance to test two bikes yet on this rack so I can only speak for loading up one. So far so good. I purchased this one specifically since it folds up to a more compact size. Unfortunately its not that easy to adjust. I have to use a lot of muscle when holding the pins down to fold. Due to this I often leave it in its fully expanded state and will most likely only compact it when biking season is over and I store the bike rack.

I have carried one bike on it so far but was disappointed that I could not leave it on and open my back door. The clips at the top will not allow it. Other than that, it is easy to put on and take off and fold up.

This rack fits on the back of my Suzuki SX4 hatchback. My bike, an older 3 speed road bike, fits great and is easy to take on and off. the rack stays firm and secure when I travel with my bike alone.

My daughter's bike is a little more challenging - we call it the cast iron cruiser - it is heavy and the top cross bar dips way down to only a couple inches from the chain. I found a way to get it on the rack, but, it is really awkward and the rack struggles to stay secure with the weight and can start shifting when diving around corners. Perhaps it is simply the world telling me to get my daughter a new, lighter, bike.

so simple! so cheap as well. i got this because i was sick of dealing with my roof rack, i'm too short to reach up and get my bike on easily. this was very easy to fit to my car, and so far has held my bike securely (so far taken my bike as far as about 35 miles on it, and not had any sense that this was going to come off).

installs on my vw rabbit in about 2 minutes (after i got the initial strap sizes set for my car), and i get the bike secured in another 1 minute. seriously convenient! plus it folds up into about the size of a shoe box, amazing!!!

obviously there are cons compared to standard racks, you cannot lock your bike to this or your vehicle. it scratched the inside of my hatch (i have a 2008 vw rabbit), i thought to protect the visible paint (added felt pads to the strap ends, and even put clear paint protector decals on the paint surfaces), but it actually ended up scratching the inside of the seam that it hangs from :(

i do also worry a bit about where it rests on my hatchback's rear glass. if you had a heavy bike you might be at risk there, but so far it's been safe for me.

also note, bring some string or something to secure your front wheel from spinning, on trip with handle bars tapping on my window was enough to keep a foot of paracord in the trunk for me.

overall the convenience has outweighted any of the cons, and as long as you don't need to lock up your bike to your vehicle i definitely recommend this option to people!

This bike rack has good points and bad points. It is extremely easy to set up and go. Folds down to practically nothing. Very easy for my slight daughter to use on her own without Dad's help. That said, it isn't the sturdiest of racks. You definitely aren't buying a Thule. The tie downs for the bike aren't clips, you have to thread and unthread loops to secure and then take the bike off. I would guess it is great for short trips at normal around town speeds. We are hoping the bike makes it securely from NY to Maine at highway speeds. It also would have been helpful to see the chart that is on the back of the box before we purchased (I've attached a photo of it here). My daughters car is not on the fit list and we had to do some fussing to get it to attach to metal on her car instead of the plastic spoiler on the MINI Countryman. Not the rack's fault, any rack of this type would have been attaching to plastic...which we should have looked at and known...our bad. I would recommend this rack despite its shortcomings, especially at this price point.

First, the rack works just fine. It has held 2 bikes at once occasionally with no obvious strain. With that said, the materials of construction are clearly not UV-resistant. Living in CA, my bike rack stays on my car year round. The plastic parts started showing UV deterioration after about 12 months of outdoor use. After about 17 months, one of the upper support straps snapped while one bike was loaded and driving down the road, almost losing my road bike. The strap showed no signs of excessive wear, like fraying, before breaking. So this is not ideal.

The packaging says it won't work for a Dodge Grand Caravan but the reviews said it would. I decided to risk it and find out for myself. I have a 2012 Dodge Grand Caravan. It fit great. Held both adult bikes just fine. I'm annoyed that I saw it today at Walmart for $20 cheaper though, but whatev.

It does the job but I don't quite trust it 100% We had this rack for a Scion XD hatchback and tried it on our new 2017 Honda CRV. I don't like that the weight relies on the straps to keep it up, gonna try the Hollywood rack that has the base resting on the back bumper, at least the weight rests on the bumper rather than being suspended with all the pressure on the window and the 1 foot on the bottom, could likely scratch the car too! Also, you need lots of straps to keep the bike from moving around and the pedals from turning all over.

This rack is great. I have a 2014 Ford Escape SEL and it works nicely on the car. My only complaint for this type of bike rack is the need for an adapter bar for womens bikes. The other thing that you have to do is ensure that your front wheel is secured to the frame to prevent it from hitting your vehichle. I originally got this to avoid getting my front wheel out of alignment when travelling to triathlons. Not the best rack for a heavier bike.

Originally bought this to use on a Mini Cooper now using it with on mazda cx-5 (compact SUV) primarily with a 29er

The rack:
I use the rack to transport a 29er mountain bike which is a little awkward to use due to the frame design of the bike. I can't get the top bar of the frame to sit flush on the padded legs but regardless, I'm still able to securely strap it in.
The set up is pretty straight forward: open all the arms and legs until the click into place. Hook the top hooks to the top of the trunk frame & tighten, hook the bottom hook to the bottom of the truck and pull each tie down till tight.

The instructions say not to put all 3 points of contact on the window as it may break the window. I'm weary of putting the rubber pads on the actual car frame in fear that it would damage the paints so I position the top pads toward the window of the window and the bottom pad on the license plate.

The frame hooks are metal so in fear that it may damage the paint, I put some electrical tape inside the hooks for added protection.

I use bungy cords to secure the tires, handle bars, and pedals from moving and it also provides added security for the bike from shifting on the rack.

So far so good. I haven't experienced any real issues transporting bikes with this rack. I've transported 2 bikes on several occasions without any problems. I did notice wobbling on occasion when turning. Not sure if it was my setup or improperly secured the tie-downs.

On Mini Cooper::
It worked well on the mini even with 2 bikes although I never used it for long distances or on freeway.

On SUV:
I was a little concerned with the tie-downs going over the small rear spoiler; I was worried the weight would be to much on the spoiler but it seems to not be an issue.

Overall, I'm happy with this purchase. Living in an apartment in the city with limited storage space, this compact rack is perfect. Folds up quick and easy and comes with a little stuff sack; put it away in a closet or leave it in the truck of your car without consuming too much space.

Tried it on our Nissan Murano but it was wobble and just didn't give us the confidence to put our bikes on it. Sent it back. A pitty because we were really looming forward to the possibility of long bike rides.

At first, I really liked this bike rack. It was inexpensive and appeared to be well made. Opening it up and attaching it to my car was easy enough. Even folding it back up for easy storage went pretty smoothly. Unfortunately, a problem arose when I decided to open it back up to use it a 2nd time. It's able to be folded up because of button locks placed at it's joints. When folding it back up the first time, it was very difficult to get the button locks depressed. When I tried to open it back up, the button locks had fallen down inside of the arm of the product. They were just staying in place by pretty much sheer luck. Everything is welded, so there is no way to get inside of the arm tube to fish them out. I now have to use Dad logic and have a dowrod placed through the holes where the button locks used to be. It doesn't feel very safe or secure.

I liked this product at first, but after a couple months the locking pins have gotten stuck inside the metal tubes so now I can't use the second bike attachment or close it for fear of the rest of them getting stuck where I can't reach them.

This rack design is a good idea. I have used it several times, but found that the sheet metal on my trunk lid ( Pacifica ) became dented in the two places I had it placed per instructions which come with the product. This was carrying one Specialized M4 Mountain Bike which weighs like a feather. I was furious when I first saw this but decided not make a Federal case out of it with Allen. My solution was to build a 1/2 inch x 3 inch board wrapped with a thin flexible rug remnant. Cut the 3 inch wide board past the width of the grey rubber triangle supports about 15" and extend it 3 inches on each side. Placed between the grey rubber supports and the car sheet metal will distribute the weight so there should not be any damage. BEWARE.... if you use this on a new car.

Purchased this bike rack in August 2012. Was very happy with it for the few times I got to use it before the weather changed. Took it out this year and went to lock the arms into extended position and the little buttons had shifted within the tubes and away from the hole to secure the arms. Of course, that makes the whole thing useless. Contacted Allen to see about a replacement product today. If they are able to replace it the product for me with an operational version free of charge, I will update my review. Otherwise, I guess I would be wary of purchasing this product.

I am very disappointed with this bike rack. Upon opening the package, my first thoughts were that it looked like it had already been opened and returned, judging by all of the extra clear tape that was on the box. I was really excited to set it up on my car and take my bike out that day, but it is unfortunately broken! One of the arms that extends and snaps into place doesn't work. The pop-up pins that were pressed in, never came back out, in two different places. It's virtually useless, and I never was able to use it once. I will definitely be returning this, and do not plan on purchasing another Allen bike product again.

I tried to put this on a Mazda 3 hatchback. No matter where I put the straps (tightened to the max), there was a huge wobble with a bike actually on there. So much so that the straps would unhook when simulating some vibration in the bike.

I gave up and tied down the rack to the door with a rope of my own. I will not be using this rack again. I believe the design is fundamentally deficient

the single support underneath doesn't help keep the bikes steady at all. I returned it. I suggest getting one with double support so that the bikes don't swing from side to side overtime you make a turn.

Would be wonderful if constructed better. From the first time I used this, the folding arms were a struggle to open and lock into place, and a struggle to release and retract. I had to use a key to punch in the pins to get the arms to retract.... which usually involved my finger getting pinched. Now, after no more than 10 uses the locking pins have gone missing inside the arms....I still can't retract some, and the others will never lock into place again.... its completely busted. Very frustrated after the money I spent. The idea is great since I live in the city with limited space, but poorly executed. It seems I'm outside the timeframe to return it, but I'm hoping I can possibly get a response about what to do with this cumbersome paper weight I have now. I would love my money back.... or at least a replacement would be a nice gesture.

I have a 2013 Ford Escape and it ended up scratching my SUV... I thought it was too good to be true before ordering but took a chance with it (you can't believe all the reviews you read, right?) Well on my car it didn't work... It was hard to get it tight enough to stay positioned without moving around. Since there is not a really good rubber or pad on the feet that go against the car it wiggles. Also, there is NO WAY you could fit 2 Medium frame bikes on there.. When trying to put my bike on the closest place holders to the car the pedals scratched my car too!!! I had to return it..