Side by Side Comparison of: Allen Sports vs Keeper vs Master Lock vs Wagan

Working well for our three bikes. We haul a short distance through the city to a park. Not sure I would use for long distance. Great value for the purpose I needed. Using on Ford C-Max.

For awhile I considered purchasing the hitch kit + the bike rack for my 2010 Odyssey--- it will be at least $200 + 2hrs to install it.I took the risk and bough this rack instead....great decision.Although the rack is for 3 bikes, we used it for 2 and 4 beach chairs. Worked fine.Assembled in 1 minute. Installed in 2 minutes and went 250 miles with no issues. It feels solid. I was checking it a couple of times while refueling and it was tight.Great product and an unbeatable price....

Bought this bike rack few months back and works absolutely fine. We usually carry three heavy bikes using it for short drives up to 50 miles from our place for weekend rides. I would not recommend this rack for carrying bikes longer than that as the support is not very sturdy and with uneven surface and bumps, the whole structure wobbles ( which is not that bad given that its not part of your chasis).Overall good product for the price , easy to fit and remove, solid frame.

I searched for quite a while to find an affordable, reliable bike rack to transport two bikes on my car that doesn't have a trailer hitch. They either cost a fortune or lacked the quality I was looking for. This rack is perfect. It is easy to attach to my car and easy to mount the bikes. I have traveled long distances with the bikes on this rack and they never budged. I have yet to use it for 3 bikes, but it works just fine for 2. I would recommend to anyone looking for an easy to use bike transportation system.

For being a 3-bike mount, its not very heavy. It came assembled and it was easy to attach to the trunk of my car (which is a Nissan Tiida 2008). At first I thought maybe it would not be sturdy enough and the bike would wiggle in the back, but I was wrong. All it takes is for you to secure very tightly the straps and thats it!Tips:- Use a piece of cushioning or cloth or whatever soft material in every hook that attaches to your car, the instructions indicate the hooks might damage the car painting. So I decided to avoid this and cover the hooks with a homemade "hook sock" it still works just as great while protecting my car.- You can use the leftover hanging strap from the upper hook to secure the front wheel so it doesn't move and bangs into the car and it will also help with the balancing of the bike on the rack.- I have a female cruiser bike with and attached basket, had to work around mounting rack support but I managed just fine and the bike was completely secure, plus didn't move at all!Would totally recommend this mount rack.

I've used it a half-dozen times in the last month or so, and I'm happy with it. It sits nicely on the trunk of the car, and attaches firmly when the bikes are on there. It took me about 45 minutes to get the rack on the car, and the bikes on the rack the first time, but since I've adjusted the straps and have a little bit of a method now, it only takes about ten minutes without help. I've been on bumpy roads and on the highway and haven't had a problem.One thing I STRONGLY recommend, is that you use some sort of towel/cloth material to put on the metal hooks before attaching them to your trunk below your back windshield. The metal will scratch your paint... but that should be pretty obvious.Great product, especially for the price.

This is a solid, reliable, 3 bike trunk rack; however, I have yet to be able to fit 3 mountain bikes on this rack. It does fits perfectly on my 2013 Chrysler 200 though. Be sure to put snippets of rubber (used bike tires work perfectly) between the metal hooks and the car. Go slow with bumpy roads. I've regularly transport my girlfriend and I's Scott Genius 29" on this rack, and have had zero problems so far. This rack will NOT fit my Trek 26" 4300 (commuter bike), and two 29" Mountain Bikes. Just wont happen, so take that into consideration. But, overall, I'm very happy with the purchase.

I've had this setup for a good minute and have hauled plenty of bikes ranging from oversized mountain bikes that weigh a quarter ton to more petite roadbikes that, well, weigh next to nothing.It does the job and it does it well.BUT please note that sunlight CAN and WILL degrade plastics (in this case, acrylic cords tying the darn thing to your car) through the magic UV light + heat so ALWAYS take it off the car and store it away from sunlight when not in use in order to maintain cord integrity and safety of people behind you.You know how some old ropes get all crispy when left out? Yea. You don't want that to happen to the thing that's holding 3 bikes on the freeway going 85mph. Whoever riding behind you will have a bad time when hell breaks loose and your car performs bike diarrhea right through their wind shield.Aside from that key point, be smart and make sure it's fastened properly, double check everything always and you'll have a jolly good time transporting your 2-wheeled steeds with this piece of hardware.

I bought this rack after trading in my van for a car. After I discovered my son's bike wouldn't fit in the trunk, we put it in the back seat which was hair raising for me. His bike is usually filthy and greasy. The rack fits my '11 Chrysler 200 well. I was worried the metal hooks would scratch or chip my paint so I cut an old inner tube into little sleeves that I put over the hooks. The rack does not include anything to secure the front wheel, which could damage the bumper when using the bike mounts closest to the car. At first, I bought short black rubber bungee straps and hooked them around the wheel to the bike frame. The bungee hooks were starting to scratch the bike paint and were a bit of a hastle to find each time I needed them. I found straps with clasps, like the ones you see on a backpack, at a hardware store. After I cut them to size I keep them attached to the rack then use them to tie the front and back bike wheel together and keep them from turning and spinning while I'm driving. The rack dosen't seem to do well against the elements so I recommend removing it when it's not in use.

The first set up took awhile, partially because we've never used a bike rack before. I recommend that you set it up using the clips because we did the alternate set up and one of the straps worked itself out of the trunk partially, causing the rack to be loose. The second time we used it with the metal clips over the trunk and some no slip shelving liner to protect my car. It works great for two bikes, but I have a 2011 Dodge Avenger and the bike pedal hits my car in the closest bike holder. That is why I gave it four stars. A lot of people complained about the brackets coming loose causing it to collapse, I don't see how it could. The brackets are thick and they take some strength to POP them in. maybe I have an improved model. I would recommend this to someone else.

I really wanted to buy the 4 bike rack however the cost difference, $100 vs. $40 made it an easy decision in my opinion and here's why... I am not sure if this is the product that I really want and I wasn't sure how well it would work with my vehicles (2012 Honda Odyssey, 2010 Chevy Malibu), so for $40 vs. $100 I thought I'd give it a try. So far I have only put the bike rack on the trunk of the Chevy Malibu and it was very easy. It only took me 8 min from the time I took it out of the box and had it fully functional and ready to put the bikes on, I know because of the time on the pics I took to add to this review. I imagine putting the bikes on will take a little longer if I don't want to damage the car. I am a bit concerned if the product will fit or not on the Odyssey but even if it doesn't, for $40, I have something that works with the other car. Once I have the bikes on and try it on Odyssey I'll try to update this review and maybe give it a 5* rating.

Originally bought around January of 09. Read through to get the whole story.I purchased this to be able to combine car (97 Saturn SL1) and bike commuting. So far, so good. 4 days/week, I drive near work, then bike into (and around) my workplace. My commute is about 20 minutes, with about 10 minutes of freeway driving.In the few months I have used this, I have had no major issues. The bike does not move much, except the front wheel. I have not found a good way of securing this. Currently, I use my U-lock to lock the wheel and bike frame to the rack frame. This keeps the tire from hitting the car, but there is some motion. I've used bungee cords, which kept the wheel very stable, but the bungees were slowly getting shredded. Otherwise very little motion. So little that it has twice stayed in place when I forgot to strap it down (including once where I drove for 2 - 3 miles on the freeway)!The straps can be done/undone fairly quickly. It takes me about 1 minute to mount/dismount the bike. A clasp, or something similar, might be quicker, but these do work fine.It takes a little bit to mount/dismount the rack, but really, not all that long (I've only done it once ... it's fairly intuitive). The short straps for clamping bikes do flap in the wind, and that is occasionally a little distracting when I look in the rear-view mirror, but overall I do not find the rack or rack with bike to be much of a visual issue.Have not used it on a long trek yet, or with multiple bikes (I will try to remember to update when I do).I did notice that it seemed to leave a mark on top of my trunk where the foam pad rests. I did not try to remove it, so it could be a non-permanent mark.UPDATE 4/28/09: Definitely leaving a mark from the middle of the bar on the trunk. Would encourage folks to add some protection in that location.I still mostly use this for short trips. Did two slightly longer trips (~100 miles each way) without removing the bike in between, and it needed no tightening. This was also through the giant wind tunnel that is the San Gorgonio Mountain Pass in Southern California near Palm Springs ... and the wind was RAGING on the way back.UPDATE 9/7/09: Mark on the car: it is due to the trunk curving, but the bike-rack bar being straight and with padding only at the ends. I would strongly encourage adding padding in the middle.Used it for a camping trip with two full-sized bicycles and one child bicycle. Worked fairly well, although I did get some slippage, and the bikes were definitely bouncing (even on the way back, when I was more careful about tightening straps).UPDATE 6/10/10: My bike rack broke today. One of the straps connected to the trunk just broke, about two inches from the hook. A couple of things to note with this ... I have been using this rack for a year and a half, and about 99% of the time it is outside on my car in a desert-like environment (lots of heat and sun, a little bit of water). Today, I arrived at work and one of the straps had broken. The good news: the bike did not fall off. The one side that broke had slipped to the back of the trunk, but it all stayed on. Also, there is enough strap that I can just tie the strap to the hook, and that held for the drive home, even under 70 MPH strain.Also, all of the rubber elements on the rack look like crap now. They have sort of "bubbled" in the sun. It doesn't have a lot, so not a big deal. This happened probably in about the first 6 months or so.FINAL UPDATE 8/18/10: Well, within another month of the first strap breaking, two more did. Honestly, all of the straps were seeming a little brittle. Probably,this was caused by continued exposure to the elements. So, if this is a bike rack you plan to leave on your car, 1.5 years might be it's effective life use. I had thought about contacting Allen to see if I could get new straps under their warranty, but the day after the third strap broke i found a nive replacement rack for $5 at a garage sale.OKAY - ONE MORE UPDATE 10/3/11: In looking at teh picture, it appears the design may have changed. My rack had a straight bar across the trunk, and this one appears to be curved. I did not have issues with the small metal rods coming out, but given some of the recent reviews, it's certainly something I'd look into if I was purchasing this.

Frames of mtn bikes today: the down tube (diagonal) is curved inwards so that the corner where the down and top tubes meet (in front) is so tight that it's very difficult to fit the rack through. It's not the rack's fault, I think.

Easy to install and functions well. The only reason it doesn't get a higher rating is one of the straps that holds the bikes in place broke the first time I used it.

I purchased this for my 2013 Nissan Leaf as the fit guide on Amazon confirmed that it will fit but when I received the package, I found it doesn't. the Fit guide here is misleading and you should first check with AllenSportsUSA.com for actual fitments.Other than that, product it self was well packaged and delivered on time.Installation was simple and seems to work well.depending on the weight and load of your bikes, it may be too heavy for your car, especially where the lower bar is pressing against on the car. it would be ideal to locate the lower bar somewhere where dent is not easily created. three adults bikes are heavy.

It is a little clunky and hard to figure out at first, but once it's on, there's no budging and your bikes WILL NOT fall off. The only downside to having this on your trunk without any bikes on the rack is you may get pulled over by a cop on the OTHER side of the street going in the OPPOSITE direction who tells you to take it down because you must be hiding your license plate and are hinting that you have some paraphernalia or issue with the license plate or drivers license or something ... (humor, but be sure to take it off of your trunk when not in use, because it can be inconvenient if you are at the light of your school or place of work or residence....)

The product arrives in a nice package. The rack has a couple of foam rollers/ dampers on both the arms of the rack which are not of very good quality but will suffice for the season. Eventually they need to be replaced or strengthened with better foam rollers. the rack itself is very easy to mount / unmount. The straps could have been stronger but are okay for about two bikes but would not take three bikes on them. The mounts for the bikes are so close to each other that it's very difficult to mount two bikes next to each other on the rack.

I bought this rack aftery buying the Allen Deluxe 3-Bike Hitch Mount Rack (1.25 or 2-Inch Receiver) for my SUV. I was pretty happy with the price and quality of the hitch mount on my SUV.I had to buy soft plastic pads to avoid the rack damaging the trunk paint with the provided brackets. I used very thin (about 2mm) plastics and installed it for a 200 mile road trip (all highway). When I arrived everything seemed OK but that same afternoon the glass broke and the dealer found the cause to be the place where the bracket touched the glass (apparently it doesn't touch but I can imagine it does when opening / closing the trunk).The rack is nice just be careful if the bracket is near the glass.

It was supposed to fit a minivan but this is better design for smaller vehicles that have a regular trunk.

We have needed a bike rack for awhile I liked the price of this one and it looked sturdy enough for hauling three bikes. When looking at this it gave me the option to check my vehicle to make sure it fits.. My car was said to work for this rack. Upon getting this I went out and put it on the car.. This does not fit my car like the instructions say. It took some trial and error and found a way to still use this with my car so I don't have to hassle with trying to return and finding another one..as a product it works very well with all the right straps and securing brackets.. I added a couple bungees just to be safe..

difficult to put up. Doesn't keep the bikes on tightly or safely. Had 3 bikes on it. Had to stop alot to tighten it. They moved around quite a bit

I opened the package only to find out that it just barely squeezes onto the back of my car. I am afraid to even try it because it fits so tightly that my bumper might break or the top of the rack will slide off of the 1 inch that sits on the actual trunk. I give it two stars because it has a lot of potential for other car models, just not mine as it said it would. (I have a Dodge Stratus)

Item is ok, but had some issues. First off, it didn't fit securely on my SUV which is a Mercedes ML 320. However, this class of vehicle is on the list. Secondly, make sure you weigh your bikes. My 3 bikes did not fit. Too heavy, and it definitely doesn't hold once you're close to 100 lbs.We ended up strapping the bike holder to my Chevy Cruze and it worked fine.But not totally satisfied.

Finally after a little over a year of owning this item, I am writing a review. I use if for two adult bikes on my Mazda which has a spoiler. The design of the rack does not allow for a lot of clearance over the spoiler by the two small metal braces. When I add the bikes, the rack is sitting just barely over the spoiler and when I go over bumps the rack damages the spioler and chips the paint off. Not only that, the rubber padding leaves a mark on my trunk. I wish I spent more money and got a better product. It depends on the car and the weight of the bikes you are trying to transport. If you have a car like the audi TT that is pictured you wont have issues with the metal braces. Transporting three bikes would be not be advised.

I took my bike on a long road trip with this bike rack. The rack slipped off the trunk of my Honda Accord and dented my truck. I secured it correctly, but it would not stay in place. Do not buy this rack.

The bike mount rack was installed just as the instructions indicated, and even pulled up some youtube videos to be sure. The strap just seems so flimsy I couldn't believe it would hold but I trusted it. I had 2 adult bikes and 1 small child bike. 30 miles into our trip the entire rack began to fall off. I was left with a dent and scratched on my trunk but I was able to pull off the road to save the bikes and any hazard it would have caused to traffic.This was so unexpected, and a real time loss for our trip and the worst is the now expensive dent it left in my outback.I should have gotten the model for the hitch, but I thought well when I ride with my son alone this can be easy for me to get on and off my car. Wrong, so wrong.Horrible, useless design

Items arrived with the device poking holes in both sides of the box. But item was undamaged, so no biggie. Website said device fit on my car, but manufacturer and info on box said it did not. So, I used it on my girlfriend's car, to carry both our bikes. Easy to set up. Cinched up upper and lower bands. Made as tight as I (stronger than average adult male) and she (much stronger than average adult woman) could do, as per the instructions. Felt secure. But first bump we hit...pow!!! Rack fell off our car, causing major damage to both bikes. Fortunately no cars right behind us, and thank God this did not happen on the freeway, which would have caused a major accident, hundreds of thousands of dollars of damage, and possible deaths! Impact of rack with pavement obviously twisted it beyond repair. We spent more money on a non-crappy rack (Rock Solid brand)...much more expensive, but worth it, in retrospect. I'd only suggest this item if you do not care about your bikes, and don't care about possibly killing people driving behind you if/when your own Allen Sports rack falls off.

I gave it away. I put in the make and model of my vehicle before perchasing this item and was told that the three bike rack would fit, well it didn't. I drove four blocks when the rack was falling off. I followed all the instructions of installing and some butIit didn't fit.

Junk - I tried using this thing with three bikes on a 10 min trip to the beach on side roads and had to stop five times to unload the bikes and reset the cross bars into the locked position. Every bump I hit the bikes jumped up and I prayed the cross bars held . I was afraid to go over 30 mph. On the way home I put one bike in the trunk and it held most of the way and only had to stop once. I'm afraid to use it again and will probably buy something different

I mounted this bike rack on my 2007 Toyota Highlander. It took me about 30 minutes to figure out how to mount it correctly. Once I figured out how to install it, subsequent installations took only a couple of minutes.While the rack mounts tightly, I am not convinced that this mounting would hold three bikes securely on a long highway trip - I am limiting its use to short in-town trips.UPDATEAfter using this a few times around town, I really can't recommend this product. It is just not secure enough. After those few initial tries, I have decided not to use it any longer.