Allen Deluxe 4-Bike Hitch Mount Rack (2-Inch Receiver)

This is a great bike rack for adult bicycles. I originally bought a Thule for $300 but ended up taking it back because of the price. This has all the features of the Thule for less than half the cost. It is lighter, folds down when not in use, and tilts away from the vehicle for easy access to my minivan's rear hatch. Child bicycles don't fit as easily, but it still works. The strap that came with it isn't very sturdy. The plastic piece broke when my husband was tightening it. If you want a locking pin to secure the rack to your hitch you have to buy Allen's brand or drill a bigger hole on the bike rack. Overall, I'm very happy with this rack.

This Allen Bike carrier rack is awesome.

I can easily load a mens and a womens mountain bike, my teenagers thick frame mountain bike, and my young daughters "little Pony" kids bike all at the same time. I had to think about the best way to load them up for a minute, but it was'nt to difficult to make them all fit (and I didnt have to remove any bike parts). I suspect that I would have an easier time loading 4 similar bikes rather than the variety of 2-wheelers that sit in my garage. My wifes "Womens Low X-Bar" bike easily mounted without the extra x-bar attachment that they recommend, so you can save yourself $20 bucks and skip that purchase.

The hitch pin snugs up to the 2" recieved and eliminates all the wobble I have seen on other carriers. The horizontal mount can be folded down by pulling a spring-loaded knob, and the entire unit will fold away from the tailgate by pulling the lower spring-loaded knob. The bikes are held in place by poly-straps and friction buckles. They snug down real nice, and stay secure for the entire trip to the bike trails.

I found this bike carrier to be a quality item, and when you compare the price to the top-name brands, this is definately a great value.

Bottom Line: It will easily carry 4 bikes, it has some very unique features that are nice to have, and its a quality carrier.

Cons: There is no way to "lock" the rack to the reciever unless you buy the locking hitch pin sold separately. (A crook will need a 9/16" wrench to to steal the rack, so its reasonably secure in most places without a lock). There is a gusset on the rack that you can run a cable thru, so I ussually just lock everything up (bikes and rack) to the 2-inch reciever chain holders using a cable and pad-lock.

The rack itself is fine but there's no way to secure/lock this rack to a 1.25" hitch. The hole in the rack is only 3/8" wide but all locking pins are 1/2". Having a rack full of expensive bikes with no way to lock them makes this rack essentially worthless.

Allen Customer Service was extremely rude.

I purchased this right before a trip and had to use it or I couldn't take my bikes with me on the trip. Otherwise I would have returned it.

I had a huge problem with how long the "insert" that goes into the hitch is. When I had it all assembled I tried to put it on the hitch but the holes on the receiver didn't match the holes on the hitch! It was too short! The pull pin, with the ball on top that allows you lower the arm so you have access to the back of you vehicle, was hitting my bumper. I had to remove the pull pin and replace it with a bolt I had in my garage. This gave me an extra quarter inch to line up the holes on the insert and the hitch and put a bolt through them. So now the carrier is on my SUV.

The next problem was when the arms were in the upright position, so you can put your bikes on it, the rack is too close to my SUV. There is enough movement that the rack can hit the back of my SUV. When my bikes are on them the arms are loaded enough that the rack leans away from the my SUV. Luckily I didn't have to stop suddenly or else I'm sure it would have made a dent in my back door. What did happen was the rack scratched my back door. I assume this either happened from the off road we took to get to the trail head or by driving with the arms in the upright position without bikes on them. So I used some duck tape and put a small rag on the part that could scratch my SUV.

I looked at my brothers carrier and his insert was a good foot longer than this one is. Other than these two problems the carrier worked great and it was definitly the cheapest carrier out there. If your hitch sticks out further than your bumper and door than you should be okay. My hitch is an inch or two under (behind?) my bumper. So purchase with caution or don't purchase right before you need to use it so you can return it if necessary and get one that works for you.

I just bought this rack based on the good reviews on amazon but what a dissapointment. Box says designed in USA but made in China.

Amazon packaging is non-existent. They ship in original box which was busted open on 1st order. Rack was scratched. And also on the replacment order box was torn open in shipment.

For the rack itself, First, the drawbar mount is loose in the hitch reciever. You will need shims to stop the rattling in the hitch reciever.

2nd, for the tilt dowm mechanism, the upright lock on the hitching post is not well made. There is a 5/16 gap between the pin and lock, making the hitching post rattle when you acclerate and or brake. At the top of the rack, it will move about 2" forward and back. Replacement item has the same problem. which leands me to think that the manufacturing is at fault. The design is good but the China manufacturing has very poor tolerences.

Beware also the hole on the drawbar to hitch it on the car is not standard. I bought the 2" hitch version but the hole is 1/2" for 1-1/4" reciever mount. My 5/8" hitch lock will not work on the drawbar. They give a 1/2" nut and bolt but that can be easily unbolted by a thief.

If it were not for the price, I would have gotten a Yakima which is $20 more at my local store.