The WORST Bike Racks that you should NEVER Buy

(And the Alternatives You Probably Should)

Our Experiment

Our team tested dozens of bike racks to bring you the most comprehensive, informed, and engaging opinions we could. And while we accomplished our goal of learning a lot about the bike racks we tested, we all came to one universal understanding...

They all suck.

Well, not all of them, but some of them really got under our skin as we assembled, installed, and used them. We're going to take a look at some of our least favorite, and I hope you have a glass of water -- there's a lot of salt coming.

Disclaimer: All of the things we say here are the authors' true opinions. However, they have been made extra spicy for the purpose of entertainment. If you use and enjoy one of the bike racks we are about to dunk on, then we are very happy about that. There is a bike rack for every cyclist, and everyone's circumstances are different. Every bike rack has some redeeming qualities, even the Hollywood Racks Trail Rider. Speaking of which...

Amber cannot be trusted with hammers anymore

We had to hide the mallets from Amber. This is not a joke.

The dual center post is great if you want to load up a tall bike, realize you cant get the second hook low enough, and redo both

The Trail Rider does fold up very nicely though, which is a point in its favor. So at least you can hide it when you have company

Hollywood Racks Trail Rider

This was one of the first bike racks we tested. And oh man talk about a bad first impression. Let's talk about the first and largest problem with this bike rack. It lies to you. How you ask? Keep reading...

Conventional wisdom tells you to load the largest and heaviest bike first, closest to your car. But if you do that, GUESS WHAT YOU GET TO DO IT AGAIN. Because the smaller clamp has to be at the bottom. If you need to haul a kids bike, you will have to load this dumpster fire completely backward. I'd say bring a friend to help, but then you have to tell your friends you bought a Trail Rider. Which sounds like too steep a price to pay if you ask me.

I lay awake at night wishing that I could forget the shaky nonsense that was the ride too. I swear that it was holding onto our rear receiver with nothing but happy thoughts. But unless Tinkerbell springs out of this thing and holds it steady, they shake more than I do after loading up the bikes that I actually paid money for. This is great if you want to imagine what your bikes would look like in a blender, that happened to be turned on during an earthquake, while somehow impossibly strapped to that wooden roller coaster you weren't allowed to ride as a kid because your mother heard it killed somebody once.

If stability is your concern (and quite frankly it should be), then the Hollywood Racks Trail Rider should be avoided like the plague, however, like the plague, there is a cure. Let me introduce...

Hollywood Racks RV Rider

I had all but given up on this brand by the time we got to this one. The heartache caused by the Trail Rider was almost too much to recover from. But lo and behold, we hooked up with RV Rider, and I rolled my eyes, ready to be disappointed during our test run.

"Wait a second..." I exclaimed when I turned around and saw the RV Rider in action. The movement, or lack thereof, was honestly exemplary. This was a more stable bike rack than anything we tested in any price point. It was out-performing racks that cost twice as much.

Had we found the one? Had the Excalibur of bike racks finally been pulled from the stone? Yes and no. While this metaphor might be a bit much, all things considered I was extremely impressed with the Hollywood Racks RV Rider.

The RV Rider addressed every concern I had with the Trail Rider. The center post is split into two, so you can load bikes up easily and intuitively without the clamps making contact with one another. And while I mentioned its stability previously, I feel it is worth reiterating. We tested bike racks from everywhere on the price spectrum, and from many major brands. And this Hollywood Racks RV Rider was the single most stable ride we encountered, and it wasn't even a close competition.

If stability and budget are your concerns, the Hollywood Racks RV Rider is the easiest recommendation I could make. If stability is your concern and money is no object, then buy the Hollywood Racks RV Rider anyway and take yourself out to a nice steak dinner Mr. Moneybags, because this beast has a Kung Fu grip that puts the competition to shame.

Just the addition of the dual center post alone puts this bike rack miles ahead of its counterpart

The hand knobs on the RV Rider give it a much more secure hold on your bikes

Uh oh! You put the bikes on in the wrong order, looks like you need to start over. Thanks Swagman!

This is what our XTC2 looked like after installing the wheel holds, which we could not do without a rubber mallet

Swagman XTC2

Nothing will sour your opinion on a bike rack faster than having to smack it with a mallet in 95-degree weather because the wheel cradles don’t want to slide onto the bottom post. This was my less-than-pleasant experience assembling the Swagman XTC2 out of the box. Important note: the instructions never mentioned that I’d need a hammer or mallet, but after two of us spent ten minutes trying and failing to slide on the wheel cradles, the mallet was a necessity.

On a positive note, you only have to assemble the bike rack once. On a less positive note, the cradles ended up scratching the paint job and leaving this bike rack scarred along the way, and this is really the lasting damage I can’t forgive. Yes, this is a budget bike rack, so a little less convenience is part of the package, but I’d prefer for something I dropped over $200 on to NOT be damaged by its own assembly.

As far as using the rack goes, it has one center post and one post for the wheel cradles, so adjusting for different-sized bikes is a bit of a pain. This is something you’d expect for a bike rack at this price point, however, so while it’s annoying, it’s probably something you’ll have to deal with if you stick to the $200-$300 rack range. If you’re carrying the same bikes all the time, this also likely won’t be a huge deal, since you can just set it and forget it. However, I did discover another pain point during the adjustment process when I slid the wheel cradles along the post and they took off another layer of paint. Within the first hour of using this bike rack, it looked like it just lost a few rounds in the ring with a hammer-wielding God of Thunder.

Swagman XTC2 Tilt

I was a much bigger fan of the TILT version of the Swagman XTC2. A big part of this was because the cradles attach from either side of the bottom post and can be further loosened for adjustment purposes. This meant that I could attach or move the wheel cradles without scratching up my paint. No hammers were used in the testing of this bike rack.

I also think the TILT feature itself is 100% worth the extra $40 or so. Even more expensive tilting bike racks tend to fall forward if you start to tilt them even a little bit, but the Swagman TILT actually stayed put until I pulled it down on my own terms. Being able to access your cargo area with the bike rack loaded is just too convenient a feature to pass up for a few extra dollars.

All in all, if you’re an occasional rider or someone just getting into the hobby, the Swagman TILT is a solid rack for the price point.

The addition of the rubber straps on the XTC2 Tilt make the hold on the bikes themselves much more reliable

Did we mention this thing is big? Because this car looks like it has wings. And it's no Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

This wheel chock caused more than its fair share of headaches.

Saris MHS

Full transparency, this section was hard to write. We know there are Saris-loyal customers out there and honestly, many here at etrailer like this bike rack. But it was so divisive amongst our team that it had to be included somehow. Many praised its capability and loved its bulky design and the confidence it imparted, but just as many hated its huge size, weight, and the absolutely baffling wheel chock (seriously just let me adjust it!).

On paper, this thing is fantastic. It is RV rated with an 80 lb capacity per tray, it has a dual wheel hold so it makes no frame contact, and while the price point is higher than average, it's a far cry from the "designer" bike racks we see that reach well into the 4 digits price-wise. So why did it make this list?

The litany of minor disappointments and inconveniences start with the installation. This bike rack is a beast. And I mean that in the worst way, It's almost as wide, if not wider than the vehicles we tested it on. And was difficult to install for a solo rider to boot. Imagine sliding through a drive-through after a tough ride, and your bike drags down the speaker as you pull forward to pay for your order. Not ideal, and there's no way you're getting those free large fries you were hoping for.

So let's say you've already installed the bike rack. Maybe you had a friend help, maybe you're a hill-giant human who gripped and ripped that thing for three sets of ten before sliding it into the hitch receiver one-handed, but either way, the deed is done. Then you go to load your bike, and what can only be described as the Taj Mahal of wheel chocks stands in between you and an easy fit process. They somehow managed to place this wheel chock in the perfect spot to keep you from loading anything less than the largest of bikes easily, while simultaneously being unable to really provide any stability for the ones that do fit. The wheel chock is really a miracle in anti-engineering.

Saris SuperClamp

You could reasonably describe the Saris MHS above as a victim of "death by a thousand cuts". Many of the faults weren't deal-breaking in and of themselves, but when they're all taken together, it can be a near insurmountable hurdle for some. This is not the case for the Saris SuperClamp. This rack was easy enough to use, and while we had a few minor nitpicks, it was a solid option at the price point.

Before this test, we knew the SuperClamp to be a personal favorite of one of our more active mountain bikers here at etrailer. And after testing it for ourselves, it's not hard to see why. Let's go over the details...

Let's start with the assembly and usage. This rack is very simple, and I don't mean that as a negative thing. Many racks can feel "overengineered", and that can lead to some people (myself included) feeling uneasy overall. Seeing why something works inspires confidence. With the SuperClamp, it is very easy to see how it works, and there is definitely no guesswork involved with its attachment. We did notice a bit of shake and play when we took it on the test course; however at a very "middle of the road" price point, this was to be expected. It is also worth noting that the worst of the movement occurred during the "extreme turning" portion of the test course. So unless you're Tokyo-drifting to your favorite trail (or in our parking lot), you will likely not notice the same movement we did.

The major strength of the SuperClamp is in the multiple points of contact. When your wheels are strapped into cradles and held down with the arms, it instills an amount of confidence rarely seen in bike racks in general, let alone at this price point. All in all this one is an easy recommendation for any assortment of bikes.

The SuperClamp can hold a wide variety of bikes with its 4 points of contact per bike, a rarer feature than you may think

The SuperClamp makes no frame contact, so it's great for abnormal or carbon frame bikes

Let's Wrap Things Up...

We've thrown a lot of shade at some bike racks today. But the major point we want to get across is that there's a bike rack for every rider. Even if we didn't like specific features, capabilities, or designs on a specific rack, doesn't mean it won't appeal to other riders with different sensibilities. And that bike rack that you love, may not work at all for someone else.