Allen Ultra Compact Folding 2-Bike Rack MT2-B

Cumple perfectamente con su función

I was honestly hesitant about buying this bike rack, particularly given the comparatively low price tag. But I couldn’t justify spending hundreds on something I only needed a few times a year, especially for a bike that’s old enough to vote. Since I drive a Prius hatchback, I was concerned that I wouldn’t be able to find an affordable option that would work with my car – until I found this little gem!

PROS:

– STORAGE BAG: I love the fact that it comes with a storage bag, to keep it compact and organized when not in use. Without the bag, it would be more challenging to store and transport, particularly with all the straps involved.
– EASY TO ASSEMBLE: The instructions are remarkably clear and comprehensible, with options for multiple body types. It took a little bit of study the first time to get it assembled and attached to the car (mainly because I was paranoid about doing it wrong), but from then on, it’s a piece of cake.
– SURPRISINGLY STURDY: I was wary about the stability of any folding/collapsible model, but when it’s snapped into place and strapped to the car, it doesn’t budge!
– UP TO 2 BIKES: There’s room for 2 bikes on this rack, although I’ve only used it for 1 so far. But I like that I have the option for a second bike.

CONS: I only have 2 minor quibbles, but they’re not big deals to me, particularly as the rack is so high quality yet affordable otherwise:

– STRAP FRICTION: This one is kind of unique to the design of my car than to the bike rack, but worth considering. The straps are your standard heavy-duty ribbed design, which makes them super strong, but it also means that the straps could damage the finish on your car if they’re allowed to rest against the body at any points of tension/friction. The design of my car necessitates that they rest at the point where the hatch bends from a gentle slope to being perpendicular with the road, so to avoid wear or friction damage at that point, I simply wrapped that portion of the straps with electrical tape, which seems to have worked great.

– NOT AS STRAIGHTFORWARD FOR SLOPING CROSSBARS: If you’re transporting a male bicycle with a [nearly] horizontal crossbar, you won’t have any issues. But if you have a female bike or one with a heavily sloped crossbar, you’re going to have to get creative to keep it from riding too high on the rack to be stable/secure or so low so that one side drags along the ground. There are adaptors you can buy separately to accommodate for this, although I haven’t tried any of them personally.

CONCLUSION: Well worth the price, and I’ve actually gotten a lot more use out of it than I’d initially anticipated. Highly recommended!

My fiance has a small sedan. A couple years ago, she paid $200 to get a small trailer hitch welded onto her car and another $100 to get a hitch-mounted bike rack for our bikes. We took it on a road trip and the thing wobbles so much that you keep expecting it to fall right off despite the fact that the connections are securely fastened. To top it off, that rack folds down to “only” 1′ x 3′ by 3′ (not exactly compact for storage), and takes about ten minutes to fully set up or take down each use.

By contrast, I just bought this bike rack for under $50. It fits snugly onto the back of my Mazda hatchback, and the bike clearly isn’t going anywhere. The top and bottom straps tighten down to anchor the rack, and the side straps tighten to secure any side-to-side wobble. There does seem to be an excess of strap length, but I’ve used that excess to my advantage, tying it around the handlebars to prevent random movement there as well. It still takes about five minutes to set up or take down, but that could be because I’m still new at it. It folds up to about 5″ x 6″ x 12″ and fits into the included bag nicely.

The unit is solid. It unfolds ridiculously easily. It takes a bit of muscle to fold it up, but I suppose that’s because the button-pin-things (technical term) have to be resistant enough to support the weight of two bikes. It is about 15 pounds (I’m not a stellar judge of weight, but it’s heavier than a gallon of milk and lighter than two gallons of milk), so if I’m just riding for fun I probably won’t carry it along. But because of its compact size, I absolutely could carry it with me. I commute to work via bike occasionally, and this allows for plan flexibility: I don’t have to bike back home and then drive somewhere, I can just get picked up–this bike rack fits on the back of literally any car. I’ll probably typically leave it in my car in case I need to haul the bike, but it’s nice to know that I have the option to bring it with.

This was a last minute buy and I wasn’t sure if it would securely hold two gravel bikes for over 200kms. I needn’t have worried!!
When stopped, I checked the straps to ensure they remained tight.
I liked the idea that it could be folded down and stored easily after use.
It was easy to attach to my car.… (Nissan quashqai).