Customer Reviews:
 Nice Buy April 17, 2008
I bought this product after reading the reviews and found that this is a great product with value for money. I use two bikes to transport on this rack and till now I haven't seen any problems with it. It works fine and considering other products in the market, I am satisfied having bought this one. The straps works just fine and fits well on the car.
 Watch out! April 5, 2008
The product is good, just dont use it on a Scion TC Hatchback. On this car, the roof is all glass. It has a moon roof and sun roof. Well I hooked up this bike rack and when I opened my hatchback, the hinges shattered my moon-roof causing almost $2000 in damages. I have used bike racks like this one before and they work great, just dont use them on Scion TC's. Needless to say, I was pissed!
 Get your bike stolen - BIKE RACK WORKS GOOD April 5, 2008
0 out of 4 found this review helpful
I purchased this rack and mounted it to my car. I used it twice in a two week period and then couldn't use it for about a month due to medical issues. Finally, I recovered and got ready for another bike ride. I went out to get my bike and realized it had been stolen. The bike was NOT on the bike rack when it was stolen. I had a broken lock holding it to my fence. There was some difficulty mounting it to the tiny trunk on my 98 Saturn but I figured out a way to jerry rig it.
Early impressions April 5, 2008
7 out of 8 found this review helpful
Upon receiving the product, proceed as follows:
STEP 1. Open the box and remove the carrier and the instruction booklet. You may throw out the box at this point; you'll eventually be quite happy with the carrier.
STEP 2. Set the carrier aside and pick up the instruction booklet. CAUTION: DO NOT OPEN THE INSTRUCTION BOOKLET UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES. Instead, immediately throw it in the wastebasket. Purists may wish to shred it. In any case, do not open it; and please, if it happens to fall open of its own accord, do not read it! Get it into the wastebasket or the shredder as soon as possible! DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP!! I find nothing whatsoever of value in the instruction booklet. Even the illustrations are confusing. DO NOT LOOK AT THEM. This should not be construed as advice; rather, this is a warning. Reading the instructions or looking at the illustrations will most certainly delay the installation of this carrier. (Note to Bell: technical writing is a skill; a fine technical writer is relatively rare and commands a good salary. Bell, if you are listening: hire one.)
STEP 3. Having unpacked the carrier and thrown out the instructions without looking at them, take the carrier in hand and proceed to your vehicle.
STEP 4. Visualize; experiment; try various configurations. It took me three tries to find the correct positioning of the carrier on my vehicle. There are several options, as will become apparent once you begin experimenting. Once I found the correct orientation for my vehicle, everything fell into place perfectly.
STEP 5. Having discovered the correct orientation of the carrier in relation to your vehicle, loosely snug up the straps; do not fully tighten them.
STEP 6. Visually inspect the carrier in relation to your vehicle. Will any part of the carrier (other than the padded components) contact your vehicle if you tighten the straps further? Will your bike(s) be positioned a sufficient distance from the rear bumper so as not to come in contact with it? If one or both of these conditions is not satisfied, continue experimenting. Once you have found the correct position for the carrier, proceed to Step 7.
STEP 7. Position the straps. The upper straps are not a concern; they will attach intuitively and easily. NB: the lower straps should travel *inside* the carrier frame, then attach to the vehicle.
STEP 8. Having positioned the straps, proceed with tightening the straps as follows: snug up the upper left, lower right, upper right, then lower left. Having snugged them up, next fully tighten them, in same order (i.e., upper left, lower right, upper right, and lower left). It may be helpful or even necessary to push the top bar forward, towards the rear window of the vehicle, as you tighten the upper straps. In a similar vein, it may be necessary to push the lower bar downward as you tighten the lower straps. Have first snugged the straps, then tightened them, attempt to tighten them once more. If you cannot, you are done.
Having installed the carrier as described, I can grab hold of it and rock the entire vehicle back and forth. It feels like it is a part of the vehicle. There is no play whatsoever.
Rating: four stars. (One star deducted to encourage Bell to hire a skilled technical writer.) The apparatus is solid as a rock when installed correctly. Again, to do so, DO NOT LOOK AT THE INSTRUCTION BOOKLET. Do not be tempted. Use your own common sense, and you will be quite satisfied. Reading the instructions may cause you to attempt to follow them, and this will only delay the installation of the carrier.
Happy biking!
Excellent product for the price February 5, 2008
I was very pleased with this bike rack. It was easy to install and I was able to use it on my Honda with a rear spoiler by making tiny modifications. It held two bikes very securely. For the price, I doubt if you can beat it.
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