Allen Sports Premier 4 Bike Hitch Mount Carrier Rack Review
Some of the most pop bike machine racks on Amazon, the Allen Bike Racks are also some of the cheapest. So how do they compare to the big brands like Thule and Yakima? We put the Allen to the test to encounter how it performs considering its lower price point.
For this review, we tested out the Allen Bike Rack Premier rack, only Allen makes several versions of the rack. All versions of Allen's rack, however, are similar in functionality and just vary in features. The differences in these features are covered at the end of the review.
Allen Wheel Rack Overview
RATING: Recommended
MSRP: $139
BEST FOR: Budget-minded families who still want to get out and ride!
Capacity:2, 3, 4, or 5 bikes, depending on model
PROS:
- Incredibly like shooting fish in a barrel & quick to install and to remove from car
- Takes up very little storage infinite when not in apply
- Great quality for a very affordable toll
CONS:
- Bikes are spaced closely together; high potential for harm
- Lengthy loading procedure with 2+ bikes
Allen Bike Rack (Hitch Mountain) Video Review
Want to see the Allen hitch cycle rack in action? Check out our video review of the Allen rack to see how the rack works and what we honey about it.
Allen Hitch Bicycle Rack Review – Results of our Test Rides
Allen Sports is an established make that creates solid-quality products at a fraction of the price. Nosotros've tested their wheel trailers and now their car wheel racks, and have been impressed by the quality and functionality of their products for an insanely low toll.
Of class with low price trailers or racks (or anything for that thing), you're forgoing the summit of the line features, functionality, and quality, but you lot are still going to get a quality product that will get you out and riding with your kids.
Allen Sports does an crawly job of providing really decent quality stuff for families on a budget. The Allen Sports Deluxe Locking Hitch Rack is one of their family-friendly solutions. It can hold upward to v bikes while costing under $200! If yous don't have a hitch, exist sure to read our review of the Allen Trunk Mounted Bike Racks as well.
Who the Allen Rack Best For
- Families who are looking for hitch rack organization to use with standard, route, and hybrid developed bikes, likewise as 20″+ kids' bikes
- People needing a lightweight rack they can hands take on or off the car without any help
- Families looking for a super affordable bike transportation solution for upwards to 5 bikes
Who It'south Non Best For
- Those who want to quickly load their bikes onto the rack and get going
- Cyclists with expensive bikes who are worried well-nigh damage to the bicycle when loading/unloading, or clanking together once loaded
- Families that don't have a car with a hitch (check out our favorite body bike racks instead!)
Why a Hanging Rack?
By nature, hanging racks are a bit more of a puzzle to use than tray racks. Figuring out how to finagle all the bikes on the rack without pedals getting stuck in spokes or handlebars jamming into saddles can definitely exist a challenge.
Only hanging racks also have their benefits. Showtime of all, they're much more affordable. Secondly, they're much lighter-weight. As a 5'2 female, I tin accept this Allen bike rack on and off apace and do it all by myself. I can't do that with a tray rack, even the "lightweight" Saris SuperClamp EX at 63 lbs.
As a busy mom, I apply the body of my minivan A LOT – groceries, soccer equipment, remainder bikes, gym bags, the occasional extra kid – and I demand piece of cake and quick access to it. (Just kidding about the extra kid; we are huge proponents of proper seat belt and carseat usage!) So although loading the bikes on the rack and taking them off requires significantly more try than a tray rack, I prefer the convenience of being able to take the rack off and on with ease.
Additionally, with all the garage infinite currently beingness used upwardly past bikes, tools, soccer paraphernalia, strollers and bike trailers – this rack does non add visual clutter to the garage or take up much infinite. This rack literally just takes up a few inches of floor space. Score!
How Information technology Works In a Nutshell
For this review, we used the Allen Sports Deluxe Locking Hitch Rack – 4 chapters, although all their hanging hitch rack models are very similar. Putting the Allen Bike Rack on your car and taking it off is incredibly easy and very quick. I can get the rack on and off my car in under a infinitesimal.
All of Allen's hitch racks are compatible with cars that have a 2″ hitch receiver. The 2 & 3 bike capacity racks are also compatible with a i.25″ receiver (they come up with an adaptor to go far uniform with a two″ receiver as well). The rack arms go through the bike frame and the top tube of the bike rests on the rack arms. Tri-glide buckles (like the straps on a backpack) and cradles secure the bikes to the rack.
Capacity and Cycle Fit
The great matter about Allen Bicycle Racks is that your bike is likely going to fit. Merely go bank check out some of the consumer reviews on Amazon – people have figured out some crazy ways to go their bikes from point A to point B with this rack for sure.
The downside is that your bike is besides probable going to undergo some significant clothing and tear if y'all utilize this rack on the regular. I have spent at least iii hours (in the hot & humid Texas summer sun, heed yous) taking bikes of all shapes and sizes on and off this rack trying to figure out the best way to configure them and what will and won't fit. Here are my primal learnings:
#1 – If yous want to deport 4 bikes, buy a 5 5 bike carrier. If you lot want to carry iii bikes, buy a 4 bike carrier, then forth and and so on. I tested out the 4-bike carrier, and every time I loaded information technology, I reconfigured or used different bikes. And every time that quaternary wheel was pretty difficult to go into the cradles. Even so, 3 bikes was always adequately easy and very doable. The rack's price only increases $10-$30 (depending on the model you are purchasing) as the chapters increases. So depending on your budget, if you tin can size up, I would highly recommend information technology.
#ii – If you are super protective of your bike and want information technology to stay in pristine status, a tray rack is a better option (although much more expensive). -Look into a tray rack like the RockyMounts SplitRail instead. There is a lot of cramming, jamming, and finagling to get the bikes onto this hanging rack. Specially if you are using the rack to max capacity. Handlebars will be pressing into seats, pedals will exist in spokes, etc. There is a lot of bicycle-to-bicycle contact and the bike closest to the rack will come in contact with the mast as you bulldoze.
#3 – The best way to load this rack depends on the shape and size of the bikes yous're hauling. The manual tells y'all to alternate the management of the bikes when loading the rack. Sometimes this was the best fit for the bikes we tested, other times there was no way to make that happen. So if your bikes aren't plumbing equipment one way, unload it and endeavour bikes in a different spot or a different direction.
#4 – Once you take puzzle-pieced the bikes together on the rack in a mode that works well, take a picture of information technology! This will help yous remember how to load it the next time. Especially if you lot aren't going to exist hauling the same bikes all the fourth dimension.
Bike Spacing
There is 6.5″ from the center of one cradle to the center of the next cradle. For a hanging rack, this is really a decent amount of space. Information technology'due south the same spacing you'll find on some higher-end racks like the Saris Basic EX-3.
However, compared to a tray rack, the small amount of infinite betwixt each cradle is what causes such a bicycle traffic jam on the arms. Loosening the headset of your handlebars and turning them to be in line with the rest of the bike lessens the contact between the bikes. This will help reduce the wear and tear, but will add to the already lengthy process of loading the bikes.
Wheel Size
This rack fits bikes twenty″ and larger. Some 20″ bikes need the adaptor, other 20″ bikes we were able to load without the adaptor. Bikes smaller than 20″ don't have long enough frames for the carry artillery to fit within.
Larger bikes are a lot easier to conduct on this rack because they have a larger frame that allows you to slide them right and left along the rack artillery. This gives you more wiggle room in where they sit, so it makes it easier to load the consecutive bikes with more space for handlebars and pedals.
Frame Shape & Adaptor Bar Usage
Allen Sports sells adaptors bars that attach to the headset and seat post of bikes to make loading smaller bikes and bikes with steep sloping frames a scrap easier.Most of the bikes we loaded onto the rack technically could be loaded without the adaptor, but the adaptor was beneficial in a couple of different scenarios.
These adaptors too come in handy to change the configuration when loading bikes on the rack. For example, when I was loading a 20″ bike that technically didn't need the adaptor, the bike wouldn't fit considering the rim & tire of the first bicycle was in the manner of the hand grip and hand restriction of the xx″ bike. I put the adaptor on the 20″ wheel and information technology lowered the level of the handlebars to where I could slide the bike onto the arms in the proper position.
Steep sloping top tubes and some 20″ bikes use the adaptor in order for easier loading. However, pace-through frames and steep sloping summit tubes tin can also exist mounted by rotating the cradle and placing the rack arm backside the rear seat tube and below the rear down-stay.
With my pace-though frame I actually prefer this method to using the adaptor. It is just equally quick, and it leaves my cycle level on the rack as opposed to having the front end tire manner higher than the back tire. Again, the angle of your bike on the rack depends on the shape of your frame.
Bike Quantity and Weight
Allen bike racks come up in carrier capacities of 2 to 5 bikes with a max weight of 35 pounds allowed for each bike. As mentioned previously, if y'all tin can beget the slight upgrade, buy a rack with i actress bike chapters than you need. So if you need to carry four bikes, buy the v-bike capacity rack.
Hanging racks in general, and specifically these Allen Bike Racks, aremuchlighter than tray racks. At just 26 lbs., you lot don't have to accept much upper trunk forcefulness to install or uninstall your rack from your hitch.
Loading & Unloading Bikes
The proper style to load bicycles is to load them onto the rack arms and identify acme tubes into cradles with the bikes in alternating directions (if they tin can properly fit that mode), beginning with the largest/heaviest cycle first. And so secure the bikes into the cradles using the straps. Lastly, secure the wheels and lesser brackets of bikes together and to the mast with a 70″ strap (the strap does not come up included with the rack, but the directions do say to utilize i).
I have been using this rack regularly for a couple months and I accept never strapped the bikes together or to the mast. The bikes practise sway when you brake and accelerate, and they will bang against the mast if they aren't secured when you brake or accelerate apace. Using the strap to tie them all together would significantly decrease the amount of movement and sway of the bikes every bit you drive, cutting downwardly on wearable and tear.
I would be hesitant to use this rack on long drives or in a lot of stop & become traffic unless they were well strapped. Nonetheless, considering I only take our bikes on short distances, I but brand information technology a betoken to drive a little less aggressively when the rack is all loaded up – my kids tend to exist less carsick when I drive with the rack on, so that's a bonus!
The manufacturer also recommends putting padding betwixt the bikes (towels, pool noodles, cardboard, etc.) to protect them from damage. But all that in improver to securing all the bikes with the strap adds a lot of time into loading and unloading the bikes, and I'd rather just get where I'm going quicker. If I were taking the bikes longer distances, then I definitely would go to all the extra trouble.
The "sweat factor" for loading this rack is 7 out of 10. Compare that to loading a tray rack which has a sweat cistron of about 2 out of x.It takes some muscle and some maneuvering to load the bikes onto the artillery and get them placed in the cradles and properly secured. This is a task for teenagers or adults, anyone younger probably won't be able to practise it.
Still, this is the trade off for the installation sweat factor; the installation sweat factor for the Allen Cycle Rack is 1 out of ten as opposed to installing a tray rack which has a sweat gene of 8 out of 10. Y'all win some, you lot lose some.
Folding & Rear Hatch Access
Allen Wheel Racks all accept artillery that fold down when non in utilize and masts that tilt away from the hatch. How they tilt and fold depends on the model you buy.Some models have pull levers and release buttons. These are significantly quicker to apply than the models that have QR (quick-release) pins. Withal, I have the model that uses the QR pins and information technology'due south not a loathsome task past any means.
To access the hatch you remove a QR clip and tilt the post away from the car to access the hatch. The mast tilts back about 45ยบ. The hatch cannot be accessed when bikes are loaded on the rack. Tilting the hitch while it is loaded with bikes could weaken the structural integrity of the rack and also impairment the bikes. So remember to pack the torso before you load the bikes. Otherwise, yous'll have to venture into the backseat of your machine to access the trunk…. and no parent wants to acknowledge the mess in the backseat of the auto.
Components
The 2 and 3 bike carrier works with a 1.25″ receiver, (simply these models besides come with at two″ hitch adaptor). The 4 and five bike carriers work with two″ receivers but. None of the racks are intended for apply on trailers, the front of a vehicle, or on RV'southward.
Weighing in at a mere 26.half-dozen lbs. (for the Palatial Locking four Bike Carrier) the rack easily secures to the hitch receiver in under a infinitesimal. Simply depress the hitch leap pin and insert the hitch into the receiver.
Allen offers locking hitches and non-locking hitches in both Premier and Deluxe models.The locking models feature a "Locking Knob". This knob has 2 functions. First, it contains the key hole that locks the hitch into your receiver which prevents theft. Secondly, as this knob turns information technology tightens the hitch into the receiver to eliminate any wobble.
The non-locking models use a "no-wobble commodities" that must be tightened using a wrench. This might slow down the installation a bit, especially if you accept to go await for the correct size wrench.If you tin, I highly suggest spending the extra $20 to purchase a locking version. Not but is your rack less probable to be stolen from your car, it's just significantly more convenient.
Allen Wheel Racks come in sizes to accommodate 2 to five bikes (manifestly all those racks are fine conveying only ane bicycle as well). They have ii main model categories – Palatial and Premier, with subcategories of both for each size carrier. Each category offers different features and conveniences simply overall the functionality of all models is the aforementioned.
The main differences between the Premier and Deluxe lines are every bit follows:
- Spine Shield: The Premier models offering Spine Shield, which is a padded shield that protects the bike from the metal mast of the rack. Deluxe models exercise not offering a padded shield.
- Rapid Tilt-abroad Mast: The Premier models have a one-handed pull-lever to tilt the mast abroad from trunk, while the Palatial models use a quick-release clip.
- Quick Fold Carry Arms: The Premier models have 2 red release buttons that you printing to fold downwardly artillery, while the Deluxe models use a quick-release clip
- Quick Secure Straps: The Premier models take upgraded safety straps that hook onto a knob to secure a bike in the cradle. The Palatial models have textile straps that must be threaded and then pulled tight.
Installation
Initial associates of the rack is very simple and shouldn't take longer than 10 minutes, especially if you was this video from Allen Sports:
Afterward the initial assembly, in that location is no reason to disassemble the rack considering information technology takes up such a small corporeality of space when information technology is fully assembled.
Allen Bicycle Rack Bottom Line
The Allen Sports Bike Racks are far simpler to install on your vehicle than traditional tray racks. They are lighter, less bulky, and don't pose the storage space problem that tray racks do. The trade-off for that simplicity, still, is that information technology's more complicated and fourth dimension-consuming to load bikes onto the rack, and your bikes are going to experience some premature wear and tear if you load to its max chapters. For the cost, though, this sturdy Allen Bike Rack can't be shell!
Other Hanging Bike Car Rack Reviews
Yakima Ridgeback Hitch Rack – why nosotros love information technology… and a few reasons we don't
Thule Apex XT iv – our favorite hanging bike rack!
FTC Disclosure: Affiliate links are included in this review. No budgetary compensation was provided for this review, however, the reviewed product was supplied by the manufacturer or distributor to help facilitate this review. All opinions and images are that of Two Wheeling Tots LLC. All content and images are copyrighted and should non exist used or replicated in any way. View our Terms of Use.
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