Product Description

Deluxe 4 bike carrier for 2" Hitch

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #412 in Sports & Outdoors
• Size: 2-Inch Receiver
• Brand: Allen Bike Racks
• Model: 542RR
• Released on: 2009-01-13
• Dimensions: 3.00" h x 16.00" w x 24.00" l,

Features

• 4-bike rack fits vehicles with a 2-inch trailer hitch only
• 22-inch long carry arms individually secure bicycles with Allen's patented tie-down system
• Folding carry arms quickly drop out of the way when rack is not in use
• Rack sets up and installs in less than 5 minutes
• Sturdy steel construction with black powder coat finish; Lifetime warranty

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Customer Reviews

Most helpful customer reviews

260 of 261 people found the following review helpful.
Good Rack for Frugal Buyers
By Rosakins
Let me begin by stating that I bought this rack at Pep Boys after reading one of the negative reviews (there's irony for you). After using the Allen Deluxe 4-Bike rack last week to haul two bikes from Baltimore, MD to Brunswick, ME (12 hours), then four bikes from Brunswick to Acadia National Park (3 hours), plus round trips and the time we spent in Acadia, I can say this inexpensive rack performed admirably. For the most part, the pros and cons supplied by other reviewers seem fair. (Although why you would want to fold down a rack with 4 bikes attached is beyond me, probably because of my lack of strength.)

Installation: My husband and I had a hitch installed on our 2001 Pathfinder specifically to take our inexpensive hybrid bikes to Acadia. The guy who installed the hitch, Bob, also assembled the rack in about 10 minutes; he's used to assembling Thule racks, so he's experienced but it didn't look terribly difficult. Bob didn't like the "sway" and recommended a locking pin that would fix that problem (which another reviewer also mentioned). The locking pin, however, would not go through the bike rack's holes, so Bob expanded the hole by re-drilling it (again, another Amazon reviewer mentioned the need to do this). Clearly a design flaw in a rack specific to a 2" Class III hitch, but it was "easily" corrected by Bob who had the tools and know-how.

Use: Getting two men's hybrid bikes on the rack was simple. Getting four bikes was a tight squeeze, and it was made more difficult because one of the bike's was a woman's bike. Still, with some trial and error, the four bikes fit. For 3 days the four bikes were put on and off the Allen rack with little difficulty. They were extremely stable. We used an assortment of chains and locks to deter any opportunistic thieves who may have been looking for low-end bikes. We were able to access the inside of the SUV through the back window which required only a slight movement of one bik e's handle bars. Although the rack folds down, you need to remove the bikes and we could get to what we needed without doing this.

Recommendation: if you have the money to spend, have expensive bikes, and/or transport your bikes frequently, buy a more expensive rack with more bells and whistles built in (locking pins, locking cables, etc.). If, as we did, you need a rack to transport more than two bikes and can't justify or afford to pay at least $250 on hitch rack, buy this one with confidence. Although our need for a 4 bike rack was specific to our vacation trip, we now have the ability to carry 2 bikes easily and up to 4 with a minimum of hassle. All this, for less than $150. We're happy. If we decide to become more than occasional recreational bicyclers, we'll invest in better bikes and possibly a different rack.

45 of 46 people found the following review helpful.
Allen Hitch Mount 4-Bike Rack
By yourwishismine
I purchased this product based on the Star Rating and a few reviews. This product does work as advertised and we have been using it for a couple weeks now. If you are hauling 4 bikes, it will be a rather tight squeeze to get the bikes on the rack. Hauling 2 bikes is a breeze and it works great for that. I'm not sure why bike rack manufactures don't put more space between the mounting positions. The straps that hold the bikes in are not great quality and will probably break after a year or 2 of use (I say this from using another rack that had the same type of mounting straps). The rack should be able to be put together with in less than an hour. 1 person should be able to assemble the rack, however having a second set of hands will definitely help. I give this only 3 stars because of the lack of spacing for 4 bikes, if you are going to haul 4 bike regularly, I would advise looking elsewhere (although, if your cheap and don't mind a little hassle getting your bikes on and off every-time, thing go for this). It would be nice if the used a more durable strapping mechanism, but that didn't bother me nearly as much as how much of a pain it is to put 4 bikes on a rack that is supposedly a 4-bike rack.

40 of 41 people found the following review helpful.
Good (but not perfect) Rack
By Carl
At first, I must admit that I thought that the two bars holding the bikes would not be strong enough to support all of the weight of my MTB bikes. But, after several trips to the local trails, I'm glad to report that it's been a very solid rig.

On the down-side (if you could call it that), you must remove a retaining pin when tilting the bike rack down in order to open your SUV Hatch. It can be a bit of a hassle if you're doing this a half a dozen times per day. I noticed that with Thule Racks (for example), they have a 'quick release' tab that tilts the rack down with a flick of the wrist. This seems to be a far superior method.

Other than that, I've been very satisfied with this product and would probably buy it again considering the great price.