I used a home made luggage rack for 20 years but at this the front bicycle tire had to be removed, which has become routine. So I looked at the many racks that don't require tire removal, from $ to $$$$. The expensive frames were WAY over my bag range so I focused on the inexpensive frames and decided to give this one a try and I'm quite happy with it. Of course it's not perfect, but with a few modifications it suits my needs very well. *PROS: - Great value for money - Easy to assemble/disassemble - Easy to assemble/disassemble from vehicle - Easy to assemble/disassemble bike - Fairly light - Stable when clamping bike HERE - Clamp provided to prevent clutch wobble (see photo for my solution) ) *CONS: - No locking mechanism - Tilt mechanism wobbles (see photo for my solution) - Depending on your vehicle, the exhaust from the tailpipe is probably an unacceptable tire heat. (see photos for my repair) When I was taking my bike off after a 10 mile ride I almost burned my hand when I hit a metal rail and that's when I noticed the rack was right over the exhaust pipe. When I got home from the ride I checked the temp of the bike tire and the metal bar and they were 175° and 190°! center bar and overlap them, effectively shortening them by 4 inches and raising them by 2 inches. I bolted it on first to make sure it does what I wanted and now that it works I'm going to weld it together for good. About heated exhaust tires and the luggage rack problem. I think MANY people never realize that this can be an issue (I never realized it because my custom stance was way taller), but it's worth checking the relationship between exhaust flow and tyre/tire height before doing one Driving a track only to have a melted/ruined tire. I don't blame the luggage rack for the lack of a lock at all, because I never leave the bike unattended on the luggage rack, it's always home for cycling and home again. If it had a locking mechanism it would cost more which would cut the cost by a dollar. but then again I never leave it unattended so don't worry.) I use other means to prevent the hitch from rocking (see photos for my solution) so I used the included clamp instead to prevent the tilting mechanism so rocking was more than i expected. Of course, I can't tilt the bar, but in exchange for not swaying, it was worth giving up the tilt AT ALL, which I won't be using anyway. A NOTICE. Allow the extra time to figure out exactly where you want to clamp the hoop baskets. I would recommend rotating the bike(s) with the chain on the OPPOSITE side of the rack so the handle doesn't get in the way of any part of the bike. All in all, knowing what I know now, I would buy this rack again and would highly recommend it to anyone looking to keep the cost under $100.
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