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Originally bought around January of 09. Read through to get the whole story.
I purchased this to be able to combine car (97 Saturn SL1) and bike commuting. So far, so good. 4 days/week, I drive near work, then bike into (and around) my workplace. My commute is about 20 minutes, with about 10 minutes of freeway driving.
In the few months I have used this, I have had no major issues. The bike does not move much, except the front wheel. I have not found a good way of securing this. Currently, I use my U-lock to lock the wheel and bike frame to the rack frame. This keeps the tire from hitting the car, but there is some motion. I've used bungee cords, which kept the wheel very stable, but the bungees were slowly getting shredded. Otherwise very little motion. So little that it has twice stayed in place when I forgot to strap it down (including once where I drove for 2 3 miles on the freeway)!
The straps can be done/undone fairly quickly. It takes me about 1 minute to mount/dismount the bike. A clasp, or something similar, might be quicker, but these do work fine.
It takes a little bit to mount/dismount the rack, but really, not all that long (I've only done it once ... it's fairly intuitive). The short straps for clamping bikes do flap in the wind, and that is occasionally a little distracting when I look in the rear-view mirror, but overall I do not find the rack or rack with bike to be much of a visual issue.
Have not used it on a long trek yet, or with multiple bikes (I will try to remember to update when I do).
I did notice that it seemed to leave a mark on top of my trunk where the foam pad rests. I did not try to remove it, so it could be a non-permanent mark.
UPDATE 4/28/09: Definitely leaving a mark from the middle of the bar on the trunk. Would encourage folks to add some protection in that location.
I still mostly use this for short trips. Did two slightly longer trips (~100 miles each way) without removing the bike in between, and it needed no tightening. This was also through the giant wind tunnel that is the San Gorgonio Mountain Pass in Southern California near Palm Springs ... and the wind was RAGING on the way back.
UPDATE 9/7/09: Mark on the car: it is due to the trunk curving, but the bike-rack bar being straight and with padding only at the ends. I would strongly encourage adding padding in the middle.
Used it for a camping trip with two full-sized bicycles and one child bicycle. Worked fairly well, although I did get some slippage, and the bikes were definitely bouncing (even on the way back, when I was more careful about tightening straps).
UPDATE 6/10/10: My bike rack broke today. One of the straps connected to the trunk just broke, about two inches from the hook. A couple of things to note with this ... I have been using this rack for a year and a half, and about 99% of the time it is outside on my car in a desert-like environment (lots of heat and sun, a little bit of water). Today, I arrived at work and one of the straps had broken. The good news: the bike did not fall off. The one side that broke had slipped to the back of the trunk, but it all stayed on. Also, there is enough strap that I can just tie the strap to the hook, and that held for the drive home, even under 70 MPH strain.
Also, all of the rubber elements on the rack look like crap now. They have sort of "bubbled" in the sun. It doesn't have a lot, so not a big deal. This happened probably in about the first 6 months or so.
FINAL UPDATE 8/18/10: Well, within another month of the first strap breaking, two more did. Honestly, all of the straps were seeming a little brittle. Probably,this was caused by continued exposure to the elements. So, if this is a bike rack you plan to leave on your car, 1.5 years might be it's effective life use. I had thought about contacting Allen to see if I could get new straps under their warranty, but the day after the third strap broke i found a nive replacement rack for $5 at a garage sale.
OKAY ONE MORE UPDATE 10/3/11: In looking at teh picture, it appears the design may have changed. My rack had a straight bar across the trunk, and this one appears to be curved. I did not have issues with the small metal rods coming out, but given some of the recent reviews, it's certainly something I'd look into if I was purchasing this.
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We bought this to take our 2 adult-sized bikes on vacation (about a 3.5 hour drive). The rack was easy to install and held the bikes just fine our only complaint was that if we put a bike at the inner-most spot, the bike would hit the back of the car. Luckily for us we only needed to transport 2 bikes, but if we had 3, our bumper would have been definitely scratched up from the bike hitting it.Best Deals for Allen Sports Deluxe 3-Bike Trunk Mount Rack
I would not even give it a single star rating if I could.To be honest this bike rack was not designed to support three bikes. We started out the trip feeling confident with our purchase until about three hours into our trip the rack supports pop out of place. As we heard the faint click we look back and see our bikes being drug across the interstate ripping the tires off the bikes. So now we pull off to side of the road to try and fix the rack but the rack will not hold the weight without extra support. We wrapped the supports with rope to keep them from popping out of the holes and for about another hour of driving they held. As it broke the second time with the rope we had to stop at a local Walmart to spend more money on replacement tires inner tubes and straps to reinforce the rack. With all of the reinforcements made to this rack we still wound up on the side of the interstate with not one but two roadside assistant trucks helping us rig this monstrosity so we could make it to our destination. If you are not going more than a couple miles and you have only one bike to carry then this might suit you for the price. But if you are traveling further distances, then avoid this product altogether because you'll spend more money in the long run.
This is one of those too good to be true prices.
SAVE YOUR MONEY AND AVOID THIS ITEM!!!
note: We also purchase the Allen crossbar which was excellent so its not the company just the product.
Honest reviews on Allen Sports Deluxe 3-Bike Trunk Mount Rack
This bike rack works as it should, and fits my prius quite well. We've had no problems or complaints. We can install it in about 1 minute, and it comes off in in seconds.Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Allen Sports Deluxe 3-Bike Trunk Mount Rack
Firstly: a list of compatible vehicles can be found at Allen's website. It's called the "Fit List", and is referred to on the product box. I'll also upload photos of the rack on my car and it's packaging momentarily. The link for the fit list:I purchased this rack to aid me in moving from Oregon to Colorado. I'll update the review as time goes on.
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2011-June: First impressions (duration of ownership: 1 day; driven around town with one bike to test it):
The rack fit well on my 1989 Toyota Corolla All-Trac station wagon, and feels very secure. I am using it for a single bike (on the innermost mount), and using the additional mounts for a spare wheel and tires, since I don't need the extra capacity at the moment. The rack feels sturdy, and I believe its stated 100 pound load capacity. The rack mounts easily (it took me a few minutes to set up the first time, and it should only take a minute or two in the future) and holds the bike in place securely. I very strongly recommend putting some sort of protection (see photos on the product page) between the metal hooks and the paint of your car (obviously) since the metal could scrape it off.
Mounting the rack works well if you first fit the top hooks, then (while the rack dangles from the top straps) mount the bottom hooks. Don't forget padding (I used an old rag)! The horizontal bars that make contact with the car are very well padded (with ~3/4 inch thick foam rubber), and have a bend in the middle such that the bar *should* avoid contacting the paint of your car. Still, if you're worried: padding is a good idea. I hooked everything onto my back hatch (both the bottom and top hooks), and I am not able to open and close it when the rack is in place. Also, the rack slightly impairs visibility (see photo) when in reverse, as one would expect.
Overall, it seems sturdy and mounts easily. See the photos I've uploaded for more info.
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2011-July: 1200 Miles later
I wholeheartedly approve of this rack's performance. I drove from Portland, OR to Boulder, CO with this thing on the entire time, and it did no damage to my car whatsoever. It held my bike and some tires very securely for the entire trip three days of HOT weather (as in Moab, UT in mid-July hot... so very hot). I kept checking it out of paranoia, but I never needed to tighten it. Thus I give the rack 5 stars.
Caveats: I haven't used it with more than two bikes at a time as of now. I'll keep this review up to date as I own and use the rack longer. For now, it's stored in my closet with no signs of damage from the trip... save for a little dust :)
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