Buy Swagman XP Fold Down 3-Bike Hitch Mount Rack (2-Inch Receiver)

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List Price: $198.00
Sale Price: $173.68
Today's Bonus: 12% Off

This is the third bike rack my wife and I have tried and for once a pleasant surprise. I own a Jeep Liberty with the spare tire mounted on the back. Most hitch mounted bike racks require you to purchase a hitch extension costing between $30 and $70 dollars to clear the spare. The mounting tube on this rack has two pre-drilled positions, one for clearing a spare, and one for bringing the rack closer if you don't have a rear mounted spare. Needless to say I was pleased not having to spend the extra money for the extension.

This is also a well built rack, not flimsy like many similarly priced racks I have seen. There is no need to provide extra stability with straps etc. to keep it from twisting.

This rack provides quite a bit of security as well. A locking pin is provided for attaching the section that swivels to the section mounted to the hitch, and one of the three mounting brackets has a locking knob.

Finally, the single tube design is a lot more adaptable than the racks that have two arms for holding the bike. We bought a Thule spare tire mounted rack for my wife's Jeep, and while it is a nice rack, we had a really rough time getting the frames of our mountain bikes to clear the two support arms. With the Swagman, it is no problem, much easier to load and unload. You can rest assured you will get your money's worth with this rack.

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I have bought this hitch for our dual suspension bikes and I would not recommend it to anyone.

Cradles seemed functional at first but when we took the bikes to the trip to Moab which involved quite a bit of rough dirt roads, fine dust got everywhere, rubber padding started loosing grip and bikes moved in all directions resulting in quite a bit of damage (scratches and worse, cable to rear derailer on one bike got almost destroyed). 'Kraton vinyl cusioning' on both cradles suffered quite a lot of damage and in one case detached from the metal piece.

I would definitely disagree with claims that (1) loading and unloading is very fast [it is not] and (2) rotation allows for greater ground clearance [if you need ground clearance, this hitch is not your best choice because the rack is not all that high at the first place].

I have swapped this rack for another model (XPORT Slipstream 3-Bike Dual-Receiver Hitch Rack) with U shaped fork because two support points and higher ground clearance.

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In searching for an inexpensive bike rack, the Swagman XP seems to be a fair choice. It's not great, but it works.

Pros: You can make it a three-, twoor one-bike rack at your discretion; the finish is very good; the metal parts seem to be substantial; the cradles are adjustable (for both tube size and angle of carriage); and the package wasn't missing any parts.

Cons: The draw bar (the part the fits into the 2" receiver on the vehicle) is undersized, resulting in a very loose fit and lots of wobble, which to me is just unsafe; the one "locking" hand nut does not lock -it can be spun off regardless of lock position; the 1/2" pins and accompanying locking pins scream "barely adequate."

Fixes: I will be buying a hitch tightener / stabilizer to eliminate the wobble and heavier-duty locking pins. Also, I installed a 3-1/2 threaded Grade 8 bolt and nylock nut to the bottom pivot point (the point where the upper rack tilts down) to ensure that the thing won't come apart while driving.

Don't mean to sound so negative, it's not a bad product, it just requires some tweaking.

Honest reviews on Swagman XP Fold Down 3-Bike Hitch Mount Rack (2-Inch Receiver)

The cradles are absolutely terrible, holding only the tiniest of bicycle frames. We had five bikes in our household, and the rack cradles would not fit a single bike. We tried two mountain bikes, a 5-year-old's bike, and a 7-year-old's bike.

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Does not seem to be too bad of a bike hitch.

PROS: Sturdy, assembles easily and versatile.

CONS: Could be a bit heavy/awkward for some women. Pain in the rear for oddly shaped frames such as woman's/girl's style bikes.

I had to rotate the mounts to odd angles (one almost upside down) to be able to fit the bikes securely. Due to the size (for strength/security) of the mounts, it makes it difficult to slide the bike onto the mounts as intended especialy if the bike has an odd shaped frame. The best bikes to use with this hitch would be of a simplistic design that has a strait top tube (Top section of frame that runs from seat post to goose neck) or one that you can frame adapter on.

Overall this seems to be a good quality carrier.

Reviews of Topeak Two Up TuneUp Bike Stand

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I live in Japan. We have multiple earthquakes each day. I live on the 10th floor of an apartment building. In about a year this stand has never fallen. I trust it enough to keep my 4,000 dollar 5.5 Madone on the top hook. My MTB is kept on the lower hook. The only complaint I would have and the only reason I didn't give it five stars is because I can't rotate the pedals on the bottom hook when doing maintenance because my Gary Fisher 29er is too large for the crank shafts to spin freely. Other than that I couldn't be happier with the space savings and the fact that I can keep my bikes indoors and up off the floor.

**update** I still live in Japan on the 10th floor of my building. Japan was just hit by an 8.9 earthquake. The area I am in was only around a 5.0. However after I got back from a night in the shelter I came home to find my Topeak rack still standing with my Madone in the top cradle. Awesome product!

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Pros:

It is very sturdy and stable even with two bikes loaded.

It actually saves space. (I live in a small apartment.)

Your dirty bikes don't have to touch the floor.

Cons:

You are guaranteed quality with Topeak, and along with that quality a pretty high price tag to go along with it.

For some really stupid reason, this bike stand only comes with one "Topeak Handlebar Stablizer". This is what keeps a bike's front wheel from moving left or right while on the stand. I'd rather pay a little more upfront to have TWO Topeak Handlebar Stablizer for Bike Stands, as opposed to realizing that I need another one, and having to order it separately. So if you have two bikes to load on this stand do yourself a favor and order another one before you get annoyed.

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Product is well contructed and sturdy. I was able to put two bikes on it, one of which was a tandam and it didn't waver at all.

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This is a good bike stand.

Its clearly made out of quality parts, and some careful thought has been given to its design features.

For example, each leg on the tripod base has support links that run to the center member, making the stand more stable.

The center of the stand is not made out of just one round member. Actually a second member with a slightly smaller diameter, 'telescopes' or protrudes from the first (which is a good design in my opinion). And furthermore right where the member telescopes, they've thoughtfully provided clamps that can be tightened to ensure that the two members act as one solid beam.

All of the clamps are quick release, so the whole thing can be folded up and transported without too much trouble. It's also fairly light at maybe 15 pounds ~ lighter than your bikes probably. This is really the *PERFECT* solution to someone living in a rental apartment who may be moving every few years or so.

The bottom bike clamp is offset a little bit forward relative to the top clamp so that the bikes are not directly on top of each other.

The bike clamps themselves can rotate to accommodate different frame geometries.

And another really good feature, the handlebar holder keeps your front end in one position, preventing the front wheel from scuffing up your walls which is nice. Overall the stand does its job pretty well.

However I do have a few criticisms:

1) As many other reviewers noted, they only provide 1 handlebar holder. Huge oversight, but easily remedied by ordering an additional handlebar holder which Amazon sells. Not a big deal.

2) The stand is sturdy -as in its not going to topple over unless someone basically tackles it -but I have noticed that even slight vibrations will start shaking the entire stand a little. At the base, the stand doesn't shake too much, but at the top it will shake a little more. For example, if you are adjusting the position of your saddle on the bottom bike, you'll notice the top bike shake a fair amount.

I believe this has to do mostly with the telescoping design, and the fact that the bikes are not really clamped in, but rather are sitting in U shaped channels.

To dampen the vibrations a bit more they could have put 4 legs instead of 3. Seems nitpicky, but I think it would have made a difference.

3) Finally, I could have forgiven the other 2 criticisms, but the main reason I didn't give this 5 stars is that what holds the bike clamps against the base member are basically set screws. As in a screw tightens against the outer diameter of the base member, and the clamp is held in place by friction alone. This is a problem because if you press down on the bike too much while you're doing work, (maybe you are tightening something and you don't realize) you can cause the screw (and thus the bike clamp) to slip on the base member.

A really simple thing they could have done to have a MUCH sturdier frame, and make this MUCH more suitable for tune-ups would have been to drill holes up the center member and have the bike clamps actually screw or lock into the holes. This would have also helped a bit with the vibration problem as well and I don't think it would have added much in terms of cost. If they had done this and used an actual clamps to hold even just the bottom bike in place instead of U channels (and used 4 legs as I'd mentioned above), I'd have given this stand 5 stars, and easily shelled out another $50 bucks for this already expensive stand.

As such this is really more of a lightweight transportable bike stand, suitable for basic maintenance as opposed to a real tune-up stand. Without proper clamps holding your bike in place, I really wouldn't recommend this for any serious overhauls where you may have to apply a lot of force to take off or put on a part.

In the end, if all you are looking for is something to hold your bikes and have the luxury of a garage, you can probably go with something a little bit cheaper and heavier like the "Sportrack universal 2 bike stacker".

If you value a stand that is light, transportable, takes up not too much space perhaps, and can hold your front end in place (presumably for some light maintenance), then you won't be sorry shelling out the extra cash for this one.

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I regret to report that I'm returning this today after roughly 9 hours of use because its just not stable enough to handle two steel road bikes. The clamps that attach the hook mechanisms to the vertical pole are made of a hard plastic that slides or even "pops" out of place, making for a very tenuous situation. Both bikes are under though barely the 40/lb per bike recommended max weight.

I am still leaving 3 stars because for lighter bikes this would be great. Even if this was purely for storage in a garage or something, this could be acceptable for heavier bikes left alone, it seems reasonably solid. But because this would be stored in my living space where people will occasionally bump into it, and where I'll be using it daily, I simply can't risk a random collapse, and the cheap plastic connector parts here just don't exude confidence.

Kolpin Rzr Full-Tilting Windshield Reviews

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List Price: $349.99
Sale Price: $261.19
Today's Bonus: 25% Off

I am really impressed with the windshield.

Got it for my wifes Razr, Installed in less than an hour. Really blocks the wind.

She loves it.

Well made, and very impressive.

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Bought this for a trip to Colorado. I knew it rained every afternoon in the mountains and had been caught before. I like the way it can be opened and closed while driving. This was useful when traveling in carvans and the temps would change with the elevation and clouds. In the past it would start to rain and by the time I got my poncho on I was already wet plus the rain hitting me in the face would run down my neck. No more with the windshield in place. It seems to be very hard and scratch resistant. Some people may be bothered by the lap in the upper and lower panels that are in the line of site but that hasn't been that big a deal for me. I also had a Cooter Brown top and a Tusk rear window.

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We have been very pleased with the quality and construction of our Rzr Windshield. It is so much warmer riding now and the tilt will let us have more air when the weather gets warmer. WOW!

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Bought this for my xp900 rzr. My old windshield wasn't a MR 10 and it was scratched really bad..this one is crystal clear..being able to open and close it on the trail is great..good quality.

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Having the ability to go half, three quarters and totally removed is worth the money. Depending on conditions and time of year you will want this ability! Well made and very durable. holds up to scratches very well. Takes a couple hours to install, but well made.