Review of Allen 102S Premium 2-Bike Trunk Mount Rack

Allen 102S Premium 2-Bike Trunk Mount Rack
By: Allen Bike Racks Average Rating: 4.5 Total Reviews: 19
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Great

On: 2008-06-19

By no means an avid bike rider, but I needed something affordable to carry 2 Trek Hyrbrid bicycles on my Honda Civic. After reading several reviews about other brands, and speaking with my local bicycle shop there were far too many negative reviews for the lower end models of trunk racks. Anyways, with the help of many positive reviews posted on Amazon I purchased this Allen product. I am not well versed in the bike rack market, but I must say I am very satisfied. Here are the positives; lightweight, easy to put on and take off, sturdy (transported for many miles on the backroads of Mendocino County, CA), affordable. Negatives; the instructions are confusing (fortunately, you can figure it out without them.

Good solid rack, easy to collapse.

On: 2008-06-19

The Allen 102S is a good solid rack. The 2-strap tie down to the bumper makes in very stable, and the entire arrangement is easy to collapse for campact storage. I researched other 2-bike racks and selected this one based on numerous positive reviews. I havent been disappointed.

Not the cheapest rack, but certainly one of the best.

Decent rack for the price

On: 2008-06-12

Its a decent little bike rack for the price. However, I found it extremely difficult to fit 2 small, womens mountain bikes on the rack together. One of the pedals pushes up against the trunk of my Jetta, so I have to wrap a towel around the pedal to prevent scratching. And on the one bike, the strap that wraps around the bar of the bike barely fits because of the thickness of the bar. So I added a few bungee cords just in case. My first 20 minute drive to the beach had me a wee bit nervous that something was going to fly off, but I guess thats normal for first time users. The ride home was smooth and I didnt worry about the bikes once. So overall, (sorry I ramble a lot), it is a pretty secure rack, just kinda small. I wouldnt try to put mens bikes on there. And I definitely would not travel long distances with it. But it is perfect for local biking...and maybe for carrying only one bike.

Cinch to Install; Very Sturdy, Affordable!

On: 2008-05-25

It was surprising how easy it was to install over the trunk on our 4-door sedan. Equally surprising was the sturdiness, with or without the bike.

The bike mounts securely and theres absolutely no wobbling even at high speeds (80mph+) or over bumpy roads.

Looks great also. All of a sudden, our boring sedan looks heck of a lot sporty! :-)

Note that the rack can be installed/removed with the trunk closed.

Strong, Strudy and light weight

On: 2008-05-15

I really take care of my car and didnt want any type of bike rack. I got tired of rearranging the seats to get my bike in the trunk so I broke down and bought this rack. WOW, why did I wait? Oh yeah price and the right product. It works great on my Jetta GLI. Very strudy at highway speeds. Easy to attach and great to store, it folds flat in the trunk.

Only fits larger bikes ...

On: 2008-05-12

Ordered the rack, got it, sturdy, took less than 10 minutes to install.
However, the width of the bars is not adjustable, so the rack is only good for larger bikes (above 17.5 inch). I have a Trek 7.3FX bike which fits on the rack, but my wife has a Trek 7100 which would not fit, no matter what. Also, the website doesnt mention the cars it will or will not fit, this information is available once you get the rack. There is a fit guide on the back of the box. So it fit my wifes Camry, but wouldnt fit my Celica. Would be nice to have this information BEFORE one orders. Had to return mine. 5 stars for Amazon though, they gave me a full refund.

Great Item

On: 2008-05-03

I bought this rack based on others reviews. It is easy and was reasonably priced. I would reccommend this bike rack to anyone.

Great product!

On: 2008-04-06

Easy to use, holds bikes really well. Can reconfigure the way it attaches to the trunk on a sedan so that the trunk will still open. If you need a bike rack I would recommend spending the extra money and getting this one.

Nice Rack!

On: 2008-04-05

It holds my bike well. Sturdy construcion and pretty easy to get on and off. Ive not tried carrying two bikes but it might be a tight fit. I have a huge bumper that gets in the way though.

I tust the rack to hold my bike which is worth more then my car.

Good rack--recommended

On: 2008-03-21

One of my considerations when shopping for a rack was the low quality of many consumer products. Failure of this kind of product could be disastrous.

Turns out that this rack is very well built. All critical parts are made of real METAL.

If there is anything to complain about, it is the reliance on elastic portions of lower straps to hold bottom of rack firmly against car and a couple of the less critical buckles and fittings are plastic.

Overall, the rack is very roadworthy.

Quality rack

On: 2008-03-18

This rack is very sturdy and easy to set up. It only takes a few minutes to attach it to your car and set the straps. Once attached, it is very secure and I have not noticed any movement, even at highway speeds. I have a Honda Accord sedan with a spoiler and it fits just fine. My advice is to spend the extra money and get the nicer rack!

Excellent Car Rack

On: 2007-12-03

With a little practice, this rack is very easy to install (at least on a sedan) and feels VERY secure. I have yet to take the rack out at highway speeds, but in driving between my home and the bike trail (~2.5 miles at 30mph), the rack doesnt shake or shift at all. Highly recommended.

Great product, great price

On: 2007-11-23

I used this bike rack on my BMW 325 and took two bikes cross-country from Ohio to Arizona (1900+ miles). It held rock steady the entire distance. I did add two bungee cords to keep the wheels from flopping around (great recommendation from a previous post), but the straps that were provided held on quite well as well. I am very satisfied with this product.

sturdy bike rack

On: 2007-10-21

after looking into bike racks, i decided on this one and couldnt be happier. It fits perfectly on most cars, and folds up up to easily store in the trunk. If you only need a rack for 2 bikes, i definitely recommend it.

Allen 102S Premium 2-bike trunk mount rack

On: 2007-10-11

It couldnt have been much easier - only critism is that it could have come with a little better pitures in the instructions. But this model goes straight from the box and onto the car - no assembly required. Took about 5-10 min to get it mounted correctly onto the car the very first time, but now only takes about 30 sec. This bike rack is very sturdy, holds 2 bikes very securely, and can be folded up and stored in the trunk.

Nice rack

On: 2007-10-10

This is the first bike rack that Ive owned, but it took me less than five minutes to get it out of the box and mount it and the bike on my sedan. While simple to use, it feels sturdy, and Ive noticed no damage to car or bike in several uses. I have also tried placing two mountain bikes on it with no problems.

The rack is small and can collapse even further so that it is quite compact when not in use.

I have seen other more expensive styles of bike rack where the weight is placed on the rear bumper. Id feel a more comfortable with that design, especially for long distances or bumpy rides, but I have no complaints with this product.

Allen 102S Premium 2-bike trunk mount rack

On: 2007-10-10

It couldnt have been much easier - only critism is that it could have come with a little better pitures in the instructions. But this model goes straight from the box and onto the car - no assembly required. Took about 5-10 min to get it mounted correctly onto the car the very first time, but now only takes about 30 sec. This bike rack is very sturdy, holds 2 bikes very securely, and can be folded up and stored in the trunk.

Great bike rack

On: 2007-10-01

This is a great bike rack, it comes assembled and is easy to put on and take off the car. You make the major adjustments of the straps once and then just tighten to secure to car and loosen to remove. My bike was very secure on the rack. I am very happy with this product.

Works well so far...

On: 2007-09-10

Great so far, I have had it for a few months and use it at least once a week. But I have only taken short trips, nothing over 30 miles or an hour drive time.

Plus:

No assembly required.

Easy to set up. After the initial setup and finding the optimal position for the bikes it now only takes me about 5 minutes to put the rack on the trunk and place the bikes on the rack. Takes even less time to take off rack and folds flat so can be stored in trunk, while not in use.

Compact but very sturdy, and good foam padding protects trunks well enough. No damage so far.

The straps that hold the bikes in place can be rotated to accommodate different bikes. Very versatile. The rack has held 2 medium sized full suspension bikes with no problems at all.

Best price I could find for a new 2-bike trunk rack that has individual straps for bikes.

Minus:

Only has four straps that attaches to trunks vs other racks that have six straps. (But it seems that the four straps work well enough. I am assuming that more straps would make it more sturdy and stable)

Overall:

Great product for a great price, it does what it is meant to do, and I would definitely recommend it to a friend.

Tips:

Before putting the rack on your trunk, make sure the area on the trunk that the rack will be resting on is clean of dirt and other particles to prevent scratches due to friction.

After setting up the rack on your trunk rubberband the excess strap. This will keep it from flying around and will make it easier to setup and take off the rack.

Put a couple of old socks over the pedal of the first bike to keep the pedal from scratching your cars finish.

Oh so pleased...

On: 2007-08-03

After doing extensive price comparison and research, my husband and I settled on this rack for towing around our two mountain bikes. I tore open the box and within minutes before even reading instructions I was twisting and turning and figuring it out - if you take a long hard look at it, I think its quite intuitive. With a quick look at the instructions to make sure I wasnt going to break it, I was ready to go try it out on my car - 2005 Ford Escape and my husbands car - 2005 Ford Focus ZX4 with a factory installed spoiler. I read on another website that this bike rack was compatable with cars with spoilers (stated: compatable with most factory installed spoilers). From tearing open the box to getting it set on a car took me less than ten minutes. No lie! The padding on this is nice where it contacts the car, the craddles for the bikes are nice and grippy and sturdy, the fold-flat design is wonderful and very easy to use, the set up is a breeze for one person and take-down is just as easy, loading the bikes was easy, too. It looks really nice, both bikes made it in and out of the rack after a short car ride with no damage, bumps, bruises, loss, etc.

**Oh, P.S. if you are reading this and have a ladies or bent-frame bike make sure you pick up or have an adapter bar (Allen also makes one of these which I also got and am very pleased with as its easy to use and gentle on my bike) so that your bike will be able to be safely mounted on the rack correctly.