Product Description

Premium 5 bike carrier for 2" Hitch

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3310 in Sports & Outdoors
• Size: 2-Inch Receiver
• Brand: Allen Bike Racks
• Model: 555RR
• Released on: 2009-01-13
• Dimensions: 4.00" h x 17.00" w x 31.00" l, 28.15 pounds

Features

• 5-bike rack fits vehicles with a 2-inch trailer hitch and features the new Quick Carry Arm Release
• 28-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

111 of 112 people found the following review helpful.
Would highly recommend this rack to anyone.
By G. Henry
Perspective: I am a mother of three young boys ages 8, 6 and 3. So when we go out as a family we have an adult men's bike, an adult women's bike and, at the moment, 2 youth boys bikes. We are not avid bicyclists, so we don't have any of the fancy, lightweight, more thin-framed bikes. Just your run of the mill Wal-Mart brand, bulky kids and adult bikes. This is our second 5-bike bicycle rack in as many years and I LOVE this one so much more than our last for multiple reasons. We attach it to our Honda Odyssey with a 2" hitch.

1) This rack not only has a ball joint (for lack of a better word) to hold the pivoting arm in place, but it also has a locking pin. DOUBLE the protection. I feel much safer with this mechanism should I ever repeat my previous mistake with our first bike rack, although not likely. :)
-------------------------Bought our first bike rack off eBay for about $60. Although it certainly held our bikes, albeit with little room to spa re, it wobbled and shimmied like CRAZY when we drove, making the longer trips for vacations a little more anxiety ridden. I was constantly looking in the mirror to make sure it wasn't about to come crashing down or wobble so hard that it would break. It never did, mind you, but I once forgot to replace the locking pin for the part of the rack that pivots out of the way so you can access the tailgate without having to remove the rack entirely. Made it the entire trip (2 hours) without it falling...amazingly...but one mile from our destination we hit a pothole and the rack was jostled just enough to cause it to pivot out of sight and come crashing down behind us with all the bikes on it. Stayed intact and the bikes were unscathed, but the steel upright of the rack was forever bent which caused the bikes to ride too low to the ground to make it safe anymore.

2) The cradles that the bikes rest on swivel 360 degrees making it VERY easy to connect the bikes just ab out any way you need to.
------------------------Our old bike rack had cushioned (rubber) cradles, but they did not move, so to get the kids' bikes attached they were sitting in the rack at all sorts of crazy angles! Rear wheel way in the air with the front end of the bike facing the ground, etc. The youth bikes now-a-days have some very THICK frames. They LOOK cool, but aren't the most efficient when trying to mount them to a bike rack. The Allen bike rack allowed us to attach the bikes not just along a horizontal plane, but we could attach the left cradle to the vertical column at the handle bars by turning the cradle to the left and the right cradle to the horizontal bar going across the bike...or any other way necessary! love, Love, LOVE it! It's especially easy with the smaller bikes that don't have enough space between the front and back vertical pieces to allow BOTH arms of the rack to pass between them. (hope this makes sense)

3) Arms very quic kly and easily swing down and out of the way for storage when bikes aren't loaded.

4) Thought it would be a little weird having one bike mounted BETWEEN the car and the rack the other four on the other side of the rack. Wasn't sure how it would all fit and whether or not there would be enough room to get the bike in there easily.
------------------No problem. The rack sits about a foot from the car. Does not look odd. Bike easy to maneuver in there.

5) Women's bikes do NOT require the cross bar attachment so often recommended to mount to the rack. Why? See reason #2. I actually bought one when I purchased the rack and it sits unused. Didn't use it even once and we've already taken our bikes on 4 outings. So, save your money.

6) Hitch pin really DOES cause the rack not to wobble one bit! LOVE LOVE LOVE it! That rack is in there tightly and securely. Of course, their special anti-wobble pin doesn't have a method to lock it into place, so you lose that option. Not so much a concern for us, but if you are in an area where these types of racks get stolen, you may need to invest in another anti-wobble option that has a locking aspect to it. I was truly amazed, however, at how the pin they provided really did keep the rack from moving in the hitch. It didn't look that different from any other pin, but works great!

Con: Can't lock the bikes into the cradles, but just buy a long enough bike lock that it can wind between all the bikes and you're good to go.

Hope this helps! Kids bikes are able to be attached without much trouble at all! After figuring out how they best fit the first time around, thereafter it's a cinch.

64 of 64 people found the following review helpful.
Good value
By MSW
Just got this rack to replace a Yakima 4-bike carrier with the swing away feature. The Yakima rack was outstanding. Here's how this one stacks up (IMO)

Initial impression:
Looks okay, overall construction is not nearly as stout as the Yakima which weighs probably 15-20 pounds more. Release levers, pins, etc. don't feel as solid.

Attaching to vehicle:
Pretty straight forward. Slide the rack into the receiver and tighten with 2 3/4" sockets. Yakima was slightly easier as you only need one wrench to tighten.
Rack does not sway side to side, but does have some up and down play, as did the Yakima. One downside is that the lock for this rack is quite pricey. Don't forget the lock is only a deterrent. A smart and determined thief can walk away with most of your rack even if it's locked.

Loading bikes:
Quite a bit easier with this rack. The Yakima cradles are significantly larger and use bulky rubber straps. It's easi er to maneuver small bikes on to this rack. No problem loading men's women's or kids' bikes. Although the Yakima rubber straps made loading the bikes more difficult, they do feel much more secure once snapped in to place. The nylon "backpack style" straps on this Allen Rack seem like they could loosen, time will tell whether that's really the case. Fit 5 bikes on the rack with no problem at all. Bike closest to the vehicle gets pretty close, so make sure it doesn't sway and bump into your car.

Tilt down feature:
Works well, but if your back door swings sideways instead of up, you may not be able to open the door completely (innermost bike will probably get in the way). Speaking of lowering the rack when bikes are loaded, you're going to need a strong arm and back especially if you're doing it by yourself. You'll be squatting under the rack, pulling the pin with one hand and supporting the weight of almost 5 bikes with your other arm. Getting the rack back up into position is actually easier than lowering it. This is where the Yakima really shines. The swing away feature works great no matter which way the hatch on your vehicle opens, and is easy for one person to do. Unfortunately, I need space for 5 bikes and such a rack doesn't exist.

Overall:
This rack does seem like a great value. It does what it's supposed to and is very easy to use for the most part. Will update after we've had a chance to take it beyond just the neighborhood.

Update:
Fully loaded the rack with 5 bikes for a 4 day trip to Joshua Tree National Park. Worked great on the street, freeway, and even over a few miles of dirt road. Rack stayed secure, bikes stayed secure, I'm bumping my rating up to 5 stars.

32 of 33 people found the following review helpful.
Very pleased
By P. Prokop
After comparing features and prices of different bike racks, we went with the Allen. I was pleasantly surprised that it does, in fact, accommodate 5 bikes. A little jockeying is necessary to get seats and handle bars to fit with each other when the bikes are different sizes and styles, but they all go on - and it is much much easier the second time. Do not attempt to lower the rack with the bikes already on it. The lowering feature is good for gaining access to the back of the car, but you have to have the bikes off in order to bring it back up again and get the pin inserted. The convenience features of the premium model are well worth the few extra bucks. Rather than wrestling with a pin for each function, the latches that come with the premium model make it much easier.