Here's a review of another bike product that I purchased that works OK, but falls short in enough areas that I would not recommend it to a friend.
This Thule (prounouced Too-Lee) hitch rack looked good to me on the surface before I bought it. It seemed sturdy and purported to hold four bikes, so when Performance had it on sale and I had an additional 20% off coupon, I went for it.
The problem is, it doesn't really hold four bikes, at least not well. I've tried twice, and while I was able to push, pull, yank, and wedge four bikes on there, it was neither easy nor convenient. And the bikes were so crammed in together that they scratched each other up a little, despite my efforts to the contrary.
Also, this hitch rack does not have a lower stabilizer arm at the bottom, which I've seen on some others. As a result, when I have just one or two bikes on there, they swing around wildly while I'm driving, which makes me nervous. I tried to fix this by moving around the little rubber cups that the bike sits in, but they are virtually impossible to move, which is another unfortunate feature.
In addition, the rack requires me to use a wrench and screw it into my hitch every time I want to put it on the Tahoe or take it off. This helps make it stay on better, I'm sure, but is also a pretty big hassle. I'd rather have some kind of device that doesn't require tools to install and uninstall the rack each time. And the screw that it uses should be replaced by the aftermarket lock that Thule wants me to buy to make sure the rack isn't stolen by someone with a wrench of their own.
The annoying installation wouldn't be as big a deal if I could just leave the rack on there all the time. But because I'm not willing to pony up the ridiculous $40 or whatever it costs to get the locking screw, I don't want to risk leaving it on my Tahoe all the time. Plus, the way the rack is designed, it sticks out about two and a half feet from the back of my SUV's bumper, making it impossible to fit the entire truck with the rack on it inside the garage. I assume it sticks out so far because Thule wanted it to be able to be used with vehicles that include a spare tire on the back, but since mine does not, I don't appreciate that feature. And I can't just drill a hole farther up in the base, because it is required to be threaded for the installation screw. Aaarg.
Another problem is that this rack requires bikes to be mounted via their top tube (or in my case via a top tube adapter). While I knew this going in, I am sorry I bought a rack with this feature. First, it means that if I ride with a friend who has a full-suspension bike with a complex geometry and no frame adapter, I can't put his bike on the rack. It also creates the swinging problem mentioned above.
The rack does have a few decent features. It tilts down at the base to allow access to the rear hatch without taking the whole thing off, which is nice. The part that sticks out where you put the bikes also folds down when there are not bikes on it, which is nice for storage, but irrelevant because I have to take the rack off every time its not in use.
After living with it for 8 months or so, I realize that I'd strongly prefer the Thule T2 version, which looks like this:
The loading is much easier and better for the bikes, and it is even more stable. It also costs more than twice as much, and only holds two bikes (though you can purchase a two bike extension to the 2" version to haul a total of four bikes.)
Finally, perhaps the biggest problem with the Hitching Post rack has nothing to do with the rack itself, so its probably unfair to mention it, but I will anyway. With gas prices as crazy as they are right now, I try to drive the Tahoe as little as possible. The hitch rack only works on vehicles that have a hitch, so I don't use it as much as the little trunk rack that goes on the back of our Acura.
In any event, there are my thoughts. If you still want this rack for some reason, its available for purchase here
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