Saris  MTR 2-Bike Hitch Rack

I purchased this rack after watching reviews of numerous racks on YouTube. No rack is perfect, and with that said this was the best of the bunch for my situation. It’s solid, comes completely assembled, fits bikes of all sizes, and folds out of the way easily. The knocks are certainly the price. It’s a spicey meatball at >$800, but most of its direct competitors are in the same range. It’s still a lot to swallow. My only other knock is how fiddly it is to attach to the hitch of my truck. This uses a screw in bolt that removes the play from the hitch and locks it into place. You really have to shake the hitch a lot even when you think it’s tight, then retighten, shake, retighten....and being you are tightening a bolt with a small handle it’s not in a great spot, not easy to do. This will keep my from taking this on and off as much as I’d generally like. It’s not the end of the world but could be better for the $. All in all, I’m very happy with it.

This is one of the few bike racks that will also work for an electric scooter such as a Dualtron Ultra. The cons are that it is super heavy and the little bits like the tightener is not as refined as say a high end Thule. There are also no wheels to make this beast easier to lug around when its not on the hitch. I wish the ramp could connect to the rack so you didnt have to carry it in the car but I'm actually sure there's a way you could modify it to do that if im being honest.

I was super hopeful that Saris would have a great rack - solid, American made, sold at REI ... what else could you want? It’s a good looking rack but has too many flaws: 1. Doesn’t sit snuggly in the hitch = expensive bike bouncing around. 2. When folded up, the locking cable falls out and drags on the ground = lock destroyed. 3. Velcro security strap = wears out, gets lost, or gets stolen. Returned after 3 months as I couldn’t justify that much money for that many flaws. Kudos to REI as they took it back.

Having previously used another brand's premium hitch rack, this one has some helpful innovations. The pivoting trays improve safety by not blocking lights when the rack isn't in use, and make it easier to access the back of the car. The handle to adjust the rack's position is well placed, and the cable locks are easy to use. The rack arms can be adjusted to fit wheels between 20-29" by moving one hex bolt, and adapt to fenders. There is also a guide to align the hitch bar when installing it in the hitch (though I found it a bit loose). Overall the rack is very solid, and has worked well with 29" and 24" mountain bikes and a road bike. Having two arms, plus a wheel strap for each bike is appreciated for security, and with the thoughtful design I can get bikes on and off in just a few seconds. The rack falls a bit short in some execution details, which is why I gave it only 4 stars. The biggest issue is the hitch pin, which threads into the hitch bar to stabilize it in the receiver. Unfortunately the threaded portion inside the hitch bar is very loose, making it challenging to align the pin and get the threads to engage. I eventually found that pulling up on both ends of the pin helped with the alignment and made it easier to engage the threads. I also found that the spring release to adjust the rack's position takes some hand strength to operate, and the pivoting trays can be very stiff. Also, when pulling an arm down on the tire, sometimes the ratchet would not engage (meaning that arm wasn't securing the wheel), so I now double-check those each time. The positioning of the wheel blocks also offsets the bikes sideways from the center of the rack. This helps avoid conflicts between bikes, but means that they stick out beyond the side of the car. On my Highlander, a 29" MTB sticks out about as far as the side view mirror.

Let’s start off by giving some history... I purchased this rack back in May as 1 it was on sale and 2 the other rack I was considering (the 1Up) was sold out. When the rack showed up it was missing several small pieces and had an extra key. I contacted BTD about the parts and they had me contact Saris as they said I would get a quicker resolution that way. After about a 2-1/2 to 3 week wait I received the missing parts from Saris and was finally able to start using the rack. (Take note that the 1Up became available during this period). While waiting for my missing parts to show up I was able to further inspect the rack. I noticed then that it had a couple nicks in it, as well as some odd discoloring on some of the bolt heads. which in hindsight make me think this was a return or shop floor model, though it was not advertised as such. Also, several of the bolts were loose so I tightened them. Little did I know that this would be something I would need to get used to doing. Seriously I go through and tighten the bolts on this thing almost weekly. Notwithstanding my diligence to this task, the rack came apart while on a road trip the other day. Loosing one of the half tray assemblies on a highway somewhere in Texas. Hopefully it didn’t injure or kill anybody. But I wouldn’t know if it did.Bottom line... buy this rack if you are willing to check the bolts before every use and are ok with the liability it may impose on you.

Got it to haul two electric bikes. It's not compatible with rear racks, have to remove the racks from the bikes. Heavy duty enough though and I like the locking features.