good
product appears well made and carries 2 bikes well.
some mounting suggestions for various bikes would be helpful.

Good rack
I returned saris 2 bones bike rack and purchased this one. Bones rack did not fit properly on my Honda Accord. No problem with this rack.

should've told me up front....
The bike rack seems nice, but who can tell since nowhere does it say that you MUST buy a beam for an additional to use this rack for a women's bike. Returned to Amazon... because for + the additional for the bike beam, I can get something much nicer from my local bike shop.

Saris Guardian 2
This is a pretty nice bike rack. It's sturdy enough to hold your bikes without worrying about them moving around and dislodging. The product manual is really difficult to understand, but the rack itself is simple enough that the manual isn't really needed. Overall, it's worth spending a little extra for this rack, as you don't have to worry about anything when using it! Plus, it's got a lifetime warrenty. Can't go wrong!

amazing surf racks
The surf rack is very easy to install. I am a beginner in the whole surfing thing and I'm starting off with a 8.5 foam-board. Last week I drove from SF valley to San Diego (150mi) and back doing 70-80mph with the board mounted and had absolutely no problems. I drive a TSX so it fit just fine. The only thing that you might wanna consider is that the racks wrap through the vehicle so it might inconvenience the back seat passengers.
I've never used any other surf-racks before so I can't really compare it with other products out there, but for the price this is very good buy.

Works Great Until you see the Paint Chipped off your Bike!
The Thule No-Sway Cage does a great job holding my bike in place. I would have given it a 5 out of 5 stars but it chipped the paint off my bike! Like the guy said in an earlier review...I wish I would have known it did this because it could have easily been avoided. I put weather stripping on it and it works great...no paint chipping! This really upset me because I paid a lot of money for my mountain bike and the manufacturer of my bike does not sell touch up paint! Also, I called Thule and they are aware of this problem. They said the No-Sway Cage does not chip the paint off all bikes, just some! Thank you Thule for selling a product that does this. Again, this product works great and holds your bike in place....just make sure you put something on it...like weather stripping or some kind of soft pad. Make sure you take the No-Sway Cage off when you are riding and keep it in your car...it can easily be stolen if left on the bike rack.

Works great
This works great on the Thule bike rack...just make sure you secure the two sides and the bottom...this prevent the bike from swaying. I haven't had any issues with this eating up the paint on my bikes yet.

great product
I bought the thule 963 for my wrangler....these dont say they're built for use with it but believe me this is a wise investment...easy to install and easy to use and its durable ..A+

Good product to have
It is easy to install on the bike rack. Very satisfied. Enable me to secure the bike better on the rack. Unfortunately, I am only able to use 1 anti sway on my thule spare me rack. It is sold 2 in a pack.

Awesome
I ordered this two pack for my Bell-branded hitch rack and it fits perfectly. Any rack with rails that are about 1" in diameter will work with this. I wasn't able to confirm this before I ordered so I figured I would take the chance and return if needed. The way it attaches to the rails is perfect, every secure clam shell clip. The two rubber bands per cage are thick and look like they will last a long time. Holds bikes very well. My only complaint is that there is still some movement of the bike and where the plastic of the cage touched the bike frame, it rubbed away the paint. Good thing both of my bikes are aluminum so I don't have to worry about rust, but it would be nice to see a thick rubber pad built into the cage to protect the finish of the bikes. Only 4 stars because this is something Thule should have thought of. Other than that, they are perfect, even if you don't have a Thule rack.

I do not recommend this product
When I first went to assemble the two pieces to make a whole basket, the tubes going from one piece (male) into the other (female) did not fit. Further investigation showed that the tubing on the female side was bent (not from shipping), and to make it work, I had to spend about 1/2 hour re-opening the tubes.

After finally putting the basket together, it came time to mount it on the roof of my 2008 Highlander. Keep in mind, before I bought this rack I contacted the company to inqire whether or not it would fit my car. I was told that yes, it had universal fittings so it would fit all car roof racks.

Well it did have universal fittings, but they were so simplistic that I had to spend 1 1/2 days, and trips back and forth to hardware stores, to make it work. The reason, even when the clamps were tightened as tight as they would go, the rack slid back and forth and would not tighten firmly.

To make it work (and I never did get it "tight"), I had to use a metal cutting saw to cut parts of it away, put jerryrigged blocks between the basket and the crossbar, and tape it tightly to the crossbar.

These problems would have been more acceptable if I had paid half as much. I can live with the imperfections in the tubes (since at this price I didn't expect the quality of a Thule or a Yakima), but to have to spend the time and money to make this product safe to travel on my roof at up to 80 miles per hour, is unaccepable.

The only way I would recommend this product to anyone is if Lund puts a truly universal clamping system with it that is uncomplicated and easy to understand. Otherwise, be prepared to use extraordinary measures to safely attach it to your roof.

I do not recommend this product
When I first went to assemble the two pieces to make a whole basket, the tubes going from one piece (male) into the other (female) did not fit. Further investigation showed that the tubing on the female side was bent (not from shipping), and to make it work, I had to spend about 1/2 hour re-opening the tubes.

After finally putting the basket together, it came time to mount it on the roof of my 2008 Highlander. Keep in mind, before I bought this rack I contacted the company to inqire whether or not it would fit my car. I was told that yes, it had universal fittings so it would fit all car roof racks.

Well it did have universal fittings, but they were so simplistic that I had to spend 1 1/2 days, and trips back and forth to hardware stores, to make it work. The reason, even when the clamps were tightened as tight as they would go, the rack slid back and forth and would not tighten firmly.

To make it work (and I never did get it "tight"), I had to use a metal cutting saw to cut parts of it away, put jerryrigged blocks between the basket and the crossbar, and tape it tightly to the crossbar.

These problems would have been more acceptable if I had paid half as much. I can live with the imperfections in the tubes (since at this price I didn't expect the quality of a Thule or a Yakima), but to have to spend the time and money to make this product safe to travel on my roof at up to 80 miles per hour, is unaccepable.

The only way I would recommend this product to anyone is if Lund puts a truly universal clamping system with it that is uncomplicated and easy to understand. Otherwise, be prepared to use extraordinary measures to safely attach it to your roof.

Good alternative to more expensive Hitch Mounted Carriers
I own several bike carriers, including a Thule Trailblazer hitch mounted 4-Bike carrier, trunk mounted and roof mounted carriers, and fork mount blocks for pickup truck beds.
Advantage of hitch mounted carriers:
1) Secure the bike in the back reduces wind resistance at high speeds.
2) Avoid low height accidents like garages vs roof carrier bikes.
Disadvantage of hanging type bike carriers:
1) Bike swings during transit with stop and go traffic. More expensive carriers have brackets to minimize this.
2) Bikes may rub on each other if position too close, which risk marring the paint finish. Two custom road bikes did not fit my hanging carriers, and I was tired of removing the front wheel. I wanted a hitch mounted bike carrier that folded up compactly and did not require removing the front wheels during bike loads. I looked at the Thule, Yakama, and Saris product, but they were expensive, heavy and bulky. Swagman is a Canadian company, and the XTC2 was manufactured in Taiwan. The quality of the product was very good for the price.
The advantage of the Swagman XTC2 over the older XC Cross Country Carrier:
1) XTC2 wheel wells are 1/2 loops vs. full loops of the XC. This allows the tires to be tied down with the improved rubber straps vs. the wheel just sitting on the full loop well.
2) The receiver bar on the XTC2 is S-curved that lifts the carrier above the exhaust pipe vs. a straight bar on the XC. This higher ground clearance also helps with deep road dips and driveways.
3) I agree with the another reviewer that the ratchet locking system to hold down the bike to the rack found on the XTC is much better than the friction knob found in the older carriers by Swagman and carriers by Sportrack. The frame grip arms were improved and soft frame friendly to protect the bike's finish. You can lock the bike to the carrier using a padlock for each hook holders to prevent release of the ratchet. The padlock shackle needs to be a 3/16 inch in diameter or less. Anything thicker will not fit the hole. The spacing from the shackle to the lock needs have at least a 5/8 inch or larger clearance. Anything narrower will not lock. I found such a lock made by Masterlock (Model 131T) at a local discount superstore. The lock is covered in scratch resistant vinyl. They sell it in a 2 lock set with matching keys.
4) Assembling the carrier was easy. Only took about 20 minutes with a phillips screw driver, supplied allen wrench, and socket wrench (to attach the hitch receiver bolt).
5) I was pleased to see that the carrier cleared the rear window hatch opening on my 2006 Ford Escape. I use this hatch to access rear storage when the bikes are mounted. The vertical bar folds down in order to clear the rear door opening. The bikes need to be off the carrier to fold down the bar.
Disappointments:
1) The outer box arrived damaged. It was made of cheap cardboard material. The content were bubble wrapped and loose in the box. See picture. It would have been better if the shipper opened the box, filled it with shipping popcorn, then re closed the box into an outer, more studier shipping box. Luckily, all the parts were present and with no damage.
2) The main carrier can be removed along with the loaded bikes by a motivated thief with the proper tools even to there was a hitch lock in place. Two allen wrench screws are located in the underside crossbar junction. I added a separate cable lock to secure the rack to the hitch.
3) One item not described in the assembly instructions was that two machine screws need to be installed at the underside of the tip to prevent the wheel wells from sliding off.
4) Although the 1-1/4 inch to 2 inch hitch adapter was made of solid metal, and the screw in type hitch pin did minimize wobble, the 1 1/4 inch tubing used to make the receiver bar still had in inherent sway of a few degrees when driving with loaded bikes. The instruction sheet warns to remove bulky item such as child carriers to reduce wind resistance.

Update: December 14, 2009
We recently had a rain storm come through our area. After a few days I noticed a few rust spots on the latch pins which wiped off easily with a rag. The metal not have a rust resistant undercoating, so it is best if the rack is kept dry or out of the elements for long periods of time. I purchased the Swagman 2 inch threaded hitch pin lock from another website and it provides a peace of mind.

Overall this carrier was a great value.

BUY this one!
This is an awesome rack. Bikes are loaded in less than 1 minute! I could not be happier.

Fantastic- Greatly Relieved
What a relief! I spent many a hour looking/researching/contemplating on the next rack I should get after my last one suffered an epic failure.

I have a Mazda 3 sedan and my concerns were:

-I have an expensive and heavy freeride bike.. which bent my last rack.
-My bike is oddly shaped (2007 KingFisher) and hangs on those "racks" very awkwardly... maybe this lead to the rack bending in the first place?
-With the sedan, the bike isn't shielded from the wind like a SUV.
-I drive 45 min on a regular basis to the trails I like at 65+ mph.

Putting it all together was easy peezy. Impressed with the construction. Went for the XTC since I have a semi steep driveway and was skeptical whether the XC would scrape.

Once you have the wheel slots lined up. Putting the bike on is so simple its stupid. Makes you feel like you should do something more.. but that bike isn't going ANYWHERE! Enjoy the ratcheting system and the fact you can lock your bikes in. (locks not included)

Set my two wheeled, 40lb, 8" of travel fun onto the rack and set off for the trails. Cruising along at a cool 65 I was soon satisfied with it's stellar performance. Very little movement. Mozied along going 75mph now. Within 15min of arriving there was the infamous bridge crossing that when taken at the speed limit 65mph will make a noticeable bump up onto the bridge followed by a vicious bump off.. (did my last rack in)

In the spirit of science I took it at 85mph. Very impressive! Very sturdy indeed!

Kept a ratchet in the trunk to take it off once I got to the trails, I would advise getting a lock washer when putting the threaded bolt through.. I'm sure it won't come loose without one.. but it provided peace of mind for me.

Final Note: Great bike rack, very glad I got it! I used other bike racks and always found myself looking in the rear view mirror to see how the bikes were doing... not anymore! They're staying put!

Nice, but some improvement possible
I bought this to use on the back of my 2008 Dodge Caliber for my two Comfort Bikes. The main issue I have with the rack is that while the bar is supposed to tilt sideways to make it easier to put the bikes on, I am pretty much unable to do with the two hooks in place - it doesn't give me the clearance. Secondly, the bikes seem to wabble when driving, but I am confident they are not going anywhere (especially after I drove 12 hours each way from Detroit to Minneapolis with them).

Other than those to issues, the rack is very nice and it securely holds the bikes in place. It is FAR easier to use then the truck mounted one that we have for the other car, and the adjustable tire slots allows you to customize the hold for your bike.

Once slight addition I made was buying a coated security cable (the one that seems to have a plastic coating with a loop on either end - be sure that it is not too long). I put one loop on the main up right bar of the rack, then put it through the tires of each bike then locked it to the hitch (it just gave me the added comfort of locking everything together.

Very glad I bought this
Whether you specifically buy the Swagman or not, my strongest recommendation is to get a bike carrier that attaches via a hitch and has the bikes sit on their wheels rather than hang from a bar by a strap. You just feel more confident that your bikes are secure. You feel more secure while you are driving and you feel more secure when you have to leave your car unattended (assuming you use a locking hitch pin and lock for the bicycle hook arms). If you are going to need a bike carrier more than once, buy one of this type. It's also the best option for women's bikes, which don't have the top bar. (I never trusted aftermarket bars that attached to the seat post and handlebars.)

Things to know (in general):

> Don't go to your car dealership for a hitch. It's the most expensive option. You can get a hitch online for 0 or less and installation should be approximately at any mechanic or auto body shop. The hitch can also be purchased at your local auto parts store, but will be slightly more.
> You want ratcheting bike hook arms (like the swagman). It is so much simpler and faster.
> You might need a can of Rust-Oleum to cover any places where the "protective powder coating" has been scratched off. A can is less than five bucks at any hardware store and you don't want to allow exposed bare metal, which can rust.

Things to know (about the Swagman specifically)

PROS
> holds bikes quite tight and you do not worry at all that they will fall off.
> The anti-wobble hitch pin works.
> Would be difficult (but not impossible) to steal if you use both locking hitch pin and barrel lock for the bike arms.
> Accommodates any size bike, even very small or women's bikes.
> Folds up into very tiny space when not in use. Does not obstruct view out back window.
> Easy to remove and re-attach with say... teenage boy strength required.
> I can open the trunk on my Mazda 3 with it installed (so long as there is no bike on it).
> Very nicely priced as compared to the models from Tule and Yakima.

CONS
> Sometimes the bike arm for one bike will be in the way of you installing a lock on the other bike arm. This would leave one bike unprotected. (This is my one star reduction)
> The little rubber covers for the bike arm hook release lever like to slide off. This is a minor annoyance and does not warrant any reduction in the rating.

OTHER
> If your bikes' top bars are of similar height, you can likely get by with only one lock for the bike arms. If the bikes are the same height, the top bike arm will likely sit so close to the bottom that the bottom one could not be lifted high enough to remove the bike anyway. However, if the two bikes are of dissimilar size, you might need two locks.
> Buy the locking anti-wobble hitch pin (sold separately). It's worth the piece of mind. Also buy a RATCHETING 7/8in crescent wrench to tighten it.
> The Hollywood Racks Sport Rider seems almost identical to this product. Check out both before purchasing.

-RM

Nice Sturdy Unit
Bought this bike rack to use on the back of our class c motorhome. The rack was very easy to assemble. I noticed right away the construction was superior to other racks I have looked at (this is a heavy rack) with all parts fitted and finished nicely. Look forward to many miles of use with this unit!

Allen 3-Bike Premium
She's sturdy. We drove 490 miles with it this weekend and it was great.
Easy installation, quick release allows it to fold down easily, and another quick release allows it to tilt out of the way for liftgate access.
Very satisfied.

Looks better than others but had to struggle a bit to mount it
Had to struggle a little bit to put it on my car (Honda Accord 2005, 4dr, LX).
My system:
400XTR Aero Rapid :
47" Aluminium Aero Bars : I feel these bars look better than the square and round black coated bars.
Thule set of 4 locks :

While the front side installed without much fight, the back side there was some struggle. With the help of a friend we were able to mount the whole rack system in 2 hours. However, before that I had spent 2 hours by myself and gave up. It fits too tight to the car, which is required and good. However, during the installation I felt there was no leeway in the spacing of rubber pads or the base (even a few millimeters). This means everything needs to be in right spots before you start to tighten the screws; otherwise one or other thing will not align later on and you will have to start again.
ex: if you tighten one of the 4 bases first thinking you will adjust the other end, it might not work; or probably later on the locks won't align.

I would recommend a 2 person installation rather than installing alone.


In the end, however the Aluminium bars look good on the car compared to the square or round coated bars.

Works great once installed!
Ordered the Thule Fit Kit for my 2000 Mercedes E430 Sport. Had a little trouble getting the kit installed w/ the Thule RB47 Rapid Aero Aluminum Roof Rack Load Bars and Thule 400XTR Aero Rapid Roof Rack Foot Pack, it was a bit of a struggle getting the screws locked in, since I was performing the install directly on the car roof. Once I took all the pieces off, connected the fit kit to the load bars and fit kit off of the car and then loaded all the pieces together it worked. I need to buy the Thule skirt so that it blocks out the wind noise while driving. While driving there are no issues - at around 75-80mph I had no issues.

Not bad at all
Installed on a 2007 Audi A4 sedan. Install went smoothly. Rack really looks great, much smoother than most. I also recommend the fairing.

Couple of tips for the DIYers:

1. You don't need to twist the foot handle until you break it when installing. If you bend the metal, you are doing something seriously wrong.
2. When putting the rubber weatherstripping in the load bars (do this after installing the feet and bars to your car), press them into the groove in the middle, then tamp down the ends (leave about 1/4" from the end of the bar clear of the weather stripping), then tamp it down evenly. Otherwise, you'll end up with rubber strip overhang that interferes with being able to put the endcaps on cleanly.
3. If you are putting locks on your rack, you can either punch out the holes in the handles first before putting the feet on the car, or you can punch the blank circles out when it is on top of the vehicle. If you choose the latter, have a pair of needlenose pliers available to fish the blanks out from inside the handles.
4. You need to push the handles in hard to close them after screwing them tight.
5. Attaching the fairing is simple. Assembling the fairing, while simple, is not easy. There is a step when you are required to push the middle anchors onto a clasp that requires significant hand strength. I'm a really big guy, and I found it very difficult. Point is, if you have a local bike shop that you can pay -30 for install, it is money well spent.

I like the system. Rackoutfitters had a complete setup for 8, including the load bars and the fit kit. Fairing was extra.

Design & Manufacturing Problems
Pros: Looks nice, aerodynamic. Cheaper than Yakima.
Cons: Shoddy quality. Cheaper than Yakima.

Used for 17' fiberglass kayaks.

To carry our touring kayaks, we purchased the Thule Aero system for our Prius, because it was significanly cheaper than the Yakima. To work properly, one needs to purchase the correct Fit Kit for the specific vehicle; this Fit Kit is attached to the foot with a plastic-handled bolt. The metal parts in the bolt handles bent during installation, and the cheap rivet holding one of the handles to its bolt sheared in two. There are plastic tabs in the handles that are supposed to fit into a slot on the Fit Kit parts, but 3 out of 4 tabs snapped off. Fortunately, the locks still manage to hold the handles onto the feet. The supplied measurements didn't work for our Prius, and we had to improvise.

Another disadvantage is that the aerodynamic bars need to be parallel with the ground, which doesn't happen if the vehicle's roof is curved (again, think Prius or VW bug.) This doesn't seem like an issue until the accessories are added to the bars, and they wind up tilted and not parallel front-to-rear. Since this results in only a single point of contact on the boat hull, this puts undue strain on the kayaks as well as the fittings holding the attachments to the bar. In this case, a round bar would work perfectly, as one could rotate the accessories until they're parallel and horizontal, supporting the boat across the entire pad. Due to the poor contact with the cradles, the boats are not secure while in the rack, and easily wobble 12" side-to-side. Plus, the amount of pressure needed on the straps to minimally hold the boat in the cradles deforms the hull. Bow/Stern tiedowns are crucial to avoid highway fly-aways.

We've got a Yakima rack on our pickup truck, and it works like a charm. I regret not purchasing a Yakima rack system for the Prius instead of Thule.

If you have a flat-roof vehicle, like a station wagon or SUV, the Thule Aero system would probably work very well for you. Curved roof, think round bars instead.

yakima Raptor Aero Rooftop bike rack
I have used yakima products for 20 years. This rack is one of the poorest made yakima racks I have ever owned

Excellent bike rack
Great bike rack! I like that I don't have to remove the front tire and it is still quite stable. I recommend this to anyone who doesn't like taking off the front tire to put their bike up.

Good quality but bulky and probably less aerodynamic.
I have been looking for a rack that fits my new 2010 Subaru Outback's slick factory crossbars. I was real disappointed in the lack of selection. This was one of the few that came ready for factory aero racks out of the box. Quality is good but the overall size of it with the mighty mounts is bulky. And mounting the bike makes the aesthetic even worse.

Not sure I would purchase again based on this fact. I would rather go for a fork mount. But finding a fork mount that supports factory racks is near impossible. The options all require the mighty mounts which add height and cannot be locked to the bar.

Best Roof Mount Rack for the Money
This roof mount rack by Yakima is the best rack for the money. Easy to install, not bad to assemble out of the package and hold our bikes excellent!

The only downfall in my opinion is that if you leave the racks in place without a bike for traveling they do not come with a strap/tiedown for the arm. It seems to ride well in the down position but still being able to "latch" it down seems to be a better option.

All together though this was the best roof mount rack of 4 brands we looked at.

great rack
Easy to assemble. Stable construction. Used it on a cross country road trip in our subaru wagon. worked great. Bikes stade nice and secure whipping down the highway. Would highly recommend for anyone who has rails already on there car so they don't have to spend extra cash on putting in yakima rails.

Works as advertised
Product worked very well and was fairly easy to mount. We got the 2 bike version but only mounted one bike and it rode very well, even though the car was very small. Due to our car geometry (Nissan Sentra) and large size of bike, we had to use the outer cradle to mount the bike as the inner cradle put the bike up against the trunk lid. However, we use ours only for one bike and it worked great. Made a 200 mile round trip with it and had no problems whatsoever.

Great bike rack at a good price
Transports our bikes perfectly. The bikes have not gotten marred and they do not sway at all. Held securely in place during our 500 mile trip. Not a single problem with this bike rack at all. I would highly recommend this to anyone thinking about getting a bike rack.

Not a very good quality rack.
I purchased this rack from my local bike shop about a year and a half ago. I liked that it was adjustable (I have a Nissan Maxima with a spoiler, which it just barely clears), and that it was cheap. I used it for a while with just one bike on it, and had no problems... at first.

A few months ago, I had my bike and my girlfriend's on it to go to the Grand Canyon from Santa Barbara, CA, which is about a 7 hour drive. On the way there, the saddles of the rack began to shift a bit on the poles they are attached to. I thought nothing of it until the drive home, when the bike in the rear-most position began wobbling noticeably in my rear-view mirror. I pulled over, and found that the saddles were slipping down the poles, working their way toward the ends. I had to take the bikes off three times on the drive and wrestle the saddles back to their normal positions. On a recent 10-hour drive, I had to tie my bike's seat post to the vertical pole on the rack so it wouldn't do the same thing. I no longer trust the rack with more than one bike on it, especially since I came home from the Grand Canyon with fresh pedal scratches all over the back of my car.

Another thing is that the rubber straps became too stretched out and began popping off their attachments. Another problem is that the weight of two bikes caused the rack to make a big depression in my bumper, which luckily popped out again once the bikes came off. You also can't really open your trunk with a bike on the rack, because you have to slam it really hard to get it to latch again with the rack hitting the bumper.

To sum up, I really don't like this rack, and I wish I had a trailer hitch or roof racks so I could get a real bike rack. Hollywood sucks.

Works great on my 2008 Elantra
Just a few minutes of fiddling got this mounted sturdily onto the trunk of my 2008 Elantra. It feels really secure, and my bike hardly jiggles at all, even at highway speeds. I can open my trunk with the rack attached, even with my bike on it!

The straps are much longer than I needed (to support bigger cars/SUVs), but I'm just going to cut them shorter.

Best trunk-mounted bike rack I've ever used (of course it can't compare with hitch-mounted ones).

Great Rack, Best for the Money!
I have used some of my friend's more expensive racks and really cannot see what makes them cost so much more. I use this rack on a 2000 Acura TL and it fits perfectly without leaving any dents or scratches. This rack is very sturdy, reliable, and setting it up for your car takes but a minute. The one thing about this rack is that I don't think it could hold two bikes. Not because it can't handle it, but because the second bike might be too close to your car if not on your car. That is just my observation. I have not had the need nor do I think I will have the need to use two bikes on it, but, if you do, then you might want to look around and see how it will fit on your car because two bikes would not fit on mine. Nonetheless, I give this rack five stars because it performs very well and covers my needs perfectly. It is just as sturdy and reliable as the higher priced racks so don't waste your money on anything else, this rack will do everything you need it to. I am very happy with it.