Swagman Standard Fork Mount Rooftop Bike Carrier

Paint deteriorated less than year old. Metal fully rusted. Have no confidence in its strength now to support my bike

منتاز

We bought two of these for a recent trip and found them easy-to-assemble, versatile and high-performing. Wind drag, buffeting of bikes and fuel economy were significantly better than with a previous back-of-car rack. The fork mounts were easy to operate and extremely secure; we drove 1100+ miles at speeds of 65-80 mph with no problems and minimal noise. Some hints for installation (and suggestions for the seller): (1) Slip a piece of hard rubber/plastic tube over each of the two U-bolts that go under the roof rack crossrail at the front of the bike rack; this cushions the point of contact against the crossrail and makes for better grip. (2) Pad the underside of the front bracket; we used a small, stiff piece of carpet with rubber backing placed between the bracket and the top of the crossrail. Again, this cushions and improves grip; without it, the edges of the steel bracket and center attachment bolts will notch and possibly even damage an extruded aluminum crossrail when everything is tightened. (3) Add lock washers between the two rear screw knobs and the flat bracket that they secure to the underside of the rear crossrail. This ensures that the knobs won't fall off and get lost (which would happen if they were to become loose). Overall, this is a well-designed, economical and high-performing rack. Bravo! (Background: installed with 2018 VW Sportwagon, using OtheryaCargo 54" crossrails).

I bought these bike carriers only to transport the bikes from point A to point B, over a 1,100 km distance. They won't be used again for several months. I would NOT USE THESE if I was an avid cyclist and out cycling the country frequently. Let's start with cost efficiency, as applies to my use which may or may not be similar to other users. I'm towing an RV, so I'd either need a mod to use a hitch mounted bike carrier. Then I'd need at least a 2 bike hitch mounted carrier, as well. I already have roof mounted Thule rails with a roof cargo carrier in place. So for cost, the roof mounted rails looked like the cost effective solution. The only questions I had here were; was there enough space on the rails to mount these bike carriers on either side of the cargo carrier, would I be able to haul the bikes up that high and place them without trashing my paintwork, and would the carrier be sturdy enough with winds, tight turns through mountain passes, and high winds? In a nutshell? Very pleasantly 'YES" to all three questions! I actually did not assemble the bike carrier perfectly, but it still worked. During assembly, I thought, and still do think that for the same price a slightly stronger gauge metal should have been used on the bike carrier rail. Also, the rail width could/should be 1 cm or so wider, the plastic end caps do not clip/lock into place and only slide on. I have already lost one, so the others have been glued in with an industrial silicone. I was very pleased, though also quite skeptical at the start of my trip that the front wheel fork mount would be sturdy enough, but it certainly was, through a fair amount of uneven and mildly bumpy road surfaces! 1,100 kms of driving through mountain passes in harsh winter conditions and high winds were absolutely not an issue. I was very uncomfortable that the rail on which the rear tire of my mountain bike sat had twisted slightly due to the 26x1.75" tire size not being able to contact the base of the rail. I have 12" straps with eyes on each end I used as straps for the rear wheels. I then attached the 12" straps to a ratchet strap I ran over the cargo carrier, with a very light tension, simply to keep the tire in the rail and also support the bike rail to prevent it from bending downwards due to pressure over rough or bumpy road surfaces. I think this helped a lot! The supplied straps are TOO SHORT and don't suffice but for bikes with thinner tires. Not enough thought put into this by the designer. All said and done, I got great value out of these for someone who would only need them for fairly infrequent use.

Buen producto, me traje mi bici en carretera y no hubo problemas, tengo 2 meses con el y sigue intacta a pesar de lluvias