I used the Bike Bag II for a flight with a 54cm road bike. The bike fit everything well, instructions were good, and I also used youtube videos for understanding how best to pack. I only needed to remove the wheels and handlebars. I added some foam padding to the frame & padding around the rear derailleur, rathe than remove it, which some guidance recommended.
All packed, I was under the 50 lb weight limit for luggage. The bike was well protected to both legs of the trip. I would recommend this bag: it was fairly easy to pack, everything wit & worked well & it was easy to transport with the wheels.
My first hitch rack after years of roof mounts so I can't comment on how it compares to other hitch racks. My spouse refuses to deal with this thing blocking her access to the rear lift gate so we only plan to keep it on for travel. Thus, easy REMOVAL was really important to us. Initially I was quite concerned with the weight, but I've had no trouble as you can carry it easily by the bike trays and similarly leverage it to remove from the hitch. No folding beyond what it does on your car so plan a little storage space if it will spend a lot of time OFF your car. Mounting and removing bikes is utter simplicity. Also love that the holding arms for each bike are independent and allow you to shift each bike in one direction or the other to reduce contact with pedals, bars, etc' simple. You need to crank down on those arms too so that you minimize movement. Lean into it pulling both sides together toward the middle for max leverage!! Also, if you have an auto with sophisticated backup collision avoidance, this rack (probably all of them) may cause fits for those systems. After much frustration over a few days, we found a way to temporarily disable ours. Check forums and manuals ahead to be prepared! Hitch mount is very solid, no movement, easy to tighten down in seconds after you attach to the auto. Not sure if all racks secure the hitch, but this one does have a nice pass-through bolt with a lock that would not be easily compromised. I also like the included cable lock that secures the bikes to the rack. Obviously not high security, but for a quick run into a restaurant or store on your next trip, it should do fine. Highly Recommend. Undoubtedly will outlast my car!!!
I have two of these racks for my, and my wife's, bikes that have fenders. They it much easier to stow the bikes compared to the hook style rack we used to use. My wife had a hard time lifting her bike up on the hook, so the Steadyrack was a big improvement. These are road bikes with 28mm tires and full fenders. The racks fit great.
First let me say this rack is nice. The instructions were lacking in blow up pictorials of placing the cradles and sleeves for the locking arms on.....if you buy it you will see what I mean. The hardware bag with all the bolts should be labeled to sizing as some look alike. Small things in all reality but if you have put together as many racks as I have you generally can sort it fairly quick. This system could have been designed and space between bikes about 1" more per bike for a total of 3" to make sure nothing on a bike touches another......but it does slightly. But overall......a decent rack. Look for them on sale as they do hit sub $500 at times. Would I buy again......sure.
I discovered the hitch receiver cam tightener to eliminate play in the hitch. Awesome feature as at first when I placed into my receiver hitch on the RV it wobbled a bit and I thought this is lacking! Then I went back to the directions and it was printed as to this feature I just overlooked it upon assembly....LOL
Still 4.5 stars due to large cradle lack of more adjust ability to accommodate different styles of bikes without rubbing. As you see I gave it 5-stars overall, but in all reality deserves 4.5 for the fact they could have made the distance between the cradles a tad wider to be extra sure no bikes touch as to handlebars. Dealbreaker???? No.......just know unless you have a narrow width handlebar system your mountain bikes will more than likely touch if you load three! Road bikes, no problem!
