Allen Sports bike carrier

     For a while now I  have been looking for a new car carrier for my bikes.  I used an old Rhode Gear Cycle Shuttle for years.  It was good enough for my use and adapted to 5 different cars over the years.   When it finally fell apart I grabbed  a cheap imitation of the same design to get by while I perused the market.

    There were a lot of nice ones but Saris seemed to be the one everybody loved.  The only part I didn't like was that they, like the Rhode Gear, are just difficult and time consuming to adjust. Once you had it adjusted to fit a car, you had a choice, leave it on the car or a have it in the way in the garage.
    I mentioned to my friend Chad at Getaway Sports that I was looking for a Saris, but when I told him I rarely carry two bikes, he showed me an interesting alternative.

Allen Sports makes a very compact, virtually "universal" rack which is easy to adjust and can be stored in the trunk of the car.  I comes in it's own little bag with carrying straps,

I looks a little weird all folded up and Chad got a kick out of watching me fumble with it,

but once you find all the hinges and buttons to push it unfolds into a simple and very strong unit.

This is simple because, once you figure out how to unfold it, it will fit about any car in a jiffy

because the only adjustments needed are the straps to hold it in place.  The little red feet on the top tubes
automatically adjust to the angle of the trunk lid or the hatchback.

Finally the top tubes extend to make room for a second bike when necessary.  After loading a bike on and securing it in the rubber fortified holders with the web straps,

the bottom strap is attached under the bumper and pulled secure.  At first glance, the bike seems to sit very low, but the tire bottoms are higher than the bottom of the bumper, so unless you bottom out the suspension on a regular basis, the bike will not get bunged up.

It has a nice rubberized protector to keep the ugly old gas guzzler from inadvertently scratching your beautiful bike.
   I am really impressed with this, it's very strong, well made and, if you are like me and only use it occasionally, it's great to fold it up and throw it in the trunk when you don't need it.

So you don't need to be driving around with a complicated ugly pimple on the backside of your car on those rare moments when you drive.
    At $100, it's about 30% cheaper than the Saris two bike holder, and it's a lot simpler to use.