Saris Freedom 2-Bike Hitch Rack – Universal Fit for All Bike Types, 1¼" & 2" Receivers, 120 lb Capacity, Compact Design, Secure Ratcheting Straps

Very sturdy, very simple. Easy to put together and easy to use. Folds up and locks to minimize extra space at the back of the vehicle for parking and maneuvering. Also, a very cool feature allows it to fold down at an angle when loaded with bikes so you can access a rear hatch w/o unloading the rack. Holds bikes very securely w/o any wobble or damage from bikes rubbing up against each other or the rack. All tire trays and frame cradles are completely adjustable, so you can fit most bikes and frame sizes pretty easily. We have 4 mountain/hybrid bikes. Saris makes replacement parts for everything and also has trays that support fat tire bikes if you need them. It is made for a 2 inch hitch receiver. My hitch is a 1.25. I purchased an adapter and 2 hitch tighteners (really just modified clamps) so I could use this. Place one tightener where the adapter meets the hitch and the other where the rack is inserted into the adapter and the whole assembly is rock solid. No rattle, sway, or other movement. You will not be able to quickly remove the rack if you do this, since you have to loosen up both tighteners before you can remove the rack and the adapter, but for me it is definitely worth the extra time to have the stability. With the rack folded, it really doesn't bother me, so I just leave it attached in that position. I've been driving around with it for a few months now and have had zero issues with parking lots, garages, or even those tight spiral ramps in the multi-level garages. The worst things, which for me are pretty minor: 1. 2 seconds of inconvenience to tilt the rack out of the way to load/unload groceries and gear from the rear of the car and then fold it up again. 2. If you are addicted to a backup camera or have proximity sensors on your car, they will go crazy since there is always something back there when you are in reverse. I can still see what's back there in my camera, so not really a big deal for a couple of seconds to back out of a spot. 3. It does stick out over a foot beyond the back of your car when folded (maybe 2 feet with an adapter). However, unless you have a monster SUV or a truck, you really shouldn't run into too many space problems. I have a mid-size SUV (7 seats) and haven't had any issues. 4. There are no good instructions for how to load the bikes into the rack. Notes: The cradle that holds the bike frame tube can be a bit dicey to figure out the first time and you have to manage the pedal position on each bike to avoid contact and damage during transport. I have mine loaded with the handlebars on the bike closest to the car on the driver's side. After alternating the direction of each bike loaded after that and some initial adjustments, everything fits very well. You do have to play with it a bit and it is helpful if there are 2 people working with it for the initial load. Once you have a system figured out and positions set, it is quick and easy for 1 person as long as you are strong enough to lift and steady a bike by yourself. Summary: This tray is MUCH better than those hanging racks that can have bikes swinging in the wind or have hanger failure problems. If you care about your bikes or your car, you need to get a tray rack. This rack is well designed, sturdy, and easy to use. Add hitch pin locks, a plastic coated cable and lock that can thread through all your bikes and you are good to go for road trips or a vacation that might require you to leave the bikes and hitch unattended occasionally. I definitely would recommend it for any multi-bike family.

I haven’t had a chance to use the rack yet, but I was impressed with it as assembling it. It did arrive with a broken saddle. My initial reaction was that this was not a big deal, the manufacturer will ship me a new one. They are refusing warranty service as they indicated that the product was not purchased through an authorized retailer. It came from a third party seller, new, through amazon. Amazon is standing behind the purchase and is shipping me a replacement rack, i will have to return the unused rack after swapping out broken parts. All will be fine in the end, but definitely disappointed in Saris support. I saw another reviewer with similar complaints. It seems like a great product for the price, just beware that the service from Saris is lacking.

Generally high quality, sturdy and easy to assemble and use. It's quite heavy, but still installable by one person. The lever to lower the rack with the bikes in place is a great feature. Takes a bit of set up initially to put the clamps in the right place for your bikes, after that it's easy to use. Better for the bikes and easier to load than the racks that hang by the frame. Nevertheless, it's not perfect. We had a problem with the spring loaded pins that secure the upright arms. On its first outing one lost its plastic end, which left the bare metal to scratch the paint. The other would not secure properly (I don't think it's necessary to provide much lateral stability, but still, it should stay put). I believe that there is not enough depth in the hole that the pin slots into and the rounded plastic end exacerbates this making it easy to come unlocked. However, Amazon and Saris' customer service was first rate. Amazon offered a return and the money back or a *significant* discount if I kept it. Meanwhile Saris sent replacement U-sections and plastic caps. So far the new U-section locks into place satisfactorily though I'm not 100% sure that a small amount of wear won't cause a repeat of the issue. In summary, I had some problems with this rack 'out of the box' but Amazon and Saris stand behind their products and made every effort to put things right.

I researched so many 4 bike racks for over 3 months. This one has the tilt down feature with bikes loaded, and a hitch pin lock and a bike cable lock (sold as accessory). This was the lightest and the smallest footprint rack for carrying 4 bikes without. I compared the 4 bike rack ones with push down clamps the frames, and even the Saris Superclamp version that clamps on the tires. The ones that clamp on frames did not come with tilt down feature and the ones with clamp on tires had the risk of coming loose when tire pressure goes down. This rack caught my attention at first but I was holding on from ordering because some reviews said it was difficult to put the first (the heaviest one) bike close to the car, as you have to lift, that the heaviest bike over the mast and set it on the rack. Finally I made up my mind and bought this. I am glad I made the decision. It is really a sturdy rack. Very solid and holds all the bikes tight and snug. Installation of the rack itself is very easy. But installing the bikes for the first time takes lots of adjusting. I had to have my wife come and hold it a couple of times. The bike that goes on last was not aligning easily, when I had to use the base boots marked A & B the right way as per the installation manual. We had two kids bike (both 16inch) and the tires wouldn't sit well on the base boots. So, I reversed the position of the boots opposite of A & B, and it worked perfect. Now the CG of both the bikes together is in the center of the rack and tires sat well. Once I had al 4 bikes well positioned, I tightened all the clamp positions tight, and from here on, putting on or taking out the bikes took 30 seconds per bike. It was that easy, and I always felt secure. I don't even feel the need to put on extra straps like you have to do on some of the 4 bike racks that hang from the top. Ofcourse, with 4 bikes loaded, the tilt down feature works. But we have to be careful. One person has to hold the rack as you lift gently and then unlock it to lower it, the weight of 4 bikes is quite heavy. The beauty was, when I lowered it to ground, the rack clears the liftgate of the Audi Q5 a lot. There is so much room. And the rack never touches the ground either. When it is folded up, depending on which way you fold the mast on the first set of racks close to the car. The mast comes close to the bumper. So I folded otherway and had it latched beyond the bracket slot (as shown in middle picture) and the mast for the second set of bikes that comes on the top folded to the right side that way it clears the bumper fully. The differences between this rack and that of the expensive ones in the market are: 1) foot print is compact. Expensive ones are long and when folded up, it can be as high as the SUV itself. But this one is only half the height. 2) Easy and secure on the frames (the straps seems to be smooth enough). 3) The latch sound is solid metal. Some of the expensive ones may be plastic/aluminum like sound, but you compromise on price and size. The only concerns I have are - how long will the plastic parts be durable. There are some reviews that say they broke. In my case it doesn't look like it will as I handle it safely. If these plastic parts lasts a lifetime or if Saris stands behind its durability, then I will say this would be the best, most compact, lightweight, easy to handle 4 bike rack in the market now. Another sweet addition would be, tail lamps on the rack itself with a connector that you can connect to the trailer outlets in the hitch. This would prevent anyone bumping into you at night if the bikes were dark in color. But I put the brightest kids bike at the far outward.

I may change my review to a more favorable rating after I've used this rack a few times. I've gone through three different bike rack assemblies now, and this one was by far the easiest to put together. I really do not like the plastic "cups" and don't trust them to hold the weight of my ebike, even though my bike meets the weight limit for this rack. I also found out that the 2.5 tire cups do not fit my bike. Other 2.5 ones did -- so I had to order (at a cost of $50 more) Saris's extra wide tire wheel holders. If you are only carrying one bike or you have two bikes of different weight, you must put the heavier bike on the inside mount -- closer to the car. It is really, really difficult, unless you have two people, to get the bike onto the inside mount. I like the heavy metal frame but I am extremely nervous about those plastic wheel holders. If that plastic cracks, you are going to lose your bike. I really wish those were metal. There is little support at the top part of the bike to hold it in place. I'm going to be doing a lot of extra strapping with Velcro straps to help insure the bike stays in place. In summary, I'm really nervous about this rack, especially with an ebike.

[February 19, 2016] I have owned this rack for about two biking seasons so far. I take it off sometime in the winter and reinstall it back on in the spring. Removing the rack is quite easy and is a one man job. Putting it back on, for some, may require two people but is definitely doable with one. So far this rack has held up well even considering the fact I do leave it on well into the midwestern winter. Part of one of the plastic tire rest has broken off but not enough that it isn't usable. Twice I noticed that the empty rack has down from its upright position while driving. I don't know why this happens (maybe it already was in the down position for all I know). But I haven't noticed any part that could become a future failure point. So far I still love this rack and has served its purpose carrying around multiple bikes around. [May 27, 2014] This spring I decided that I needed to upgrade from my trunk strapped bike rack to a something that could fit 3 kids and 1 adult bike. Researching this, I found that only hitch mounted racks where the bikes sits but not hangs were the only way to go for kids bikes. I didn't consider roof mounted racks. Thule and Yakima had offered options I was strongly considering but I decided to go with the Saris even though I didn't really see many reviews compared to the other brands. It was easily the cheapest at $400 and the fact it was made in the USA, made the decision over the other brands so much easier. Positives: Solidly built. Doesn't shake when driving. Easy to place bikes on rack, though it is a little tight when fitting four bikes. Rack, even when filled with bikes, can be lowered to access my Toyota Highlander's rear door. Folds away neatly. Reasonably priced. Made in USA. Negatives: I had to install a hitch on my SUV. That is not really a true negative but it did add $200 to the total. The instructions to put the bike rack together is actually quite horrendous. A 30 minute job became a 1.5 hour job. I wish it came with locks to secure the bikes to the rack and secure the rack to the hitch. I bought a Saris hitch lock and locking cable to do that job. That added about $50. It won't protect against professional thieves but will hopefully deter against the occasional delinquent. It adds quite some length to my SUV when folded out but that is expected when you plan to haul around 4 bikes. Overall: Being my only hitch mounted bike rack, I really can't compare it to anything else. It works great for what it does. It carries my niece and nephews bikes conveniently and securely. I do not feel that its going to come apart on the highway. It is solidly built and well priced. Would definitely recommend. Will hopefully update this review sometime in the fall.

We recently purchased a 53 lb "commuter" ebike with a step through frame and fenders. Our existing rack can not carry such a bike so I went looking for a new one. I have many requirements. 1. Support for both a 1.25" and 2" hitches (I have vehicles with both) 2. Support for the e-bike with the weight, step through frame and fenders being notable challenges 3. Support for carbon fiber frames 4. Support for a few other bikes I have I spent hours doing research and was nearly convinced that a rack that could do everything I wanted did not exist. Then I ran across this Saris. I'm happy to say that everything on my wishlist is fulfilled! Of course no rack is perfect and this one has its own pros and cons: Pros: 1. Sturdy. Loaded up with the ebike and another bike, this rack is solid. There is some axial movement when going over bumps but it's not worrying to me. 2. Bikes are held very securely but also gently. I really like the tire straps and the fact that most of the bikes weight is supported by it's tires. The holders are nicely designed and interface the bike with soft surfaces. 3. Lightweight. At only 21 lbs, this rack is easy to install and carry around. My 1.25" hitch is only class 1 (100 lbs max weight) so the 21lbs avoids cutting too much into the weight budget for that hitch.. Cons: 1. Getting the heavy ebike into the (recommended) back position requires some strength. I fold down the center bar which helps a lot but still I'd say any bike being put in the back position will need to be held at chest height for 30 seconds to a minute or more. 2. It was quite a puzzle getting everything to fit the first time. The tire holders need to be slid into the best positions and the center support is too short to reach the horizontal bar of my road bike. The tire holders are also a bit close to the center bar and to each other, meaning that there are possible interference issues with the center bar and the bikes. I was able to puzzle through it all and have a satisfactory solution. Now that everything is where I decided to put it, the bikes go on very quickly. 3. The shape of the rack makes it a bit awkward to store. I put up some storage hooks that are getting the job done but I wouldn't call it a tidy package when off the car. Overall, I'm very satisfied with this rack.

Good rack, easy to use, relatively easy to adjust. Once your particular bike load situation is adjusted the first time, easy to just pop the bikes on and go. Works with a variety of sizes, from 29" bikes to kids 12" bikes. The mounting system for the downtube holder, though, is fatally flawed - the rotating holder is held on by a single bolt, which rotates loose either through adjusting the downtube holder (which will happen every time you mount a bike) or through vibrations on the road. Eventually, the holder will separate from the stand and the bike will be free to rotate around the wheel holders. This happened to us on the interstate - a bump in the road caused the outboard bike to pop free from the stand, and flopped to its side. Fortunately, the wheel holders held, but the bike was dragged along on its handlebar, grinding it down considerably, until we were able to pull over and make repairs. Using a threadlocker to keep the bolt in place would mean losing the ability to adjust the downtube holder - a no-go, especially if you occasionally haul friends' bikes, etc. We will be replacing every bolt in the downtube holder system with a cottered pin, so that the holder is free to rotate, but cannot fall off the unit. It's a particularly glaring design flaw in an otherwise excellent system. In the meantime, double-check every bolt in yours every time you use it, and consider doing road checks every couple of hours to make sure the downtube holder is secure. Alternately, use a security strap to hold the bikes independently to the roof rack, so when the holder fails, bikes won't tip over. Doing this really slows down loading/unloading, but is more secure.