Gadgetory

hey everyone and welcome to another review by Jim's review room today we'll be looking at the Allen Sports trunk mount 2-bike rack model 102 DB well look into the bike racks construction and style specifications and features and lastly my pros and cons on its performance and usage so glad to get this review out here I was meant to do it two weeks ago but the entire northeast two weeks ago was just having a bunch of rain and even some spots snow in the middle or late April but I finally got about to go out to the trails this past weekend on Sunday and was able to get this tested so let's get started here I purchased this bike rack from amazon.com for 37 dollars and 75 cents about two months ago and finally mounted this this past weekend check Amazon for the current pricing when I did the unboxing the price went up to about I think $50 or so and I just checked it today which is May 1st 2012 and surprisingly it's for $34 so it's always jumping up and down this continually check on it the construction itself it's aluminum tubing a beliefe and it's in black certain areas are protected with a black vinyl or rubber end caps as well it carries two bikes and designed to fit most vehicles and you can check out their website Allen sports usa.com to find the compatibility list on there for your make and model of your vehicle some exterior features it does have fabric tie-downs which I found worked out pretty well the fabric tie-downs are found to clamp to the upper part of the trunk mount and as well as the bike rests as well there's foam cushions that are used to support the rack when resting on the vehicle which I found was ample enough and a very soft and cushiony the products itself weighs about 8.6 pounds so I usually start off with the pros but I want to start off with the cans this time well in general the product yes it does work just get that out the way it does work but the number one issue that I have or had with this product was just having peace of mind this probably just personal opinion but with any bike rack while in transport the bike does bounce a little bit you know when it's on the road you know the wind kind of shakes it a little bit especially when you're in the highway but just looking at his construction you can see how small this bike rack is and look at the upper mount that touched the trunk and then the bottom arm that touches my rear bumper and you can see the distance the expansion is not as wide as I would like or as you would see with other bike racks again it did carry my bike however I have to admit I was a little bit nervous like I said once I was on the highway a second flaw is the first bike support that is closest to the trunk the first mount that is close to trunk it's too close and the other bike racks that I've looked at I've noticed now that the mount is a little bit further away from the resting point of where the arm pivots I'll most likely draw a circle on the video here for you it's a little bit too close and in turn the the bike frame the wheels they have more of a potential chance to rub against the bumper and just cause damages to your vehicle I also made it a little bit harder to mount because the bike does hit the other supports so a little bit tough there now when you do put your bike on be sure to tie your front wheel to your bike's frame so the front handlebars don't wobble while in transit going to the trails is fine after I tied it down but on my way back I assumed that it wasn't tight enough and I did scratch my rear bumper unfortunately but to be honest that's more of user error and just a tip for any bike rack that you eventually may choose though another tip in general weather this it's this bike rack or another tie down the pedal I noticed on the highway you know when you're traveling you know 60 70 miles an hour the wind blows the rear wheel will actually start spinning backwards and in turn will cause the pedals to spin backwards as well and while it was spinning spreading quite fast it could you know one jolt one bump could cause that pedal just to land right on top of the bumper and cause it scratch so fortunately didn't have that issue but again tie the pedal to the frame of the bike to the rear wheel or I don't maybe to the frame of the bike rack itself so that way the pedal doesn't spin freely as with most bike racks it does fit most cars but it almost didn't fit the the bike my track is a standard mountain buy again if you have like a specialized bike the brand specialized the frame is a bit more unique and you might not be able to fit it on the rack and same with female bikes I read other reviews if you do have a female bike where the construction is a little bit different you may need to buy an adapter to have that fitted because of its horizontal bar that is different from the male bikes it may not fit but again this does apply to most bike racks so it's not a flaw of just this one bike rack I just need to make sure that's clear I regard the pros again it works and it did transport my bike for over an hour and I was on the highway at the speed limit 65 I was doing 65 to 70 miles an hour the straps are fabric and I believe this will hold better than most of the other plastic or rubber mounts that will eventually crack and dry over time and you may see on other bike racks the metal place didn't scratch my car where it was clipped to the trunk lid I moved them side-to-side and I did take the risk out myself however it did leave black marks and the paint and I did I thought those were to scratch though they excuse me I thought those were scratches but I rubbed them with a little bit of water my hands and my fingers and I came right off so thank goodness that my trunk was not scratched from those mountains but as long as the straps are tight the plates shouldn't move I would highly suggest probably wrapping the metal plates with black electrical tape to prevent any movement that may potentially scratch a car at least I'm going to do that on my end on that that's it for the pros and cons so is this a buy is it a try or does it not buy at all I truly believe it's worth a try and especially if you're planning to buy a cheaper bike rack compared to the others at either your local Walmart or even on amazon.com between 35 to 45 dollars or so our reviewed items before in general not just bike racks but other products that are cheaper and lower priced and I mean they worked out great so this is in the Middle where I'm a bit worried because of its small construction but I read a lot of reviews where people have driven across several states drove several hours and had no problems at all and they were fine with it so again for me it's me personally it's my opinion it's for peace of mind and it works as it should and I like the straps on that it does what it needs to do me personally I might spend an additional whopping $80 I guess just in case and just get the bones bike rack the clearance and those are very good in the supporting arms looks very well placed tons of clearance and that just give me the peace of mind that my bike won't fly off in the highway or if I have to make a sudden jolt you know left you know when I'm turning left or right if I have to make like a sudden move the bike rack isn't gonna you know I don't know twitch too much as it should the more than it should I guess so I hope this helps you out here like I said it's more on my personal preference you can take it as your discretion mmm give it a try Walmart you can try if you're not satisfied with it you can always return it but this is my review so I hope you enjoyed this review of the Alen sport trunk mount 2-bike rack model 102 DB and if you haven't had a chance to take the time to like it or subscribe to this video for feature alerts and new products and this is Jimmy from Jim's review room take care everyone bye