I was flabbergasted by the price of hitch mounted bike racks. I purchased the Retrospec based on the description and the price and have no regrets. I recently met a friend in a parking lot to travel together to a mountain bike trailhead. We decided to use my rack because it was so much easier to use than the rack he had that cost four times as much.

The Retrospec was easy to assemble. All the parts matched up well. The rack is sturdy and easily supports the weight of two adult bikes loaded with accessories. I like the saddles that the top tubes of the bikes fit into. They have super strong stretchy rubber that pulls over the tube and pops over a square top post. I would feel confident that these alone would secure the bike but I use a few bungee cords just to be safe.

The rack fit my 2” receiver with no problem. It has an interesting threaded pin that screws into the side of the receiver preventing it from coming loose or rattling in the receiver. There is a reusable cotter pin that slides through a hole in the opposite side to further prevent loosening or loss. I did find that I had trouble lining up the hole in the rack with the hole in the receiver (sliding too far in or not enough) but came up with an easy solution. I took some colored electrical tape and wrapped it around the rack bar that slides into the receiver so it was tight against the edge of the receiver. Now I just slide the reach in up to the tape.

I can’t imagine how some reviewers had problems with this rack. If you assemble it properly and take some standard precautions (checking tightness and connections etc.) it is very sturdy. This is an excellent value for the price.

For the price, it's a pretty alright bike rack. It's easy to install, it's not too heavy, it leans forward plenty far enough to be able to get into the tailgate, and it holds the bikes fine. If you have a larger bike or one with bigger tires, you might need something that can get taller, as my husband's XXL bike ended up hanging down quite low. That said, it's still possible to get two bikes on comfortably, even a woman's or other step-through bike. The straps are sturdy but you have to tighten the braces a LOT if you don't want the back bike to wiggle closer to the vehicle and scrape the brake bar on the back window (we learned from experience.) Overall, it's not the greatest thing out there, there are parts I wish were a little better, but it's going to get your bikes from here to there safely.

This is a great one. Still using it after 3 years.

Perfect replacement bike rack for the old Chevy one that used to be on our RV when we had eBikes

In my opinion, this rack has a serious design flaw.

I bought it to transport a brand-new Trek mountain bike on a 1,000+ mile road trip. I have experience with both mountain bikes and car racks, and I took several precautions: I had a hitch receiver installed, used a heavy-duty hitch riser to keep the wheels clear of my exhaust pipes, and completed multiple test drives. On departure day, I carefully checked every connection and strapped the bike in with the provided rubber straps.

Only a few miles into freeway driving, after hitting a pothole, one strap cracked and another detached from its mount. The bike came loose and ended up in the middle of the interstate. Luckily, I was able to recover it safely, and no one was hurt. I then brought the bike back home secured with heavy-duty zip ties instead of the straps.

When I later showed the rack to a local shop and described what happened, the owner immediately recognized the brand and said this wasn’t the first time he’d heard of such an issue.

Based on my experience, I cannot recommend this rack for transporting a bike.

Very easy to assemble and fits on my RAM 1500 hitch. Easy to remove. It can wobble a little bit in the hitch when going over bumps but this is like any other hitch. Great for the price too and can hold two bikes without any issues.

It wobbles a lot. Can’t complain much for the price point of the product. It’s not too heavy, fully installed with a bike wasn’t too bad. Unfortunately the pin that goes to the hitch doesn’t seem to stop the rattle. Might just be my luck. Easy to remove and install. If it wasn’t for the pin malfunction I would give it another star.