Swagman Standard Fork Mount Rooftop Bicycle Carrier for Secure Transportation

qcridder: the base section comes in 2 parts and it bends really easily, so be careful on installation. also if you have a hatchback be careful the back end of the swagman is not any where near the hatch when open, or it will dent your car1 be there done that!

Canada on Nov 26, 2023

Selim: Buen producto

Mexico on Oct 30, 2023

H. J.H. J.: My 2016 Toyota minivan has aerodynamic oval crossbars on the roof rack. I have a pair of expensive Thule fork mount bike trays that unfortunately do not fit those oval cross bars. Saw these at a third of the price of the Thules and thought I would give them a try. Well...
I really should have paid attention to previous reviewers.

After following the poorly written instructions (it was actually quite easy to figure out though), I climbed up to the minivan roof and realized the problems inherit of a bad design and manufacture. The edges of the steel plate that mounts the fork skewer are not rolled causing damage to the crossbars. Same with the two bolts that secure the plate to the wheel tray; they protrude below also causing damage to the crossbars.

Previous reviewers have offered their own creative solutions from door edge moulding to stuffing cardboard between the plate and crossbar. My fix was cutting a rectangle of an old car tire slightly larger than the plate and then drilling 4 holes to accommodate the hanger bolts (had to use a grinder with a diamond cutoff wheel). A lot of finagling to make these work with what could have been an easy...

United States on Aug 23, 2023

Amazon Customer: This is a really great product. Yes, it takes a little bit of assembly but performed spectacularly on a 600 mile ( round trip ) with my Giant road bike. It was windy on I 95 and the bike didn’t wobble at all. I personally like the fork mount because I think there is greater stability. Kudos to the Swagman team. I am really pleased.

United States on Aug 12, 2023

Jose Natan Suarez: Funciona muy bien, es algo complicado para armar y se siente un poco fragil, para usar con bicicletas de ruta preferentemente, dudaria para transportar una bicicleta mtb de aluminio por una mediana o larga distancia

Mexico on Oct 27, 2022

Rich LRich L: So this product is a great value. I'll cut to the chase. I saw several reviews where people put cardboard between it and the crossbars and couldn't figure out why. Here's the issue: the mounting plate is stamped sheet metal and the edges or turned down 90 degrees to allow for clearance of the crossbar. So the cardboard protects the crossbar from marring. The cardboard works but a better solution is car door edge guard. You can buy it at any automotive store for a few bucks and cut it with scissors and it has adhesive in the channel fpr an easy install. I attached a pic of the one I used. Overall the rack is good and will last for years. It isn't as pleasing on the eye as the high cost ones but since that doesn't concern me it's perfect. I can't give it 5 stars because I had to add the door edge so it wouldn't scratch my crossbars and I think the manufacturer should've had the insight to do that for you.

United States on May 08, 2022

Des (Okanagan, BC): I bought these bike carriers only to transport the bikes from point A to point B, over a 1,100 km distance. They won't be used again for several months. I would NOT USE THESE if I was an avid cyclist and out cycling the country frequently.
Let's start with cost efficiency, as applies to my use which may or may not be similar to other users. I'm towing an RV, so I'd either need a mod to use a hitch mounted bike carrier. Then I'd need at least a 2 bike hitch mounted carrier, as well. I already have roof mounted Thule rails with a roof cargo carrier in place. So for cost, the roof mounted rails looked like the cost effective solution.
The only questions I had here were; was there enough space on the rails to mount these bike carriers on either side of the cargo carrier, would I be able to haul the bikes up that high and place them without trashing my paintwork, and would the carrier be sturdy enough with winds, tight turns through mountain passes, and high winds? In a nutshell? Very pleasantly 'YES" to all three questions!
I actually did not assemble the bike carrier perfectly, but it still worked. During assembly, I thought, and still do think that...

Canada on Feb 08, 2021

Michael Higgs: The rack overall is a very simple design and works well. It is a little finicky to get setup up with the Thule Aeroblade roof rack but very solid when completed. I did have to purchase an adapter to fit my road bike with disc brakes. Hard to beat the price.

Canada on Jul 20, 2020

LibDancks: We bought two of these for a recent trip and found them easy-to-assemble, versatile and high-performing. Wind drag, buffeting of bikes and fuel economy were significantly better than with a previous back-of-car rack. The fork mounts were easy to operate and extremely secure; we drove 1100+ miles at speeds of 65-80 mph with no problems and minimal noise.
Some hints for installation (and suggestions for the seller):
(1) Slip a piece of hard rubber/plastic tube over each of the two U-bolts that go under the roof rack crossrail at the front of the bike rack; this cushions the point of contact against the crossrail and makes for better grip.
(2) Pad the underside of the front bracket; we used a small, stiff piece of carpet with rubber backing placed between the bracket and the top of the crossrail. Again, this cushions and improves grip; without it, the edges of the steel bracket and center attachment bolts will notch and possibly even damage an extruded aluminum crossrail when everything is tightened.
(3) Add lock washers between the two rear screw knobs and the flat bracket that they secure to the underside of the rear crossrail. This ensures that...

United States on Sep 09, 2019

Camazon Amustomers: I needed these really just for a single trip this summer. Bike rack compatibility with the car I was using (Audi) is notoriously fickle, so these were some of the only ones that fit and didn't cost a thousand bucks for a couple racks. The setup was fairly easy (the instructions are pretty bad, as others mentioned, but it's not hard to figure it out from the illustrations), and they were seriously strong, tight and secure. We put two bikes/racks on the roof, and could easily have fit a third rack/bike on top of the car (and probably even a fourth). Really flexible design that looks like it will work with just about any car. But the real reason I like these is they're cheap! I'm not buying a rack that costs more than my bikes! These are priced so well that it almost seems like there must be an issue with the quality, but these things feel bullet-proof and well built to me. Really glad I went with them.

United States on Aug 16, 2019