Back many years ago when I had a large car, a 1979 Cutlass Salon (I loved that car!) -I could stuff four 10-speeds into the trunk. I also used an el cheapo bike carrier that attached to the trunk of the car and it worked fine for my next car, a Chevy Lumina with a spoiler. But even with extra padding and protection it would leave a few micro-scratches sometimes, and I was never too keen on attaching something to the back of my car with a bunch of straps, and then hanging something off that something with more straps and driving along at highway speeds.
When I got my new car, a Honda Accord coupé with the spoiler, the old bike carrier would no longer work because the spoiler was too big and in the wrong position for the bike carrier to clear. Eventually I just decided it was just as easy to take off the handlebars on my bike as well as the seat and stuff it in the trunk. The Accord has a deceptively large trunk but it still took some maneuvering to get the bike inside, and careful positioning so no cables got bent and nothing got scratched. In short - it was a pain in the rear to do.
Later I got a new and much nicer road bike I decided I sure as hell wasn't going to dissassemble the new bike every time I wanted to transport it somewhere.
Fortunately my biking skills slowly got better and I could expand the range of my trips to actually ride to some of the places where I used to take my bike to in or on a car.
Eventually I started getting sick of riding the same roads, even though I was getting some good distances.
Get another trunk mount bike carrier? I know there were a number that would fit the Honda Accord with the spoiler, though many wouldn't. But I really didn't want to strap the thing to the back of the car and then strap a bike to it and take the chance of scratching or denting the car, and worrying constantly about the thing hanging off the back of the vehicle.
Roof-top mount? First I would either have to have permanent or temporary roof racks for the car, then I would have to get the actual roof mount bike carrier. Maybe take the front wheel off every time I wanted to put the bike on (some do, some don't), but at the very least I'd have to sling it up on top of the car, taking a chance of it scratching the top of the car while I was securing it, breaking a window, or scratching the bike. And then the bike is sticking up there, higher than the car; a bit vulnerable. Seemed like a lot of trouble and extra money.
I had previously traded the old trunk-mount bike carrier that wouldn't fit on the Honda for a hitch-mount bike carrier (thank you Craigslist) that would fit on my wife's Ford Edge.
My new Motobecane Mirage Sport Road Bike SEEMED to fit on the older model Hollywood Racks.
But because of the exposed cables on the underside of the top tube of my bike and their positioning this was the first and last time I ever placed my bike on this carrier. And I had to do a little straightening of the pinched cable the the horizontal bars of the carrier bent.
So despite lots of research and discussion that I had read about it - I discovered first-hand that bike carriers with the two bars that the top bar of the bike hang from can pinch or crimp the shifting cable and/or brake cable on some bikes. Mostly the ones where the cable travels under or is angled to the side of the top tube - and especially if it is an exposed cable. But even cable that has the plastic/metal mesh covering over it can get pinched or pulled when you are putting the bike on, taking it off, or just from the movement of the bike on the carrier if it's not secured tightly.
Also, for women's bike, kids bikes, and some mountain bikes the top tube of the bike's frame may be angled down or be quite low so you may not be able to get certain bikes on a bike carrier of this type without getting an add-on bar adapter. And you would need one for each bike that didn't have a straight bar across the top.
Some people have luck putting certain bikes on this kind of carrier anyway, with the bike angled or hanging down on one side. But you really have to be aware of how far the bike is going to hang if it's close to the ground and how well the whole thing is going to be secured in this position. And consider that if you go up over a steep hill, edge, or something like that the rear of your vehicle will momentarily get even closer to the ground, and thusly if a part of the bike is hanging low it's conceivable something may touch.
So you really have to do some research and use your head when it comes to buying a bike carrier, there are so many different kinds and you really have to be aware of how your bike(s) will be going onto the carrier and what you need for the particular bike(s) that you will be putting on it. Not only do you need to fit the carrier to your vehicle and to your preferences, but you have to make sure your bike(s) fit it as well; safety and securely and without damaging the bikes or even the vehicle.
So anyway, since the old carrier wasn't suitable for my new bike I sold the mondo heavy-duty Hollywood Racks carrier via Craigslist and looked into what I would need for a new bike carrier.
The new bike carrier would have to fit both the hitch that would be installed on my car (being a light car the only hitch option was a one and a quarter inch Class I hitch, fine for me since I wasn't planning on towing anything nor carrying anything heavy on the hitch) as well as the one on my wife's Ford Edge, which has a two-inch Class II hitch.
After much research, thought, measuring, and reading of a lot of biking discussion boards (like the excellent BikeForums.net) - I bought a Swagman XC Cross-Country 2-Bike Hitch Mount Rack (for 1 1/4 and 2-inch receiver) as well as had a U-Haul hitch put on my car (you can see my review of U-Haul's' hitch installation service and the Draw-Tight Sportframe hitch in this posting).
So, as you probably already know; in this posting I will be reviewing the Swagman XC2 Cross-Country 2-Bike Hitch Mount Rack (for 1 1/4 and 2-inch receivers).
The Swagman XC2 isn't a giant beefy heavy-duty bike rack, which is exactly what I wanted because A) I would likely only be transporting one twenty-five pound road bike on it and B) I wanted something light for the back of the light Honda Accord which would have the relatively small and light-duty Sportframe hitch.
And also just as importantly it uses wheel loops (or hoops) to hold the bike instead of the horizontal bar that would likely crimp and pinch my bike's cables.
This model of Swagman fit the bill perfectly, though you can certainly find plenty of other models by the same company that are heavier duty, as well as are of various designs including the more conventional horizontal bar style.
This specs for this carrier say that the wheel loops will accommodate from 20 inch up to 29 inch bikes, bike frames up to 59 cm, tires up to 3-1/2" wide, and with a weight capacity of 70 pounds total (35 pounds per bike).
Amazon sent me the bike carrier in one of their easy-open boxes. In this case it was a just a box that was just slightly larger than the bike carrier's original box, with the paper packing tape instead of plastic packing tape. So it was just a matter of opening the Amazon box and then the original manufacturer's box, no big deal.
Inside each part was in a plastic baggy thing, packed snugly and safely, with a bag of bolts and the instructions.
The instructions were fine and easily readable, though there's not a whole lot to putting it all together.. It's not like the whole thing is in pieces, mostly it's attaching the four wheel loops and two ratcheting hooks and a few other pieces.
You do need a minimal amount of tools to tighten a few things up.
The assembly process only takes a few minutes or so, and you'll have a bike carrier ready to go.
The carrier comes with the two-inch adapter already installed, and you'll find that there isn't an Allen wrench included to take it off, a minor sort of thing. It's a standard size and comes off easily, with two spacer pieces and the bolt being the only parts involved. To keep it handy and together when you take the adapter off you can slide the two spacer together and lightly tighten the allen bolt to hold the three pieces together and stow it somewhere safe.
When assembling it I put all four wheel loops on and both hooks, but since I don't anticipate putting another bike onto it I eventually took the other two wheel loops and one ratcheting hook off and stashed them with the hitch adapter hardware. I did this for a few reason - less stuff for someone to steal as well as a few pounds less weight on the rear of the car.
Another nice thing about this carrier is that it completely folds up, both for storage in your garage or wherever you plan on keeping it when it's not on the car, as well as being able to be folded up and left either on the car or in the trunk. It's quite small when folded so it will fit pretty much anywhere and if you plan on leaving your vehicle somewhere while you take a long ride it's a good option to consider putting it inside. Though I always take a bike lock/cable and once I have the bike off the carrier I fold the carrier up, and secure the it by stringing the bike cable through the wheel loops and around the rest of the folded up carrier and down through the hitch's chain loops and take the top ratcheting hook off and storeit in the car - that way everything is locked to everything else and is safe.
With the Swagman XC2 carrier most any bike is going to fit it because the wheels go into the adjustable wheel loops, so even two-wheeled recumbents should fit as well as bikes without a horizontal top bar like mountain bikes and women's bikes.
Minor thing; nice piece of reflective tape on the very back of the central shaft.
So, once assembled it looks like a very nice little bike carrier, light but well-made. Time to try it on the vehicles.
Mounting on the Ford Edge
The bike carrier slid into the two-inch hitch receiver on the Ford Edge easily (the hitch receiver is the stock Ford hitch installed at the factory), with a slight amount of play.
But once the pin that came with the hitch was screwed into the carrier everything was tight as a drum, both without the bike as well as with it mounted.
The pin itself is threaded on the last half of the shaft, and you will need a wrench or socket to tighten it as it didn't come with any tool to do so. In a real pinch you can kind of maneuver the clip around and around to tighten it with your hand, but you really need a box end wrench or socket.
I was pretty happy at the tightness of the interface between the hitch and the bike carrier, on other things I had had to use some small thin pieces of scrap tin, slid in between the inside of the hitch receiver and the outside of the tongue that fits into the receiver. They also sell all kinds of hitch tighteners too. So with the Ford Edge hitch nothing like this was needed.
I lifted the bike onto the carrier to visually measure where the wheel loops needed to be adjusted to. Beforehand I had gotten a fairly close idea by just setting the carrier on the ground with the bike beside it, and adjusting the wheel loops where they needed to go. Easy with the big knobs for tightening and loosening the wheel loops, and they slide along the horizontal bar slickly.
Once I tweaked the location of the wheel loops I lifted the bike on, adjusted the padded racheting top hook down onto the top bar of the bike and gave the whole thing a tug. Pretty secure and I would guess that you could probably transport the bike with just the racheting top hook vise-gripping the whole thing down onto the wheel loops.
But I also use bungie cords and my bike lock cables as extra security. Not only as a backup for holding the bike onto the carrier and in place but the bike lock cables are good to have on the whole thing in case you need to stop somewhere where your vehicle/bike is out of eye-shot.
A bike lock cable threaded through one of the hitch's safety chain attachment points, through one of the bike's wheels and around the carrier is going to secure the whole thing together. Just be aware of wear and movement while driving (both on your bike wheel as well as on the bike lock cable) from vibration and movement if you go long distances; make sure everything is tight.
Folded up or open - the carrier could be left on and even secured with your bike lock cable if the bike wasn't on it.
On the Edge there is plenty of clearance to put the bike on either in the forward position on the Swagman XC2 bike carrier or the rearward location.
Mounting on the Honda Accord
Most everything I mentioned above also applies to installation on the Honda Accord and the Sportframe hitch. The only difference is the two-inch adapter plates have to be taken off the Swagman XC2 bike carrier before it was put in the smaller one-a-quarter inch hitch receiver.
This is accomplished with an Allen Wrench, which is not included with the bike carrier. Pretty simple after a little initial elbow grease to get the bolt started, the adapter comes apart in two pieces and I kept it all together by screwing the bolt back into the two pieces a short way.
Once the converter was off I went through the quick and easy process of sliding the bike carrier in and tightening the hitch bolt (again, you need a box end wrench or something equivalent to tighten it fully), and then snapped the clip pin in.
Unlike some of my previous experiences with hitch-mounted things (like the Highland Hitch-Mounted Cargo Tray), the hitch bolt secured the bike carrier shaft into the hitch received snugly and tightly, so there was no play or movement in any direction, neither when unloaded nor loaded with a bike. Same as with the larger Ford Edge hitch.
This was one of the things that bugs people with some bike carriers and I was happy to see that I wouldn't need to manufacture any shims of any kind to stop the carrier from flopping around.
On the Accord having the bike in the front position was a close fit. With the proper pedal position and some padding/protection wrapped around the handlebars where they are close as well as where the pedal is close too, would likely make everything fine. But it is close. The pedal in the downward position and up against the carrier is close but there is clearance, but the handlebar could possibly touch the car's spoiler while going over bumps and such. With padding it should be fine but it is something to be aware of, depending on the car, whether it has a spoiler, and your bike's geometry. Adjusting the wheel loops is an option too, though I tried to keep the bike relatively directly behind the vehicle with neither wheel sticking out too far in either direction.
A better position was having the bike on the rear of the carrier. Plenty of clearance there, but also with it further back I was afraid that it might be a bit more jiggle in the carrier movement at speed, but it seemed to be just fine once I got on the highway.
Though I did notice that with the lightness of the bike carrier frame when large trucks passed by in the other lane it caused a slight vibration in the carrier and subsequently the bike, but nothing major and it only happened a few times.
To save a tiny bit of weight I also removed the ratcheting hook and wheel loops that I wasn't using (as I mentionjed earlier in this post). Not really necessary but it's one less thing that is hanging off the back of the car, less weight for the carrier to jiggle around with, and one less thing for some unscrupulous person to unscrew and take off or something.
With two bikes on it it is a close fit, and it takes some adjustment of the positions of the wheel loops to make sure nothing touches or rubs.
I'm not sure that I would want to carry two road bikes on it very often, but my situation might be different than other's because of bike geometry and size, etc. I imagine other kind of bikes would have more clearance, and to really do it justice I would have to mess around with the wheel loops to see if I just didn't have them in favorable positions. So your results may vary.
Conclusion
My final verdict on the Swagman XC2? If you're looking for a light-duty bike carrier that is built well and that you are going to only carry light bikes on, then this is the one for you perhaps.
The weight capacity on it is going to limit it's used in carrying bicycles like heavy mountain bikes, but is perfect for road bikes and lighter hybrid or light-duty mountain bikes.
I am not necessarily going to recommend it for more than one bike, but with a caveat that I didn't do any extensive testing with more than one bike. It SEEMED to be a tight fit and my main purpose was to buy it for carrying just one bike, which it did perfectly.
The specs give you a good range of bike sizes and configurations that the carrier be able to hold and I would say from some simple observation on my part that this is fair and correct.
Also, after playing around with a few hitch-mounted bike carriers and other hitch-mounted things I would recommend getting a hitch-mounted device that has the factory-fitted screw-in hitch pin, rather than a generic smooth hitch pin that might allow the unit to move around in the hitch receiver.
You can find this review on my blog along with a bunch of accompanying photos- http://randombitsbytes.com/review-swagman-xc2-2-bike-hitch-mount-carrier/
| Item Package Dimensions L x W x H | 36.33 x 10.83 x 5 inches |
|---|---|
| Package Weight | 13.75 Kilograms |
| Item Dimensions LxWxH | 5 x 34 x 11 inches |
| Brand Name | Swagman |
| Warranty Description | 1yr |
| Model Name | Swagman XC2 Hitch Mount Bike Rack |
| Color | Black |
| Suggested Users | unisex-adult |
| Number of Items | 1 |
| Manufacturer | Swagman Bicycle Carriers |
| Part Number | 64650 |
| Style | Bike Rack |
| Included Components | bicycle rack and parts |
| Size | 2-Inch Receiver |
| Sport Type | Cycling |
