Well, I am too short for a roof rack, so I had no choice. And this was SO easy to use. I don't put my bike on it that often, so I don't worry about it. The fact that we were driving closer to Boston where people generally don't drive well has something to do with it. I think the most times I've used it has been driving up to ride with Denise G! There have been a few others, but not much. And, we were lucky; my husband WAS going to ride his bike to work and i was going to pick him up, but with the rain, I drove him in. But, I think we probably would have had his bike in the back, not on the rack, since we were heading into the city.