Saris Bike Rack and SUV's

[FlyingScot]

Yeah, I did the tighten the strap thing after the bikes were on and the 30 mile check as well. The Bones 3 has two upper legs so it's probably easier to fix the problem. The Bones 2 only has one upper leg so it's a little less stable. I just got off the phone with customer service. They suggested mounting the rack with the lower legs one inch above the bumper, then load the bikes, then tighten the lower straps until the feet are on the bumper. They call it "pre-loading" the rack. In theory it sounds like it might work. Apparently this is a long-standing issue with the Bones 2 when mounted on a flat back SUV. According to the tech the purpose of the upper leg is to hold the bikes away from the car so the gap isn't really a big deal as long as it doesn't get so large that the rack begins swinging. For us it never got bigger than about 3/4" which allowed the upper leg to shift back and forth about an inch either way just enough to annoy me but the rack and bikes were still secure. One of the reasons I like this rack is the weight of the bikes rides on the bumper not on the rear glass which always made me a bit nervous. If anybody else has a suggestion I'm all ears.

[VeloVT]

We had a Thule rear rack that also had significant sway, which made me nervous as well. For this reason, and because the geometry of the rack made it difficult to get both bikes in without risk of scratching, and the holders didn't fit bf's shaped carbon tubes too well, we upgraded to a Yakima roof rack. I'm MUCH happier with it.