Great idea for the rack Tuckerville! I too, have a rack that I made many years ago, although it doesn't have the flexibility of the Saris rack. The Saris rack offers different attachments points, so that you can have bikes mounted in front of each other, at angles, and consequently have more space for bikes. The other nice thing is that it can adapt to different size bikes very easily, as you know, even different handlebar widths can play havoc with storing bikes. If I were only transporting my bike(s), then I would probably stay with the rack that I made... as you mentioned it certainly is much less expensive. But if you are carrying mutilple sizes and bikes, then the SAris rack is a great option!