Customer Reviews

Sunlite Bicycle Welded Spring Rear Rack, (Black)

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(23)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

This is a great rear rack.

Once it is on the bike it is on there very good...no rattling around, etc.

Very easy to strap almost anything on to it. I purchased one of their bags at the same time so it is a very nice fit.

I agree with the other reviewers that the instructions (if you can call them that) that come with the product are just worthless.

The only reason I did not give it Five Stars is because of this. And their website also does not have anything else to fall back on.

Rather than frustrate yourself with the supplied directions make sure you have your bike right in front of you along with the online picture of the rack itself itself...it is really easier to figure it out on your own.

So let me try to explain best I can...

FIRST --Attaching this to your bike is dependent upon the frame having pre-threaded holes on it for the bolts that come with the rack. This must be some kind of industry standard. But I did not understand this part going into it which is why I was frustrated

So look at your frame and make sure you have the pre-tapped holes both at the top part of the rear frame where it starts coming down to the rear tire and down where the rear tire itself fits in. My bike had "place holder" bolts already in these holes to stop debris from getting inside so I removed them and used the longer screws that came with the rack.

See the silver/chrome parts of the rack in the picture...

First you will have to attach the angled parts to the top of the rack with the little U-shaped bracket pieces. But don't tighten it down yet. They should remain loose and flexible at this point.

Magnify the online photo to see this more clearly.

The bottom silver parts adjust up/down depending on the type of tire you have...

Notice at the end of each of these four silver pieces are holes where the bolt will go through.

These holes line up with the pre-theaded holes on your bike frame.

So slip the bolt and washer through and tighten them down to the bike frame first but still just a tiny bit loose.

Then push the rack around a bit to make sure it is level and straight. This is the reason why we did not fully tighten the top silver parts to the rack itself earlier so that we would have this flexibility.

Once you are satisfied everything is level...crank ALL down bolts very tight.

At this point go ahead and grab the rack and pick up your whole bike that way....you will see how solidly it is on there.

Enjoy!

The rack is lightweight, a nice matte black, and fit perfectly over my 700cc wheels - it's nice to have the ability to switch among three wheel sizes. I was able to attach a couple of pannier baskets with very few problems.

However, the installation process was something of a pain. The directions are not totally clear - they consist of an exploded view of all the components and some very basic instructions on how to install the rack over the back tire of the bike. One of the screws stripped immediately when we started installing the rack. There were also no directions on how to fix the "arms" of the rack (the silver ones on the left side of the rack in the image) to the main body of the bike - it took a lot of guesswork and some tinkering to figure out what we needed to do since we hadn't installed this kind of bike rack on a bike before.

This has been the best rear bike rack I have used so far. Delivery was extremely prompt. Unit is sturdy and came with instructions, fits over 700c tires, mounting hardware is fully adjustable and came in two lengths. Very happy with this purchase.

It fits my extra sized Motobecane. and my wifes womens Schwinn Sidewinder 24". Had a funny thing happen on the trail . It (The rack) fell backwards pivioting on the rear axel, With the sunlite bag full of "stuff".(which the bag is cool too) The screw had worked loose on the bike attachment . After many mile on bumpy trails I might have tightened all the screws/bolts up . The ones under the bag also worked loose, helping the mishap along. Anyway fine product.

Everyone has said it, and they're right. This is a great rack; the instructions are awful.

I had some installation troubles that were largely related to the moronic diagram included with this rack. It comes with two sets of mounting arms: short and long. I stared at this hunk of metal for 15 minutes before I figure out that I was supposed to end up with extra parts. I also had a heck of a time keeping the arms from falling apart as I was attaching them to the bike.

However, once you've figured out which arms to use (with no suggestion from the idiot-sheet), and adjust the height at the bottom of the rails, it turns out to be a great little rack. It's very sturdy, doesn't rattle or make any noise, and it's pretty inexpensive. I don't really know what to do with the spring-loaded back end, but I know it's there, waiting for me to find something useful for it to do.

I also bought a Sunlite pannier to go with it. It fits pretty well, but the clips are a little long. To correct this, I flipped over the two clip points on the bottom of the rack so they're lower to the ground. Piece of cake.

Now that I know how to put it together, I'd certainly buy another one. For the first go-around, though, have patience or find one that tells you how to put piece A into slot B.

The rack is very sturdy and well built. I have sat on the rack and I am 190 lbs and it holds me up. The lower bolt area is on the wide side for my bike so it makes me increase the height of the rack in order for it to fit properly. Overall very well made! Get it!

Recently began the effort to mount this very well crafted rack on my wife's bike. Although the rack itself is attractive, sturdy and appears to be very suitable for her purposes, the instructions for putting it on the bike consisted of a small scrap of paper with a barely viewable photograph of the forward part of the rack. I was able to Google a set of instructions for another rack which I think will enable me to get the rack on the bike.

I was so excited to get this rack so I'd have more room for hauling water when my Husky and I go bikejoring. Well, after struggling with the practically non-existant instructions and watching a not quite helpful tutorial video on expertvilliage, I finally had to give up. I'm pretty handy, in general, and I didn't have a clue with this one! I still give it all stars because it's a quality product and it's not the rack's fault my mountain bike is 12 years old. I just took the bike down to my friendly neighborhood bike shop owner and he had it fixed up in no time. He ended up having to drill a hole in the frame and use a piece not included with the installation hardware, but now it's on perfectly and I couldn't be happier. So be prepared to seek out help as it may come to that.

This rack has a nice powder black finish and feels really sturdy. It also seems to be greatly adjustable to fit whatever bike frame you might have. However, for a novice bicyclist, the instructions were way too brief and I could not figure out how in the world to get it on my bike. It ends up I had to return the rack anyway, though, because it was not compatible with the rear bike basket I bought in the same order - the basket is a Top Peak rear basket with a nice clip in feature, but you need to have their special back rack for it to clip into. It would have been nice if Amazon had information about required pieces and compatibility.

Liked it so much, I immediately got another one for my wife's bike as well. they were easy to install, the panier bags fit perfectly on the sides, only con: it is difficult to find rear lights that you can mount to it, even though it has a mounting bracket, I guess for a reflector at the back (so it might be more the fault of the rear light manufacturers), actually it is not that difficult to find rear lights.