> I carried my bike to NM and back to KS on a $20 or $30 bike
> rack from Wal-Mart.  Stayed snug as a bug on the back of the Westy.

Several years ago, Evon and I bought a similar discount-store bike rack to
use on her Jetta.  The third time we used it, we were on our way home, late
at night on the highway, and suddenly felt a "thud" and heard a loud crash.
We pulled over to investigate. One of the bolts holding the bike rack
together had snapped, causing the bike rack to partially collapse.  Both the
trunk of her car and one of the bikes were damaged, and we found ourselves
on the side of the road in the middle of the night with two bikes and no
easy way to get them home now that the rack had collapsed.

Needless to say we were very sorry we had not sprung for a better bike rack.

My recollection is that the brand name on the rack was Graber or something
similar.  I couldn't say what other brands may originate from the same
factory, or even whether such a failure is at all common or was just a freak
accident. But it seems to me that the least they could have done would have
been to use hardened bolts that wouldn't snap under the weight of the two
bikes that the rack was supposed to support.  Perhaps they would have if
they weren't trying to hit such a low price point.

- Ron Salmon
  The Bus Depot, Inc.
  (215) 234-VWVW
  www.busdepot.com

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