The 3 Best Trunk Bike Racks for Occasional Use

The Short List

The Winner: Allen Sports Deluxe 2-Bike Trunk Rack

Let me be clear about what this is. It's a $60 trunk rack made of steel tubing and injection-molded plastic. It's not aerospace grade. The instructions are printed on a single sheet of paper with diagrams that look like they were drawn by someone who has never seen a car. But it works, and it works better than anything else at this price.

Installation took me nine minutes the first time, including the time I spent swearing at the strap routing. The rack uses six straps: four that hook into the trunk lid gaps and two that hook to the frame. The straps are the thick woven kind, not the cheap elastic that stretches out after a season. That's the difference between this rack and the Schwinn. The Allen straps held tension for the entire month I tested it.

Loading a bike takes about 45 seconds once you figure out the sequence. The rack has two cradles that hold the top tube, and the frame hooks hold the bike's frame against the rack. The key is to load the heaviest bike first, closest to the car, then the second bike on the outside. I loaded my 29er with a 2.4" tire and a long frame, and it fit without touching the car. The road bike went on the outside with about two inches of clearance between the handlebars and the 29er's saddle.

Now the criticism. The padding on the frame hooks is thin, maybe an eighth of an inch of rubber. On my road bike with carbon fiber, I wrapped the frame in a shop towel before hooking it. On a steel or aluminum frame, you're probably fine, but check after every bump. The rack also blocks your license plate and taillight on most sedans. I used a $15 license plate relocator bracket and a set of magnetic LED lights for night driving. That's an extra $30 you should budget for.

Cost per day math: if you haul bikes twice a month for three years, that's 72 trips. Sixty dollars divided by 72 trips is 83 cents per trip. The Saris Bones at $150 would cost you $2.08 per trip. The Allen does the same job for less than half the cost. It's not the rack I'd take on a cross-country tour. It's the rack I'd recommend to my neighbor who wants to take his kids' bikes to the park.

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Best Value: TrunkMaster Pro 3-Bike Rack

I wanted to hate this rack. The price is suspicious, the brand name sounds like it was generated by a random word spinner, and the product photos show a bike mounted with the frame hook in a position that would absolutely scratch paint. But I tested it anyway, because $45 is the price point most people actually want to pay.

Here's what I found. Assembly took 15 minutes with a Phillips screwdriver. The instructions were goofy, with one step that just said "secure the hooks" without explaining where the hooks went. I figured it out. The rack uses the same six-strap design as the Allen, but the straps are thinner and the velcro fasteners are kinda feeble. I replaced all six with bungee cords on day two, which is the first thing I recommend to anyone who buys this rack.

The frame hooks are the real problem. They're coated in a rubber sleeve that's maybe half an inch wide, and the metal underneath is sharp enough to dent a frame if you cinch it down hard. I tested it on my commuter bike, an older aluminum frame I don't care about. After a 40-mile round trip on rough roads, the hook had pressed a small dimple into the top tube. The dimple is cosmetic, but it's there.

The 3-bike capacity is a lie, technically. You can fit three bikes if they're all skinny-tired road bikes and you don't mind the outside bike hanging off the edge of the rack by a few inches. With a 29er and a hybrid, you're fitting two, and the third strap position is useless. The rack claims to fit "most cars" but the straps were too short for my neighbor's 2019 Subaru Outback. We had to use a pair of ratchet straps to extend them.

So why is this the best value? Because it's $45, and for that price, you get a rack that holds bikes securely at 75 mph if you replace the straps and pad the hooks. I did both, spent $7 on materials, and ended up with a rack that cost $52 and does 90% of what the Allen does. If you're on a tight budget and you're willing to do a little modification, this is the one.

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What to Look For

Strap quality. This is the first thing I check on any trunk rack. If the straps are thin, stretchy, or use cheap velcro, the rack will fail within a season. Look for woven nylon straps at least an inch wide, with metal hooks that have a rubber coating. The Allen has these. The TrunkMaster doesn't. The Schwinn's straps stretched so much in a month that the rack wobbled at 45 mph.

Frame hook padding. The hooks that hold your bike's frame against the rack are where the scratches happen. I've seen racks with no padding at all, which is a donation to your paint job. The minimum acceptable padding is an eighth of an inch of rubber. If the padding is thinner than that, wrap the frame in a towel before you hook it. It takes five seconds and saves you a $200 paint touch-up.

Car fit. "Fits all cars" is a lie. Every trunk rack has a maximum strap length, and if your car has a tall trunk or a spoiler, the straps won't reach. Measure the distance between your trunk lid gaps before you buy. If it's more than 36 inches, you need a rack with longer straps or a different mounting system entirely. The TrunkMaster failed on my neighbor's Outback for exactly this reason.

License plate and taillight clearance. Most trunk racks block both. That's not just annoying, it's illegal in most states. Budget for a license plate relocator bracket ($15) and a set of magnetic LED lights ($25) if you plan to drive after dark. The Allen blocks the plate on my sedan. The TrunkMaster blocks it too. This is not a feature, it's a tax.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will a trunk rack scratch my car? Yes, eventually. Every trunk rack I've tested puts pressure on the trunk lid and the bumper. The padding helps, but over time, the rubber wears and the metal shows through. I recommend putting a strip of clear vinyl protection film under the contact points. It costs $10 on Amazon and it'll save your paint. If you care about your car's finish, a hitch rack is the only real answer.

Can I put a carbon fiber bike on a trunk rack? I wouldn't. The frame hooks put concentrated pressure on the top tube, and carbon fiber doesn't handle point loads well. I tested the Allen with my road bike and wrapped the frame in a towel, but I still checked the frame for cracks afterward. If you have a carbon bike, spend the extra money on a tray-style hitch rack that holds the wheels instead of the frame.

How fast can I drive with a trunk rack? I've driven 75 mph with the Allen and the TrunkMaster, and both held steady. But I don't recommend sustained highway speeds with any trunk rack. The wind load gets worse the faster you go, and the straps stretch over time. If you're doing more than an hour of highway driving, slow down to 65 and check the straps at every rest stop.

How long does it take to install a trunk rack? The first time, 15 to 20 minutes. After that, about five minutes if you leave the straps adjusted. I timed myself with the Allen: nine minutes first install, four minutes after I'd done it twice. The TrunkMaster took longer because the instructions were goofy. The Schwinn took 12 minutes and then I threw it in the trash three weeks later.

Final Verdict

The Allen Sports Deluxe 2-Bike Trunk Rack is the one I'd buy if I needed a trunk rack today. It's not perfect, the padding is thin and it blocks your taillight. But it's $60, it installs in under 10 minutes, and it held my 29er steady at 75 mph. That's 83 cents per trip if you use it twice a month for three years. The Saris Bones is nicer, but it's $150 and it doesn't hold bikes any better.

The TrunkMaster is the budget pick at $45, but only if you're willing to replace the straps and pad the hooks. The Schwinn is a waste of $40, and I'd rather strap my bike to the roof than put another one of those on my car.

I've owned eight racks in twelve years. I've returned three and kept two. The Allen is the first trunk rack I've tested that I'd actually recommend to someone without a long list of caveats. It's not the rack I want, but it's the rack most people need.

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