etrailer | Hands-On with the Saris Bones EX 2 Bike Rack

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Full transcript: https://www.etrailer.com/tv-review-sa...
Hi, everyone. It's Evangeline here at etrailer. And today, we'll be taking a look at our Saris Bones EX 2 bike trunk rack right here at etrailer.com. So you wanna carry your bikes around from point A to point B. You wanna go hit the trails and what you would need then is a bike rack. Now, my first recommendation each and every time is to get a hitch-mounted bike rack, just because you get more stability and it's easier to use that way.

But sometimes, I understand that cannot be the case. Sometimes, you may have a vehicle that cannot have a hitch, or you don't know how to put a hitch on there, or you just can't find a hitch that fits. Whenever that happens, that's where a trunk-mounted bike rack like this come in handy. So if you are gonna get a trunk-mounted bike rack, this might be a really good option for you, just because of the way it can fit most of your different types of vehicles. So this is the Saris Bones EX 2.

So what that means is one is a two-bike bike rack, and this is the EX, so it goes up and it's a level up from the previous Saris Bones edition. So the previous version had a rounded leg, which was great, but this one has a dog leg, so then you can fit more vehicles. Even if you have spoilers, kinda like what we have here, you can still carry your bikes with you. So you can get the Bones EX in a two-bike or a three-bike version. So if you're planning on bringing a friend along with you, maybe go ahead and get the three-bike version straight off the bat.

But if you're just planning on taking one or two bikes around, this will still work just as great. Now, to compare it with other bike racks, some similar bike racks would be the Yakima FullBack. You would also get a pretty good compatibility score with that one. It fits a lot of your vehicles. Still not as much as the Saris Bones EX though, but the Yakima FullBack has your straps, has your locks integrated.

So that's great because then you don't have to get them extra like what you would have with here. Another more premium trunk-mounted bike rack would be the Thule OutWay. That has a very interesting style of ratcheting down its straps, allowing you to open up the trunk or the hatch on some of your vehicles. The downside for that is it really does not fit a lot of vehicles. So if you're looking for something that can fit most of your vehicles in your garage, whether you have a hatchback, whether you have spoilers, whether you have a sedan like this, the Saris Bones EX 2 or 3 would be my go-to for that. So this is what it's gonna look like if you have the Saris Bones on your vehicle with a hatch. So it works the same way, but notice how we have the feet in different places. We switched around the arms to fit around the license plates. Again, please follow the specific fit guide for your specific vehicle. Another thing I would recommend adding onto your trunk rack are the Hatch Huggers. So they're gonna replace this upper straps and hooks, and then they will go into your hatch and just provide a little bit more stability, a little bit more tension without weighing down your top spoiler. So this has a weight capacity of 35 pounds per bike. Another pro tip I recommend is if you do have a heavier bike, whether it be the 35-pound bike and your other one is a 20-pound bike, put the heaviest bike closest to your vehicle and the lighter bike on the end. Some other things I recommend adding on is going to be the Saris wheel and tire strap. So those are straps that would go around your bike's front wheel, and then around the frame just to cinch it altogether and just help prevent sway of your front wheels. Another thing you can add onto the system is a lock. So this does not have an integrated cable lock. You would actually have to add one so you can use your own cable locks if you want, perfectly fine. You can also find cable locks right here at etrailer. A good one would be the Saris cable lock and lock loop because that would go around your bikes, but also into your trunk or your hatch or whatever vehicle you have this mounted to. So now, let's take the bikes off so that we can take a closer look at the bike rack itself. To take the bikes off, notice how we just have to put our fingers on the lever right over here. And what I like to do is just tuck that strap all the way back. That's also a helpful position for when you wanna put the bike back on. So do one, two, and three straps in order to take your bike off. So holding up your bikes are these injection-molded plastic arms. So they are really thick and sturdy plastic. They're ve