Ventura Universal Carrier Rack

This was for my old mountain bike that has bosses by the rear axle. I ordered a different type but it would not arrive for 3 weeks, so I saw this one. It is labeled as an economy type, but it was getting harder to find the type I needed for such an old bike. I was surprised to see that it is made in Germany of good steel and powder coated. The brackets are such that a number of attachments are possible for the front of the rack, the seat post or the brake. It took awhile, but I was very pleased, it is sturdy and good looking.

The Ventura Economical Bolt-On Bicycle Carrier Rack is a suitable fit for my Schwinn 700c Men's Connection Multi-Use Bike (manufacturer part number: S5926WMA) and performs as described. I successfully utilized velcro straps to secure a smaller beverage crate (approximately 1/3 the size of a standard cubic milk crate) to the rack. With around 10 lbs of gear stored in the crate, the rack held firm even during a bumpy ride across town. The supports of the rack are lightweight and flexible. They serve their purpose well by keeping the rack in place, but I have reservations about their ability to withstand impacts or remain intact if overloaded. The supports represent the primary vulnerability and potential failure point of this rack. On the other hand, the platform of the rack seems to be well constructed, and I am confident that it could handle a higher load capacity if the supporting elements beneath were more robust. Considering the price point, this bicycle rack is a fair option for the average casual rider who only needs to transport loads weighing less than 25 lbs at a time. However, it is important to be aware of its limitations and consider purchasing a rack with a higher load capacity if that better suits your needs. In summary, the Ventura Economical Bolt-On Bicycle Carrier Rack is a decent rack that fits well and functions as advertised. While the supports could be a potential weak point, the platform itself appears sturdy enough for moderate loads. Casual riders looking to transport lighter items will find this rack suitable, but those requiring higher load capacities should explore alternatives.

I recently got an E-bike here on Amazon and have been enjoying riding a bike again after years of not having one. I've been a street motorcyclist for about five years, and that has taught me the importance of preparedness. Since I have an electric motor helping me out on my new E-bike, I can easily ride 10x the distance than I could on a normal bike, probably even longer! So I want to have supplies with me just like I do on my motorcycle, so I looked into storage. I don't want to wear a backpack, so I decided a rack was the next best thing since I need the inner triangle of my bike's frame clear for battery installation and removal. I don't trust the racks that just clamp onto a bike's seat post, so those were out of the question. I looked at racks that cost two to three times as much as this rack, but they looked so similar. Add to that the numerous positive reviews this rack has, and I decided the $15 price tag was worth the risk. As you can see by the photo of my bike, it paid off! My E-bike, from HOTEBIKE, had bolts installed already at the various mounting points that this rack can use. That was fortunate for me, as you can see by the photo I've attached of two of the bolts. These bolts in question are among the hardware that came with this rack. Notice something off about the bolt on the right? Yep, it's hex pocket is unformed. A better quality bolt from the rack is on the left for visual comparison. I didn't notice this during the installation. To diverge on a tangent for a bit, the instructions that come with this rack are lousy, so I figured out how to install this rack without them. Thanks to my E-bike having mounting points with hardware preinstalled, it wasn't hard to do. I just loosely bolted pieces of this rack to the bike, then tightened up the fasteners when I was satisfied with the fitment. It was during this final tightening of fasteners that I caught that bad bolt. I wound up removing it and the other bolts I'd used to mount the rack to the bike and using the bike's included bolts instead. Also, my E-bike has a small crossbar between the chainstays (it's the bar where caliper brakes would be mounted normally- my bike has disc brakes) so I elected to use that as a mounting point, using the appropriate bracket with this rack. The center hole of the bracket was too small in diameter, so I did drill the hole out to let the bolt that was on my bike pass through. It was just one drill size up so it was easily done with a cordless drill and a vise. I could've easily used the two side brackets and mounted them to the sides of the chainstays, since there was again mounting holes with preinstalled bolts for the purpose. I decided that if the rack was unsteady, I would use said brackets. I haven't needed them. This rack will flex a little when forced by hand, but after that flex, I move the whole bike around when I push, pull, kick and yank this rack. I like this, since the rack being too rigid would mean it'd break easily, but it's not so flexible so as to bend and jam a wheel, it's just right. A little flex to absorb shock, but enough rigidity to resist bending. I even harked back to my old BMX stunt days and "thrashed" about on my E-bike a little (I couldn't do much, I'm out of shape and E-bikes are much heavier than BMX bikes!). The rack took it all in stride. So, if you aren't mechanically inclined and need thorough instruction to assemble and install equipment, you might be better off paying for a more expensive rack, depending on the quality of instructions. But if you're willing to sit down, figure things out and test your work before using it, the savings you get with this rack are awesome, even with sporadic bad quality with hardware! This extends to use of the rack. It has a spring tensioned clamping bar, and the rack's design is modular. Know what the bag is on mine? It's a fuel tank bag intended for motorcycle use! I wound up liking and using saddle bags on my motorcycle, so the tank bag has sat collecting dust. It has three mounting points, so with some large zip-ties in hand, I set to work. Two points were zip tied to the front of the rack, the third point at the end of the bag was zip-tied to the rack's fender mount, which I bent upwards to use. The bag is also solidly mounted, and I now have a small supply of tools and parts to take with me on rides! I'd imagine this rack will accept a dedicated bike rack bag or case just fine, but I'm happy with it's performance both in installation to my bike and holding my repurposed fuel tank bag! Again, if you're handy and want to save some money, I'd definitely recommend this rack! Just examine the bolts before you begin installing them.

This is a ... very okay bike rack, for the price. It definitely holds the advertised weight, and maybe a lot more; I haven't tested those limits yet. Installation was not 100 percent great. I had to use the extender attachment, even though I actually have attachment points on my bike for a luggage rack, because without it the rack leaned too far inward. There weren't enough screws included with the rack. I had to juggle around existing screws from various attachment points on the bike (hope I don't need a water bottle rack anytime soon). Most importantly, there was NO SCREW for the center piece of the extender rack. For me, that was not a problem because there was a screw already in place at the corresponding attachment point, however the screw was just slightly too big in diameter to fit through the center piece. And I didn't have a nut to secure it on the other side, which I think would be a nice addition for a load-bearing rack. Solution: I rode over to the local hardware store where they quickly resized the center piece hole so that the screw fit through, and I purchased a locking nut to secure it in place. So far the rack has done its job well. I just bungee on my backpack or grocery bag with no problems. But I will probably upgrade to a better quality rack in the near future. This one is great for a budget-conscious rider who isn't planning to strap 100 pounds of gear and pannier bags and whatever to their bike and go touring, and just needs a rack on their commuter bike. But I really urge the manufacturer to add extra screws, including one for the extender piece, and honestly, those adjustable extender arms? They could be a lot longer, so the rack would actually fit properly without the need for the extender attachment.

People into light bikes will naturally prefer aluminum racks. But... This is made out of solid steel bar, not tubing. The flat ends are forged, not flattened tube. If the $30 aluminum tube racks are rated at 40 pounds, then this one should be rated over 100 lbs. (A sticker on it says do not use over 20 kilogram, which is 44 lbs. I think.) Not that I or my bike could seriously manage 100 pounds added ... but I have loaded up 50 pounds of lawn fertilizer at times. The short bars that bridge the rack to the stays would have fit better in my case if they were straighter, so I tried to reshape one in a big steel vise, but regardless of what I did the bar only bent slightly and sprung back as soon as the pressure was off. Maybe if I put a three foot pipe on the end it would have bent, but the pressure was already crazy and I thought that was ill advised. :) That is some good steel. The weak points obviously would be the welds, not the bars, but the welds look nice to me. I figure the weight rating has something to do with lawyers. If you load a lot of weight on the rear of a bike, the handling is completely off and squirrelly, and the rack manufacturer would get sued in the case of an accident if he did not recommend against it. 20kg is probably what stands up in court, not what the rack will hold. Since I broke a rack (from metal fatigue at the stays mount), which this one replaces, I was looking for something tough, and this looks like it. Thanks to the first posters that put up such informative pictures. I thought the rack might slip around at the screw joints (many racks are one piece welded), but it doesn't. The whole rack flexes in a springy way if you push hard, but the screw joints do not move around. Just in case, I added some lock washers, which should take up any slack due to winter-summer thermal cycling. The rack already comes with lock nuts, but lock nuts are good mainly because when they become loose they will not rattle looser. Since I had some experience with helping someone with a nice aluminum rack switching from one bike to another, I was aware of how hard it is to adapt to every particular bike. That rack had an array of extra screws and brackets, but it still took some home-made weirdness to make it work on that particular bike. You can see how different the rack fits on my bike as compared to the other pics. I didn't mention in the picture notes that the gripper material under the pipe brackets is a strip of material they use in wood working to keep small pieces of wood from sliding (without a vice) when routing (which is why I have it.) It looks like the same stuff sold as kitchen drawer liner that keeps silverware from sliding around when you open and close the drawers. The smallest pipe brackets (1/2 inch), though sturdy, were a bit too large even after re-bent, which is why I put some plastic pipe as a spacer around the stays. Since, when I find a really good item at a really good price, either the price immediately gets jacked up, or the item disappears never to be seen again, I got two just in case. But I think my bike will give out before this thing does.(And then I'll have a new one for my new bike!) I am more enthusiastic about this item now that I have it then when I ordered it, which is practically a new experience for me. ----> added May 1, 2011 I see pages of reviews after the last time I checked. I read them all (around 50.) Nothing has rattled loose, nothing bent or kinked, no welds gave out, nothing rusted. The rack is as sturdy and durable as I figured -cross my fingers- 2 years ago. When the weather is over 40 degrees here I do my grocery runs two or three times a week on the bike, and the rack gets a lot of flexing because the "milk crate" box is on top, which is a lot of leverage. In colder weather, grocery runs drop down to about once a week. About weekly I carry 2 gallons of milk in the grocery load. I am wondering what a number of people have in mind who say the rack is flimsy, unless it is not the same rack. I have never seen a normal rack (like under $70) that this one doesn't beat the bleep out of for strength. Maybe aluminum is less springy? Or they have no experience with another rack? I do not get why people did not believe that there are NO bolts included that hold the rack to the bike and realistically NO instructions, which I understood from the people that reviewed this even earlier than me. About the first guy that posted left pictures of what you get. (If these are not present in your package, you were shorted, which quite a few later buyers have been.) If you don't already see how you are going to attach the thing from those pictures, and you aren't creative mechanically, or don't want to be, be kind to yourself and don't get involved. Believe it or not I did not buy this thing because it was startling cheap. That was a bonus. Obviously I did not buy it because it was convenient to attach to my bike (check the pictures of the olive green bike.) From the earlier posted pictures, it looked to me that it was made the right way to be strong. Other racks definitely are not. Stiffness and durability are two different things. In person it turned out to be far stronger than I was thinking. It is something like spring steel, not the mild steel you find in rods and bolts. Actually, most people do not need a particularly strong rack for the way they are using it. They are fixated on cheap. Cheap can turn out to be too expensive if you factor in the value of your time. A few people said the bolts stripped easily. If they did, then the bolts I received were different bolts. I wondered why they put such nice bolts in the package when any old bolts would have done as well. ----> added August 27, 2012 I see where the weakest point is now. There are two alternative holes where the rack attaches near to the axle. You will see the width of metal surrounding these holes is extremely narrow. If you use the lower hole, as I needed to, the narrow part of the upper hole becomes a weak point which gets a lot of flexing. One day, back in the spring, as I was loading up the groceries, I noticed the milk crate squirmed uncharacteristically as I shifted around the gallons of milk. Yep, one side of the rack was snapped at the weak point just mentioned. Considering the 5 mile walk back home, it was worth attempting to ride home that way. Surprisingly, it turned out not to be any problem. I have had my bike fall over at times in the couple of years since I installed this rack, so I am reluctant to exclusively blame the break on this design fault of the rack. I replaced the broken side with one of the sides of the back-up I bought at the same time. Short of some dramatically expensive "industrial strength" specialty racks I have seen, this rack remains the strongest you can find. By the way, in the first of these collision and screw-up incidents, every one of the zip ties I initially used, in part, to hold the milk crate to the rack broke instantaneously, so those stainless steel band-style hose clamps should be preferred to, or added to, zip ties. ----> added November 5, 2012 I have at last unraveled the mystery, to me, of the supposedly crappy, easily stripped bolts some people are claiming. Except for the one person who got bolts that were malformed, the problem is something else: These bolts have six sided holes (like Allen set-screws do), perhaps because they "look nicer" or because they can be tightened with greater force than slot heads or Phillips. They require Allen wrenches. (At least that was their name before metric sizes.) (Allen wrenches are just hexagonal cross-section rods with a right angle bend in them for a handle.) People are attempting to tighten these with the usual slot-style screwdriver or a Phillips screwdriver, and this destroys, not the threads, but the hex hole in the heads, and probably ruins the screwdriver forever too. It never occurred to me that people would do something like that. Don't. I going to guess that Chinese or Taiwan Allen wrenches (also called hollow set screw key wrenches) at the chain hardware or auto supply stores or walmart or sears would not be more than two dollars. I don't know because I have several sets over thirty years old laying around. If you know anybody that tinkers, they probably have them too, and you can borrow them. The bolt is metric 5 mm and the hex slot is 5 mm, I know, but the 3/16 inch size of my set fits the head just right. (3/16 is 1/100 inch smaller than 5 mm; barely visible.) In comparison to tightening with a screwdriver or wrench, these bolts are a pleasure. If you decide to replace the bolts anyway (which I grant has merits too) get the ordinary, commonplace, 3/16 diameter by 3/4 long bolts with hex heads (not hex holes), not a screwdriver type head, and avoid the frustration of working with both a screwdriver slipping, as they ALWAYS do, and a wrench simultaneous. But then you will also need two wrenches, one for the head and one for the nut. Another problem people are having. I think, is they aren't tightening up the screws all the way, and the rack is rickety, and seems flimsy. The provided nuts have nylon plastic inserts, so-called lock-nuts. It you have never seen them before, you won't understand them. They can be started without a wrench, but not tightened past a certain point without one. When the plastic starts jamming into the threads, it produces very high friction, making the nut very hard to turn. You cannot tighten them with your fingers, and not with a misused screwdriver slipping and stripping the head on the opposite end either. It is a slow-going PITA to tighten, but this high friction does keep the nuts from progressively loosening and falling off from the constant vibration of a bike. On large enough bolts, this loosening tendency is overcome by tightening the bolts a measured amount with a torque wrench, just the amount needed to stress the metal to provide the right constant squeeze pressure. On small bolts, sufficient stress may be more than the threads or the head can take, so you live with the possibility they can vibrate loose. Ordinary nuts, once they get a little loose, work looser until they vibrate all the way off, and then the bolt drops out too. Lock-nuts don't loosen, because of the high friction, even if they are not snugged down. I personally use lock-washers. (Also called split-ring or spring washers, and other names.) They are thick spring steel and act like the first spiral loop of a strong spring. If you take the nut off, they spring back into shape. I trust them more than lock-nuts, where the nylon plastic is damaged in putting them on.

I recently purchased this rack because the price was cheap, and now I know why. This rack is absolute crap! Firstly, remove "universal" from the title, because the only thing "universal" about this rack is that's it's universally crap. The bolts that come with it? Crap. Far too short and far too cheaply made. These bolts are meant to hold together a rack that can supposedly hold 55 pounds? In what universe?? Considering how short the bolts are, the makers of this rack must have never actually looked at a bike frame to see how thick the rack attachment sections are. The bolts also strip incredibly easy. The ones I used to attach the top rack section to the sidebar supports are stripped and if I ever want to take it apart, I'll have to buy a tool that removes stripped bolts & screws, which luckily they make now. Secondly, after you finally do get this CRAP rack to attach to the rear wheel part of the frame, the holes for the extensions don't align properly to the holes provided on the top rack section. I used a regular sized bolt to connect the one extension, then because the holes on the other section weren't aligning, I had to use an extra long bolt to connect that one, so it's now not as tight as I'd like it to be and there's nothing I can do about it except for return it, which I don't have time for, as I'm leaving this week for a trip, so the rack will have to do as-is. I'll say this though: Considering how cheaply made the bolts are, I highly, highly doubt that this rack can actually hold the 55 pounds they claim it can hold. I'll be putting about 35 pounds worth of weight on it, and if it fails and my personal items are damaged, or even worse, I am injured due to this rack failing, I'll be suing the company that made this rack. I would NOT recommend this rack to anyone else and I should not have bought it for myself. This rack does not even deserve one star, but because I have to give it one, I am.

Works great on a 2004 Huffy Cranbrook. Fit and finish seem decent enough, finish is gloss black. Assembly is fairly straightforward; although the nuts/ bolts supplied are chintzy they did suffice for assembly. As other reviewers noted: this carrier rack does not include the hex wrench, but if your gonna own a bike you're gonna need tools. Supplied are mount arms for top rack mount bosses or a front mount bracket for bridge stay bosses the only option for me was the front mount bracket. I did have to drill the hole of the bracket out a little larger to accommodate the bolt present in the bridge stay. The supplied instruction sheet states that either a clamp mount for seat tube or seat stay are available for purchase from the company, but a trip to the hardware store will provide similar. I have yet to carry anything with it yet seems solid enough...probably hold 20-30 pounds, perhaps more. The rat trap springer holder has plenty of tension, doubt I'll use it though. Instead, I intend to get a basket or repurpose a wine crate. After installation I did notice the rear of the rack is not centered with the fender goes a little to the right. My guess is that it is not the carrier rack that is misaligned, the blame probably rests with the quality(?) craftspersonship of my 14 yo gifted Wally World Special. One day when I'm bored to tears I'll work on getting it straight, or not. For less than a Hamilton and three Washingtons, delivered and about an hour of your time...do it.

I have a hybrid bike and got this to carry a bag and to have a water bottle holder when riding. Unfortunately this did not fit my bike. Neither mechanism would fit (I had to get the drill and make it fit). First off the item is not that heavy maybe 1-2 pounds but it feels super secure on the bike and is high quality! I tried to install it the way it said, but it would not reach to the screws that held the shock on. I finally got it to fit by putting it on backwards (the little flip in the metal facing backwards and I took the drill and added wholes to the back part than screwed the front connector that had the flat metal onto it and that reached the shock screws. I had to add screw holes to match the ones that were in the front connector. Than the shock holder screw was much larger than the holes on the end so I took a larger drill bit and made them a tad fatter. This worked and I got it on my bike! NOTE: If you do not know what you are doing do not try this! This also probably voided my warranty on the rack (only $13), but it got it on my bike and it is super secure and working. This rack is great but it did not fit my bike. I got it to fit by altering the unit and adding some holes to make it align and hold (I just drilled into this and not the bike), if you try this be careful and make sure you use the right bit and do your measuring properly. The rack is super sturdy and hooks onto the bike perfectly after some modifications. The rack would be 5 stars if it had fit my bike, but truthfully nothing can be universal since everything is different. I really like this and this was a great buy and I highly recommend it!!! I have some photos of the way I got it on and will post them later. But please remember that this most likely voided my warranty and if you mess up you will make it unusable (or it could slip and cause damage while riding). I have it on super tight and the screw holes are all enforced (the ones I drilled).

Montage très facile Produit robuste et vite indispensable

Kind of a pain to install (not a one size fits all) but once complete it works great. Please have a good look over your bike to make sure this product will fit :)

La parrilla se ve fuerte y ajusta muy bien a mi bicicleta de 26".el montaje es intuitivo pero los tornillos se estropean la cabeza facil por lo que mi CONSEJO es que apreteis girando las tuercas no girando el tornillo.la cabeza del tornillo usarla para sujetar y que no gire al apretar las tuercas.Lo dicho apretar girando las tuercas .

Thank you so much for the correctness, and good quality of material. I recommend to everyone for the seller and service.⭐️🌟⭐️🌟⭐️✌️🙏🥰

I found this easy to install, having already the necessary tools to do so. It seems very sturdy and the spring clip seems good. I have not yet used it, but I think it will serve very well. This one is significantly cheaper than the rest, and I think it is so much better to use parts that are designed to fit the attachment points already on the bike compared to using the rear triangle and seat post, assuming of course you have those attachment points. The only thing that I think is a shame is that my rear reflector was a seat-post-tube-mounted reflector, and that can't be installed on the back plate of the rack. I will need to buy a reflector for that if I want to ride at night. I think that's something they could have thrown in, really.