Inno Tire Hold Review

The Tire Hold is a solid bike rack. It takes a somewhat unique approach in the way it holds a bike. Its tire clamping method is secure, and there is no frame, fork, or even rim contact. It is a great platform to build off of. We felt its ease of use, versatility, and ease of assembly were its greatest strengths. It does, however, have a lot of plastic in its construction, and a lot of the moving parts connecting the elements of this rack feel flimsy which makes us question its long-term durability. Still, this rack was a noble performer and could be worthy of consideration.

Performance Comparison

Ease of Everyday Use

The Tire Hold is quick and easy to use. The tire clamping design might take a little getting used to if you are familiar with more traditional hitch racks from other brands. While most racks grab the front wheel near the fork and pull the wheel down into a cradle, the Tire Hold has arms that squeeze the wheels inward. There is no frame or fork contact and the hold is strong.

To load the rack, simply push the silver button to open up the wheel clamp arms. The longer the bike, the wider you will need to open the arms. Place the bike on the tray. While holding the bike with one hand, close the arm on the rear wheel. There is no need to over-torque the arm, just get it snug. Next, close the arm on the front wheel. That's pretty much it, there are no straps or ratchets to fuss with. If you are loading a second bike, you'll want to flip the bike to face the opposite direction as the first. If there is handlebar/saddle interference, you can lower the dropper posts if applicable. If not, you can loosen the wheel clamp arms to shift the bikes side to side to reduce interference. To unload the bikes, simply work backward.

We loved the tilting mechanism on this rack. There are four positions; folded up for driving around without bikes, ¼ tilt for access to the hatch on a wagon or crossover when not loaded, flat in the loaded position, and down for trunk access when loaded with bikes. A tilt handle at the end of the main support arm is in an easy to reach location, and it engages the tilt mechanism with a very light action.

Ease of Removal and Storage

Removing the Tire Hold from your vehicle is relatively simple. Use the key to unlock the knob that loosens and tightens the expander. Turn the knob left until it loosens the tongue in the receiver. Then, pull the spring-loaded pin out, and you are ready to remove the rack. You don't need to remove the anti-rattle plate, but it might be smart to loosen it. That will save you a step when reinstalling the rack. Our test rack tipped the scales at a hefty 62.9-pounds. That's certainly not that light, but it is not terrible to carry.

Storing this rack is a little more challenging. This is a big piece of gear, and it doesn't collapse down from its regular, folded size. Like most other hitch-mount platform racks, it is bound to take up a fair amount of space in your shed, garage, or basement.

Versatility

Versatility was another strong point of the Tire Hold rack. We tried this rack with a variety of bikes from extra large mountain bikes, road bikes, and fat bikes. All these bikes play nicely, although our fat bike with 4.8-inch tires was a tight squeeze, it still worked.

In addition to the fact that this rack accepts a wide variety of bikes, it also should work on most vehicles. It fits 1.25-inch and 2-inch hitch receivers. We may caution riders with particularly low vehicles against tray-style racks. The ground clearance can be a real issue, especially entering and exiting parking lots with quick angle changes in the pavement. All other vehicles should work swimmingly. Vans, SUVs, wagons, and trucks should all play nicely.

Ease of Assembly

The Tire Hold was quite easy to assemble. Upon unboxing the rack, the process looks a little daunting. Within the main box, there is the main support arm and five smaller boxes. Four of those boxes hold the components that form the two trays. The fifth contains some hardware.

Luckily, Inno did a great job labeling the boxes. The components of the trays are very easy to identify. Assembling the trays is simple, and each tray is secured by a mounting plate and five Allen screws. Simple as that. Actually installing the rack into your hitch is simple. After the first installation, the order of operations is quite clear.

Security

The Tire Hold comes with a cable lock. The cable can be fed through the bikes and locked to the knob that tightens the rack's expander wedge. The lock that secures the system to your vehicle also doubles as the lock that secures the included cable.

This system works fine. It is a little cumbersome to get down on your knees or hunch over to use the lock on the expander knob, but it works. It is better than not having a lock, but we feel it could be improved. While we appreciated the addition of the cable for its theft deterrence, we would probably add a beefier aftermarket lock to the equation for additional peace of mind.

Durability

Durability is one area we are concerned about. It should be clear that we used this rack for about three weeks and loaded it about 100 times. We did not experience any significant wear or deterioration through this time period.

That said, we are slightly concerned about the longevity of the Inno rack. Upon a visual examination of the rack, it isn't constructed with the beefiest pivots or linkages and doesn't feel particularly robust. Where the arms connect to the main trays, the hinges are made of thin aluminum pieces. We would really have liked to see something beefier that would inspire more confidence in this unit's durability.

Value

Like most hitch mount platform racks, the Tire Hold isn't exactly cheap. That said, it is a functional rack that does certain things exceptionally well. If you are lugging around fat bikes and electric bikes, this rack can be a great value as not every rack can handle that load. We feel this rack is a decent value for the right buyer, assuming it stands up to the test of time.

Conclusion