Inno Tire Hold Review

The Tire Hold is a well-designed bike rack. It uses trays and symmetrical tire-holding braces to hold a bike. Its tire clamping method is secure, and there is no frame, fork, or rim contact. It is a great design that is becoming more common with bike racks. Its greatest strengths were its ease of use, versatility, and simple assembly. Inno's implication of this design uses a substantial amount of plastic in its construction, and many of the moving parts connecting the elements of this rack feel flimsy, making us question its long-term durability. Still, this rack was a noble performer and could be worthy of your consideration.

Performance Comparison

Ease of Everyday Use

The Tire Hold is relatively quick and easy to use. The tire clamping design might take a little getting used to if you are familiar with more traditional bike 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, fork, or rim contact, and the hold is strong.

Push the silver button to open the wheel clamp arms to load the rack. Longer bikes will require a wider opening of the arms. Lift your bike up onto the tray, then close the arm on the rear wheel while holding the bike with one hand. There is no need to over-torque the arm; get it snug. Next, you close the arm on the front wheel, creating a tension fit that pushes the bike from both ends. Refreshingly, 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 handlebar/saddle interference exists, you can lower the dropper posts if applicable. If not, you can loosen the wheel clamp arms to shift the bike side to side to reduce interference. To unload the bikes, you follow these steps in reverse.

I really liked 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, engaging the tilt mechanism with a very light action.

Ease of Removal and Storage

Removing the Tire Hold from your vehicle is also relatively simple. Use the key to unlock the knob that loosens and tightens the hitch expander. Turn the knob left until it loosens the tongue in the receiver. Then, pull the spring-loaded pin out, and the rack is ready to be removed. You don't need to remove the anti-rattle plate, but loosening it is beneficial. That will save you a step when reinstalling the rack. The rack we tested tipped the scales at 62.9 pounds. That's not that lightweight, but we found it manageable to carry short distances.

Storing this rack is a little more challenging. This is a big piece of gear that doesn't collapse from its regular, folded size. Like most other hitch-mount platform racks, it will take up a fair amount of space in your shed, garage, or basement. Left unsupported, it balances on the hitch mount, making it somewhat precarious.

Versatility

Versatility was another strong point of the Tire Hold rack. We tried this rack with various bikes, from long e-bikes to kid's bikes and fat bikes. All of the bikes we used played nicely, and 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. Ground clearance can be a real issue, especially when entering and exiting parking lots with quick angle changes in the pavement. All other vehicles should work swimmingly. Vans, SUVs, wagons, and trucks presented no issues.

Ease of Assembly

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

Fortunately, 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. Getting the rack into your hitch is simple, but it's quite heavy. 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 is a little cumbersome, requiring you 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. The test duration for the rack was about a month, during which time we loaded and unloaded the bike about 100 times. While we did not experience any significant wear or deterioration through this time period, the plastic bits gave us pause.

We have some concerns about the longevity of the Inno rack. Upon a visual examination, the construction of the pivots and linkages isn't particularly robust. The hinges are made of thin aluminum pieces where the arms connect to the main trays. We would have liked to see something beefier to inspire more confidence in this unit's durability.

Value

Like most hitch mount platform racks, the Tire Hold isn't exactly cheap. It is a functional rack that does certain things exceptionally well. If you are lugging around fat 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, but we may caution against keeping it on your vehicle year-round.

Conclusion