I contemplated for a long time whether or not to spend the money on the Piston SR roof rack, and I ended up ordering 2 just to 'test' them on my car. I was using the Thule Topride, but also had a 1UP on the minivan.
The awesome thing about the rack is that short people like me can disengage the arms with ease. That is the reason why I went with these instead of the 1UP roof racks for this car. They were so easy to use, that I ordered 2 more for a full roof rack. Definitely expensive, but I only cried once. Happy to have them.
I have used this rack for a month now and I think it is very well built and sturdy. It holds the bike well in place and have had no issues with the bike coming loose while driving. The look and the colors are pleasing as well. I haven't used the repair stand option yet. I would give it a 5 star in terms of quality. It is quite heavy so taking it on and off from storage can be a chore. Also I have a steep driveway and the end of the hitch (near the hinge) sticks out quite a bit and have to be careful not to bottom out. Some other brands stick out not as far or have a slanted bottom, which may obviate the bottoming out. I also wish the integrated cable locks were a bit longer, as it is hard to get it around the frame.
This box is easy to pack up and properly close compared with other hard boxes I've used. The protection is fine. It comes with two space holders for fork and rear stays which are functional, but it also means you need to take thru axles out and place them somewhere else.
The wheels that come with the box need additional tools to install. The front wheels come with extra long screws and nuts that can't be tightened all the way to the bottom. I had an embarrassing experience with the bolts off when pulling the box. Ended up buying a new set of bolts and nuts from a hardware shop.
As other reviews mentioned, the overlapping of the box's two pieces can be tricky. I taped all the edges that should stay on the outside to make it simpler for me and whoever opens the box during travel.
I've been a fan of this stand for over a decade and recently purchased a second one after trying a similar, but lesser stand by another brand and returning it for this one. It's more adjustable than other options, which makes storing bikes of different styles and sizes so much less of a nuisance. Setup is super simple, it's not difficult to change it's position/location and it doesn't stick out visually, which is also a plus. I think the only thing I don't like about it is that I sometimes wish that both bikes could hang from the upper shaft so that the lower bike could be a bit higher off the floor.
