I assisted a friend and his wife load up their bikes after a ride. They had a bar for her step through. At first look seemed like a good idea, but when I looked closely it was really, really well conceived and executed, a real accomplishment for a "universal" solution. It was a name brand solution that matched their carrier. What was impressive was it was well padded at the points of contact with her frame and had, even after many uses, not marred the frame. I believe they have a Thule or Yakima hitch rack, as it was mounted on a VW Golf.