It only "hooks" the top tube to stop the bike falling out of the wheel hoops. Even a feeble Giant could survive the powder puff grip of the rubber support.
It's not the downward pressure the hook gives, it's the point loading pressure when you have 4 bikes + weight of the carrier pushing down through the bar end and then against the side of the frame and hook.
It might not be a big deal to some. But it was to me. Dust and dirt on grips, I'd never ever put someone else's bike as the last bike which often meant much frigging around (4 bike, not so much 2 bike)
I also had a hard time with the sliding of the wheel hoops. I pretty much had to carry a small rubber mallet in the back of the car to move them side to side. No issues if you were going on a really long road trip where the bikes were always the same but a time waster in my case. I've used a Thule 3 bike carrier and even with it's downsides, it loaded bikes faster.
The upsides to the rack:
it isn't plastic
re-sale is pretty good
bikes DO NOT touch each other- I've had a mixture of all of these- 20" 16"(it didn't do so great with this one) 26" HT, 27.5" trail, 29er race, 29er trail, road and they never touched each other. It actually didn't take a heap of friggening around to make them not touch either.
It holds the bikes nicely and the fat fingers don't rub or scratch. I did have some discoloration of my white frame after a 4hr road trip from the black of the finger.
I'll get to and write a review!