Very convenient

By Big Aika Ranked #194 - Car Racks October 22, 2009

I used to have a truck, which is the quickest loading bike rack ever. But this is damn close. Here's some things I've noticed:
It's a heavy rack (I bet it weighs close to 45 lbs.), but it translates into sturdiness on the vehicle. Your bike will sway a tiny bit, but if the rack were completely stiff, you'd start getting little fractures.
The rack is ridiculously easy to load bikes into. My back is a XXL, so I had to adjust side to side on the rack, but after that, the bike goes on and is exactly where I want it to be.
The rack folds up close enough to my 4runner that I don't worry about it driving around town, but not so close that it hits my vehicle's rear hatch.
I find myself riding more because of the ease of loading and unloading my bike. I live a few miles from my usual rides, but in the shorter days, loading my bike up and driving means I'll get a little bit more dirt time, less asphalt time (drive home in the dark, right?).
Thule's QC sucks- I wish Yakima's rack were this well-designed (Thule's engineering may suck too- they bought this rack design from somebody else). All of the stickers on my rack, including the ones to help with side-to-side alignment on the crossbars were put on by somebody who simply didn't care. They're not even close to being level with the rack. Also, the weld on the hitch-nut on the inside of the hitch is not the greatest I've seen. I can see a pin-hole of light through it. They couldn't even get the Thule sticker right- It's got a ton of air under the sticker. I couldn't care less, but seriously- how do you screw that up so royally?
Thule charges way too much for their rack. The Yakima comes with the hitchpin lock, and a cable lock, for only a little more than the thule t2 alone. Good deal. That being said, I still bought the Thule, and the STL2 lock (hitchpin lock), instead of the Yakima, since my bike is so large and I needed to adjust it side to side.
If my bike didn't limit my rack to the Thule, I would have bought the 2009 Yakima holdup. It's a way cheaper rack if you buy it online, and I feel like it's probably just as good.
Have Backcountry.com price match another online retailer. Backcountry charges MSRP, which of course is a bend-over. However, Backcountry pricematches, and I'd rather do business with backcountry.com than any of my local shops. They're that easy to deal with!

View Details: Thule Transport T2

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