Submitted by
hmanstylez
a Weekend Warrior
from Newhall, CA
Date Reviewed: January 10, 2012
Strengths: Easy install, quick mounting, easy adjusting for different sized bikes.
Weaknesses: To short for longer wheel base bikes, clearance issues with some disc brake configurations, clamp broke.
Bottom Line:
The rack worked like a champ for a while, but as MANY others have said, this design has a fatal flaw in the fork mount. Mine started with one side not clamping correctly and then ended up in the other one failing as well. Thule has a lifetime warranty on the units and is currently sending me a replacement for the one that failed.
In my case the failure occurred when mounting the bike so thankfully there was no catastrophic failure.
Strengths: Was stable until the adjuster knob failed
Weaknesses: The fork clamp
Bottom Line:
I've just got to say that I just got off the phone with Thule customer service, explained the same problem as many others have noted here and they are shipping me a replacement -- no charge. This is a recognized issue covered under warranty.
Submitted by
Team Shu
a Weekend Warrior
from Aptos CA, USA
Date Reviewed: August 6, 2009
Strengths: Good idea, worked well...
Weaknesses: ...for the less than five times I used it!
Bottom Line:
It's a good idea and convenient for someone that does not have the luxury of a pick-up truck but it seems I am in the majority as the nylon threaded insert that adjusts the width of the vise failed on mine as well. Luckily it was discovered while installing a bicycle and not the hard way, rolling down the road and seeing the carnage behind me. I researched spare parts and the replacement for the fork block alone is $50.00 but lo and behold, it’s been discontinued. I have yet to try and contact Thule to see if A) it’s been re-designed and B) if I can get a replacement without charge since it seems to be a poor design execution, so I’ll report back if I have any good luck. For now I have to give the Velo Vise only one chili until I see what customer service can do for me.
Bike Setup: Santa Cruz Blur & Chameleon, Specialized S Works Roubaix.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
jarek
a Weekend Warrior
from Guangzhou, China
Date Reviewed: November 2, 2008
Strengths: Easy to install & use
Weaknesses: Fork mount breaks
Bottom Line:
Older Velo Vise Pro, same as other reviews listed here, my head assembly began to fail when the roller seized up, and then cracking, causing the fork to be held only on one side. the only thing that saved the bike from falling was the rear wheel strap.
Submitted by
Tracy White
a Cross Country Rider
from Memphis, TN
Date Reviewed: May 10, 2008
Strengths: design, ease of installation and use
Weaknesses: cheap, brittle component
Bottom Line:
AVOID THIS RACK!! Only used twice before the fork cam assembly shattered. It never properly attached. One side would be secure while the other side was loose. I tightened it, applied very moderate pressure and multiple components shattered.
After using old style fork mounts that required a fair amount of fiddling to deal with "nader nubs" on the fork drop-outs, the Velo-vise design was a welcome relief. I'm sold on the concept of fork mount carriers but these have been nothing but a headache. I have replaced the heads at an avaerage of 1 per year until this year, when the score is 3 replacements so far. At first, I thought it was me. But after repeated failures of the same type, I realized that this carrier is just plain junk. Other reviewers have speculated that the weight of mountain bikes vs road bikes could be an issue, but as most of my bikes are under 25lbs, save the Blur which is 28, it is not the bike, it's the crappy rack. Every failure has been this: the drop-out adjustment wheel starts getting hard to turn, then almost impossible w/out the use of a screwdriver, then the drop-out grabbing knobs become un-even resulting in only one side holding one drop out securely while the other will not snug up. I have even had one head's internals explode. The final straw was 2 weeks ago when our community was being evac'd due to the wildfires. I went to put my wife's bike on the rack and the head literally disentegrated. Not a good time... Bottom line: don't buy these, they are absolute junk! They will fail on you at the most in-opportune times and Thule takes forever to warranty. if I could give no flamin' chilis I would
Similar Products Used: Rocky Mounts, old style Yakima, upright style carrier
Bike Setup: SC BLT, Carbon Allez, Alu Lemond, Trek 9.0 Carbon
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Scott
a Cross Country Rider
from Denver, CO
Date Reviewed: August 17, 2007
Strengths: Ease of use, great design if the components of the product were engineered better, can fit both Yakima and Thule racks
Weaknesses: Engagement mechanism is plastic and breaks OFTEN. I've been through 4 of them now in a little less than two years.
Bottom Line:
I'd have serious reservations about buying these again. On the one hand, my local bike shop (Bicycle Village) has been great about getting them replaced for me and now they have a limited lifetime warranty. On the other hand they seem to break at the worst times, one was in Fruita and we had get creative to figure out how to keep one bike up there.
Luckily, mine have only ever broken at the plastic mechanism and I can always tell when they break. If the head cracked in half and sent my bike through the roof like other reviews I think I'd be taking them all off the car and finding something else pronto.
Submitted by
Scott
a Cross Country Rider
from Denver, CO
Date Reviewed: August 17, 2007
Strengths: Ease of use, great design if the components of the product were engineered better, can fit both Yakima and Thule racks
Weaknesses: Engagement mechanism is plastic and breaks OFTEN. I've been through 4 of them now in a little less than two years.
Bottom Line:
I'd have serious reservations about buying these again. On the one hand, my local bike shop (Bicycle Village) has been great about getting them replaced for me and now they have a limited lifetime warranty. On the other hand they seem to break at the worst times, one was in Fruita and we had get creative to figure out how to keep one bike up there.
Luckily, mine have only ever broken at the plastic mechanism and I can always tell when they break. If the head cracked in half and sent my bike through the roof like other reviews I think I'd be taking them all off the car and finding something else pronto.
Submitted by
Gui
a Cross Country Rider
from Belo Horizonte, MG - Brazil
Date Reviewed: July 25, 2007
Strengths: Easy to use, can lock the bikes on
Weaknesses: Durability Reliability
Bottom Line:
This review is for the Velo Vise system mounted in Thule Aero bars. After three years of little use I have experienced just too much trouble with this rack system. I have seen that the problems are the same as the ones reported in this review board, which makes me believe that the Velo vise system has yet to improve a lot to be considered worthwhile. 1o - Breakage ! The head unit in secured in the bars with a single bolt and it just cant take the continuous side to side loading when driving in unpaved roads (this unit is designed for disk brakes, used in MOUNTAIN BIKES, which trails sometimes required driving in unpaved roads to get to, no surprise here Thule !).Even driving carefuly, my head unit has cracked TWICE and the third time it was the bolt itself that snapped. Almost had the bike flying on the highway...
2o - The plastic roller adjuster seizes, compromising proper securing of the fork. Mine actually failed and unexpectedly realeased the fork dropouts while driving, almost resulting in a catastrophic event.
After all this trouble, I just cant trust this sytem anymore. Nothing is worse than drive to trailhaed constantly worring if the rack is going to fail. Cant recomned this. I wish I could find Yakima here in Brazil...
Submitted by
stufdptato
a Weekend Warrior
from woodside
Date Reviewed: May 23, 2007
Strengths: looks, ease of use, interchangability (is that a word?) fit
Weaknesses: locking mechanism in the silver 'alligator' clamp. for a $130 mount, why place all your structural integrity in a plasic screw set?
Bottom Line:
I had one of my V2 mounts fail two months after initial purchase:(
Do yourself a favor....avoid these racks if you value your bike. If you've taken the time to read up on REAL reviews (not the ones written by magazines funded by the industry), then you value the mtb community's opinion: listen up! these racks will fail! (if you're a brand new V2 owner and have that funky uh-oh feeling in your gut, join the club. I just joined the uno chili club!)
90% of the V2 system looks and operates well, but unfortunately it's the crappy 10% of the system that the whole shebang depends upon for function. Thule, I can't understand why you'd allow your 20-40lb rigs +misc lbs. of wind/g forces to rely on the the cheesy plastic screw system. For $130, I'd think you could use some kind of steel/lever clamp system in the V2 mouth.
So, I'm locked in my investment now, and crossing my fingers - luckily I have a sunroof so I can keep an eye on my carbon babies. Hopefully I can catch any slippage during highway runs to the Demo and Skeggs. I think I'll make the most of a funky situation and cable lock the bikes to the racks for insurance. Fortunately, unlike some of the reviewers on here, Thule provided excellent customer service and turned over a new V2 replacement in 8 days. For the record, I love my Thule ski clamps, bars, and old school rack hitch.
Hope I haven't screwed myself with bad Thule/bike karma with this post, but I feel I should at least pass the word to others who value their rides....1 chili cause they broke, 2 cause at least they send me a replacement clamp in 8 days.
Strengths: After all the failures it has no strengths
Weaknesses: I have had my Velo Vise 2 replaced twice and now the third one failed also. The first two times could have been bad but this time was the worst. The head unit snapped completely in half with the whole front of the bike hangin down the side of my suv nothing holding it but the tire being strapped into the tray. Had it occurred differently it could have come down harder and gone though one of my windows. There is no doubt a desgin flaw here and total failure of the materials used to make this. I had given hope the first time it was warrantied and should have been reluctant on the second time but I will never trust my bike to one of these units again. Thule must know of an apparent problem as there is no question of even seeing the damaged part or wanting it returned for replacement. before the the units actually breaking in half (all three of them) I did also encounter the same problems as some others with the wheel mechanism. DO NOT BUY WHATSOEVER unless you do not value the bike you put on it. feel free to email me for a pic of this latest installment of dealing with thule garbage. mtnrider1009@yahoo.com
Bottom Line:
Absolute flaw in design and materials nothing more to say!!!!!! I am not sure if roadies have the same problem but it seems like the unit might be more tollerable to a 20 lb bike. anything more than that you are a gamblin man.
I bought these racks in September or 06 for a trip to GA. They broke after one week of use. Bought replacements at REI to get my bikes home. The replacements broke three weeks later. I returned those to REI got a refund and have been in a three month battle with Thule to replace the fork mounts...
The problem is the roller in the assembly breaks and the unit no longer tightens to hold the fork... Thule first told this happens because the system is not designed to hold long travel mountain bike forks (anything over 80mm). When I explain that the original set broke when I had road bikes on the roof, they still marked the problem up to user error.
Then I got a rep to agree to send new fork mounts in February of 07 it is now May and I have still not received them. I call Thule about one every two weeks and go through the same conversation about how the rack broke and how any replace is on back order and they email me when a replacement is available. They don't even have a case file or anything. I finally got a package from Thule this week. It was u-bolt for the mount. THAT”S NOT EVEN THE PART THAT'S BROKEN!
This is by far the worst costumer service I experienced in the bike industry.
Similar Products Used: rack start and saris roof systems
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
rick harrison
a Cross Country Rider
from edinburgh, scotland
Date Reviewed: January 17, 2007
Strengths: Interesting design, simple and fast to load up.
Weaknesses: Die cast sections fractured twice, followed by a more catastrophic failure where the whole rack collapsed at 60mph. Now imagine what that would look like as it came towards you through the windscreen of your car. A lot of force goes through one bolt which failed. A critical compoment couldnt do the job.
Bottom Line:
Great design involves a knowledge of the laws of physics and the strength of materials.
Great design alone does not make a great product. This is pants and a liability. Avoid. Interestingly Thule no longer sell this in the UK... curious or what... Wonder why that is ?
Has anyone had problems with the clamp on the V2 velo vise?
I've owned 1 for just over 3 months now and have gone through 2 of the clamp assemblies. I think the problem lies wit Read More »
