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Submitted by
chrisharjes
a Weekend Warrior
from Asheville, NC
Date Reviewed: November 9, 2008 | | Favorite Trail: | Kitsuma | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$380.00 | | Purchased At: | Diamond Brand | | Strengths: | Solid fit- vastly superior and more dependable than Yakima | | Weaknesses: | Difficult installation- get Diamond Brand to do it for you unless you like to pull your hair out | | Similar Products Used: | Yakima Q-tower system | | Bike Setup: | Four or five bigass bikes tied every which way | | Bottom Line: | The Thule system is not as stylish-looking, and makes slightly more wind noise, but it stays on the car much better! I experienced catastrophic failure of my Yakima Q-tower system flying off my 2008 Honda Civic, and my wife's 2000 Honda CRV. So far, I've heard the same story fron eleven other people who drive low-profile, sleek vehicles without factory racks. Yakima's Q-clip system attempts to fit multiple cars with common clips that just don't work. Their tower system gradually loosens itself over time. Yakima will also put you through hell trying to warranty their product. Thule makes a custom clip for every car, with all metal (ugly but functional) tower pieces- if you like your gear in one peice, avoid Yakima at all cost! | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
wackywiddy
a Cross Country Rider
from rochester, ny usa
Date Reviewed: June 17, 2008 | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$550.00 | | Purchased At: | park ave bike | | Strengths: | none | | Weaknesses: | fit, cost, wind noise, customer support, dealer support...shall I go on? | | Similar Products Used: | saris | | Bike Setup: | Kona Dawg FS | | Bottom Line: | What a nightmare...spent 4 hours the first day trying to install load bars on my Audi TT (this rack was "specialy designed" for this car...HA!). Returned to dealer several times and they could not do any better. Thule customer service is a joke. They verified the placement of the load bars and the wind deflector is getting in the way of my wipers, WTF! What really iritates me the most is that Yakima does not make a roof rack for my car and I am stuck with this. Going back to dealer one more time to get proper fit, will return and go with Yakima hitch rack if they cant help. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Gui
a Cross Country Rider
from Belo Horizonte, MG - Brazil
Date Reviewed: July 25, 2007 | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Price Paid: |
$1000.00 | | Purchased At: | Trip Aventura | | Strengths: | Easy to use, keep bikes locked while mounted
Can be fitted to other vehicles with minor additional parts | | Weaknesses: | Durability
Reliability | | Similar Products Used: | None | | Bike Setup: | Titus Racer-X | | 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... | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Jared
a Weekend Warrior
from Auburn
Date Reviewed: June 7, 2007 | | Favorite Trail: | Bear Swamp State Forest, NY | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$600.00 | | Purchased At: | Geneva Bicycle Center | | Strengths: | The rack system fits well on my car, and transports my bikes safely and securely everywhere I go. I use the velo vise fork mount for for my two bikes. I also use two wheel on mounts, which also seem pretty secure. I've gone on several multi hour trips without a hitch. | | Weaknesses: | I don't like the design of the aero foot handle assembly which is used to secure the aero feet and load bars down. the handle is made of plastic, and when I tried to engage the assembly, the plastic tab broke off. Thule should have used steel there. The peice was taken care of under warranty without hassle. Another weakness I've noticed is the carriage bolts which are used to secure my velo vise and wheel ons to the load bars. These bolts have a black finish of some sort, which immediately started to rust after a partial summer of use. These bolts should have been made out of stainless steel or some other more resiliant metal. One other item to note is that while assembling the product, the instructions indicate that you "squeeze" the tensioning came to secure it to the load bar (the instructions even show a picture of one hand completing the task). Right away I realized my inadequacies in strength. I had to use a half of a brick and a peice of wood to clamp that bugger down right. | | Similar Products Used: | none | | Bike Setup: | Giant Rainier for me and Giant Boulder SE for wife | | Bottom Line: | The bottom line is that this is a pretty decent rack, and secure for your bikes and secure to your car if you follow the directions. Also, you are going to hear some noise from it while driving. I don't own the fairing because of the placement of the antenna on my Focus, so that may quiet things down for other drivers. A few things can be done by Thule to get this just right as noted in weaknesses. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
ryan
a
from St. louis
Date Reviewed: May 23, 2007 | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Strengths: | disk brake compatible | | Weaknesses: | the plastic roller adjustment mechanism froze up and eventually broke on one of my 2 V2 trays. Thule sent me a new one free of charge....now i think my other one is about to break too. It starts to get very hard to tighten the fork mount roller adjustment then it staps when you lower the metal locking plate. Be careful! | | Similar Products Used: | Saris | | Bottom Line: | Works nice but sucks if it fails while you're on the road with your bike. Also, when did roof racks get so expensive?? | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Mike R
a Cross Country Rider
from Akron, OH
Date Reviewed: December 16, 2006 | | Favorite Trail: | Laurel Highlands PA | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Price Paid: |
$500.00 | | Purchased At: | Akron Racks | | Strengths: | Strong, Fast, Straight-forward set-up and removal. No scratchs on my car hood or door jam. Seemingly secure locking system for bike forks (haven't tried to steal my own bike, but never heard of any failures) | | Weaknesses: | Expense, End cap on tray fell off. Wind noise whistles unless you buy air dam. Removal/installation of trays to rack could be easier | | Similar Products Used: | Yackima | | Bottom Line: | Only minor problems after two years. The end cap on the bike trays just clips on--great for installation, but it fell off on highway, and this allowed the wheel strap (not in use) to slide off too--cost $25.00 total to replace.
Horizontal bars are strong--handled 100 lb.BBQ grill easily
Once system is in place, you never have to worry about anything until end of season. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
malarkey
a Weekend Warrior
from Tempe, Arizona
Date Reviewed: August 12, 2006 | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$95.00 | | Purchased At: | bought used | | Strengths: | very sturdy | | Weaknesses: | On bike trays, the ratchet straps for the rear wheel are a little short | | Similar Products Used: | Yakima | | Bike Setup: | n/a | | Bottom Line: | I have the rack on a 96 Civic hatchback. I found the entire rack used including two bike trays for $45 and then had to pay $50 for the fit kit. I chose not to buy a stretch kit, but it still works great. I had a yakima before, but didn't like it. Before I could get the Yakima tightened to a comfortable tension, one of the plastic latch clips broke off. I would definitely recommend the Thule rack. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Dave
a Racer
from Portland, OR
Date Reviewed: July 3, 2006 | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$500.00 | | Purchased At: | dealer / rack attack | | Strengths: | Good looking, easy to work with | | Weaknesses: | Bad design when used with OEM crossbars | | Bottom Line: | I had a pair of Thule V2 trays mounted on the OEM crossbars for my car (the only ones available to fit it). Installation was easy, as long as you're remotely mechanically inclined, and everything worked as advertised.
However, the OEM "aero bars" have a fatal flaw: unlike other systems (including Thule's own square bars), your bike and tray are ultimately held in place by a single steel bolt, centered under the bike. If you only use it to carry a road bike on the highway, this is fine, but take a mountain bike on a rough road a few times and it becomes a problem. The bike generates a ton of torque going over bumps and potholes, bending out the bottom of the tray head until no amount of tightening will stop it swinging side to side. Once this happens it is only a matter of time until that bolt breaks, and your bike is ejected onto the freeway in spectacular fashion. Be forewarned! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Jimmy Cazares
a Cross Country Rider
from San Diego
Date Reviewed: June 6, 2006 | | Favorite Trail: | Otay Lakes | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$600.00 | | Purchased At: | Performance Bicycle | | Strengths: | Great all around rack...took me about 2 hours to install. Fits my car like a glove. Also cheaper than the Yakima! I have 2 bikes on top all the time...never a sense of unsecurity at high speeds. Build like a rock...not cheaply made like others. | | Weaknesses: | Prob my fault...but i tried to jam the key lock cylinder and i broke a small piece of plastic that holds the lock from coming out. Other than that...never had a prob up to date | | Similar Products Used: | Hollywood Trunk Rack. Great trunk rack...just hated removing it! | | Bike Setup: | 2005 Gary Fisher Cake 3dlx | | Bottom Line: | My friends all have Thule Racks...so i went with it...its awesome. I dont understand the problems im reading in the previous post about these racks not living up to the hype. If you unstall it right...it will work right! Yes it took me 2 hours to install but i made sure if was done right and had a glove like fit to my car. I have 2 bikes on the system with the 594 Sidearm Bike Carriers...i love these (keep your wheels on). The base system was about 300 bucks plus the 594 Sidearm Bike Carriers were 149.00 each...i spend about 600.00 total. Well worth it!! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Steven Mancuso
a Weekend Warrior
from Haskell, New Jersey, USA
Date Reviewed: April 14, 2006 | | Favorite Trail: | Ringwood Skylands Manor | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Price Paid: |
$700.00 | | Purchased At: | Ski Barn Ramsey New Jersey | | Strengths: | I don't know what to say. I have the same load bars on my 2003 Pathfinder that I put on my 1985 Chevy Cavaliere back in 1994 when I was in college. I have loaded everything you can imagine on them,, furniture,, 2x4's,etc. Everything.The bike rails are from 1994 too and I still use them to this day. I have had to replace footpacks because I am on my 4th Pathfinder since that Chevy and the different factory roof racks needed different adapters,, but the load bars and bike rails are perfect. Rust on the load bar a little,, plastic is cracked,, but hey,, 13 years almost,, across the country 2 times,, east coast from Vermont to West Virginia countless times,, I think they are doing damn good. Anyone that is having trouble with there THULE products is lying or just plain had bad luck. I have installed these racks on friends cars too and they have been great. I recomend them for sure | | Weaknesses: | NONE | | Similar Products Used: | NONE,, never would try another brand. | | Bike Setup: | TREK carbon road,Trek 970 hard tail XC race, Trek Remedy6 All mountain | | Bottom Line: | THULE is a great rack,great company,great product. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
fred clari
a Weekend Warrior
from Saco
Date Reviewed: December 6, 2005 | | Favorite Trail: | Bradbury Mtn | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Price Paid: |
$300.00 | | Purchased At: | Cyclemania | | Strengths: | Easy to set up/easy to use/faultless | | Weaknesses: | One vise head showing rust. | | Similar Products Used: | Thule trunk rack. | | Bike Setup: | Titus LocoMoto, Klein Adept Comp | | Bottom Line: | The only reason I can see for those low ratings is the inability of the user(or whoever installed it for them) to install it correctly(no matter what they think). I've been using my roof rack since '00 and have had zero problems. Been all over the eastern seaboard and into eastern Canada. Speeds up to 80mph. No problems. It's likely a user malfunction and not an equipment malfunction. :-)
You can try to drive it into a garage, but in my case it didn't fit. ;-)
Buy it if you need a roof rack(it locks up tight). | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Brian
a
from New Mexico
Date Reviewed: July 20, 2005 | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Strengths: | Easy off and on | | Weaknesses: | 1. My bike shakes like a scared chihuahua when I hit the slightest of road bumps
2. My bike mount fell off the rack (with my bike attached) because the ONE SMALL bolt that holds the thing to the rack failed. Poor engineering here. At least use two bolts to avoid this possibility. | | Similar Products Used: | Yakima | | Bike Setup: | My prized Schwinn Homegrown URT. | | Bottom Line: | MY BIKE FELL OFF THE TOP OF MY VEHICLE! If keeping your ride on top of your vehicle is not the main function of a roof rack, I don't know what is. . .
Luckily, Nothing happened to my Homegrown. I would have been homicidal! I have used Yakima racks in the past. I am currently purchasing new Steelhead racks. My experience with Yakima is solid performance including holding my bikes SOLIDLY on the rack. It may be all mental, but watching my prized bike swaying on top of my vehicle makes me nervous. In my opinion, based on my recent experience, Thule deserves 5 steaming poop piles! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Nick
a
from Santa Monica
Date Reviewed: July 15, 2005 | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$330.00 | | Purchased At: | Helen's Cycles | | Strengths: | Looks pretty solid...probably is-once you get it installed.
| | Weaknesses: | Have spent a total of around five hours of my life trying to install this product not counting the two post-purchase visits I have had to make to the retailer that sold it to me.
| | Similar Products Used: | none | | Bottom Line: | What a nightmare. I bought the thule rack system a la carte - 4 aero feet, a fit kit, load bars, and a fairing. A Thule rack owner had recommended the Thule rack to me citing bad experiences with a Yakima setup. The guy at the bike store gave me the wrong fit kit with my setup which I had to return and exchange for the proper one. Once I made it home after this first of many dissapointments I went about beginning the installation. The instructions are printed in three languages but rely mostly on illustration (like Thule's Swedish brethren IKEA). After a sweaty hour of tinkering and swearing I determined that I had a defective aero foot. I brought the foot back to the retailer and they gave me another - an interesting note: When I asked the retailer if they'd install the rack for me they said they couldn't because it was a liability. That should have tipped me off. The bike store has no problem installing products and doing work on people's 5k+ bikes but they have too little faith in this product to install it for a fee.
Anyway I got the blasted thing home again-with its new aero foot- and managed (to my surprise) to secure one of the bars to the front portion of my roof. I felt optimistic until I tried to secure the back bar. I can't help but think that the people at Thule simply don't know the dimensions of my car(a 2005 Camry). Either the fit kit's plate is too small or the screw is not long enough. Regardless, I'm pissed. I think I'm going to return the rack and write Thule. I honestly feel that they should pay for the detailing/touching up that my car could stand to undergo as a result of minor scrathing and marring caused by this product's failure to install. I'll take a Yakima, thank you. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
erling brabaek
a Cross Country Rider
from el paso texas
Date Reviewed: May 17, 2005 | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$135.00 | | Purchased At: | orsrackdirect.com | | Strengths: | solid steel and alu aloy | | Weaknesses: | front fork scewer mount opens with bike mounted | | Similar Products Used: | velo vise | | Bike Setup: | yeti 575 | | Bottom Line: | This is not all bad. the model purchased is the v2r. The locking mechanishm opens about 3/4 inch after 10 miles on the road. I found out that as you wiggle the bike from side to side it loosens up right before your eyes. Hmmm. called thule and they said theyd need the piece back. they looked at it and said it was defective. Sendt me a new piece. That new piece did the same. Hmmmmmm....Called thule again. I dont know what is happening but thule offered to send a locking key set wich would prevent it from opening. Sooothatsit???? Well it doesnt open anymore...check. I can now lock it...Check. I think somthing is cooking at thule in regards to this armor piercing locking mech. They did however give me locks.
Should properly have bought the yakima but yet again the flimsy looking velovise is staying closed all the time.
Or better yet one thule and one yakima.
Oh well there it is. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Jin Man
a Cross Country Rider
from Guadalajara, Mexico
Date Reviewed: February 17, 2005 | | Favorite Trail: | All Mexico | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$250.00 | | Purchased At: | Vazher (Guadalajara) | | Strengths: | Really easy to setup and install.
Versatility if used on a other car.
Aluminium aerobar gives a great look and wind resistance, also it's lighter than others I've tried. | | Weaknesses: | Somewhat expensive than others cheapers. | | Similar Products Used: | Yakima for the roof rail and Hollywood for hitch receiver. | | Bike Setup: | 2002 Trek 6700, all XT and Thomson components with Duke C (OEM). | | Bottom Line: | I used to drive mostly Jeep and SUV, carrying my bikes on the hitch receiver rack, and when I had to use a sedan I used to use a rack made by a Mexican manufacturer and that was an horrible rack that hurt the paint and the car door.
And then I just bought a european car and I decided to spend little more.
It was really easy to setup and install, I think it was enough with the ilustration than the complicated instruction from other manufacturers.
The price that I paid included a lock kit with 6 locks.
It's one of the best purchases I've made. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Adam Wor
a Weekend Warrior
from Mineola, NY, USA
Date Reviewed: December 12, 2004 | | Favorite Trail: | Stillwell Woods | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$240.00 | | Purchased At: | Ebay | | Strengths: | Great Rack, Built Strong, Can be used to carry just about anything, all you need to do is order the additional parts. | | Weaknesses: | Real pricey if purchased brand new. Directions they give are not that easy to follow, but as long as you have some common sense and are handy, you should have no problems | | Similar Products Used: | None | | Bike Setup: | Specialized StumpJumper | | Bottom Line: | I think its a great rack, I have no idea how people had these things fly off their cars. They must have installed them improperly. The Aero Foot Pack feels like its welded to the roof of my car. If you install the rack properly your gonna know its staying right where its suppose to. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Dave
a Weekend Warrior
from Dundas, Ontario, Canada
Date Reviewed: April 28, 2004 | | Duration Product Used: | Tested or demo'ed only | | Strengths: | The roof rack hardware is strong. | | Weaknesses: | The method of securing the roof rack to the vehicle is based on removing a short thin screw from the door weatherstripping, placing the Thule rack mounting plate, which is flat and without a grip to the vehicle, and re-installing the tiny screw through the Thule plate. Enough upward force from wind or vibration would snap the screw, which is made only for holding weatherstripping in place, not roof racks. Loss of the rack and cargo will happen sooner or later. | | Similar Products Used: | Yakima is the rack that I went with. It has a design that will hold to the vehicle under adverse conditions and without a screw used for other purposes on the vehicle. | | Bottom Line: | Be well aware that if after you receive hardware from Thule, and you don't like it for any reason, Thule charges a %15 re-stocking charge. I expalained to them that the racks had a safety issue and upon returning them, lost $60 to Thule. They profit even when you return their product unused.
The design issue applies to our vehicle. Not necessarily to all. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Dave Standley
a Weekend Warrior
from Comptche, California, USA
Date Reviewed: February 9, 2004 | | Favorite Trail: | Pygmy Forest Loop | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$100.00 | | Purchased At: | local dealer | | Strengths: | The Thule model #477, Short Roof Adaptor, is a component. for mounting roof racks on some vehicles that would not otherwise provide sufficient bar spread to mount bike carriers. Product appears to be strong and durable. | | Weaknesses: | Installation is very tricky and instructions, particularly in measurement, position and adjustments, must be precisely followed. Even then, this item does not result in a secure, rigid and stable roof rack. I think that the design needs some serious work. | | Similar Products Used: | none | | Bottom Line: | Although this item might be the only choice for putting a roof rack on some cars, I don't believe that it is much of an option. I'll admit that the dealer warned me that he didn't have a very high opinion of it. He also told me he wouldn't help with the installation and that furthermore, if I wasn't happy with it, everything else BUT the Thule 477 SRA was returnable. Being a hardheaded sort of fellow, I had to find out for myself. I'd like to blame the dealer because he probably should'a refused to sell the darn thing to me but truth is, that would'a made me even more madder!
So I guess I'm just gonna keep on doing things the hard way & Ya;ll have a nice day!
:-)
| | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
David Bosscher
a
from Jellico, TN, USA
Date Reviewed: September 26, 2003 | | Favorite Trail: | Indian Mountain | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$450.00 | | Purchased At: | Ultimate Sports | | Strengths: | Good dealer network | | Weaknesses: | The entire rack flew off the roof of my Taurus while on the expressway. | | Bottom Line: | After carefully mounting the system on my car per Thule instructions, it came off with bikes and kayak still attached. The Aero Foot system simply lifted off my car. Thule and I did a few rounds about whose fault it was and then stated that it was NOT their fault.
I believe that I either had a faulty rack or that there is an inherant weakness in the design of the rack vis a vis my Taurus and ??? other vehicles.
Both the rack and the company failed to live up to standards. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Zatac
a Cross Country Rider
from Burlington, VT USA
Date Reviewed: February 18, 2003 | | Favorite Trail: | plazo larco | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Price Paid: |
$450.00 | | Purchased At: | LBS | | Strengths: | Firm rubber stops for open face platform penetration adherence top side wedge. Excellent for tightness slipper when locked under roof. Can use when entering car wash - the Mexicans don't complain. | | Weaknesses: | My son's hand got lodged under locking clamp causing fluid discharge and Indian burn. Forward release tab became brittle under torsion negativity force when pivoting breaker bar clockwise during lateral action pull. | | Similar Products Used: | Dr. Regies lip plunger action force grip bike lock bar. | | Bike Setup: | Huffy full suspension small frame as I am a little Mexican with knobby legs. | | Bottom Line: | I would buy this product again if they improve compatibility with disc brakes, single pivot design, Lefty fork, Titanium ZR9000 frame, my wife, my son's arm/hand, little Mexicans and roof of Honda civic with performance muffler and Asian lettering which makes car go faster. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Rob Grover
a Weekend Warrior
from Dallas
Date Reviewed: September 18, 2002 | | Favorite Trail: | Cedar Hill | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Purchased At: | bicyclesource.com | | Strengths: | This review is for the Thule 753 specialty rack for late model BMW 3 and 5 series. I have it on my 325 (e46) coupe. This is a much better solution than Yakima as the 753 bolts directly onto factory mounting points located under little flip up doors on the roof of the car. I used to have a Yak on my Prelude until it stolen. Anyways the rack fits perfectly, does not screw up the doors and sills like the Yakima system, Holds 130lbs of stuff and is relatively cheap if purchased online (no tax - free shipping). It took 30 minutes to put on the first time and I can now take it on and off in about 3 minutes. I am running it with two v2 bike holders and two wheel holders and it is stable - in fact I can drive sideways and the bikes stay in place. | | Weaknesses: | A bit awkward security bolts and wrench | | Similar Products Used: | Yakima system for 7 years | | Bottom Line: | Great fitting rack with great verstility and solid performance. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Cary Endozo
a Weekend Warrior
from San Diego, CA
Date Reviewed: July 15, 2002 | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$270.00 | | Purchased At: | rei | | Strengths: | Looks, ease of installation, versatility, durability | | Weaknesses: | price | | Similar Products Used: | none | | Bike Setup: | Specialized Hard Rock | | Bottom Line: | I purchased the 430 foot pack w/ the Tracker 1 kit. I drove cross country from San Diego to Washington, DC without any problems or tinkering with the rack. I had 2 bikes on the velo vise rack with 2 surfboards on the roof rack and the rack system worked flawlessly even driving at speeds >90mph. Awesome product except for the high cost. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
pruitt
a Weekend Warrior
from greensboro, NC USA
Date Reviewed: May 26, 2002 | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Price Paid: |
$200.00 | | Strengths: | Absolutely ROCK solid. A wealth of accessories available, bike racks are great, boxes are even better. | | Weaknesses: | You MUST follow instructions. | | Similar Products Used: | Yakima products. | | Bike Setup: | Fisher Sugar 3+, all Deore XT or XTR; NO Bontrager. | | Bottom Line: | I wrote this review for the person that's never used a THULE product before because I see a lot of posts from people complaining about the fit. I will tell you from over a DECADE of experience with THULE products, this salient fact: If THULE makes a fit kit for your car, it will fit. If not, move on down the road. Don't waste your time.
That said, the most important piece of advice I can give anyone is: Take your time and read the instructions! It's that simple. Thules are engineered better than most products and even installing a dozen of them on over 6 vehicles, I've goofed a few times too. I replaced Aero bars from a '98 Odyssey to a '01 CR-V and bought the fit kit. Never could get the bars tight enough. Turns out, in the 3 years they were on the Odyssey, I had forgotten that the Odyssey had a little plastic cam installed and I had forgotten to take it out. I was so certain of my Thule experience that I failed to read ALL of the instructions.
Thules always include a Tyvek ruler that gives you the EXACT placement for your bars and mounts. Follow them. And when you clamp them down, remember to EQUALLY clamp from both sides. A Thule is genuinely strong enough to bend a roof, so just be careful. When they're fully installed, a 200 pound man could EASILY stand on one and it not move. They're that strong.
So, just take your time and read the instructions. Clean off your car (and wax if you have time) the areas where the mounts will go; you'll likely not be taking the mounts off until it's time to trade the car. And when you do, buy another fit kit and you're set to go.
Thules have always impressed me by their strength and fit; 5 chiles cause they're the best! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Keefe Ward
a Downhiller
from Dover, NJ
Date Reviewed: April 17, 2002 | | Favorite Trail: | Mahlon D | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$400.00 | | Purchased At: | Bike racks direct (net) | | Strengths: | No need to take the wheels off while using the big mouth setup. Easy to install and order | | Weaknesses: | Tray for wheel is too small, had to bend mine out to fit 2.6 tire. Looks crappy, like I bent it. Thule had no answer on their tech site last year for this. Dopes. | | Bike Setup: | Santa Cruz Bullit | | Bottom Line: | Works well. So nice to throw the bike up and quick clamp it in and speed off. Buy it and bent the tray like I did it's worth it. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Jeff
a Weekend Warrior
from Nashua
Date Reviewed: December 12, 2001 | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$300.00 | | Purchased At: | Goodale's | | Strengths: | I don't have a lot of time and the last thing I want to do is spent it putting my Bike on and off a rack. The Tracker foot is fast and easy and the Big Mouth Bike carrier is just as easy to use - Strong too. | | Weaknesses: | None | | Similar Products Used: | None | | Bottom Line: | I would even thing of another system | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
railtrailbiker
a Weekend Warrior
from Bergen County, NJ
Date Reviewed: October 28, 2001 | | Favorite Trail: | Old Croton Aqueduct State Park | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Purchased At: | rackwarehouse.com | | Strengths: | Ease of use, security, dependability. | | Weaknesses: | Appearance. | | Similar Products Used: |
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