| If you are an avid mountain biker you know that getting your bike to the trail in one piece with the least amount of hassle is a very important thing to be able to do. Otherwise you will be riding the same trail by your house over and over again and that will get old quick. There are several ways to get your bike to the trail but if you want to do it yourself on your own car then you need a reliable bike rack and there are several racks on the market to choose from so its important to get the one that fits your needs. |
|
If you are going with a hitch mounted rack then you need to decide if you want one where you slide the frame over the rack bars or one where you set the bike in the rack on its tires. If you have a more downhill oriented frame then you may not be able to use the type that holds the bike by its frame without an adapter bar.
The Thule T2 bike rack is a 2 bike hitch mounted rack where you put the bike on the rack on its tires and it holds it down by the wheels rather than by the frame. This way there is no frame contact and therefore no scratches and it doesn't matter what the shape of your frame is either. The bike is held on by an adjustable arm in the front that clamps down on the front wheel from the top and then there is a ratcheting strap for the rear tire that holds in onto the rack. The rear hold down is adjustable to fit bikes of different wheelbases. The T2 comes in 2 inch and 1.25 inch configurations to fit your needs. When not in use the rack folds up to take up less space on your car and get it out of the way so you don't end up backing it into other things such as parked cars.
The T2 does a good job of keeping the bikes secure and the rack itself is pretty stable on the back of the car as well. This is thanks to a the bar that goes into the receiver being solid rather than hollow like other brands such as the Saris Cycle On which is a similar style of rack. The bar is also threaded so the bolt threads through to the other side rather than having to use a nut on the other end. One thing we didn't like was the length of the bar. If you have a recessed or hidden hitch that does not stick out close to the edge of the bumper then this rack may not work for you. Or you may end up not being able to fold it up without hitting your bumper so check this out before buying one. Just because the fit guide says it will work on your car doesn't mean it will depending on your receiver placement.
The ratcheting arms in front hold the bike well and feel secure when locking it down. One bad thing about this type of rack is that if your tire goes flat on the drive then it won't be held down too securely and you may run into problems, same with the rear strap. But with this negative comes the positive feature where there is no contact with the frame so you don't have to worry about any scratches if you care about that kind of thing. One nice feature is the SecureHook cable locks that come out of the front wheel bars that allow you to lock the bikes to the rack. There is also a receiver lock that you put on the end of the bolt so that the rack can't be removed from the car without a key.
As for holding capacity you can transport 26 and 29 inch bikes on the T2 and if you have the 2 inch receiver model you can add on the Bike Add-On for a total of 4 bikes. The weight limit per tray is 60 lbs. or 100 lbs. total for the 1.25 inch version and 160 lbs. total which should cover almost any bike. We tested the 1.25 inch version with 65 lbs. of bikes on it and it held up just fine on a 3000 mile road trip. Even on some bumpy roads the rack and bikes stayed in place but there was a little bouncing of the rack going on itself.
Pros
- Holds the bikes well
- Solid construction
- Easy and fast to load
- Solid hitch bar
Cons
- Heavy
- Hitch bar too short for recessed hitches
- Expensive
- Only 1 hole for mounting in the hitch receiver
