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| Transporting our expensive steeds can be tricky sometimes, especially if you don't own a pickup truck. The options include stuffing it into the back of your car - never a good idea if you care even the slightest amount about your interior, a roof mounted rack - a real pain in the back if you have heavy bikes or a car that is over four feet tall, or a strap-mounted trunk rack - I don't know about you, but hanging my pride and joy off of a few straps does not sound like a good idea. The last, and usually the ideal solution, is a hitch mounted rack. Hitch racks usually have the most going for them, being the most solid and easiest to load and unload bikes from as well. The Thule T2 tested here is a tray style hitch rack, meaning that the bike fits into wheel holders, or trays, and is held upright by an adjustable arm. The T2 comes in both 1 1/4" and 2" receiver hitch sizes, and you can also install Thule's 2 Bike Add-On (fits the 2" model only) to expand the carrying capacity to four bikes in total. We've had our T2 on test for a full year now, but there are also a number of T2's that have been in use for much longer by some of our local riding crew, allowing us to see how well the rack holds up in the even-longer-term use. |
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| The T2 rack has a number of features that speed the process of installing and removing your bike, as well as some tricks up its sleeve that make living with the rack on the back of your vehicle a bit easier. First up, it will accept bikes with a wheelbase of up to 48", long enough for even the longest downhill bikes out there, but can be adjusted to also hold children's bikes in place too. This is possible via the T2's sliding rear wheel holder that can be positioned at any point needed along the length of the tray. The holder slides easily along the tray, doesn't require any tools to adjust, and there is a stud to keep it from coming off the end of the tray. A two position adjustable strap that uses a ratchet to snug down tightly against the rear wheel will fit around the biggest tires and all but the tallest aero road rims. Holding the bike upright is the Thule SecureHook ratcheting arm. Simply put the bike on the rack with its front wheel in the plastic wheel holder, swing the arm up and over the front wheel and close to the fork, and then push it down against the tire. This system prevents any contact of the rack with your expensive frame, but not the fork (more on that below), and holds the bike in place very solidly. If you've used a bike rack before you've no doubt been perplexed at some point as sometimes no matter how you mount the bikes, their seats, pedals, and bars want to keep you from putting more than one bike onto the rack. Because no one wants to try and solve that brain teaser before or after a ride, Thule has equipped the T2 with sliding trays that allow you to alter the position of the bikes to lessen the chance of contact. Four large allen head bolts hold each tray in place, but by loosening two of them you can easily move the tray to a better position. It isn't a job that you'd do all the time, but if you routinely carry the same bikes on the rack it makes sense to take advantage of this feature. Like most tray type racks, you can fold the T2 up when not transporting bikes, but it also can swing down and allow access to hatchbacks or trunks. The folding mechanism also gives the rack some extra clearance due to being offset above the hitch by a few inches - a good point to keep in mind if you have to drive through cross ditches or frequent rough roads. It should be noted that current T2 racks do come equipped with the STL2 threaded hitch pin and also locks for each arm, even though ours is pictured without. It's always a safe bet to run a cable lock through the bikes, the rack itself, and to the hitch on your vehicle for added insurance. |
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| The T2 requires a bit of assembling out of the box, but nothing that the average person can't handle (way easier than IKEA), especially because the instructions are quite clear. The rack is quite heavy and looks to be up to the task and then some. Our 2" hitch model fit snugly into the receiver and tightened down to have no play between the two. The threads in the T2's receiver arm are not just a nut that has been tack welded in place as found on many other racks, but rather it uses deep threads that run the entire depth of the solid arm. Putting a bike on the T2 couldn't be any easier. Lift it up and place it into position with front wheel in the plastic cradle, snug the SecureHook ratcheting arm over the front tire, and then tighten down the rear wheel strap. The system holds the bike firmly in place, no matter how rough the road. I also installed the 2 Bike Add-On (for 2" receivers only) that allowed me to carry four bikes in total. Despite the extra leverage created by added length, the rack never once developed play at the receiver/hitch attachment. The ability to adjust the position of the trays came in especially handy once four downhill bikes of different makes were loaded onto the rack - no need to remove seatposts in order to clear the ends of other bike's handlebars meant no headache when it was time to load up. By pulling the lever located just above the hitch you can fold the rack up and out of the way when it isn't in use, but the rack's tight tolerances can make folding it up difficult, although this is a much better alternative to a rack that folds easy, but rattles around nonstop. With the 2 Bike Add-On attached, folding the rack became a two man job until I figured out an awkward way to do the job solo. Not ideal, but it is quite hefty once the extra bike attachment has been added. |
 | The Thule T2 is a high quality rack that can hold nearly any type and shape of mountain bike securely no matter what the road conditions, but at this price I would expect to see better hardware used for the rear wheel ratchet strap and not have to worry about it marring my expensive fork. - Mike Levy |
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| There is no denying that the T2 is surely one of the sturdiest racks available. It is common to not find any play in the rack's folding mechanism's pivots even years down the road, and the less it shakes and shudders as you make your way down rough roads, the smaller the toll it will take on your bike and the rack itself. Our test unit has been in use for over a year now and has managed to shrug off the heft of multiple DH bikes and rough roads without breaking a sweat. All is not perfect on the reliability front though, with some shortcomings that show up further down the road, which the majority of owner's racks will surely see, as the price of the T2 will have most expecting it to last many years. One major point of contention turned out to be the adjustable rear wheel strap, or rather the actual ratchet unit itself, which uses riveted pins to hold the unit together as opposed to something more secure. Like mentioned above, our test rack is still going strong, but I've seen a number of T2 units who's ratchets have simply fallen apart over time. A simple bungee cord does fine as a quick and dirty fix, but at the price that the T2 sells for I would expect nicer hardware to be used. Thule does offer a great warranty with the T2, so if you have any issues with the ratchet be sure to hit them up, just keep in mind that it doesn't cover abused racks. All of the small parts are available for aftermarket purchase as well. My personal T2 has spent much of its life on the back of my vehicle as I drive on some rather rough back roads and I've discovered that the rack's trays tend to come lose over a month long period, despite using a thread locking compound on the bolts. While that's worth mentioning, I can't fault Thule too much for that as I would call it wear and tear. The same applies to your bike - if you treat it rough it'll need a proper going over more often than if you ride buff single track all season. Check the rack's bolts every now and then and you won't ever have an issue. A few reliability quibbles aside, my own, as well as many other owner's issue with the T2 stems from the secure and easy to use SecureHook bike holder. Thule notes that the system does not come in contact with the bike's frame, but what they don't say is that it certainly will make contact with the majority of fork lowers out there. I found that it quickly marred the finish of the fork on any bike I put on the rack, leaving an unsightly mark on the lowers on the outside of the leg. Am I nitpicking that the rack does a small bit of cosmetic damage to the bike? I don't think so, not when many forks cost well over a grand, and the rack itself is not exactly inexpensive either. The solution is put something soft between the two, but it simply shouldn't be required. The T2 isn't free of faults, but it does the job of holding your bikes in place as well as you could ask of it. It needs a bit of attention if you travel on rough roads, and the rear wheel strap's ratcheting unit could be sturdier, but in the end the rack is easy to use, putting bikes on the rack couldn't be easier (it is nearly a one handed job) and the rack will accept pretty much any shaped bike out there as long as it has two wheels and a wheelbase that isn't of circus proportions. Install the two Bike Add-on as shown on the Toyota above and you can carry four bikes without hassle. |
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