Thule Transport T2

Some draw backs.

Q. You have to assemble the rack. The instructions are good, but it still takes about an hour or so.

R. The swing bar does place some pressure on the front break of road bikes.

S. The rack is a little heavy. Taking it on & off of the vehicle is much easier with 2 people.

T. The rear hitch racks are notorious for leaving bikes with road grime after long trips - especially in the rain. (however, they are shielded from summer bugs a little better then the top racks)

U. Locking the bike is questionable. We have to methods of lock down.

a. Light lock down - going into the grocery store - We bought the two additional locks & the snug tight locks. This allows one to lock the "arm" in place over the front tire. This is all fine for keeping the good people honest, but come one. I can quick release the front wheel & get the whole bike free.

b. If we are going on long trips we purchased a 8' long cable with a heavy duty lock. We run this thought the bikes frames & wheels then lock it to the rack - which is locked to the car. Again, this is not full proof, but I don't really care, b/c our bikes are insured & I would always enjoy getting a new bike.

Some things that I like about this rack:

Q. The rack has a very nice "not in use mode" where a quick depression of a lever allows the rack to be placed in a vertical position.

R. Loading the bikes is lightning fast! I can load 2 bikes in about 2 minutes. No wheel removal or storage. Also, this rack can handle my heavy duty mountain bike with disk breaks (becoming more & more standard) that most top racks have issues with. Plus I hate removing the front tire on my mountain bike. This is important - going biking takes long enough without taking 15 minutes to load & unload your steed.

S. The rack allows for the movement of the bikes so that you can see the tail lights through the wheels. Also, you can arrange the bikes so that the handle bars & seats don't hit each other. ( a common problem on rear hitch racks)

T. The bikes don't swing at all - or very very little. The bikes are loaded in a very fast solid manner with out additional straps that swing or slap in the wind.

U. If you go for the 2" inch rack, the 2 bike add on is very nice. I think that it even comes with a rear break light that can plug into the trailer lights for additional security. I would do this, but it is not recommended for the 1 1/4 hitch weight load. I have considered doing this because they are usually covering their ass - as some down hill mountain bikes (made for riding lifts) & the growing popularity of electric bikes - can now weigh close to 60lbs each.

V. My wife can quickly & easily load the bikes by herself. She normally couldn't & wouldn't want load then on top of the vehicle by herself. (This is a huge plus)

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!

This is my first bike rack and I based my purchase on all the positive reviews for the Thule T2. Overall, I love the rack - its simplicity and speed of setup to hitting the road probably can't be beat, but I have a few minor complaints that may be crucial for some (depending on your POV of course). First, the quality of some of the materials, not all by any means, seems a bit cheap and "plasticky" for the price. For example, the ratcheting front wheel arms are insanely quick and easy to operate but the plastic release "button"/lever feels like it could loosen over time and gradually decrease reliability. One of the important features, in my decision to purchase, was how easily one can fold up the rack when not hauling any bikes. This worked as designed but with one catch; depending on your vehicle, the rack may not fold up entirely and lock into place because your bumper will be in the way! If the rack can't fold up entirely and lock into place it negates that entire feature. The plastic wheel wells, in which your front tire sits, could hit your bumper before it locks into place. I was able to make this work by, ever so gently, grinding down the plastic wheel well by about an inch so there was enough clearance between it and the bumper when folded up. Watch out for this if this is an important feature for you. Thule could have had simple solution to this if they simply followed the design of the rear wheel clamp...it slides back and forth. If the front wheel wells were not fixed and slid, I could have moved this piece entirely to the edge when not hauling bikes. Oh well...picky I know. Still love the simplicity, design, and speed at which my wife and I can load two bikes onto this puppy.

This rack is great. I love the fact that it doesn't have any chrome on it. The "other" brand has chrome that starts rusting quickly. It goes together well if you follow the directions. The below review is correct about over tightning the bolts. Don't do it. They don't need to be extremely tight.

The arms are almost not long enough for my 29r with the big tires. This is no big deal though because it can be worked around. You just have to play with it a little. My small tire 29r is no problem at all.

I like the way it can be lowered almost to the ground. This lets me open my rear hatch with the bikes on.

Here is a couple of ideas for Thule in case one of their people read this. First, weld a loop of steel somewhere on the rack so there is a place to hook a lock. This would be a simple thing to do and would really help when using a cable to lock the bikes on. Second, come up with a way to lock the rack to the hitch. Yeah I know it is bolted but anyone could easily take that off. One way would be to make the rack extend through the reciever enough to put a pad lock on. A hole drilled in the tube would make it easy to snap a lock on if it extended through the tube enough. Another solution would be to make a locking system for the bolt that holds the rack on. Again, this would be easy.

So with all that being said, I love the rack. It looks great and work great. I am so glad I bought it.

I shopped the competition's racks for a good hitch rack that would accommodate 29er mtb wheels and not hang the bikes by the frames, and this one stood out as the best deal. It's stable and easy to use, and the folding mechanism is solid and helpful, both upwards and down for hatch access. I use a cable lock to secure all four wheels and both frames, instead of the Thule designed locks.

My only wish is that for those of us who like to use cable locks, rack companies would incorporate a small metal loop or something on the rack, through which to pass the cable, so that the rack is secured to the car as well. I know Thule sells a locking pin, but using a cable could do the job, or provide backup. Maybe I'll have a friend weld one on.

Concerning the post below about this rack not being 29er friendly... my front wheel is a wide rim Stan's Flow, with a 2.55" WTB Weirwolf mounted. It takes some wiggling to get the arm over the tire, but I can get the arm to engage 3 clicks without releasing pressure from the tire, and am pleased with how it holds. It is certainly 29er friendly, for tires up to at least 2.55".

I'm very pleased with the rack, and recommend it. Easy, durable, well-designed.

We got this rack for my wifes car a few years ago - it has served her well since. When I got a new car and decided to go with a hitch mounted rack instead of a roof rack this past summer, I decided to look at what was available on the market again, and I settled on the Yakima Hold-Up. The two main selling points for the Hold-Up over the T2: the swing arms on the hold-up clear a 29er tire, while the T2s do not, and the Hold-Up folds down to a smaller size when it is not in use. However, the T2 does have one notable advantage: you can slide the two trays relative to one another to optimize the positioning of the trays when carrying two bikes. This has never been a problem for me, but I can see where it would be advantageous for other people. Otherwise, I love this style of bike carrier because it doesn't require removing a front wheel, and because I can use the bike rack as a pseudo-repair stand at the trailhead. If you have a 29er I'd strongly recommend the Hold-Up; otherwise the T2 is a solid option worth considering.

This bike rack costs more than most, however, in this case you get what you pay for. For each bike you want to put on the rack there is a mounting unit just for one bike. So you can customize your setup. I have gone over some rough dirt roads with this rack and the bikes are held securily even though they are dancing around behind my truck like crazy. The bikes are placed in the rack quickly and securily. The rack itself can be flipped down for good access to the back of truck door. Also I have purchased a locking hitch pin that works and I like the screw-in hitch pin because it tightens up the connection to the trailer hitch on the back of my truck. Good engineering.

Just got this rack, and after using many others this one is the burliest. its super easy to use, load, unload. and as the reviews below mention, using a cable lock, and a hitch lock is the best security. When I am in sketchy areas like the Bay, I just take my bikes off and bring them inside when possible.
(a note on set up) the trays are adjustable and when you first set up the rack the directions suggest tightening the 4 bolts with racks centered. I recommend loosely setting it up, put your bikes on it and continue. I must have tightened and loosened the bolts like ten time cause I followed the directions too closely.

i've had tons of bike racks. this is the best one. it fits any bike without taking wheels off. it's not on the roof so you can enter and exit any garage without tearing the rack off. i've used this rack hard for over a year now.

the only issue i've had: when first putting this together we over tightened the front wheel tray screw.. and pop. it's broken. it's plastic and amazingly easy to do this. how do i know? i bought another tray, and while attaching it, and being as careful as possible.. pop. i broke the second one. it's super glued now - not good but it's been working and hasn't broken again.

This is a great rack. It's on my 2000 Explorer all summer, and folds up nicely out of the way when I don't have my bike, but then in the matter of seconds you can fold it out and load/lock your bike. As a mountain biker I tend to drive down some rough roads to get to trail heads and because this mounts to the trailer hitch (and therefore the car frame) it is rock solid. For added stability use the Thule pin lock or a screw bolt instead of just a hitch pin. This pinches the rack to the hitch receiver and prevents any movement.