Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I have tried out almost every hitch mounted bike rack out there, including the lines from Thule, Saris, Yakima, and Softride. I have owned the Thule Helium for over a year and it the best rack is the best out there.
My criteria:
1. Access to the back of the vehicle (Mazda MPV)
2. Securely holds bikes
3. Accommodates kids bikes
4. Easy to install/remove The Short Story:
1. Access: just as good or better than any other models.
2. Secure: holds bikes securely and has good anti theft measures
3. Kids Bikes: Takes a little creative thinking, but is better than most.
4. Easy to install: Head and shoulders above the pack. It is so easy that we store it in the back of our van most of the time and whip it out when needed. This rack is completely manageable for my small framed wife!If I had to list the major pros and cons, it would be these.
Pros:
- light, compact, and fast to attach/remove
- bikes are secure,rack is secured to the vehicle
- easy access to the back of vehicleCons:
- expensive
- only for two bikes (three bike model available)
- if you were to back into a pole with the rack on you would probably severly damage the tightening knob which is necessary for attaching and removing the rackThe Long Story:
======Access to the back of the vehicle======
The Thule Helium rack tilts down to allow the hatch to swing up and out. Pretty standard stuff. Just one level to flip up to tilt it. You are not "supposed" to have bikes attached when you do this. However, you can do it, but it probably puts undue stress on the rack and the bikes not to mention that it is very heavy to lift back up with all those bikes on there.
When reviewing other models, I ruled out platform rack early because they make it so hard to get into the back of the vehicle. I considered the swing-away racks, such as the Revolver, which allow you to keep the bikes on the rack when accessing the back, but they required too many steps to swing the rack out of the way if you are using the back on a regular basis. Also seemed to easy to damage the car next to you in the parking lot.
The Softride racks had an promising design that allows the bikes to remain parallel to the ground when tilting down. However, when I looked at them in person, they were *really* hard to move back up into place even without any bikes on them. Not recommended.======Securely holds bike======
Check. I really like weight of the Thule rubber straps. Very secure. The sway cages (which are optional on lower end models) are a must in my book. The really lock down the bikes.
======Accommodates kids bikes======
No rack did a very good job here. This rack has a slightly narrower fork so it is easier to use with kids bikes, but it still takes some creativity (again sway cages help here).
The other part of secure is security. It has the best security features of any rack. It has the standard cable lock to lock bikes to the rack, but has an excellent system for locking the rack to the car. The tightening/locking knob would have to be destroyed to remove the rack, making the rack useless. Other racks have a lock on the end of the safety pin which comes off with a few quick blows of the hammer leaving the rest of the rack undamaged and re-saleable.
======Easy to install/remove======
This is where the Helium outshines the rest.
First, the rack is light! It is made out aluminum almost entirely. I can lift it with one hand.
Second,no tools are needed. Just insert into the hitch and tighten the adjusment knob. The saftey pin then locks into place without a nut. My wife has no problems lifting and installing this in place. In fact it is so easy that we have been keeping the rack in the cargo area of the MPV (It is narrow enough that it stands upright in the back without taking up too much space). When we need to use it we just whip it out and hook it up. Collapsing the upper part (the fork) does require removing a pin rather than pulling a lever, but it is not much harder than having a lever. Storing it in the back has turned out to be a HUGE advantage since the rack is always available, but doesn't add baggage onto the back of the car. Having a foot and a half less to worry about when parallel parking in Boston is wonderful.
Another easy rack to remove and store in the trunk is the Saris T-Bones rack. However what I didn't like about it was that 1) the tongue was left sticking out of the hitch (I was afraid I would forget it was there and back into something with it), 2) the arms of the rack were harder to lower, 3) I didn't like how the bikes attached to the rack (in particular, no no-sway cages), 4) it doesn't tilt for access to the back of the vehicle (you have to remove the rack which is actually pretty easy) and 5) its thin aluminum and composite plastic design, although very light, did make me wonder about durablility especially the rotating arms (that said, Saris makes nice stuff so they probably did over engineer it enough even if it didn't appear so). The Saris rack did have some advantages though. 1) it was very, very, light and it was easier to remove than the Thule Helium since you leave the tongue of the rack in the hitch, 2) the width of the arms is adjustable which might be useful for fitting kids bikes on, and 3) it came with a bag for storing the rack in the back of the car.=======Summary======
If you only need 2 bikes or less, this rack is worth it!
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Thule Helium 2 Rack with Hitch Switch
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