🚲 Thule Helium Platform Hitch Bike Rack: Effortless Transport for Bikes Review

This product is too expensive and cheap. The product arrived with a missing plastic cover. Warranty claim opened with Thule. After two weeks of waiting and calling Thule support I was told that my Thule must return the item as is within 30 days of purchase. That's how well Thule stands behind their products. In the future I will stay away from Thule products. To make matters worse, the BicycleSourceUS seller now refuses to refund my money.

I don't know what's wrong with Thule as they used to be the standard for bike racks. The plastic parts on the helium platform are the rack's Achilles disease. They make critical connections to the aluminum pans and fail/tear due to the force required (which is small) on the ratchet straps to pull the bike to the rack. This creates a slight cantilever movement that puts stress on the plastic attached to the shells. The spring mechanism often jams. I've been buying Thule products since 1989 and…

The price of this bike rack is, I have to say, not impressive. Seems to be made really cheaply. First, the springs in the grips of bike levers and the clutch seem to be at risk of failure at any time, as they don't always respond immediately when you grab them to unlock the ratchets. The wrench is also REALLY difficult to use, in fact I wasn't able to unlock the hitch to remove the strut from the bumper. Although it's fairly light as most of it is plastic, I've only used it twice and it's…

Firstly, this is a very light bike carrier for 1 bike from Thule. Weighs only 23 pounds. It's made from lightweight aluminum and contains a lot of plastic parts, although I'm not keen on all the plastic parts, it keeps the weight of the stand to a minimum, which is a good thing. The trunk is very easy to put on and take off and is transported from the garage to the car and back. Also, because of its light weight, I can easily lift the shelf and store it on a garage shelf. The rack is very easy…