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Thule Helium Hitch Mounted Bike Rack Review
Featured Product
Thule Helium - Aluminum 3 Bike Hitch Mounted Folding Rack for 1-1/4" and 2" Hitch
TH971
$341.95Products Featured in this Video
Review of a Thule Helium Hitch Mounted Bike Rack
Today we are going to review part number TH971 from Thule. This is Thules Helium, aluminum, 3-bike, hitch-mounted bicycle rack. This rack will fit 1-1/4 inch Class II hitches only, and 2-inch receiver hitches. First off, what makes this bicycle rack called the Helium is because of its ultra-light, aluminum construction. It is basically half the weight of a traditional carrier, yet the part that goes into your hitch is still the steel product, so you have durability there but you also have the benefit of lightweight construction on the rest of the carrier. It does come standard with sliding, anti-sway cradles. The cradle arms are made a little bit more narrow than on traditional bicycle racks. And it also comes standard with the quick-release lever, which allows the bicycle rack to tilt away from the vehicle so you can get in the back of your SUV or car. It also comes with an integrated locking cable and receiver lock for security. So you have two locks, one for the bicycles and you also have one for the hitch itself. And with the lock on the hitch, it also comes with a built-in anti-rattle device, also.
We will go ahead and show you how the anti-rattle works. It works by a little wedge that expands out from the bicycle rack via the knob, and it actually presses against the hitch itself so it cannot go anywhere. First off, we are going to show you how to convert this bicycle rack to go between a 1-1/4 inch and a 2-inch receiver hitch. There is only one screw that has to be undone on the bottom of the bushing, and the bicycle rack does come with the Allen key to remove it with. And with that, this bicycle rack is ready for a 1-1/4 inch receiver hitch. We will go ahead and put the bushing back on because we are going to demonstrate this bicycle rack on a 2-inch receiver hitch. What you want to do is install it into the hitch and then make sure that your receiver pin goes into the opening with the bushing. And at this point you can go ahead and use the anti-rattle device to tighten the bicycle rack to the hitch. And, once you have it tightened up, go ahead and use the key to lock it into place.
All right, the next feature we will show you will be the tilt. And it is very easy to use. It is a simple little lever that you pull up, and it allows you to tilt the bicycle rack out of the way so you can get into the back of your vehicle. And to put it back up, you simply push the rack into place. All right, next we will show you how the top of the bicycle rack will actually fold up for easier storage when you are not using it. Simply pull out a pin on the back side of it and just fold the arms down. Once you have it folded down, just go ahead and reinstall the pin. One next feature we will talk about is the arms themselves. What is the big difference about them is they are made narrower than the rest of the Thule bicycle rack line. This measures out to 10-1/2 inches for the arms themselves. Let us go ahead and move into the cradles. They do come standard with the anti-sway devices on all three of the bases for the bikes. All right, let us go ahead and take one of the anti-sway cradles off and give you a better idea of how it gets uninstalled, and then we will go ahead and reinstall it. It is very simple. It has just got two thumb snaps that you just undo. OK, and to reinstall it you just put it back on there and align this tab with the groove on the cradle, and then go ahead and re-snap it. The cradle itself has knobs on both sides of it and also on the bottom of the cradle itself it has some grooves that actually hold the bicycle up away from the cradle just a little bit, so it gives you room for the cables on your bike.
Let us go ahead and actually install a bicycle on our rack here. We are actually going to install it on the very end of the rack to give you a better view of how it gets installed. But when you are hauling just one bike it is always best to keep the bicycles closest to the post. Finally, we will show you the security features of this bicycle rack. And this time it is going to be for the bicycle itself. It has a built-in cable lock, and basically there is one one the end here, half of it, and then the other half is stored in the post. You pull out both ends, and then you just go ahead and run them through the bicycle frames. Once you have your cables together, go ahead and pop the cover up and then you can go ahead and lock it down with the keys. And the lock cores are also part of Thules one-key system, so if you have other Thule products, you can actually match up the cores and use one key for everything. Also, the blue strap that comes with the bicycle rack is actually added as a security/safety feature. Basically, what you want to do is run your strap through your wheels, around the post, through all the bikes you are carrying, and just run it back through itself and cinch it down. And with that, your bike is fully secured and ready to go down the road. All right, and that covers it for part number TH971 from Thule, the Thule Helium, the aluminum, 3-bike, hitch-mounted, folding rack.
Questions About Thule Helium Hitch Mounted Bike Rack Review
Can the Thule Helium 3 Bike Rack, Part Number TH971, Be Tilted With the Bikes In Place?
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