Today we are going to show you part number TH954 from Thule. This is the Ridgeline 4 bike hitch carrier. It carries up to 4 bikes comes with anti sway knob as well as anti sway for the bikes after they are installed. It comes with 2 locks, one for the actual hitch itself and one for the bikes after they are installed as well. This is a tilting bike rack as well as a folding bike rack which provides better storage for you when you are not using it. It can be converted into 1 inch and 1/4 by removing covering on the shank. All that requires is an alan key to unscrew it. Before we install this into our 2 inch hitch we are going to show you how convert it into 1 inch and a quarter. You go to this screw here and take this alan key and simply loosen it off, unscrew it, and this sheath slides off and it is ready for your inch and a quarter application.
We are going to go ahead and install this and show you how it works. This actually uses a screw which serves as an anti sway device. Also, on the other end there is a lock that I will be showing you later. And you are provided with the tool to tighten it down. For added security there is also this locking knob that can go on the other side which comes with keys. Try not to lock it. That is just a little bit added security to make sure it does not get stolen. Also it comes with a nice little weather cap here to make sure it does not get corroded. Next we will show you the tilting features of it. Now you have this in the back of your vehicle and you want to get to the back of your car, your SUV or your truck. You simply just pull up this lever and slide it towards you. It then folds out of the way and you can reach your trunk like so. You pull this lever up and just let it down nice and easy. Now the top side also has a very similar feature to fold out the arms to get your bikes on there. Once again you lift up and the arms pop and lock into place. Now you are ready to load some bikes on and we will show you how to do that.
Now that we have the arms fully extended out we are going to go ahead and install our bike and show you how that works. Lift it up and over and set it down easily. Then use these straps here to tighten it down. These straps here are particularly nice and durable and they can pretty much stretch any way you need them to. For a little bit of added security they come with these anti sway cradles here which hook around the frame of your bike. Once you have your bikes installed there is another nice feature here which is a lock specifically for the bike. You undo this pin here, pulling out one end of the cable. There is another cable on the backside that pops out as well. You use these too and wrap them around said bikes and pop them in here and use these keys to lock it up and that just provides even more security for your bike. Now we are going to go ahead and show off the cradles here. First off they are easily movable. They can move side to side and front to back if needed. They actually come with grooves on the inside which makes it a little bit easier for your cables and what not to fit through there so they do not get mashed up against the frame once you put them on. Another nice feature are these anti sway cradles here. They hook on and you fit them on this little notch here. Then they just snap into place. They also come with these straps to secure your bike when it is on the rack. There you have it for part number TH954. This is the Thule Ridgeline 4 bike hitch carrier.
Today were going to talk about getting your bikes together with your vehicle so you can go riding. Over here we have a variety of different bikes, the mom and dads bikes, and the kids bikes. Obviously, they have all different types of frames and sizes. What we are going to do here is figure out what kind of bicycle rack works with your type of bikes. To start off there are three different types of bicycle racks, i guess you could say three different configurations. One is the single arm version, on the left hand side here. It is pretty much the original design bicycle rack, not much has changed besides clamps and the hinge part at the bottom. It is the most economical one, for the most part it is the most tried and true piece of equipment. The next one in the center here, is called the two armed version. Basically, it is more stable, has two points of contact on the bicycle rack. It has pretty much been around as long as the single arm version, again it has proven technology, and pretty much there is not much to it except for the width on them. And then the last version is the wheel mount, which is relatively new. It grabs the bikes by the wheel and the frame so you have three points of contact compared to the other two.
