You're loading a heavy e-bike and don't want to wrestle it into place. This rack carries up to 80 lbs per bike and uses telescopic arms that pivot 180° for flexible positioning, so you can secure it fast and drive without bikes shifting.
Heavy e-bikes can push standard racks past their limits, leading to sway or failure on the road. This rack supports up to 80 lbs per bike with reinforced aluminum wheel trays, giving you the capacity needed for modern electric or cargo bikes. You can drive longer distances without worrying about movement or load limits.
Loading different bike styles can turn into a tight, frustrating puzzle. The telescopic arms pivot 180° and adjust independently, so you can place each bike where it fits best instead of working around a fixed setup. This makes it easier to secure step-through frames, kids' bikes, or uneven setups without bikes contacting each other. The optional foldable loading ramp (sold separately) attaches to either end of the platform tray and makes loading heavy bikes easier.
Needing gear from the back of your vehicle usually means removing bikes first. This rack tilts down while fully loaded, giving you access to the trunk or hatch without disrupting your setup. You can grab gear or make stops without reloading everything afterward.
Non-standard frames, wide tires, and add-ons can make loading a pain. This rack handles tires up to 5 inches wide and wheelbases up to 1350 mm, and it can secure bikes by the frame or rear wheel with integrated straps. It works with carbon frames, step-through designs, and bikes with fenders without extra adapters. Being able to choose your attachment point makes those "how do I load this" moments much easier to figure out.
Heavier platform racks can be difficult to move or store between uses. This unit weighs 56 lbs but includes built-in transport wheels, so you can roll it instead of carrying it. That makes installation, removal, and storage more practical. It also includes integrated locks that secure the rack to your hitch and your bikes to the rack, so everything stays locked up when you step away. The rack also includes a mounting location for Thule's cable lock (sold separately) if you desire more security.
Many racks aren't rated for RVs or extended vans, which limits where you can travel with your bikes. This one can be used on those vehicles, but when rear overhang exceeds 7-1/2 feet from the rear axle, maximum capacity adjusts to 48 lbs per bike. Stay within that range and your bikes will remain stable over longer distances and rougher roads.
California residents: click here
Videos are provided as a guide only. Refer to manufacturer installation instructions and specs for complete information.
Hello neighbor, this is Curt with etrailer and today we're gonna be taking a look at the Thule Vero hitch bike rack for two bikes and we're gonna see how it works with our 2024 Ford Escape. Now the Thule Vero is an excellent bike rack in that it can handle a variety of different styles of bikes. It can accommodate wheels from 20 to 29 inches, tires up to five inches wide, and it has a weight capacity of 80 pounds per tray, meaning that it can accommodate even those heavier e-bikes. It's a frame mount, so it'll be great if you have fenders on your bike, and it's gonna be very secure because each of our masts that attaches to the frame has a lock to keep it locked in place, and that's gonna be keyed alike to the anti-rattle hitch lock that is included as well. So let's go ahead and take a look at how it fits with the Escape. And for reference, the bike we're using today is a pretty large bike.
It's got an extra large frame, 15 and a half inch handlebars and large pedals. So even with that though, you could see that the Vero holds the bike a good distance away from the back of the vehicle. We're not in any danger of the handlebars or the pedals coming into contact with it. In fact, even if we're on a rougher patch of road, these really aren't gonna come into contact with each other. But like with any platform hitch bike rack, we are gonna have some limited visibility outta the back of the vehicle.
First and foremost, the bike is held up high enough that it is gonna be visible through your rear window. We're also gonna have some partial blockage of the taillights and the license plate, and very important for you, the driver, we're gonna have some blockage coming out of our rear view camera as well. So it's extremely important to understand just what kind of footprint this is leaving behind your bumper. So we're gonna take a few measurements here. And from the bumper to the very end of the bike rack, we're looking at just over 37 inches.
So keep that in mind. You got a little more than three feet extra back here that you're gonna have to account for when you're backing into a tight space or trying to parallel park. The other thing we want to take a look at is our ground clearance. Now one of the cool things about the Vero is that it has a rise to it as it goes away from the bumper. And while that is gonna help with our ground clearance, which is gonna come out to 20 inches, which is plenty.
So while it is gonna help out with our ground clearance, it's gonna be holding the bikes a little higher off the ground. And remember what I said earlier that these trays can accommodate bikes up to 80 pounds a piece. So however much your bike weighs, make sure that you're comfortable getting it up to a height of about 21 inches on the front tray and about 23 and a half inches on the back tray. And if you do have a heavier e-bike where that's just not something you're going to want to be doing, lifting it up and down all the time, there is a load assist ramp available from Thule that will work with the Vero. And that's gonna be a huge help when you're getting those heavier bikes up and down from the rack. Now a question that a lot of people ask when it comes to a hitch bike rack is, will I have access to my cargo area without removing the bikes from the rack We do have a tilt away feature in the Vero. You're gonna operate that through this handle here, this gray button that goes across it. We're gonna go ahead and pull that in and slowly lower the rack away from the back of the vehicle. At this point, we can come right around, and we'll have full access into our lift gate with plenty of clearance going back and forth. But now I can get in and outta my cargo area without removing the bike so I can load up on equipment, snacks, more water, whatever it may be. Or maybe on the way home from the trail, I just wanted to stop the store and load up on some groceries. It's really convenient that I can get in and outta there without removing the bike. And when it comes time to hit the road again, all you need to do is lift up against it. You don't have to engage that button. We'll lift it up into place, it'll click and lock in and we're ready to hit the road. The Vero weighs in at about 56 and a half pounds, so it's probably not gonna be a bike rack that you wanna be taking in and outta the hitch over and over. If you do, however, they do make it kind of easy to maneuver around because they've got these wheels integrated into the rack. So it does make it easy to maneuver around a little bit. But for a lot of people, they're gonna leave this in their hitch and just deploy it whenever they get out on their bike. So how do we get rid of this extra three feet Well, first and foremost, we're gonna go ahead and stow our straps and get those secured. We're gonna drop our mast here all the way down. And this strap has a little area here that you could tuck it into and then I'm gonna fold it away to the outside of the rack. Now I'm gonna get our rack into its stowaway position. I'm gonna use that same handle and trigger that we did for the tilt away, but instead of letting it drop down, I'm gonna lift up against it and right here to the back of the vehicle. Now we've significantly reduced the size of that footprint behind the bumper, and we are able to cut that down to about 15 and a quarter inches. So that's pretty significant. We've pretty much cut this down by, well more than half, and this is gonna be a lot easier to squeeze in and outta those tight spaces. However, while we did regain full visibility out of our rear window, other drivers are gonna be able to see our taillights plainly at this point, our license plate is completely blocked as well as our rear view camera. So while it does reduce everything off of there, we are still gonna have to be using mirrors and things like that to back up because that's gonna be blocked pretty well. But I would much rather have to worry about that with 15 inches back here than 37. So that was a look at the Thule Vero bike rack on our 2024 Ford Escape. And if after watching this video you've still got some questions about the Vero, or maybe you've purchased it and used it and you've got some experiences to share, go ahead and leave those in the comments below. We would love to share those questions and those stories with other neighbors just like you to help them make the best decision for themselves. Once again, this is Curt with etrailer. Thanks for stopping by.
Info for this part was:
At etrailer we provide the best information available about the products we sell. We take the quality of our information seriously so that you can get the right part the first time. Let us know if anything is missing or if you have any questions.
Thank you! Your comment has been submitted successfully. You should be able to view your question/comment here within a few days.
Error submitting comment. Please try again momentarily.