I travelled Europe for a year with a caravan and pickup last year. We had 2 of those Thule bike racks over the cargo bay. At different times both wheel clamps failed. We had a cable lock on each bike that saved them from wrecking. Highly recommend using a bungee cord wrapped on bike forks and wheels clamp to prevent clamp failure.
Thanks for the heads up! Just bought a brand new one and sure enough that bolt was loose. It had blue threadlocker but I added more and torqued it to about 3 Nm. I also added blue threadlocker to the other bolt too. Why not. Haha
I think part of the issue is that with the aero cross bars and the way the rack slides in, it only has the two connection points (vs if you were sandwiching around a different bar with all 4 bolt holes it would be more secure). I zip tied through those and it helped a bit. But there’s other issues with this rack especially in cold weather - the two arms don’t always lock tougher, the plastic is brittle ….
Thank you so much for this video! Just bought an upride today and after I saw this I was going to check if the screw in mine was tight enough. To my surprise there was no screw at all! And I was about to put a heavy e-bike on the rack. I hope I can find a spare part from a local hardware store.
@canyonero987 How did it work with an ebike for you in the end? I have a 21.7kg Canyon ebike and the max load for this rack is 20kg. I am just afraid it is going to flip from the roof.
@@bankouski mine weighs about 24kg. I've driven about 3500 km without problems so far. But I have not been pushing it. Low speed in tight corners and bad roads, no breaking hard etc.
@@Canyonero987 Thanks for the reply! I think I am going to try it but will be removing the battery to comply with the weight limits. How does it behave on the freeway for you? I know the limit is normally 120km/h in Europe (80miles/h). Do you ever get the feeling that the bike is going to fly away/flip? :)
@@bankouski on freeway it is just fine. The worst roads are small roads with potholes, bumps and such. They make the bike to oscillate from side to side. I've mounted the rack on a sports car with hard suspension and it may be different on some other car. Dunno
Great video. Glad I stumbled upon it. I think after watching this video and a few others I may not go with this rack. I’m gonna go with the Yakima front loader instead.
Are you still using it? Any issues at all? I just got one and I am a bit concerned about the side to side wobbling, and thinking about using the around the bar mounts instead to get a larger contact area to the crossbars. The crossbars themselves will also bend, of course. That said, usually Thule knows their stuff. Play in itself is not a problem; overstressing the rack or crossbars could be but that is harder than you'd be inclined to think 🙂
That's the same i think every time. When i have a friend in a car behind mine, it tell me the bike moves very much..... (It's a trail Mtb 29"x2.4 and 13Kg.... nothing heavy). My Thule Upride sometimes has also some "creaky plastic" sounds, and i'm a little scared how much the bike wobble sometimes.... I think that some wobble is necessary, but my others Thule Proride doesn't move or creak so much as the upride... However i'm using almost every week from 2 years and despite these problems it seems work ok.
Great video. I’ve been researching now for a couple of days and I’m stuck with which carrier to get. Knowing what you do, if you had to chose between the upride or the proride which would one would you go for? If it helps I’m currently riding the new stumpy evo comp. Any help would be greatly appreciated
Ia compra um desse,mas depois de ver a baike chacoalhando tanto,e ser tão caro,fico com o meu transbaike que é o mais simples,e a baike fica sem chacoalhar
WHAT WAS THAT SONG??? First off, thanks for the video, but please tell me where to get that song at the 2.50 minute marker! My music ID does not seem to be finding the correct info. THANKS!
Are these safe to go on freeway/highways with? I don't doubt their ability when cruising on local streets or backroads (i.e. at slower speeds, less wind etc), but at freeway/highway speeds (>=60mph/100km/h) I'm kinda worried
I have not run into any problems using this rack on freeways/highways. It actually feels more stable when I’m on the freeway/highway. It could be because my freeway/highway roads are better taken care off then my local roads.
Exactly the same I've been thinking. It looks way too wobbly side to side when you hit bumps as well as while turning. I'd choose safety over ease of use any day, and I feel there's at least missing one more point of contact.
Just looking at the tool you're using, and how you handle it, we can obviously understand how "qualified" are you in this matter. And also, it is unlikely that the rack came out of the box with any bolts not tighten to spec torque. Just follow the installing and user manual, and carry a bike which fits within the rack specs. The problem with this rack is its design, which is flawed. The arm you removed should have been attached in the others arm place and viceversa. That would have ensured enough rigidity to avoid that wobbling. The bolts you tighten are both in the longitudinal plane of the rack, so, there is no lateral support for it, and the mount would wobble anyway, because the flexible aluminium rail would twist. This mount should have been bolted directly on the plate which is fastened on the car roof crossbar.
He is using a crank brothers tool, probably the most popular mtb toolset. And this rack should fit a 29er with no problems. You are the one who seems over "qualified"...
