Home >> Product Reviews >> Saris Thelma Bike Rack Review
Over the years all my bike racks were the type where the the bike is secured to the rack via the bike frame. With those types of racks, not only do you get marks on your frame, but from my experiences, they just don't hold the bike very securely and it moves around alot. So, I wanted something that would NOT touch the frame of the bike.
I looked at several of the Thule and Yakima tray style bike racks, which are pretty nice, but they all seem to be bigger and bulkier than I'd like. After quite a bit of on-line research, I decided to go with a Saris Thelma (Model 4215) 1- 1/4" 2 Bike Reciever.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS...
Assembling the rack was pretty straight forward, and took about 30 minutes. Instructions were very easy to understand and the rack went together without a problem. Quality seems top notch.
I mounted the rack to the trailer hitch of my Subaru WRX. It attaches with a pretty beefy bolt that has a cotter pin on one end to make sure the bolts stays put. To raise and lower the rack on the car, you just slide out a Tilt Pin, rotate the frame upward, and secure it again with the Tilt Pin. It's super easy and the rack is stowed in the up position until you need it again.
Mounting the bike to the rack is really simple. You just fold the front wheel holder up, set the bike in making sure the front tire is resting inside the holder/tray and the rear wheel in the rear wheel tray mount. Then you secure both wheels with the included plastic straps. Done. Once you do this, the bike is NOT going anywhere. The front tire is actually wedged inside the front wheel tray, and the grippy rubber seems to "stick" to the inside of the tray... and then the straps make it even more secure. I really like the fact that I don't look in my rear view mirror and see the bike swaying back and forth like I used to get with my old frame mount style rack.
I made a little test run with my Yeti ARC attached to the rack, and even on rough roads, the bike stays put. They don't recommend it for off-road use, but on pot-hole infested roads, it seems to work well. I think I will get some foam to cover the plastic straps with, that way they won't leave marks on my rims.
THE BOTTOM LINE..
Overall, I give the Saris Thelma Bike Rack TWO THUMBS UP and couldn't be happier with it. The rack holds my bikes very securely and doesn't touch any part of the bike frame.... that's all I really wanted in a bike rack. It is also really lightweight, which makes it easy to install on the car and also remove.
WHERE AND HOW TO BUY..
I picked up mine over at JensonUSA.com.
