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Thule Helium 3 Bike Hitch Carrier | 
| Brand: Thule
Category: Sports
Department: Car Racks
List Price: $329.95
Buy New: $295.50
as of 9/6/2010 18:01 PDT details
You Save: $34.45 (10%)
New (12) from $295.50
Seller: Niagara Cycle Works
Rating:  7 reviews
Sales Rank: 10042
Color: Black
Size: One Size
Shipping Weight (lbs): 28
Dimensions (in): 36 x 16 x 10.5
MPN: 971XT
Model: 971XT
UPC: 091021971172
EAN: 0091021971172
ASIN: B001PQVOU8
Release Date: January 1, 2010
Availability: Usually ships in 3-4 business days
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| Features:
| • | Bike arms conveniently fold down when not in use with Hitch Switch lever. (2" & 1.25" receiver) | | • | Maximum bike stability ¿ T3 cradles and No Sway Cage | | • | Fully Locking ¿ Integrated cable lock and locking knob | | • | Simple - no tool - installation to receiver | | • | Hitch Switch quick-release lever for rapid rear vehicle access. |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
The Helium features lightweight aluminum construction that allows for easy handling during installation and removal. Lightweight aluminum construction allows for easy handling duri
Amazon.com Product Description
The Thule 970 Helium 2-Bike Hitch Mount Rack is a hassle-free rack that offers optimum security, protection, and convenience for your bikes at almost half the weight of other racks. Made with an ultra-lightweight, high-grade aluminum alloy, the Helium is up to 40 percent lighter than steel bike rack counterparts--and just as strong. For simple installation and removal, the Helium is equipped with an easy-to-use, tool-free Stinger Swinger mount with a tightening knob that attaches to 2- and 1.25-inch hitches. The Helium 2-Bike Rack features close spaced T3 cradles that easily adjust along the bike support arms to accommodate different bike styles and sizes and to position the bikes as you choose. The support arms are set closer together so that children's, women's, and full-suspension frames all can be accommodated. Offering optimum protection for your bike on the road, the T3 cradles are rubberized. When the rubber cradle straps are secured, the cradle tightens to the support arm, and an integrated No Sway Cage prevents the bikes from swinging into each other. Designed for convenient and easy installation as well as everyday use, the Thule Stinger Swinger Mount attaches to 2- and 1.25-inch hitches with a tightening knob that does not require any additional tools. The rack has a Hitch Switch quick-release lever to lift the rack away from the rear hatch for access to the back of the vehicle and another quick-release lever lowers the rack's arms for easy transportation and storage. Offering maximum security for your bikes and the rack itself, the rack's quick-release hitch knob has a locking feature that is key matched to the integrated locking cable that secures the bikes to the rack. Specifications: - Holds up to three bikes
- Ultra-lightweight
- 40 percent lighter than Thule's steel counter part
- Constructed with high-strength 6061-T6 aluminum
- Close spaced cradle arms accommodate kid's bikes, women's frames, and full-suspension bikes
- Fold-down bike arms
- T3 cradles
- No Sway Cage
- Integrated locking cable
- Hitch Switch quick-release lever
- Stinger Swinger hitch adapter
- Accommodates 2- and 1 1/4-inch hitches
- No-tool installation tightening knob
- Locking knob locks rack to receiver
Manufacturer's Warranty
Limited lifetime warranty
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 7
 On My SUV for 9 months of the year August 29, 2010
Arthur Bedard (Canton,CT)
I purchased a Helium 2 for my Toyoda Highlander from HumblePower for a little over $240, the Helium 3 is priced about $25 more. The rack is light and clean looking. The aluminum will not corrode and is stiff enough to carry bikes for the 20 plus years I plan on using this rack. I leave the Helium on the car for 9 months of the year, so lightness is a factor. The rack cleans well, and still look brand-new, could not be happier.
Thule August 24, 2010
Ronni
This is this best bike rack I have ever used. It is light, easy to attach and remove, easy to mount the bikes. If you are carrying more than two bikes you have to configure the handle bars ( if you are carrying different type of bikes, mountain bike, road bike, etc). It doesn't take up much space when storing.
Thule Helium outshines Yakima, Saris and Softride July 30, 2010
J. Cullen (Boston, MA)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I have tried out almost every hitch mounted bike rack out there, including the lines from Thule, Saris, Yakima, and Softride. The Thule Helium 3 bike rack is the best out there.
My criteria:
1. Access to the back of the vehicle (Mazda MPV)
2. Securely holds bikes
3. Accommodates kids bikes
4. Easy to install/remove
The Short Story:
1. Access: just as good or better than any other models.
2. Secure: holds bikes securely and has good anti theft measures
3. Kids Bikes: Takes a little creative thinking, but is better than most.
4. Easy to install: Head and shoulders above the pack. It is so easy that we store it in the back of our van most of the time and whip it out when needed. This rack is completely manageable for my small framed wife!
If I had to list the major pros and cons, it would be these.
Pros:
- light, compact, and fast to attach/remove
- bikes are secure,rack is secured to the vehicle
- easy access to the back of vehicle
Cons:
- expensive
- only for three bikes
- if you were to back into a pole with the rack on you would probably severly damage the tightening knob which is necessary for attaching and removing the rack
The Long Story:
======Access to the back of the vehicle======
The Thule Helium rack tilts down to allow the hatch to swing up and out. Pretty standard stuff. Just one level to flip up to tilt it. You are not "supposed" to have bikes attached when you do this. However, you can do it, but it probably puts undue stress on the rack and the bikes not to mention that it is very heavy to lift back up with all those bikes on there.
When reviewing other models, I ruled out platform rack early because they make it so hard to get into the back of the vehicle. I considered the swing-away racks, such as the Revolver, which allow you to keep the bikes on the rack when accessing the back, but they required too many steps to swing the rack out of the way if you are using the back on a regular basis. Also seemed to easy to damage the car next to you in the parking lot.
The Softride racks had an promising design that allows the bikes to remain parallel to the ground when tilting down. However, when I looked at them in person, they were *really* hard to move back up into place even without any bikes on them. Not recommended.
======Securely holds bike======
Check. I really like weight of the Thule rubber straps. Very secure. The sway cages (which are optional on lower end models) are a must in my book. The really lock down the bikes.
======Accommodates kids bikes======
No rack did a very good job here. This rack has a slightly narrower fork so it is easier to use with kids bikes, but it still takes some creativity (again sway cages help here).
The other part of secure is security. It has the best security features of any rack. It has the standard cable lock to lock bikes to the rack, but has an excellent system for locking the rack to the car. The tightening/locking knob would have to be destroyed to remove the rack, making the rack useless. Other racks have a lock on the end of the safety pin which comes off with a few quick blows of the hammer leaving the rest of the rack undamaged and re-saleable.
======Easy to install/remove======
This is where the Helium outshines the rest.
First, the rack is light! It is made out aluminum almost entirely. I can lift it with one hand.
Second,no tools are needed. Just insert into the hitch and tighten the adjusment knob. The saftey pin then locks into place without a nut. My wife has no problems lifting and installing this in place. In fact it is so easy that we have been keeping the rack in the cargo area of the MPV (It is narrow enough that it stands upright in the back without taking up too much space). When we need to use it we just whip it out and hook it up. Collapsing the upper part (the fork) does require removing a pin rather than pulling a lever, but it is not much harder than having a lever. Storing it in the back has turned out to be a HUGE advantage since the rack is always available, but doesn't add baggage onto the back of the car. Having a foot and a half less to worry about when parallel parking in Boston is wonderful.
Another easy rack to remove and store in the trunk is the Saris T-Bones rack. However what I didn't like about it was that 1) the tongue was left sticking out of the hitch (I was afraid I would forget it was there and back into something with it), 2) the arms of the rack were harder to lower, 3) I didn't like how the bikes attached to the rack (in particular, no no-sway cages), 4) it doesn't tilt for access to the back of the vehicle (you have to remove the rack which is actually pretty easy) and 5) its thin aluminum and composite plastic design, although very light, did make me wonder about durablility especially the rotating arms (that said, Saris makes nice stuff so they probably did over engineer it enough even if it didn't appear so). The Saris rack did have some advantages though. 1) it was very, very, light and it was easier to remove than the Thule Helium since you leave the tongue of the rack in the hitch, 2) the width of the arms is adjustable which might be useful for fitting kids bikes on, and 3) it came with a bag for storing the rack in the back of the car.
=======Summary======
If you only need 3 bikes or less, this rack is worth it!
 Great rack...but not made in the USA April 25, 2010
B. Stewart
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
After a great deal of research, I chose this rack for basically two reasons: 1) it was aluminum and therefore lighter than equivalent racks and 2) every website retailing this rack advertised it as made in the USA. First, I wanted a light rack since I'm using it with a 1 1/4" hitch on a Cadillac CTS - not exactly a heavy duty setup. Seccond, I research just about every "larger" purchase I make to find a US-made product (all three of my cars are made in the USA, as is my bike), so being made in the USA - regardless of price - is a key factor in my purchase decisions. I was VERY disappointed to read "Made in China" when the box arrived. While Thule does make many of its products in the US, my guess is web retailers carried over the description based on previous Thule products they've sold. So, if you want a made-in-the-USA product, this particular Thule rack is not one of them. My first inclination was to return the rack, but since there was no defect with the product itself and options for a lightweight rack are limited, I decided to keep it and see how it worked.
Once I got over the "Made in China" on the box, I can say this is an EXCELLENT rack! It is designed well and despite being light, it is very sturdy. It takes literally seconds to secure the bike(s) on the rack and the built-in locks for the hitch and the bikes give peace of mind. The anti-sway devices work perfectly, as does the swing-down mechanism for easy trunk/liftgate access. The powder coating on the aluminum is perfect and very attractive compared to the basic black you often see. Without question though, the best feature of this rack is its light weight compared to similar 3-bike carriers.
If American workers were receiving a paycheck for making this rack, it would be perfect. I still applaud Thule for continuing to manufacture products in the US; just wish this was one of them.
Nice rack, but unable to adjust the cradles into position February 2, 2010
Ian Fyfe (San Francisco, CA USA)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I have just bought this rack through Amazon and installed on my vehicle. It seems really nice, lightweight, and well made. However, out of the box the cradles for holding the bike top tubes are rotated out of position by 90 degrees. According to step 9 of the fit guide the cradles can be rotated and shifted on the bars to accommodate different bike geometries. Similar to another reviewer, I am completely unable to adjust the cradles into position. I am a 200 pound male who rock climbs weekly, and am unable to rotate or move the cradles even a fraction of an inch using my full body strength. I have a tech support email into [...] asking for help, but if this cannot be resolved soon I will be returning for a refund, and probably go with a Kuat instead.
Update: 5/18/2010
I was able to rotate the the cradles into the correct position using a car oil filter wrench. Great rack - lightweight, doesn't stick out too far so I can leave it on the car all the time, and holds 3 bikes nicely. Deducting one star for the issue with the cradles, and useless response from Thule's customer support center.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 7
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