Greiselman

Anyone have any experience with either of these Thule hitch bike racks on a road bike with non-round tubes?

https://www.thule.com/en-us/us/bike-...---2-_-1691492
https://www.thule.com/en-us/us/bike-...ro-3-_-1680100

I'm trying to figure out if I should invest in the T2 for the frame-free arm, or if the hanging style of the Helium will suffice. I'm also open to Saris, Kuat, etc. - I've just been a Thule guy for a long time.

Any opinions out there?

Psychocycles

100% if your car will have the ground clearance, T2. 100%. I bought the T2, didn't have enough clearance, so I returned it and went on a cross country road trip with the Helium and highly regretted it. It got me and my bikes across the country and back, but damaged the paintwork on my seat tube and my wife's seat tube in exactly the same place, and it doesn't hold the bikes securely; i.e. the bikes sway quite a bit, but I never had an issue with the straps coming off or anything. Also, GOOD LUCK getting 3 bikes on there. I had the bikes spaced so that they occupied the 1st and 3rd spots with the second empty and there would be no way in hell I could have gotten a third bike in there, and we have skinny road bikes. I also had to bungee cord my bike frame to the rack to stop it from banging into my wife's bike, and tie the handlebars together so they wouldn't smash around. I also put my bike into the easiest gear to make sure the derailleur was as far away from my wife's bike as possible... All to say, stay away from the Helium.

I returned the Helium (thank God for REI and their 100% satisfaction guarantee) and am now looking at the other options from Saris and Kuat. I have a friend who has the Kuat Transfer 2 and he loves it. Also, if you have or will upgrade at some point to a carbon bike, most if not all manufacturers recommend the platform style rack. It's just better for the frame. Our bikes were aluminum frames with carbon forks so I wasn't so worried about that, but I just bought a carbon aero bike so I'm also curious to see what others have to say about Thule vs the other brands, although as I mentioned above, I can't fit the T2 on my car .