kosmo886

I’ve got the Thule XT Pro but this question is applicable to any platform car bike rack. How tight are you supposed to crank the ratchet on the rear wheel and push the bar down on the front tire. In my case I've got Carbon wheels.

ive been securing as tight as I can pretty much. Not sure if this is too tight though. Definitely don’t want the bike falling off…

Koyote

With that rack, if you ratchet down the rear wheel strap too tightly, it becomes difficult to release it. I just ratchet it 'til it's snug.

For the front wheel, I get the bar down on the tire as snug as possible - if you're running a high psi road bike, it helps to reduce the tire pressure a bit, so that the arm is compressing the tire, which will reduce movement.

You're not going to damage anything with one of these racks, as your wheels are under much more stress just from riding.

jpescatore

Ditto Koyote advice - snug is good enough. On the front, make sure the ratchet arm is as close to the fork/steering tube as possible without pushing too much on rim brakes, if your bike has rim brakes.

Koyote

Yes, good extra advice. The bar on the front wheel needs to be inboard (toward the head tube) of the top of the wheel...Get it close to the head tube, but not so close as to touch it (or touch a rim brake caliper).

blinky

Have the same rack , love it - on the back I center the pad on the rim and ratchet it down so that it provides a firm hold but not to the point where it's a strain to close that flipper - on the front I lower the hook as I'm squeezing that release gripper and aim for minimum daylight between hook and tire which could involve a trial and error approach at different spots on the tire - don't miss my fork mount roof rack - this rack keeps two bikes very secure at interstate highway speeds .