March 1, 2015
Rack Attack Team
If you walk into any of our Rack Attack shops you will find a crew of men and women with one thing in common: we are all car rack nerds, and outdoor enthusiasts.
We've been doing this a very long time, and have built and installed more bike racks than anyone else. We have so much experience with racks Thule asks us for feedback and input on every rack they make. But above all of this we all own and use the racks we sell. With that being said, here's a little review of the Thule Thule Vertex Series entry level bike carrier, from the inside and out.
Thule offers the Vertex in 2, 4, and 5 bike carrier options; all of which fit both a 1 ¼” as well as 2 inch receivers. The 5 bike carrier (9030XT), which is in all the pictures below, is only available in a 2 inch receiver due to the weights of both the rack and the load of bicycles. The Thule Vertex 4-Bike (9029XT), and the Thule Vertex 2-Bike (9028XT) are the same rack in all other ways, so this one review will serve them all.
The bike rack has several functions that make it user friendly and easy to use. First, the Vertex offers two folding functions of which Thule calls “Hitch Switch” functions. The first of these allows the arms of the bike rack to fold down into the vertical position. This allows you to have less length protruding from the back of the vehicle when the rack does not have bikes loaded.
The second of the folding functions gives the rack the ability to tilt to the “45 degree” position. This allows you to have access to the hatch of the vehicle, although this is can only be done with the bikes not loaded on the carrier.
If you want access to your SUV's hatch with the bikes on, you will want to look for a ‘swing away' style rack, like the Thule Vertex Swing (9031XT).
The newest feature on this rack is the addition of a built in cable lock, allowing you to lock your bicycles directly to the carrier.
This is a new feature added to the current line of Vertex racks. The easiest way to know if a Vertex rack is the current version or not is to look for the XT at the end of the product code: 9030 vs. 9030XT.
The amount of assembly needed to build the Vertex is almost none. All required tools (one wrench and one allen key) come included in the box. A traditional threaded bolt is used as a hitch pin in order to keep the rack snug, tight, and stable to the vehicle.
After tightening this bolt down the rack stayed rock solid in my hitch, no rattle even when fully loaded headed up the mountain.
With no knowledge of racks, or even tools, you can have this rack built, on your car, and ready to use in less than 15 minutes.
Should you buy this rack?
Answer these questions:
- Do you need to access the hatch of your vehicle with the bikes loaded to the rack?
- Do you have some sort of crazy fancy bike where you would rather not carry it by the frame?
- Do you already own a bunch of Yakima products?
If you answered no to all of these questions, this is probably the perfect rack for you. If you do need to access your hatch, you will need a swing away rack as mentioned earlier.
If you would rather carry your bikes by the wheels, instead of the frames, you will want to look at a carrier like the Thule 917XTR T2. This is best for either high-end road bikes (with frames to light weight they can be damaged easily) or gnarly DH bikes. It's not that the Vertex won't work for your downhill rig, it's just easier to load heavy, big, bikes with non-conventional frames onto a T2.
And finally, if you already own a bunch of Yakima rack products, Yakima sells comparable hitch racks, like the Yakima Ridgeback 5-bike. If you get this, with the additional HandCuff locking system, you can have the locks on your bike rack match the locks on the rest of your Yakima products.
As always, if you already have Thule racks, let us know your Thule key number and we can make sure your rack locks match for 1-key convenience.
The final word
Unless you need something really fancy, and you just want a safe, reliable, robust, and affordable rack to carry up to five bikes, the Vertex is a fantastic choice. You will be just as happy with it as I am.
