Outside of real estate, I have other things that interest me. I started mountain biking this year and I am enjoying it a lot more than I thought I would. This year, I upgraded to a new bike and recently, I felt the need to upgrade my bike rack.
For the last year, I’ve used a pretty inexpensive rack for my bike. The hidden costs were seen in the damage it caused to my car and the inconvenience of getting my bike on and off the rack. I finally decided to splurge and get a really nice rack.
Once I decided on a rack, there were other requirements and changes that needed to be made. I needed a trailer hitch…The factory installed one would have cost me an additional $700 when I purchased my 2014 Subaru Outback, so I chose not to get one. Needless to say here I am, three years later, needing a trailer hitch. I was able to get one installed for a very reasonable price and now I was ready to assemble and install that new bike rack.
I chose the Thule T2 Pro XT because of all the features that it offered. I have also been a fan of Thule products since the 90’s when I purchased my first Thule roof rack and cargo box (the car has long been traded/sold, but I still have Thule items). Based on my peronal experience of the durability of the product and online reviews, this was definitely the way to go.
Assembling the bike rack was not too challengeing for me. I had an easy time installing the first arm. However, attachment of the second arm was much more difficult. I finally returned to the bike store to see if I could get some help. as it turned out, the second arm had no threads for the screws that were used to attach it to the rack…Oops (QC oversight?)! The store exchanged the part and pretty soon I was done assembling the rack. Overall, it was pretty easy.
Now that I have my new rack, I can honestly say that it is awesome! My bike is secure, and my car won’t get any additional damage from the bike or rack.
Has it improved my mountain biking skills? Probably not, but it makes me feel like I am a better mountain biker.
Mandy Pajerski 