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A great solution for anyone looking for a sturdy steel bike rack that installs easily without the need for tools. Anti-sway cradles fold up, so they're out of the way while you're loading your bikes. Tilts with bikes unloaded.
Features:
Specs:
Note: The distance from the center of the hitch pin hole to the face of the hitch must be 1-1/2" or greater to use this rack.
Dual Folding Arms with Anti-Sway Cradles
The Thule Apex XT has dual arms that provide excellent support for your bikes. They slope up to provide ground clearance for steep driveways and bumpy roads.
To fold the arms down, pull up the HitchSwitch lever at the top of the mast. This leaves a smaller footprint, so you can keep the rack on your vehicle to park in your garage. And when stored in this configuration, it doesn't take up as much space in your garage.
HideAway anti-sway cradles with rubber straps hold your bikes firmly in place. Each set of cradles has two straps that secure your bike along the top tube and one that secures the seat post or downtube. This multi-point contact helps keep your bikes from rocking back and forth, reducing bike-to-bike contact. The soft rubber cradles rotate around the rack's arms to accommodate bikes of different styles and shapes.
The cradles have grooves on the surface that prevent your brake and shifter cables from getting pinched.
Ratchet straps hold your bikes firmly in place on the cradles. You can remove the lower straps and fold the cradles up against the arms to make it easier to slide your bikes onto the rack.
Easy Tilting for Cargo Area Access
The rack tilts down without your bikes loaded. This means you won't have to remove the whole rack to access your cargo area for grocery runs and other errands.
To tilt the rack down, pull up the HitchSwitch lever at the base of the mast. When you're ready to go, lift the rack up until it snaps into place with an audible click.
The rack quickly installs in your hitch receiver, without the need for tools. Just slide the shank into your hitch and turn the knob until snug. Turning the knob deploys an anti-rattle wedge in the shank to help take play out of the hitch connection. It also sets the integrated SnugTite hitch pin into place, securing the rack to your receiver.
You can install the rack in a 1-1/4" hitch or in a 2" hitch. To use it in a 1-1/4" hitch, simply remove the adapter with the included Allen key.
The lock on the hand knob secures the rack to your vehicle. Once locked, the hand knob will spin freely so a would-be thief can't operate it.
The integrated cable lock threads around your bikes' frames and inserts into the lock at the end of the left arm. The cable stores inside the mast when not in use. The locks are keyed alike, so you only need to use 1 key. Additional One-Key System locks (sold separately) let you make all your Thule products keyed alike.
Available Adapter Bar
If you have a women's bike, kid's bike, or any other bike without a straight, horizontal top tube, you will need an adapter bar (sold separately) to properly mount your bike. The bar fits between the seat post and handlebar stem post of your bike to create a top tube so your bike hangs level on the rack.
Average Customer Rating: 4.6 out of 5 stars (191 Customer Reviews)
A great solution for anyone looking for a sturdy steel bike rack that installs easily without the need for tools. Anti-sway cradles fold up, so they're out of the way while you're loading your bikes. Tilts with bikes unloaded.This is overall a great hitch rack. Its well made yet not too heavy. Its easy to mount on the receiver and has its own built in hitch pin, and hitch lock system. It is easy to tilt, making your vehicle’s hatch door accessible. My bike is very secure on the rack (it also has a built in cable lock. The only negative I can say is you cannot fold the rack arms down with the bike’s up tube tie stabilizer strap attached (you have to take it off & store separately, or attach it to one of the main bike crossbar tie down straps.
This is the BEST bike rack I have owned. No swaying, no movement at all, and can open the hatch on my Subi Forester with ease. HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS RACK!!!!!
The hitch works great. I am however beginning to notice a bit of rust after only one year. I was surprised because I took it off and stored indoor during the winter months
I love this rack. So many thoughtful features. I can lock the bikes on the rack. Lock the rack into the hitch and the rack folds down so I can still access the trunk of my Honda Accord sedan. Love it!
Great bike rack carrier! The rack arrived earlier than expected was in great shape and got a fantastic price. I would recommend this rack for anybody.
I like the Thule Apex bike rack except I find the three straps very difficult to remove. They are tight and hold the bikes in place but make removing bikes very difficult.
I love this bike rack! It's got the locks to secure the bikes and the rack. Most of all, when I drive on the highway, the bikes don't move at all. I feel the bikes are very secured on the rack.
This is my second items purchased from etrailer. Supper fast shipping, excellent customer service. Installation was quick and easy. I highly recommend this product to anyone. THANK YOU etrailer I will definitely shop here again soon.
Etrailer rules ! Repeat Customer, great selection & prices & always super fast shipping !!! Thank you to all at etrailer
Great bike rack. Sturdy, holds our low step hybrid and cruisers very well with the removable bar we bought separately. Lock over top.keeps it secure. Lock to trailer hitch is great. Easy to handle. Once you get the hand of getting the bikes over the front strap for your seat post, it's great. Would highly recommend.
My Thule bike rack 9024XT arrived last night. My first bike rack. It was exactly as described by etrailer's web site and Carol, the sales rep who I talked to. Assembly and mounting was so, so very easy and only took a few minutes. I would buy this bike rack again hands down! Highly recommend!!
Julie
3/25/2021
Best Bike Rack Ever! This rack is so easy to mount and take off my 4Runner so I can be loaded up in minutes. My bikes ride well on the rack and the lock certainly help for short stops. Great bike rack!
DO NOT BUY FOR MOUNTAIN BIKES! I have owned the Thule Apex XT 2 Bike Rack for about 2 years. Yesterday, I had my brand new mountain bike attached, nothing else. One of the ratchet straps popped open on the highway and the bike was literally dangling from the rack and bouncing around. I had a separate strap securing the bike. Without that strap, the bike would have flown off and bounced into the car behind me. I had the same thing happen with an older mountain bike a year ago. The separate strap saved me again in that case, which is why I use tie down straps with this rack. I have lots of experience tying down bikes, kayaks, etc. This was not user error. The ratchets pop open too easily under the heavier weight distribution of mountain bikes at highway speeds. I do not recommend for this reason. Plus, small MTB frames with shocks do NOT go over the bars easily. I wish someone had given me this advice 2 years ago. I would have purchased a different type of rack.
I like it however I expected more from Thule. The bikes slip off the pad easily, even when clamped down tight. Getting two bikes on is a balance, the space is tight. Most recently, when I go to take the bikes off, the clip on the clamp has flipped making it much harder to unfasten and take off the rack. The rack is heavy too! I can manage it myself but you have to get that square peg into your hitch just right while at the same time making sure the bar is out of the way. It's a good rack, it works but not overly impressed.
I have owned this bike rack for only a year. Used very little thus far. First time after Winter to load bikes. Ratchet that the strap feeds into came loose and had I not had two auxiliary straps around the bike frame and hitch post .... my bike would have flown off and possibly onto a car behind me on the freeway. I am sick thinking of the damage or loss of life that could have caused. Should never happen with an almost new bike rack that cost $3[XX].00. I am done with Thule. Cannot take the risk of strap failure.
We were expecting 'easy installation'. However, the instructions that come with the Bike Rack are very vague. I attempted to call your office two times but both times I was on hold for at least 15 minutes so I gave up. I spent more time on-line searching out any instructions I could find. Finally I found the mini-videos that showed installation details that cannot be viewed from the instruction manual. I wish you had provided directions to the on-line instructions which are so much more clear than the booklet that comes with the bike rack.
Then this morning I went to back my car up and the rear bumper emergency sensor system on my 2017 Prius kept braking the car. After doing some more research, I am learning about disconnecting that safety feature on my car when the bike rack is attached. Again, I wish etrailer had given me a heads up about this issue.
My rating relates to the installation instructions and assistance. I suspect I will be happy with the rack once we get it out of the driveway.
This rack is excellent. Easy to install and easy to get the bikes on and off. We bought the adapter bar for my bike (women's). We live in the city and wanted a rack we could easily take on and off and store in the cargo area of our Renegade. This rack fits perfectly! The tilting function is worth spending the extra money so that we can still access our hatch back.
Also etrailer is a great company. The rack came quickly, well packed, and they opened the rack box and put the other parts we ordered inside the rack box to cut down an waste from extra shipping materials. We order all our racks and related gear for toting our skis and bikes from etrailer.
Excellent product. Well made, heavy duty, tilts away from rear hatch allowing access to the back of the car (Lexus RX350) without removing the bikes, or the rack if no bikes are loaded. Easy to install, load and lock. Thule isn’t cheap but it’s worth the price.
Great service, as always, from eTrailer.
Etrailer’s service and products have proven to be top notch. I ordered a bike rack hitch for my 2019 Honda CR-V and had some questions . . . called etrailer and they researched and found my answers. The products were shipped immediately and arrived undamaged. All through the process I was kept updated by email. Great company to do business with!
The 24xt is easy to install and store. At 30 lbs it still seems heavier than I wanted but anything lighter would probably not ride as well. Very pleased with product.
Strong, sturdy and easy to use. I Love the built in locking mechanisms for the rack connected to the car, as well as for the bikes. It's great that I can fold down the arms of the rack when not in use, and I can access the back of my SUV by simply pulling up on the bottom lever and pulling the rack away from the vehicle. I highly recommend this bike rack.
Got the Thule Apex XTG2 for an upcoming trip, and probably many more. It seems like a sturdy and well built rack. The directions are pictures which are vague and took some interpreting and the key system also took a little bit to understand how it locked. I'm a written word type of guy perhpas but we figured it out. The rack is really nice and fits our needs perfectly. Delivery from etrailer was fast and communication was excellent with the company.
order was quick. the packaging was not great. it appeared to have been opened at one point and placed back in the box. it looks like it slid around abit in transit. the bit that retains the cable lock was broke when i opened it up. bright side is that thule offers replacement parts. so i'll just order it when its back in stock. the rest of the rack seems to function fine so all in all im still satisfied. the lock was just an added bonus.
Excellent product and easy to set up. I was tired of the racks that you have to use straps and hooks if your not careful enough, you can scratch your vehicle. With this hitch rack there is no way to do that and you can even lock your bikes if you have to leave them there while travelling. I loved it.
Great product, but it is rather heavy and a little difficult to mount on my hitch receiver.
I like the ease of removing and replacing the bike carrier without tools, just a key.
Only qualification: Beware do not leave the staps on the bike carrier. I can only assue they were stollen. Put them in your locked trunk.
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Sylvia
9/6/2023
Great. This was one of my better purchases. Its easy to use and better still its easy to take on and off. I remove it during the winter when not in use.