Interbike 2012 – Thule
When looking at the Thule product line it is quite clear that they have not been resting on their laurels. It is easy though for us bike geeks to be drawn to sexy bikes and components, but what would we all do if we could not safely transport those precious items from A to B? And Thule showed us that eye candy does not have to be limited to items we swing our legs over. So here is what we noticed at the 2012 Interbike show from the brand that started in Sweden in 1942.
The Thule Sprint 528 carrier has a SonicHead Design that looks very sleek and kind of works like a gas cap. Reach proper torque and you can't tighten any more, but more importantly – your bike is fastened securely.
The telescoping wheel tray and d-shaped base allows you to keep your rack shorter when not carrying your bigger bikes. The feature we especially liked is that this new Sprint 528 carrier mounts on any Thule or Yakima base.
Not everyone wants a roof rack and this Thule Helium Aero 2 might be a nice solution for that situation. It is pretty light at just under 20 pounds and has a lot of bells and whistles. The AutoAttach base allows you to mount that baby in no time and it of course folds down if you need trunk access.
The RDT cradles should hold the bike tight and secure, but also with a bit of love and tenderness. RDT stands for road dampening technology and that is good because we don't want our precious bikes to lose their fillings.
Thule also added aero features to some of their roof carrier boxes and the Sonic XL635 featured here nicely shows that pointed nose. Their is also a slightly more fancy and expensive Hyper model.
What holds the roof box to the rack also works like a torque limiter gas cap and it is a bit more obvious in this application.
All images © Herbert Krabel / slowtwitch.com
