Thule’s three-bike, towbar-mounted 909 carrier is quick and easy to fit, although if you’ve got UK seven-pin wiring you’ll also need Thule’s optional 9901 adaptor (£22) to hook up to the rack’s 13-pin electrics.
Room for three bikes not enough? There’s an optional fourth bike adaptor (£75), but you’ll need to keep an eye on overall weight.
The 909 comes almost fully assembled, and fitting and loading is a one-person job. Just drop the mount socket over your towball, push down on the locking lever and it’s solid and secure. The tilt function – which works even with the rack fully loaded – allows easy access to the boot.
Bikes sit on the wheel supports and are held securely by adjustable frame clamps that adapt to almost any frame design and tube diameter. It’s secure too – the rack locks to the towbar and the outermost frame clamp is lockable.
The rack is brilliantly simple to use and won’t fall foul of height restrictions or force you to fill up more often due to extra drag in the same way as a roof-mounted rack. It'll free up space inside your car and keep it mud-free.
It's a large and heavy piece of kit and you’ll need plenty of space at home to store it. You’ll also need to remember it’s there, especially when reverse parking as the rack takes up extra space and could cause damage to other vehicles (not to mention the bikes).
We highly recommend the Thule 909, and think it's well worth the money – especially if your car is already towbar-equipped. It's impressively designed and constructed with genuine wow factor.