THULE 513 Domestique Bike Rack

Comments about THULE 513 Domestique Bike Rack:

I have used Thule rack systems for over 18 years. This is the first one that I have bought that came to me defective. I bought two racks, and one of the bolts for one rack was not tapped to accept the Allen wrench in the head of the bolt. On that same rack the rear tire hold down strap was not machined properly and would not ratchet down to hold the tire. The guys over at EMS looked at it and ordered me replacement parts on the spot. Got the parts in less than a week at no cost problem fixed. EMS has great customer care, and the staff that knows their stuff. I love that store.

Comments about THULE 513 Domestique Bike Rack:

The fork clamp seemed big and bulky, but as I use it it's less of an issue. I'm probably going to make some wood spacers to clamp down on when the bikes aren't on the racks so the cam handles aren't just flapping in the breeze. The rear plate that mounts to the rack is giant. After looking at the rear brackets on other Thule setups this thing is huge! It's size wouldn't be so bad, but the tray wobbles at the plate, there's too much play between the bracket and the groove in the tray. Still, it does it's job and is much easier than my old trunk rack.

Comments about THULE 513 Domestique Bike Rack:

I needed a simple-to-use, low-profile and affordable carrier for my road bike--one I could mount on my factory installed roof rack, right next to my Thule kayak rack! The EMS staff took me through the Thule options, and found the Domestique. It was perfect and easy to install--did it in their parking lot before heading out on a ride with friends. The other cool thing is that, 3 or 4 days later, I received an email from EMS indicating that the Thule stuff was now on sale at 20% off, so I trotted back to the store to see if they'd honor the discount. And they DID! I've shopped at EMS since I was a college student (That was 40+ years ago.), and I shall continue because of the way I've been handled!

Comments about THULE 513 Domestique Bike Rack:

I love how the bike is locked in once you have it up there. The wind does impact the mpg of the car..but this is for all roof racks. I have been pulling out the lock part of the bike when I don't have a bike on top, since I'm worried that someone will walk way with it.

Comments about THULE 513 Domestique Bike Rack:

Transport bike

Comments about THULE 513 Domestique Bike Rack:

Overall this is a decent-quality product, although I'd definitely warn anyone buying this to make sure to check the quality of the metal-smithing of the attachment point parts. I found that the nuts housed in the plastic bracket in the rear part of the tray that attaches under the crossbars of a factory rack were poorly formed and prevented the bolts from attaching