Originally Posted by
mtb_addict
I borrowed a Thule platform rack once. Don't like it. Too heavy for one person to lift and put on the hitch. And plateform racks can scrap the pavement when you get out of some parking lots. You pretty much would have to leave the rack attached to the hitch all the time, because it's so heavy, difficult to attach/detach.
OP doesn't want a Thule, so it doesn't really matter, but, for the record, I have no problem, at all, with taking the Thule rack off the hitch or putting it back on. There's no way our Thule would scrape the pavement, since all of it is above the hitch; the pavement would hit the differential long before it would hit the rack.
The Thule is pricey. It's also excellent. We have $5,000 worth of bikes sitting on our rack (which we haul with the rack at least a couple of times each week); why would we not spend what it takes to carry them safely and well?
Mark