Thule EasyFold 3 - folding rack for 3 bikes no. 945200

A new easy-to-use carrier from Thule. A very useful feature of this rack is that it is foldable so it's very easy to carry. It will take up less space to store and less space in your boot if you ever need to put it in the car.

The EasyFold is simple to fit to your tow ball from folded. Just place the carrier over the tow ball, fold the rack down then fasten the handle and lock it in place. It has a foot operated tilt function accessed from the front of the bike carrier, near the lights - that's a major plus point. The tilt mechanism allows you to open the tailgate without removing the bikes, which is often very useful.

It can take three bikes up to 30kg each (up to a maximum of 60kg), so it's great if you have larger and heavier bikes, such as electric bikes (but it's equally suitable for smaller kids bikes). An extra bike adapter is available separately, allowing you to carry up to four bikes on this rack.

Carrying e-bikes? This rack will take a bike weight up to 30kg, so you can carry e-bikes on this rack. It has a maximum total load of 60kg, and it's very important that the weight of the rack (22kg) plus the weight of your bikes doesn't exceed the vehicle noseweight. The distance between the bikes is 19cm, meaning the bikes are closer together than racks that are specifically designed for e-bikes. This means that in reality you'll probably only be able to carry two e-bikes on this rack, unless they are particularly light and slim. This rack could be a great option if you need to carry four bikes, and only occasionally want to carry two e-bikes. If you typically carry two e-bikes, we suggest looking at the EasyFold 3 for 2-bikes, which has a spacing of 25cm between the bikes (or another 2/3 bike rack that is specifically designed for e-bikes).

The bike frame holders are lockable and are easy to move to make loading bikes much easier. They are removable, which makes them easy to reposition, even with the bikes already loaded. The bikes frames are held securely with a steel-reinforced strap which fits around most bike frames.

It comes with long wheel straps with pump buckles to make it easy to secure your wheels. The supplied wheel straps fit tyres up to 3" wide, longer wheel straps are available separately for tyres up to 5" wide.

Other specifications and technical info:

• Max load capacity: 60kg (30kg per bike, tow bar nose weight limit permitting)
• Weight: 22kg
• Fits frame diameters from 22mm to 90mm (remember you can usually use the downtube if your frame is too chunky)
• Supplied largely pre-assembled
• Comes with a 13 pin five function lighting system
• Fits most tow balls - check the specifications tab for details

The 9452 comes with five function rear lights so it is fitted with a 13 pin plug for 13 pin continental type electric sockets. If you have a 7 pin socket you will need the Lighting adapter '13 pin' (rack) to 7 pin (car) listed below. We include this adapter for free with every EasyFold 3 bike carrier ordered. If you have a 7 pin socket the reversing light and fog light will not work. The 7 pin socket isn't wired for these functions.

This bike carrier is not designed for vehicles with a rear door mounted spare wheel. The rack tilts to allow you to open most tailgates (but it won't tilt far enough to allow vertical tailgates to open, such as vans and older MPVs).

Optional accessories (shown below) are also available. These include a loading ramp, which is great if you have electric bikes. A storage/carrying bag is available and would be very useful if you need to store the carrier in your boot or in the house. You can even use the Thule Santu and Onto 2 cargo boxes on this version of EasyFold.

Deciding which bike carriers to buy is not always easy, especially as you may not have had experience of using bike carriers before. We hope that our buying guides provide useful guidance about which bike carrier 'strategy' will be most appropriate for your circumstances, as well as highlighting the best features of particular models. We also have troubleshooting FAQs - for example, some customers struggle at first to fit four bikes onto a tow ball carrier, and wonder whether a different carrier would allow the bikes to be spaced wider apart. (It won't, but we have some good tips which make bike fitting much easier.)

Our bike carriers Exchange Scheme covers roof mounting and tow ball mounting bike carriers only. Rear door mounting / strap on carriers are not included, and nor are roof bars. It allows you to exchange within 90 days of invoice date. Most exchanges are for roof mounting upgrades, or are tow ball carriers with very basic tilting systems being exchanged for easy to use sliding / tilting carriers.

These are the rules of the bike carriers Exchange Scheme:

• You are allowed one exchange only.
• The original equipment must be in "as new" condition, subject only to fair wear and tear.
• The replacement items must be different models from the originals.
• The replacement items must not be part of a package deal or be from our Bargains section.
• Roof bars are never part of the Exchange Scheme.

This is how the exchange scheme works:

• We charge in full for the replacement items, including the appropriate carriage charge and a charge for any packaging needed for the return of the originals.
• We pay the return carriage costs.
• When the originals arrive back here we refund you for their invoice value but you won't get back more than the invoice value of the replacements. In other words, if the replacements are cheaper than the originals we won't be giving you "extra cash back".

Please note that we can only collect exchange scheme items from mainland UK.

Delivery charges and arrangements:

We charge a contribution towards delivery costs, depending on what you order, where you live, and how quickly you want the goods.

These are our standard charges; there are usually surcharges for all offshore destinations and some remote postcodes - for details please see our delivery information page.

Delivery of other items

Delivery times

Delivery times are calculated in working days (Monday to Friday, excluding Bank holidays).

Cut-off times for Express Delivery orders
Express Delivery orders placed before before the cut-off times shown below will usually be desptached on the date of order. Express Delivery orders placed after these cut-off times will be despatched the next working day.

Delivery FAQs

When will my order arrive?
There are no deliveries on Saturdays, Sundays or Bank Holidays, except for postable items where Royal Mail has a Saturday delivery. Express Delivery orders placed on a Friday (before 1pm) should be delivered on the Monday or Tuesday, Express Delivery orders placed on a Saturday or Sunday should be delivered on the Tuesday or Wednesday. The arrangements for Very Heavy Items are different and are shown above.

What about Next Working Day delivery?
Most Express delivery orders will arrive on the next working day, if the order is placed before the cut-off time (see above). Some will arrive on the second working day if there has been a "split-delivery". So-called “split deliveries” happen when the couriers do not have enough trailer space for everything that should be moved around the UK, so they will load what they can and leave the rest for the next trailer.

Is my delivery day guaranteed?
No retailer or courier company can ever "guarantee" a Next Working Day delivery. As well as split deliveries, all courier companies occasionally have the same transport problems as can happen to everyone else, including snow blocked roads, closed roads, traffic jams, mechanical breakdown, an inability to find the delivery address, or to gain access to it if, for example, it's in a block of flats. We work with some of the best couriers in the business, and overall they provide an outstanding service.

Do I need to be at home?
We are very flexible with our deliveries and will aim to deliver to an address which suits you – this does not need to be your home address. Goods can usually be left without signature - we prefer this with roof boxes. There's a "Special Delivery Instructions" box in the checkout area where we'll ask you to choose a typical instruction and then amend it to suit your particular requirements.

Payment options:

We take the following cards, and also PayPal. Please note that the entry on your card statement will be from "The Roof Box Company".

Secure payments

Our website is secured by Sectigo (formerly Comodo CA), the largest commercial Certificate Authority in the world.

Bike carriers with 7 pin plugs

Wheel support bike carriers which are supplied with 7 pin plugs usually only include rear lights, brake lights and indicator lights, which is why they are often called ‘3 function lights’.

Unusually, Thule bike carriers with 7 pin plugs also include a fog light; this works when plugged into 7 pin electrics, but it does not work when plugged into 13 pin electrics via an adapter.

Bike carriers with 13 pin plugs

Bike carriers which are supplied with 13 pin plugs include a fog light and reversing light, as well as rear lights, brake lights and indicator lights – which is why they are often called ‘5 function lights’.

If these are plugged into 13 pin electrics then all 5 functions will work.

If they are plugged into 7 pin electrics via an adapter then the fog light should work, but the reversing light on the bike carrier will not work.

Please note

These notes assume that your tow bar electrics have been wired correctly!

Tow bar wiring in the digital age is much more complicated than it used to be when everything was analogue. Our experience is that if you are having lighting problems, e.g. a fog light does not work in 7 pin tow bar electrics, the problem is much more likely to be caused by the wiring, not by a dud bulb in the bike carrier.