Thule SUP Taxi XT Surfboard Rack Review
There are a lot of options for securing your paddle board and you don’t have to buy an additional rack to transport your board. So is the Thule SUP Taxi XT Surfboard Rack worth it? Here is my review of using it since 2019, transporting it around Florida.
I’ve had my paddle board since 2010, so I’ve logged a lot of miles of transporting it. In the early years, I just used my mom’s Honda Pilot and put it inside the SUV and just secured the trunk. This worked for a while until the vehicle got to 300,000 miles!
I had a smaller car at the time and decided to get a Subaru. After I installed the cross bars, I was able to transport my board. However, it was laborious and I would always feel nervous as to whether I strapped it in well. Since it would take about twenty minutes to load it up, I started to feel like it wasn’t worth the hassle. At this point, I knew I needed to figure out if there was an easier way or my SUP would start collecting dust.
To google and Amazon I went and I found the Thule SUP Taxi XT Surfboard Rack. I made the purchase in 2019, not quite sure if it would make loading my paddle board easier.
The setup was relatively easy out of the box and the racks can be adjusted in width to fit your board. My load time was now only five minutes! The taxi is so easy to use and makes the whole process a breeze!
Negatives | Thule SUP Taxi XT Surfboard Rack
I do have two negatives though. The lock system isn’t great, at least on the 2019 version. It got stuck in the first few weeks of owning and I was too scared to lock it again. The lock for the paddle board itself doesn’t really make sense, since you can cut the straps. However, the lock on the rack system could be useful, though the hassle of removing it from a car should be deterrent enough! Either way, if the lock is a selling point, check the more recent reviews of the Thule SUP Taxi XT Surfboard Rack.
The other negative is you can’t take your car through a car wash. So if that is something you do often, you will need to either remove it first, which will be hassle or hand wash your car.
Final Thoughts
As stated previously, I love how easy it makes loading and unloading the SUP. The instructions state you can transport two paddle boards and though I don’t own two, I do own a longboard surfboard and the SUP. I’ve had no issues transporting both! As someone with a bit of a lead foot, I appreciate you can drive 80mph, though I try to stay below that speed when I have the board. While mine is going on five years old, it’s still holding up well!
I hope you found this Thule SUP Taxi XT Surfboard Rack review helpful. If you are considering Thule SUP Taxi XT, I can’t imagine you ever regretting it! The easier it is to transport your board, the more you will want to enjoy using it!
