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Happened to notice that the products for the US are very different to the UK ones. E.g. bike racks with arms that wrap around the front wheel as opposed to ones that clamp on the top tube. Anyone know why this is? EU/US regs?
Are the US ones much simpler to operate? Idiot proof, as it were?
Possibly. Does seem odd to have to different sets of products for different markets. The wheel clamping racks look pretty good too.
i should imagine its been a change forced through litigation.
An American man from Florida got drunk in a bar and fell of the stool. He sued the barman over his injuries, as he was not warned about the dangerous height of the stool. This means that everything needs to be 'different' to prevent Darwin prevailing in the US.
A lot of it is that some of the US products are not TUV approved. I was after a Thule version of a Fork Up which I couldn't get anywhere but it was on the Thule US website. Thule told me it wasn't available in the UK as it wasn't TUV approved.
I would think it is definitely about different regulations. America seems to have a different standard to the rest of the world in all areas of manufacturing.
Thule also have their own factory over there so it is probably easier to adapt to their market, given the different nature of the vehicles they drive they will have different demands.
wobbliscott - Member
Thule told me it wasn't available in the UK as it wasn't TUV approved
suppose, we in the UK require a German approval for our car racks lol
I guess European regulations read across. If they can't sell their product across Europe, especially in a large market like Germany, then they won't bother at all. Also if they don't have or can't get TUV approval then they're unlikely to get CE marking.
They have the same racks we get in the UK listed on their website...
[url= http://www.thule.com/en-us/us/products/carriers-and-racks/bike-carriers/roof-mounted-bike-carriers/thule-criterium-598-_-13898 ]Criterium 598[/url]