For the money, Atera's GIRO AF rack has its work cut out – it must match Thule’s market-leading, benchmark-setting and equally priced Proride 951 if we are to recommend it.
First up then, the frame-holding mechanism works very well indeed. It quickly clamps onto down tubes of all sizes, holding very securely, while the rubber clamping surfaces shouldn’t damage the frame.
If your bike is fitted with the fattest treads, or deep-section wheels, it may not fit
The ramped wheel-holders slide to length easily, and clamp in place to the rail, but the wheel straps are a little short. Big tyres make it fiddly and difficult to stretch the ratchet strap into the mechanism; add a deep-section rim, and they simply won’t reach around.
The frame-locking mechanism was occasionally fiddly to undo, but did the job. The lock which fixes the carrier to the roof bar became jammed on our sample, making it impossible to unlock.
More worrying still, it was still possible to slide the carrier off the roof bars. This issue could be a one-off glitch, and the rack is generally solid unless your bike is sporting seriously fat rubber, but it's a bit lacking in a feel of ultimate quality.
