IB13: New Colors and Even More Storage Possibilities from Rack Manufacturer Kuat

I have the first gen nv with the bike maint. stand. I bought it because it was reported to be lighter than other racks. It is a total p.o.s. It is heavy and the pivot points are wore out. I have had two recalled parts shipped to me and the hook release button broke the first week. The end cap had to be glued in the hitch arm before I even used it. Reported to be designed by an engineer but this guy should have his degree revoked. The rack is fully manufactured in china by what could be possibly the worst quality control I have seen in years. Please don’t give your money to krapt rack company. Buy a thule rack instead. My girlfriend has used one for over ten years and nothing has ever broke on it.

I haven’t been completely dissatisfied with my Kuat rack, but some of Mark’s comments don’t lie too far from my own experience. The pivot points are not good, always require tightening and loosen very quickly in addition to not being very smooth. On my Sherpa, I’ve had to replace two ratchet arms because they jammed up, and I had a piece of metal break off one arm during assembly (really bad manufacturing and QC in China). Also had the locking pin lock seize up while the rack was still on my car. Once I got it sorted, its been working alright I guess, but if I was in the market to buy another hitch, it would not be a Kuat and I’d strongly a 1UP USA rack.

1 Up rules the roost. American made, aircraft grade machined aluminum. Had it since 2006, still going strong even with idiots backing into it, and this idiot backing into Aunts mini cooper ( a little to psyched to get to trail head!)crunching the hood. Rack did not budge.

Hmm. Girlfriend and I both have an NV on our 4wd suvs, live in CO. After almost 3 years in and many, many road trips, winters, offroading in rocks, mud, sand and snow: one cable lock replaced because I pulled on it while falling over, one arm replaced because all my mudding trashed the internal ratchet. Both items rushed to me from the nicest customer service I’ve had in the bike industry- for free. Our racks have functioned great. They usually hold $12k+ worth of bikes securely while bouncing all over rough back country routes and high country passes. We have beaten the hell out of ours and they are still just fine. And yes, they look pretty cool too.

Kuat makes the best racks in the biz and also has the best customer service. I’ve had my NV for a long time now and it has performed flawlessly. All of my friends have them as well and have ZERO complaints. A local guy had his NV stolen and Kuat sent him a demo NV for free!!! Are you kidding me? That is above and beyond for sure.

I agree with both the positive and negative comments about the NV. I have 2 NVs – one just standard 2 bike rack and the other with the extension. A lot of things have gone wrong with both of the racks that NEVER seem to go wrong with a Thule rack. For instance, the security cables are way too short. They barely are long enough for one bike, let alone 2. The cables on the Thule T2 work great. The rear tire strap is also way too short. It doesn’t work with either my fat bike or my Zipp 808 wheel. I have to use a strap from my kayak rack to hold those down. The security cables / locks corrode like crazy and I don’t ever use the rack in the winter so why is this thing rusting? The hitch anti wobble thing corroded and broke. The pivot point loosens up and needs to be constantly retightened, which bent a part of the pivot frame. Now my rack is not level side to side. The supplied hitch lock also corroded quickly. The ratchets on the swing arms have also been a huge source of frustration as they frequently stop working. Sure, I can take them apart and lube them but why should I have to? Finally, the repair stand feature doesn’t clamp well and won’t hold my 26lb mountain bike.

Okay, got the complaints out of the way. Now for the good stuff. Kuat’s customer service is the best I have ever seen. Awesome. Love it. They get repair parts to me ASAP. I also like the look of the rack in that it doesn’t look like an erector set like the Thule T2. It is also very strong and doesn’t complain loaded down with 4 heavy downhill bikes.

@Ajax… chill

When you’re at the point of even considering throwing down the quid for a Kuat rack, you’re already well past the point of considering anything from Thule or Yak.

1Up is a great company and the racks they make are awesome. Considering how nice the Kuat racks are, 1Up might be their only real competitor.

Chet – yep – it’s funny. I have $20k in bikes on my $1,000 bike rack on the back of my $2,000, beat up 30 year old Land Cruiser. Of course, I’ll probably have the rack for 20+ years as well, until I’m too old to ride seriously. Then I can sit back to relive my glory days 🙂

I can’t stand Ajax or anything he ever posts…

…but I LOVE my NV rack. Yeah, after about a year, I had to lube the pivot points but other than that, it’s been pretty much perfect. Ordered some strap extensions for 808’s and fat bikes and that’s it. I DO think it should come with longer straps to begin with but, meh.