Depending on your vehicle, hitch racks can be a blessing or a curse. Ok, a curse might be a little extreme, but if you’ve got your bikes loaded up and you need to get into the back of your vehicle, things can get a little tricky. This is especially true if you have something like a Sprinter van, an Element, or any other vehicle with a large trunk, tailgate, or hatch that interferes with bikes on a rack.
Rather than creating a special rack to deal with the problem, Kuat is approaching the task a bit differently. The new Pivot will work great with current Kuat racks, but it will also work with any other 2″ rack on the market…
To be sold as a stand alone accessory, the Kuat Pivot is a swing away arm for 2″ receivers and 2″ racks. Technically, you could use it with a 1 1/4″ rack and adapter as well, but it’s really meant for 2″ racks. Making it even more unique, the Pivot is capable of supporting a four bike hitch rack – and swinging away with all four bikes loaded (up to 40lbs each, 250lb total weight limit). That means it will work with a Kuat NV 2.0 with the two bike add on, and four bikes. As far as we know, this is one of the only swing away options capable of handling that amount of weight.
To make it all work, the Pivot features a burly clamp with a threaded safety pin, and large hard plastic wear plates to protect the areas that rub together. The Pivot above already had over 20,000 miles on it in testing and appears to be going strong. That may have something to do with its Made-in-the-USA construction, which will continue for production. Weighing in at 42lbs on its own, the fact that it’s separate from the relatively heavy four bike tray rack should make it easier to maneuver off the vehicle, and make it easier to store.
Available later this summer, the Pivot accessory will sell for $298 (racks sold separately).
