My son and I took the Kuat NV on a recent trip to Arkansas to do some mountain biking before I dropped him off at college. The rack performed flawlessly and looked good to boot.
I have a 2 inch hitch on my car, and the rack mated up nicely. After get
ting it in place, a few twists of the knob at the end of the rack gave it a nice tight fit. I’ve had other racks that bounce around; the tight fit of the Kuat was a nice change. The rack held our 2 full suspension bikes nicely. As we drove down the road, I found myself looking in the rear-view mirror just to make sure, but the bikes weren’t moving at all.
After we took our bike
s off and stashed them in our hotel room, the rack folded up nicely as we headed off to dinner. I just had to remember I had an extra foot or so of length to my car as I was backing up.
The Trail Doc (repair stand attachment) also came in handy. After our first day of riding, my bike was not shifting right. In a matter of seconds, we put the attachment on and got my bike on so we could tweak my shifting.
The NV even comes with an integrated cable lock which comes in handy to secure your bikes and takes away any worries if the bikes were left on during an extended meal or anything else taking you away from your car for a while.
Having used less expensive racks such as Thule, this seems much more solid. If you’re looking for a solid rack that works well with full suspension bikes, this is a winner. And while the rack only holds 2 bikes, Kuat is releasing an extension for 2 additional bikes. The NV is advertised as working well with downhill, free ride, or other large bikes.
