For as long as I can remember, Thule and Yakama have owned the platform rack market. Kuat is the new comer into the market and with the NV, they are bringing in some high end options to appease the pickiest of cyclists. As a long time user of the Thule T2 platform bike rack, I was interested to see who this new entry performed. So how does the Kuat NV bike rack stack up?
More About Kuat Innovations
From Kuat Innovations dot com:
Kuat Racks was founded in 2007 by Luke KUschmeader and Brian ATkinson, riding partners from way back. The guys had a passion for all things bike and wanted to become a larger part of the bike community. In 2008 KUAT launched their first line of aluminum hanging style hitch racks, the ALPHA and the BETA, creating a tsunami of positive vibes throughout the industry. Due to the consumer response Luke pressed on as the company visionary but with a new partner, Guy Mace; engineering genius, manufacturing guru, and an avid outdoor enthusiast who owns more cars than the average car lot. With the new partnership Kuat released more goodness to the public for 2009-10 (see NV and SHERPA). In short from day one it has been our mission to make a better rack for our fellow riders and scratch out a living while doing it.
The Kuat NV Platform Bike Rack
The all aluminum Kuat NV platform bike rack comes with a host of features that really make this a top end unit.
- Light aluminum design
- Integrated cable locks
- Included hitch lock
- Optional 4 bike add-on
- Integrated bike repair stand (optional)
Kuat NV Platform Hitch Operation
The assembly of the Kuat NV is pretty basic. Once out of the box, several bolts are responsible for securing the entire rack together. After about 10 minutes of fumbling around, you have the rack assembled and ready to put on your truck or car.
Right off the bat, you notice the lightweight design. With most of the competition still using heavy steel for the mainframe in their designs, the lightweight aluminum is a welcomed change during normal operation.
Mounting The Kuat NV
The Kuat NV is available in 2″ or 1-1/4″ receiver configurations. The mounting tube has 2 different mounting hole options to control how far away the rack sits from your truck or car. This really comes in handy for vehicles with racks that are tucked up under the rear bumper. You can move it out more to get extra clearance. Kuat recommends that you install the rack into your hitch with the most insertion as possible that still provides adequate clearance.
Once inserted, you use a conventional hitch lock in the pin hole and tighten a plastic knob on the end of the rack to tighten into the hitch. The knob expands a plate inside of the insertion point of the tube against your hitch. But be careful, just like with any hitch mounted rack, don’t go blowing up driveways as you can scrape the plastic knob against the ground. Mine has a couple of battle scars but still works perfectly.
Once installed, a gold latch on the right side of the base releases a pin for movement up and down (as seen in the video below). Pretty basic stuff that you would expect out of platform operation with 3 positions: up, flat and angled down (for tailgate access).
Mounting Bikes In The Kuat NV Rack
Like any platform styled rack, you have ratcheting arms that come up and over the front tire to secure your bike to the rack and a strap on the rear to keep the rear end of the bike from bouncing off and into the street. The Kuat NV ratcheting system operates through a button on the top of the arm. When pushed, you can control the height of the assembly and compress it against the front tire of your bike. Kuat’s plastic u-shaped tire fitment fits over your front tire nicely and securely. There is also adequate room for larger tires as I still had plenty of room while mounting 2.4 29er mountain bike tires (picture of clearance below). The button performs well, but there were some times when it would stick down. A quick shake of the button and it re-engaged so it wasn’t a problem…just an occasional slight annoyance.
Note: Kuat also provides an arm extension for 20″ and 24″ tires so you can mount smaller bikes to the rack securely.
The rear tire of the bike is strapped down with a simple ratchet strap that slides on the assembly to accommodate different wheel bases. From DH bikes to short road bikes…it had plenty of adjustment to handle different rigs and never came loose.
Once everything is on…the cable lock retracts from the arms, go through the rear triangles of the bikes and lock together. I highly recommend keeping that key hole greased up with WD40 as it can be prone to sticking. With a quick spray it is all good.
Driving With The Kuat NV Rack
In the “look in the rear view mirror to see how bad the bikes are shaking” test, the Kuat NV did incredibly well. Even on long trips through the mountains where we like to test the limits of a trucks ability to act like a sports car, the rack stayed put with minimal shaking. Upon inspection post driving, it was evident that the mechanism that tightens the rack against the hitch stays put while driving.
Using The Bike Repair Stand
One of the best features of the Kuat NV platform rack is the integration of a bike repair stand. This telescoping repair stand is operational while the rack is folded up and uses a simple bolt-style clamp to secure the seat tube.
The clamp is a little awkward and doesn’t keep the bike completely still while mounted, but it is secure enough to work on your sled. I used it to change numerous tires, chains and adjust shifting throughout the testing process without issue. I would like to see Kuat perfect the clamp just a little bit more to really secure the bike.
Note: You can use the clamp on the top tube of the frame to make it a little bit more secure, but I do not like putting clamps on frames.
Final Thoughts: Kuat NV Platform Bike Rack
The good news? The Kuat NV platform bike rack has just made my Thule T2 a backup. The added features plus the lightweight design really put this rack at the top of the competition in my eyes. With the integrated bike repair stand to the included hitch lock, this rack from Kuat really looks at the needs of cyclists on the go. It also provides me with the clearance I need on larger 29er tires.
There are a couple of “fine tuning” things I would like to see Kuat integrate into future designs that are really small. Basically, I would like to see a better clamping mechanism on the integrated bike repair stand and a little bit more bulletproof design on the button latching system in the racks arms. If there is a way, I would also like to see some sort of lateral adjustment for the bikes to prevent having to drop the seats during mounting in some situations. The 13″ in between bikes (nice and spacious!) does prevent most of this but for long legged guys like me…our miles of seatpost showing can interfere with the bars when racked.
The Good News On The Kuat NV
- Aluminum design is light and easy to use.
- All locks included to secure bikes and rack.
- Bike repair stand integrated into the unit.
- Conversation starter looks. (I’m not kidding…it’s a show stopper at the trailhead)
- Huge front wheel clearance for bigger wheel/tire combos.
Nothing Is Perfect…
- Repair stand could use a more secure clamping mechanism.
- Button catch on arm ratchet catches occasionally.
- Price: $475 for this rack will be steep for a lot of riders.
The Kuat NV platform rack is the top of the line rack out of Kuat Innovations, so check out their website for the rest of their lineup that integrates many of these features at a lower price point. Then…hit up your local bike shop to pick up your own.
Click here to buy your own Kuat NV or check out more info on the Kuat Innovations Website
