Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I researched the different racks that are available today. Visited many bike shops in my area to see them in person and also performed a great deal of online research. I have a DH bike that tips the scales at over 50 lbs so I did not want the racks that are rated for 45 pounds per bike. The NV 2.0 is rated at 60 pounds per bike. I also liked the quality of the product. From watching reviews on the web or actually handling it over the weekend it is clear to me it is made to withstand some serious use. I am a car nut and have worked with cars and metal fab for some time. I found the construction of the rack to be very nice and in parts "overbuilt" compared to the models that cost about $150 less. As they say you get what you pay for. Or do you... I narrowed it down to the final two racks. The NV 2.0 and the Thule T2 Pro XT. There are many head to head comparisons online about these two racks. I settled on the NV 2.0 after weighing all the factors. I am very, very glad that I did. I included pictures of the rack as I opened it up. The assembly is really as easy as the videos indicate. I found that by laying the rack assembly upside down on the box it was shipped in and assembling the trays one side at a time made handling it myself much easier. the pictures included with this review show it coming together. I was also pleased with the packaging. Most companies fail to consider the abuse that a 60 pound box will get in transit. I give Kuat credit for a bang up job in boxing the unit. No damage at all to the rack. And the box is sturdy enough to hold it while assembling. I did consider assembling it with the center mounted in the hitch, however, I decided to do it inside the garage. I do like the option for the trail doc station. It played a part in my decision to buy this rack. It is surprisingly sturdy and has tension adjustments at all points of movement. Makes me feel very comfortable using it for trail-side service. But how to store such a large rack in the limited space of our garage? I used a inexpensive furniture dolly ($15) a 2" receiver hitch designed for truck bumpers ($18) and then a base of 3/4" plywood, a piece of 2X12 and a top of 2X10 wood that I had lying around. The wood is secured to the dolly with the proper length decking screws to ensure all three pieces are screwed together. I then drilled four mounting holes for the hitch. Used 3 1/2" lag bolts to secure that to the dolly. The rack will "ride" on the dolly without the counter weights, however, to be able to move it with out worrying about it tipping I added some iron pipe uprights and four 25 pound weight plates. If you do not have weights a bag or two of either playground sand or quickcrete would be fine. Secured with the hitch pin and now with the counter weights it moves with ease. You can lower it down without tipping it and raise it up to stowed position etc. I even rolled it right over to the car and pulled the pin to swap it to the cars hitch. I hope that helps someone. It was a low cost alternative to get it out of the way when not in use. As a final note they, KUAT, include a nice box that contains the three keys, a locking hitch pin, a cap if you are not using the trial doc to make it look nice and also one fat tire strap kit. Registering the product was simple and easy and fast. I have also had numerous chats with reps at KUAT both during the decision phase and after the purchase. Every time was great. I am very pleased with the decision to go with this rack. Good luck with your decision. And by the way you also get a bottle opener key chain if that is important to you.... john *Update: My first use of the rack was on a 700 mile round trip across three states to go and pick up a mountain bike. I mounted the rack in my hitch in the early hours. Moved super easy from the dolly to the car's receiver hitch. I made the trip there with the rack in the up position. It was very useful to be able to tilt it down when I needed inside my trunk at fill ups. Everything was tight, smooth and it never rattled or shook. Interstate speeds will not be mentioned. Let's just say it passed! I took mpg measurements with just the rack. Drove back with the bike on it and it was only a 1 mpg difference. The final pic in my review is the rack as I neared home. You might notice the rope. That ended up being overkill, however, made me feel more confident as it was my first use. The rack performed extremely well. I told the bike seller that I had never mounted a bike to it yet. We had the bike mounted, strapped in and the front tire holder in place in no time flat. It is a large frame with the 27.5 plus wheels. I probably could have lowered the front tire holder a setting. Once home, after a long day, I was going to leave the rack on the car. I decided that it was best just to take it off. The knob you use to tension the rack into the hitch had not moved at all. I loosened it and then unlocked the pin and loaded the rack into the storage dolly. Promptly rolled it into the garage. This trip alone , in my mind, paid for the rack. I usually either have to dissemble bikes into bits and pieces for storage in backseat and trunk or lay them in the trunk with wheels sticking out and ropes everywhere. The fact you can hoist a bike onto the rack and then remove it in a matter of seconds is just plain awesome. The bike in the pic only weighs about 29 pounds. I am going to use it for my DH bike this coming weekend which weighs close to 60 lbs. I also , having no pedals on the crank arms, ran the cable lock through a crank arm and locked it back on itself. That worked great. Update 12/26/18: I have now used the rack for three different bikes. Works like a charm. I added a pic that shows a silver bike on the rack. One of the main reasons I went with this rack was the weight carrying limits. At 60 pounds per bike. The bike I knew I would come close to is the Specialized BigHit. It has a dual crown inverted fork and tips the scales right at 58 pounds. I was impressed with the way the rack handled the dual crown fork and the weight of the bike. Super pleased all the way around with this rack. Big quality of life improvement and to be able to load and unload a bike in a minute or less is tremendous! That saves time that can be used for riding. Update 12/31/18: I was out riding on 12/29 and needed to make some adjustments to the cables. At first I thought I would just do it from the mounted for transport position. That blocked the access I needed. Then I remembered the Trail Doc option. I put the bike on the ground. Raised the hitch and extended the trail doc. Rotated the clamp to go onto the seat post and problem solved!. It worked like a charm. Added some versatility to the hitch. I added three pics of the trail doc in use. Bike weighs in at about 32 pounds. Great feature. Update 2/24/2019 - Rack has seen a lot of use and still works like a charm. I drove 100+ miles with two fat bikes on board. One with 26X4.0 other 26X4.6. They weight around 40 - 45 pounds each. I lowered the tire cradle to the low setting for the front wheels. I used the supplied Phat Tire kit for the one bike and then added my own Velcro straps cut at 36" each so they would wrap around twice and stick back on itself. For added security I used some 24" heavy duty zip ties on each wheel also. Most likely overkill but it worked out great. I added three new pics with the fat bikes. I had to do some quick repair to the drive train on the red fat bike. I did not want to off load the black one - so thinking out of the box I used the trail doc system with the rack in the "down" position. It worked great (as shown in the pics). Very handy feature. This rack is great! - john