Another Kuat owner here. I have been using a Sherpa for the past 5 years and it has been great! Highly recommended.

I rarely use a bike rack so I wanted to keep my investment down. My requirements were to have 2 bike rack, "cup" holders for wheels, 2" hitch, fairly lightweight but sturdy. There are nicer racks out there, but for the money, this one works perfect for me.

https://www.amazon.com/Rage-Powerspo...ike+hitch+rack

I think there's already a 100 person (or was it 1000 person) waiting list for when the rack starts shipping in the summer.

OP doesn't want a Thule, so it doesn't really matter, but, for the record, I have no problem, at all, with taking the Thule rack off the hitch or putting it back on. There's no way our Thule would scrape the pavement, since all of it is above the hitch; the pavement would hit the differential long before it would hit the rack.

The Thule is pricey. It's also excellent. We have $5,000 worth of bikes sitting on our rack (which we haul with the rack at least a couple of times each week); why would we not spend what it takes to carry them safely and well?

Mark

Yes a long waiting list and the shipping date keeps getting pushed further and further back. Yeah the guy is legit but don't know when he product will be legit . There is a huge thread about it over on mtbr.com's forum in the cars section.

​​​​​While the OP did ask for a rack that doesn't touch the bike frame, and I do think wheel-tray racks are the way to go, in my experience being paranoid about the wheel touching the frame is overrated.

When I thought about it I realized that I've had a frame break while riding the bike and it wasn't a huge deal I just coasted to a stop and got off. In contrast, if the front wheel breaks, you're going down faster than you can react and it's going to hurt. Squeezing the front wheel might be dangerous if you weakened it by clamping it to the rack.

With a wheel-tray rack anything that touches the frame is mostly just to keep the bike from bouncing around. I suppose there's a chance you could knick up the paint in the frame, but like with the saris freedoms rubber attachments even that seems unlikely.

I assume some racks which secure the bike by wheel clamping system are not friendly for fenders. Something to keep in mind.

That can be an issue. I got this cheap steel Thule -- Thule 990XT Doubletrack -- that clamps the wheels into their trays with plastic straps (like ski boots) and then uses a lockable padded hook on the crossbar to keep things from moving. Nothing clamps on the top of the wheels so fenders are not a problem. It works well and keeps our bikes well separated. When bikes are not loaded it can be lowered to access the rear hatch.

the 2 bike racks, on the front of Busses, need a bare front tire , so mudguards no further around the wheel than the top.

so that excludes a lot of the Premium aluminum mudguards from Hanjo, Berthoud, VO, etc..




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