Car racks and bikes with front racks
 

I need to get a new bike carrier for my car. I'm looking at racks like the Kuat NV-2, which hold the bike's front wheel with an arm that extends over the top of the wheel. Does anyone have experience using these with bikes with front racks installed? Good clearance, no-go, or sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Thanks in advance.

I've used similar racks (but not that one in particular) and they generally work with front racks. If you have a platform rack, you can either hook the rack in front of the platform, or sometimes fit it underneath. If you have lowriders, they shouldn't provide any obstacle. Of course your particular combination of racks mgiht differ.

There have been Parts Kits for Roof racks with a Tower under a QR skewer mount to clear Low rider rack..

Yakima did , they also made one that supported the bike by the left crank arm.. so both wheels stay on.


but, I stopped buying cars.. years ago.. I tour out of cardboard boxes so I can see other Countries and Airports .

I worked for REI for a few years and ended up helping with vehicle rack selection and installation on a very regular basis, not to mention having my own racks, of course. My experience with bike racks for cars is that unless you have a carbon frame or full susp., a hanging-style bike rack is generally the easiest to use and the most trouble free. I have a bike with a front lowrider rack and find a hanging style rack is best for me, here's why...

Unless you have a really tall SUV, most hitch racks will have your bikes, or even the rack itself, hitting the ground at some point (think going in/out of steep driveways, over dips, etc. when you have a load that far behind the rear wheels, it tips down way low when the front of the vehicle is elevated). This is a bigger problem with tray-style hitch racks (like the KUAT NV-2) than with hanging style racks because they usually sit lower and don't want to move when bikes are mounted; this can cause serious damage to the rack and possibly to the hitch/vehicle if you have a collision of this type. A hanging-style rack on the other hand allows the bike to sit slightly higher of the ground, and if the bikes do make contact, it's generally just the tires that bump the ground and little if any harm is done. Also, if you are doing a bit of off roading etc, you can simply remove the lower hanging wheels from the bicycles (usually just the front) and set them inside or on top of the vehicle to avoid any contact with the ground at all. A tray style rack does not allow for any of these options because they are generally dependent on grabbing the wheels to hold the bike in place.

Basically all the tray-style hitch racks I have encountered allow ample reach/clearance of the arm to swing around lowrider racks, beefy tires, fat DH mtb stanchions, etc. Though I've mostly dealt with Yakima and Thule, I'm sure the KUAT NV is no exception.

A major plus in my book for the hanger-style over the tray-style is security when parked. Say I'm going on a road trip and bringing bikes along... when I'm away from the car, it's not always because my butt is on the saddle of my bike. Sometimes I want to leave the bikes to go for a hike or, god forbid, I have to run into a sketchy walmart or wherever to grab something I forgot to bring on the trip. With a hanging rack, I can just back my car against a wall/post/tree and the bike and rack are locked down...not going anywhere unless someone can move my car first. Tray style racks, in comparison, often have very poor security capability. They usually only secure the bike by a flimsy cable lock and there's really nothing you can do to adequately secure them otherwise.

Lastly, cost, storage, and installation. Tray racks like the NV are usually very expensive ($400+), heavy (30+ lbs), awkward to install, and limit you to carryng only two bikes unless you get the extension which makes all the aforementioned issues even worse. In contrast, hanging styles can usually be had on the oposite end of all the mentioned spectrum. Less than $400, even for a nice one. Less than 30lbs with some even down to 15lbs. And some models can carry up to five bikes with no added parts needed.

I reaize a selling point of the NV is the built in repair stand but to me it's more of a gimmick. Especialy when you consider that a hanging rack already allows full serviceability of your bike with no added parts.

If this got you changing your mind about the KUAT NV, I can personally recommend the Thule Helium Aero as a premium hanging-style hitch rack. It's the one I have, and I sold many of them to happy customers who came back to tell me how glad they were that I helped them with thier purchase.

I get no commision from Thule and no longer work for REI.

I put my touring bike on the bus every so often and it has fenders and front rack and mounts to something similar. However like Urbanescapee I wouldn't go with the tray style. I would probably go with a Yakima Ridgeback.

I will say I am always nervous about putting the clamp under or over the fender but it has never broken or had any problems aside from need minor adjustment from time to time (mostly after installing a front rack)

I've always used Saris. Made in the U.S.A. The warranty squad is awesome and they often will talk you through workarounds or assist you with questions and changes you may need. I've sold them for years, my customers never come back...because they are still using them later as well. They have multiple levels and types as well. Just another option to consider.

I was able to test the Kuat Sherpa with one of my touring bikes (which has the largest front rack), and it fit fine, so I'm ordering that from REI (20% off time!!).

I want to go with the tray style of rack, since not all my bikes have a normal top tube -- I have a recumbent, and a Bike Friday, among other things.

I can think of 5 bike racks that I've had over the years, but I believe that the best one is the one that I use now, and have used for the last 4 years. It's from ATOC, and it's called a Draftmaster. Doesn't matter the size of bike-even if its a trike, it can be hauled on it. I currently haul 3 or 4 "regular" bikes and a tandem on the same rack. It's only awesome! And its easy to use too.

If you use one that the bike hangs from, after you put the rubber band thingys on to hold the bike to the rack, put a velco strap over one of the rubber bands to make sure the bike stays on the rack.

Several years ago, I am driving down the freeway in a rural area with little traffic. I notice on the other side of the road a car stopped on the side, then a few hundred feet behind it some one is jogging away from the car, then maybe a couple hundred yards further down the road I see a bike sitting in the middle of the road. About a half mile later I see a couple semi trucks moving down the road towards the bike at freeway speed. I have no idea what happened after that.

Then a few years later, I am ridding in a friends Jeep, we are on the way to start a bike trip, our bikes are hanging on his rack behind. I look in the mirror and my bike is suddenly swinging back and forth instead of staying rock steady on the rack - we stop and one of the rubber band thingys came disconnected or broke.

Ever since then, even if I am only going a couple miles I always put a velcro strap over one of the rubber band thingys.