Rack Me: A Decision Has Been Made

My first car rack. A Thule T2. Circa 2007

The decision on which car rack to purchase has been made. First off, I want to thank each and every reader here who took the time to post in the comments and share their rack thoughts. Many of you went to great lengths and  detail in those comments and all of those comments were dear to me. 

It was immediately apparent in those comments that you all had very passionate feelings about your car racks. There was some advice, but mainly a sharing of those feelings and experiences. I learned a lot and went back and looked at a few things after reading some of your feedback. 

Let me also say that I don't think there would have been any "wrong" decision to be made between the One Up, Saris, or the Kuat racks. It seemed apparent that there were enough positive experiences to recommend any of those brands. However; it did come down to a few important details, to me at any rate, and I made a decision.

I decided on a Kuat Piston Pro.

Now, based upon a few comments, and on some outside research, here is what made me go in this direction, just for the record:

• There were some customer service concerns from some of you regarding One Up.
• There were some wear related concerns with One Up racks, which wouldn't have been too big a deal, except none of the other choices did not seem to bring up any wear related concerns at all. 
• Saris isn't well represented here in my area, and their design (of the rack I was most interested in) lacked ground clearance when going up driveway inclines, and the like. It was mostly the ground clearance issue which finally made me look at Kuat instead. 
• Kuat seemed to get high recommendations in terms of customer service.  

Kuat Piston Pro

While the Piston Pro model was a bit more than I was wanting to spend, it has features which I found to be attractive, and its ease of use seems to be at least on par with One Up and maybe even better. 

And let's be honest, while One Up did their design which caught on and was/is successful, now every rack manufacturer has a version of this design out. Some have improved on this design, and I think Kuat has made some advancements which make using their version of this design a little more user friendly. 

Plus, the shopping experience online was much easier and more pleasant in the case of Kuat, which helped me navigate my options. One Up's site - at least for me - was not fun to get through to a point where I understood what I needed with regard to options to satisfy me. That and the price was no better, apples to apples, with Kuat. 

One more thing: I don't have any chance to see a One Up rack locally, but my friend N.Y. Roll has a Kuat rack, so this was influential, I will admit. 

Okay, that's it, really. Now for the actual rack to appear and then I'll get into my thoughts and impressions of it. Again - thank you all  that commented in the previous "Rack Me" posts. You did make a difference. 

"Rack Me" - A Follow-Up

Kuat Piston Pro (Image courtesy of Kuat)

Last weekend in my running series, "Two Things", I asked about hitch racks for an upcoming trip, and occasional usage afterward, and you readers sure came through with answers!

And I am getting really tired of watching reviews on car racks! My goodness! Some people should not be on camera. But I slogged through several of them, considered the advise I received on the comments from the post over the weekend, and I have arrived at some thoughts so far.

It's coming down to a few things which I think are important, and a few things I just have opinions about which are maybe no big deal to some of you readers here. 

First, I am getting away from as much plastic bits as I can. This maybe isn't a big deal, but plastic generally doesn't hold up great and well.....I just don't want it on my rack. This steered me away from more traditional rack brands like Thule, Yakima, and some of the Saris stuff out there. 

Secondly, I think the One-Up style rack is superior, and every good rack company has their take on this iconic design out now. In my opinion, One-Up's more "ala carte" way of selling isn't really easy to navigate, for me at any rate. I do appreciate their videos on the site explaining every detail of their product line. But other companies have caught up and have easier ways to understand buying their product than One-Up does. Again....my opinion. 

Saris MK2 (Image courtesy of Saris)

My price point is a little shy of what I see for features and what is available. Sheesh! These things are spendy! So, it is important to me that this rack lasts a while, is supported by a company with good customer service, and that will be around a while. I know there are no guarantees for any of those wishes, but this eliminated a couple of companies which are either too new or not well known. 

Details matter. There were a few things I hadn't thought about going in. Things like bike placement on the rack, ground clearance, and locks. I used to own a Thule T2 Pro, and it had a few things I would have missed had I not been reminded I liked those thing. Locks being one of those. 

Where I Am At With This So Far:

Okay, so what is tripping my trigger so far? Well, right now I am really leaning toward a Kuat Piston Pro. The reason why mainly has to do with a few things. One- It is easy to use. This really comes down to being functional for Mrs. Guitar Ted. If she can get along with how it works, and I feel this model from Kuat is super-easy to use, than that is a passing grade from me. 

One Up rack (Image courtesy of One Up)

Ease of use also kind of goes along with function. I like how the Kuat functions versus something like One Up. And again, while a One Up can be configured to match a Kuat pretty closely, there are so many extras you have to buy to get there with One Up it becomes a hassle and ends up being more expensive. That's my take on it. The shopping experience online is just more streamlined with Kuat. 

Saris is close, but lacks the ground clearance and has more plastic bits than I would like to see. So while their modular system is cool, it isn't what I need or would ever use, and so I'm out on this company. 

That's where I am at so far. If I get any other advice or see something which sways my opinion, I'll let y'all know, but for now the Kuat Piston Pro is looking like a front runner. 

Stay tuned.