Kuat Piston Pro X LED Dual Ratchet Hitch Rack, 2"

I would like to say that I purchased this for a road trip from Indiana to West Virginia so road traveled! I had 2 bikes on this a Aipas M1 that weighed 79lbs and a lighter bike 55lb. No issue with the weight. I had the Aipas closer to the tailgate. It is pricey rack for sure. I like the construction of the rack and wished the optional tray to load heavier bikes would be included with the rack. It was easy to assemble and easy to lock down my bikes. I like the magnet attachments on the cable to connect to my 4 pin on my truck. the only downside that I have is on my trucks 4 pin cover spring loaded and presses on the cable and pinches. no fault of the trailer but I use velcro to hold it open to relieve the tension.

I rarely take the time to write reviews but this bike rack is the best money I have spent since I can remember. Despite the fact that the Kuat Piston Pro X costs nearly $1400, it is worth the investment in my opinion. As I usually do (drives my wife crazy) I researched bike racks to an almost unhealthy extent. My reasoning was that I wanted something that would protect/haul our nearly $15k eMTBs. When you are attempting to transport your precious bikes around, you want something that is sturdy most of all, and anything else is really a bonus. Not only is this thing rock solid and aesthetically pleasing, but an absolute breeze to use. There is no part of the bike rack that touches the bike itself. So, you don't have to worry about straps or rubber bits on mounting arms (like the NV 2.0) that scratch your bike and/or rims. The roads where I live aren't in the best condition. Our eMTBs are @ 50lbs ea. and I am 100% confident that our bikes are safe while driving on our severely unmaintained, rough roads. The best part is how easy it is to load and unload our bikes. I am used to throwing a blanket or two over my tailgate and transporting bikes like that for years but lifting those heavy bikes over the side of my lifted F250 just isn't fun at all. Since I purchased the Kuat bike rack, I never thought to myself "I'd love to go riding but it's such a hassle to transport them". That thought process actually used to deter me from going on occasion. I just love this bike rack and my wife is sick of hearing about it, haha.

The specs say this rack can hold bikes up to a 53" wheelbase, but that's NOT bikes with fenders. For a bike with fenders, the max wheelbase is 45". You only find that out when you order the extra fender strap kit, and then only if you read the fine print. READ THE FINE PRINT. Our $6000 Specialized Como 5.0 IGL Medium has a wheelbase of 48". We put it on the rack, and it fell off as we were on an on-ramp to a freeway, and the bike was dragging on the ground until we could safely pull over to the margin. Our fault. Except the manufacturer should have written clear instructions on exactly what to do for bikes with fenders. We found a video showing how to mount a bike with fenders, but that video (not by Kuat) did not give enough detail to warn us that something bad could happen if you don't do everything exactly right. The most important missing instruction? When you press the release that allows the arms to swing wide, you MUST push the released bar back enough to hear a tiny click... or your bike will fall off. This is not an issue when there are no fenders. But when fenders are involved, the fit can appear to be tight on the fender side, but it won't hold until you hear that necessary click! Otherwise, a terrific bike rack.EDIT: after complaining to Kuat, they REFUNDED the FULL cost of our bike repair. Wow! This is exemplary customer service. We ended up having a metalworker cut off the tail end of the fender, so that bike can now be loaded onto the Kuat rack without any of the hassle of having fenders. We recommend anyone having a fendered bike consider doing that, because when you don't have to worry about fenders, the bike rack works flawlessly.

The tail lights only light up and don't light up brighter when braking could be a connection problem and maybe my terminal connectors are dirty. (Uncertainty)The machining quality of the product is impressive and I enhoy it. The latching mechanism and the ratcheting mechanism for tightening the bike down is so cool. I bought this rack for the convenience of no straps and easy of use. It is both and works. I had to buy a drop hitch to lower the unit four inches in order to have the tail gate access. Also unsure if it will clear the bikes when the tilt mechanism is applied for accessing the tailgate. Other than that very beautiful made and great quality so far no complaints, great product

The best bike rack I have ever tried. Easy to assemble. The bike mounting mechanism is fast, doesn't require any tool and keeps expensive bikes nicely into the position.

Unaware of any better bike rack out there at this time; this is simply the best! I feel better knowing the Piston Pro X comes with rear lights alerting drivers behind you to be more mindful and keep an additional buffer to possibly avoid tapping into your rack by accident. This quality set comes with a nice sturdy cable and lock to secure your bike(s) to the rack. It was also easy to install. When up to 2 bikes are secured, it is easy to tilt the rack down to prepare for opening/closing your rear hatch door. While it is more expensive than other bike racks out there, if you are looking for the best available, this is it.

Bought this after stalling too long on a 1up rack and finding myself needing something with a quicker ship time. So far I am extremely pleased with the package and highly recommend it if you can justify the cost/feature ratio.Good1. Extremely easy to mount and remove bikes.2. Can handle road, mountain and electric bikes3. Absolutely rock solid and silent with no shaking4. Integrated break lights are a nice safety feature5. Lock is easy and much higher quality than other integrated locksBad1. There is a very ugly white stenciled logo on the rack that is not present in the promotional pictures or advertising. I'm hoping to figure out how to scrap this thing off. This one offends me since it is explicitly different than what is being shown in the product description and reviews.2. My license plate is obscured when the rack is folded and there is no mounting option on the rack. Technically I'm not sure it's legal for me to even have this on my vehicle in its current configuration.3. This thing is large and heavy and not a great choice if you want to just have it mounted a few day a week. 4. The tow harness that enables the great break/reverse light feature is awkward to plug in or remove and has a dangling cored that is hard to get placed right. This makes removal and replacement even worse than one would expect with a large rack.

I would say they are pretty deceptive around the wiring of the add-on. I don't know if its the base model or the add-on thats the "problem" but the base model has a wired, male-type connector while the add-on has a flat, magnetic connector so they can't connect, its not even the same interface. I opened a ticket with them but ended up finding what the problem was first, from a YouTube video comment from 2 years ago, and I had to point that out before they acknowledged it. That they are still shipping base model/add-ons that don't connect at this price point is insane. The magnetic connector is not mentioned in the video kuats official channel posted 6 months ago which seems deceptive to me, if the add-on could have a magnetic interface, why isn't it mentioned?

Nous sommes très heureux de cet achat. Nous y transportons deux vélos électriques de marque Velec et avons rapidement constaté la robustesse et la qualité de fabrication du porte-vélos. À la suite d’une demande de notre part pour une pièce supplémentaire, l’entreprise nous l’a expédiée avec professionnalisme et efficacité, sans le moindre délai. Un excellent service à la clientèle!

Parfait pour mes vélos électriques. J’ai ajouté le rail et c’est parfait pour embarquer les vélos sans forcer. Beau look avec éclairage.

I was disappointed it didn't come with ratchet tire straps.