MapNerd
RVF 1K Club
- Joined
- Nov 17, 2019
- Messages
- 2,298
- Location
- Prince William, VA
- RV Year
- 2020
- RV Make
- Newmar
- RV Model
- Ventana 4326
- RV Length
- 43
- TOW/TOAD
- 2020 Ford F-150
- Fulltimer
- Yes
About about 2 weeks ago, we had an unfortunate incident with our Kuat NV2.0 bike rack.
I was taking the kids out to do some light trail riding and had my daughter’s, son’s and my bike strapped in, ratcheted down and secured to the bike rack.
About 20 minutes into the drive, we suddenly head a lot of honking but didn’t see any reason for it as the roads were very clear (note to future self, if you hear lots of honking and don’t see a reason for it, they’re probably honking at you). At the next light, a motorist pulled up along side us and motioned for me to roll down my window which I did. She then told me we were dragging a bike.
I jumped out, ran to the back and quickly tossed what was left of the mangled bike back onto the rack and ran back to the driver’s seat and carefully pulled the truck off the highway and onto a residential side street, where I parked and got out to assess the damage.
It wasn’t good and at this point, my daughter had also gotten out and walked to the back to see her little 20” mountain bike with a bent front wheel and snapped handlebar, only being held to the bike rack by its rear tire strap while the front wheel was completely out of the cradle and with the front securing arm dropped.
The bike was a total loss. My daughter was a little distraught but not because of the bike, but because she assumed we’d leave her in the truck while my son and I rode trails without her. WHAT?!?!
I removed the bike, tossed it in the back of the truck, double checked the security of the others and then we drove over to a nearby Academy Sports & Outdoors store and bought a a new 20” girls MTB. We tossed the old bike in the store dumpster and put the new bike in the back of the truck since we didn’t know if there was something wrong with the securing arm of the bike rack, then went on our way and had a blast.
The next day, I took a look at the bike rack and tried to assess what could have happened. Everything seemed to be in working condition, other than the couple of parts with fresh damage that had clearly been caused by dragging a bike. The only conclusion I could reach was that the rear ratchet strap, which was no longer in its t-channel had somehow gotten out, allowing for too much movement in the bike and allowing the forward arm to be pushed out of the way.
I went to Kuat’s website and filled out a warranty form, provided a couple of pictures and told them what happened. I didn’t have any pictures of the damaged bike as it never occurred to me that the bike itself might be covered.
No problem said Kuat. They asked for the receipt for the new bike which I provided and they then sent me a check for the cost of the new bike, and shipped replacement parts for everything that was damaged.
They also advised that the forward securing arm needs to be as close to nadir on the tire as possible to prevent that from happening, which after reviewing their instructions do state.
Nevertheless, even though I might have improperly secured the bike, Kuat stepped up and replaced all damaged parts, and paid for the cost of the new bike.
Life is 10% what happens and 90% what you do about it. I am happy with what Kuat did about it and thought folks should know, their warranty is legit. It not only covers your rack, it covers your bike too!
I was taking the kids out to do some light trail riding and had my daughter’s, son’s and my bike strapped in, ratcheted down and secured to the bike rack.
About 20 minutes into the drive, we suddenly head a lot of honking but didn’t see any reason for it as the roads were very clear (note to future self, if you hear lots of honking and don’t see a reason for it, they’re probably honking at you). At the next light, a motorist pulled up along side us and motioned for me to roll down my window which I did. She then told me we were dragging a bike.
I jumped out, ran to the back and quickly tossed what was left of the mangled bike back onto the rack and ran back to the driver’s seat and carefully pulled the truck off the highway and onto a residential side street, where I parked and got out to assess the damage.
It wasn’t good and at this point, my daughter had also gotten out and walked to the back to see her little 20” mountain bike with a bent front wheel and snapped handlebar, only being held to the bike rack by its rear tire strap while the front wheel was completely out of the cradle and with the front securing arm dropped.
The bike was a total loss. My daughter was a little distraught but not because of the bike, but because she assumed we’d leave her in the truck while my son and I rode trails without her. WHAT?!?!
I removed the bike, tossed it in the back of the truck, double checked the security of the others and then we drove over to a nearby Academy Sports & Outdoors store and bought a a new 20” girls MTB. We tossed the old bike in the store dumpster and put the new bike in the back of the truck since we didn’t know if there was something wrong with the securing arm of the bike rack, then went on our way and had a blast.
The next day, I took a look at the bike rack and tried to assess what could have happened. Everything seemed to be in working condition, other than the couple of parts with fresh damage that had clearly been caused by dragging a bike. The only conclusion I could reach was that the rear ratchet strap, which was no longer in its t-channel had somehow gotten out, allowing for too much movement in the bike and allowing the forward arm to be pushed out of the way.
I went to Kuat’s website and filled out a warranty form, provided a couple of pictures and told them what happened. I didn’t have any pictures of the damaged bike as it never occurred to me that the bike itself might be covered.
No problem said Kuat. They asked for the receipt for the new bike which I provided and they then sent me a check for the cost of the new bike, and shipped replacement parts for everything that was damaged.
They also advised that the forward securing arm needs to be as close to nadir on the tire as possible to prevent that from happening, which after reviewing their instructions do state.
Nevertheless, even though I might have improperly secured the bike, Kuat stepped up and replaced all damaged parts, and paid for the cost of the new bike.
Life is 10% what happens and 90% what you do about it. I am happy with what Kuat did about it and thought folks should know, their warranty is legit. It not only covers your rack, it covers your bike too!
