hitch vs rack

Hope you guys can give me some recommendation. Are hitch better than bike racks? Looking for truck accessories to transport my bike. I've been eyeing Yakima and Thule but I'm open for other options.

Recon Racks, One Up Racks, NS Racks

<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;">In that order if I was looking for a new one  I think there's someone in AB making racks, True North or something  </span>

<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;">/thread </span>

Kuat is worth a look, too. What kind of truck? That matters. And how much you plan to transport bikes on it.

Having owned a Kuat, and currently using a OneUp and a NS Rack, I would stay away from the Kuat.  In my experience it wasnt nearly as well built as the OneUp.  Within one season it developed significant play in the arms that lock down the wheels, and generally felt 'loose' the entire time we had it.  The OneUp is a far superior product in my opinion.

Just put the Oneup on the Subie.
Have to say it is a well made rack.
Makes the Thule and Yakima platters look so cheap and rickety.

Mines 8 years old and still looks new

The Albertan rack.

I've had my NSR4 on for over eight years. Now in the process of giving it a facelift with some sandblaster love and fresh paint.

Isn't the MSRP on a Kuat 4 bike tray in the same ballpark as NSR, OneUp, Recon and TNR?

I hadnt seen the page for TNR racks before. Looks like a similar idea to Recon/Arbutus racks supporting the bike by the front tire. It seems TNR racks offers the 4 bike rack with a 1.25" hitch, which seems like a bad idea to me.
The NSR seems to be the bargain entry at $600US for 4 bikes. The Recon is ~$775US and the Kuat is over $1000US. The TNR lists at $999 but Im not sure if that is CAD or US.

I have had my NSR for ~10 years, and its starting to show a bit of wear. Where are you getting yours sandblasted? It would be on my list of things to do in the off season.

I'm doing it myself.  Did my bumper the other day which was almost the biggest size I was able to fit into the sandblasting cabinet.  Looking at ordering a Sandblaster off Harbor Freight to do some larger parts now. Haha

Posted by: shoreboy

Having owned a Kuat, and currently using a OneUp and a NS Rack, I would stay away from the Kuat.  In my experience it wasnt nearly as well built as the OneUp.  Within one season it developed significant play in the arms that lock down the wheels, and generally felt 'loose' the entire time we had it.  The OneUp is a far superior product in my opinion.

I ran the original NV for a few years and while it developed a bit of play, I wasn't disappointed overall with the build quality and never worried about the hold it had on the bikes. I now have the new version, though, and it is certainly better. I'll be writing it up in a little while. For me, the OneUp is sturdy, but ugly (some people care about that, some don't) and doesn't have some of the functional advantages of the Kuat. NS racks are their own kettle of fish. Arrangement of bikes, ease of use, looks - lots of factors. I think NS racks look terrible on the back of some vehicle, but every style of rack has its trade-offs.

The 1Up are geared more for stealth than for having 75% of a giant holy cross shoved up your cars butt.. and now they have a black ano one out now.

My friend has had a kuat for as long as I've had the 1Up and the thing has rusted out a few times, issues with the plastic straps and has some big play. Besides those features, I'm not sure what else is different...

Ill take function over fashion anyday when it comes to racks. The function of the Kuat was severely lacking for me when I tried the first generation. Ill agree with ReductiMat with the Kuat being a monstrosity on the back of a vehicle. Id be interested to hear what the functional advantages are that you see on the Kuat over the 1Up.

A lot of people seem to like those Recon Racks but god those things are ugly (especially since they don't fold down when not in use). They would be fine if you have some sort of vehicle primarily dedicated to recreational use (like a truck or rugged SUV that you mostly use for mountain biking), but they don't look too practical for someone to put on the back of their daily driver.

Posted by: ReductiMat

The 1Up are geared more for stealth than for having 75% of a giant holy cross shoved up your cars butt.. and now they have a black ano one out now.

My friend has had a kuat for as long as I've had the 1Up and the thing has rusted out a few times, issues with the plastic straps and has some big play. Besides those features, I'm not sure what else is different...

Only used mine 4 times. Does the track wear out when sliding the knobs back and forth? Its hard to not make contact with the aluminum toothed track when moving them.

Besides that the 1up rack is as Ferris Bueller said " So Choice".