TeamTOG: Lionheart AR Recap 2014

Team TOG - 2014 Lionheart AR Recap

American Adventure Sports recently hosted their annual 24-hour Lionheart adventure race on Saturday August 16^th. We have each competed in this race in previous years and every year Doug Critzer (race director) and his crew comes up with new ways to challenge racers and run an exciting course.

The night before the race was team check-in. We received the maps as usual but when we went over to the master map to transpose the CPs we knew that the 9 listed on the map was not the whole race. It was a very straightforward and fast course beginning at the Sugar Loaf sledding hill and a run to the paddle put-in at Confluence, PA with 3 CPs on the way. After the paddle there were three more CPs before returning to the Sugar loaf sledding hill for a transition and the second half of the race. What we didn’t know was where/when the bike/orienteering section(s) were going to be.

Saturday 8:00am

All the racers took off as one bunch up a fairly wide trail to the first CP, which was only about 1km south of the start but required some bush whacking down a stream reentrant that quickly thinned out the crowd. Team AAS made it to CP1 first but we quickly followed with teams GOALS ARA and Odyssey. We jumped onto a dirt road along side team Odyssey that would lead us to a trail taking us to CP2 which was a beautiful 1200ft high lookout overlooking the Youghiogheny river. From here we were able to link up with a pipeline and fire tower access road down the mountain to the riverside for the 3^rd CP (about 10km). This left a fast 3km push up the river trail to the boat put-in. We arrived only about 5 min behind GOALS and AAS so we knew we needed a fast transition (about 2 minutes and we were on the water).

Paddle: 10:06am (16km / 10 miles)

This was a 16km paddle with one CP on an island about half way through. We decided to have Matt and Nick in the two-person boat and Amber in the single being towed behind. We could see teams AAS and GOALS ahead of us. We met up with both GOALS and AAS at the island CP but they were back on the water a few minutes ahead of us. The river was still a little low considering the controlled dam release, which caused all the teams to battle some rocks. During one of the faster water portions of the river we had to serpentine around some rocks to avoid getting stuck but Amber’s boat spun sideways and flipped her into the water. Luckily it wasn’t in dangerous part and she popped right back up.  It took a few minutes to gather up her paddle and get her back in to boat.

Out of the Water: 1:00pm

From the boat take-out we stacked two boats and carried the equipment to White Water Adventures, about 0.5 km away. From there we had specific trail directions on how to run to the next CP with a surprise waiting. Once we got there (about 30 min behind AAS and 10 minutes behind GOALS) we saw a slack-line stretched across a creek bed leading to a rappel over cucumber falls. This was a real highlight of this race! Although it was a lot of fun we had to keep moving to the next CP, which was about 3km up a nearby stream with another waterfall view where we ran into GOALS while having some trouble finding the CP. After a little searching we figured we needed to keep moving down the trail and found the CP.

We decided that the fastest way to the next CP (located a the start/finish) was to cross the stream on top of the waterfall and bushwhack 0.2km up hill to a trail that would lead us CP/bike transition.

 Second Half / Bike Orienteering: 3:56pm

Once we got back to the starting line we were instructed to plot an additional 8 points that were worth a total of 21 points and could be completed in any order (Rogaine). We hurried to plot the points, plan a route, and get our packs ready. We knew we had plenty of time to clear the course but there were a few different options how to attack the points. We decided to attack 3 points that were closer and required a bushwhack down a long draw to the base of some cliffs but would put us on a rails-to-trails path that would allow us to move fast to the next set of CPs. We had a miss-cue on the 3^rd point at the bottom of the draw that kept us looking around in the woods longer than expected.

Once we got down off the draw we jumped on the rails-to-trails path for a 20km ride to next group of CPs. We hit these points without a hitch attacking each from the rail-trail. We decided the fasted route back to the last set of three CPs was to back track past where came from but since it was dark we would be able to move much faster on the gravel and hard-top roads this route featured.

The last three points were on a fast loop that we figured would be the easiest to find at night. The loop allowed us to travel on gravel roads except for a small bushwhack section to cut over to another road. During the bushwhack we were welcomed by a trail that wasn’t on the map that minimized the bushwhacking but took a longer way around to the last CP. Once we punched the last CP we jump on the bikes and pushed up to the finish where we finished just 20 minutes behind GOALS. We ended up with a 4^th place finish behind AAS, Odyssey, and GOALS.

Finish: 5:06am (Total Time: 21hrs 6min)

GOALS KG Memorial Race Recap: Team TOG

GOALS Krista Greisacker Memorial Adventure Race is a 12 hour adventure race held in the Appalachian mountains of Pennsylvania. This year the race featured a linear course spanning from the town of Tamaqua to Kempton PA with a true single-track mountain bike course, two bushwhacking intensive orienteering courses, and a canoe leg in between. The course was fairly straight forward point to point navigation with some adventures thrown in between.

The race began with a prolog where racers had to run 100yard to a parking lot and find their bikes with one teammate racing on foot to the first CP. We came out of the prolog in third and raced to the beginning of the mountain bike course. The section was an intensive 10 miles of single-track designed specifically for some fun mountain biking and favored the more experienced riders. During this bike course we stopped to help another race team fix a broken rear derailer which turned out to be unsuccessful. We came out the single-track course a little behind but pushed fast toward the orienteering courses about 10 miles away getting two CPs along the way.

The foot orienteering course was split into two sections that began at the bottom of a ravine with each section requiring a 400 - 500ft steep climb to begin. We chose to start with the "A" course which was more spread out. The O-Course required intense navigation and a lot of bushwhacking. We cleared the A course but only had time to take one CP from the "B" course before riding down to canoe put-in.

The canoe section was not the fast paddle the racers were hoping for. The water levels were quite low and required almost as mush time out of the canoe pushing as time paddling in the canoe. After some time on the water the takeout came as welcome relief.

The last section of the course required racers to navigate their way to the base of the north side of Hawk Mountain where we punched another CP and one out of three optional points due to time lost on the water. From there we had to bushwacker a fairly linear line up over 800 feet in elevation to the ridge line punching one CP along the way and one at the top (Dan's Pulpit on the Appalachian Trail). The route down the south side of the ridge line took a lot rock jumping and good navigation to meet up with an old Jeep trail that ran through the final two mandatory CPs. Once the final CP was checked we had to hustle about three miles to finish where we placed 2nd in the 3-person coed division.

Thanks to GOALS ARA for a great job incorporating some great riding, orienteering, and sights into this race.

GOALS Cradle of Liberty Race Report

GOALS Cradle of Liberty

Great race. We could have easily had 5 more CPs (1 due to communication error). We moved efficiently for the first 17 hours with really no mistakes. The last 3 of those 17 really hurt us though for the next 4. Earl and I were falling asleep, we made a few errors, lost focus on the race, and caught a bit of bad luck. We ended up recovering and finished the race smart.

Earl was nursing an injury but was still able to move effectively except riding on rocky ST trails. I think the course might have even been clearable (5 more CPs, 10 total) if Earl was fully healthy and we didn't have that low point.

PICTURE ALBUM 

Abby and Brent did a great job and put on a great race. Organization and communication was spot on. They also do an excellent job of taking you to the right spots on the course and requiring a fair amount of navigation (some might say too much). The night trek was a bit much for beginner teams.

Saturday Jun 28

8 AM

Orienteering 20:00 3 mi

Prologue - Team O-Relay

Each of us had about a 1 mile run to a CP, a waterfall, and back. Kristin nailed her section! (by taking the first leg and following Jason from GOALS)

Paddling (Canoe 3p) 4:00:00 16.4 mi (4.1 mph)

Swataraaaaaa (Ninja) Creek

Started out for the first 2 miles having to get in and out of the boat to push, portage and walk down the creek. After that it was mostly clear enough to paddle the entire way.

There were 8 CPs total. Earl did the Nav for this. We slightly overshot 1 CP and overshot another along with the rest of the leaders. We finished the paddle within minutes (+ and -) of the rest of the leaders.

12 PM

Mountain Biking race 2:30:00 [4] 18.3 mi (7.3 mph) +1225ft

Mostly rail trail and road with a 4 mile singletrack section. We collected several points along the way. One was a random cabin with a bonus clue and CP that Brian had forgotten about. We missed out on this due to this communication error. The singletrack was fun except for when Brian took a spill. Brian was lead nav.

3 PM

Orienteering 3:00:00 8.23 mi (21:52 / mi) +1452ft 18:44 / mi

Excellent orienteering course. Only one minor mix up at the top of the ridge. Checked one direction, then turned around and went back the other, then finally turned around again and went a little further the other way to find the control. The trail we had planned to take up the ridge wasn't there but the woods were clear enough to shwack just as fast.

This loop had some excellent locations. We came across several freshwater springs to cool us off and refill with fresh, clean and cold water. Next up was a 100yd boulder field. Immediately followed up with a random 70ft high, 100yd long ravine. Great CP locations! Awesome Trek!

Both Brian and Earl were nav since we had two maps!

6 PM

Mountain Biking 1:30:00 11.0 mi (7.3 mph) +1114ft

Left Lebanon doing a hike-a-bike. Followed that up with a short rail trail ride, a major climb and major descent (80kph) into Tower City. Stopped for a quick slice of pizza and filled our water before heading to the TA where our bins were waiting.

7 PM

Orienteering 6:00:00 10.65 mi (33:48 / mi) +1387ft 30:05 / mi

This was by far the hardest leg of the race. Off trail travel at night always is. We started the trek thinking we could still clear the course if everything went as planned so we weren't ready to drop points yet.

We were able to get the first two points in daylight and the third as the sun set. These points were pretty straightforward and allowed some traveling on roads. We were still good on time. After the 4th CP we started a 5 mile shwack through knee to chest high blueberry bushes. We had two 1/2 mile trail breaks. Otherwise both Earl’s and Brian’s eyes were glued to the compass to stick to our bearings. Only stopped looking for 5 minutes when we did a small loop back to a road crossing. We then re attacked from a different spot on the road.

This trek was very draining mentally and physically but we really did nail it. Still took 2 hours longer than we were hoping for (2 hours for the first 3 CPs and 4 hours for the last 4). Brian had mapped a few extra roads from a FS map without contours that we never found that would have helped. Aerial seems to say some of them existed and that we could have used them if he had known exactly where they were.

Sunday Jun 29

1 AM

Mountain Biking 6:30:00 26.0 mi (4.0 mph) +2789ft

Decided to drop one big cluster of CPs on this bike leg and 2 more scattered CPs. As we started Earl had to give me back the map since he was falling asleep. Brian wasn't doing much better as he rode right by Kristin without noticing she had stopped at the trailhead of our next turn.

Shortly after that we ended up on a super rocky singletrack. Earl wasn't able to ride because his shoulder was still sore from his crash 2 weeks ago so we walked the mile long technical rocky trail. Would have been faster to take the long way around on doubletrack and we would have gotten another CP. There was really no way we could have known the trail condition though.

Had trouble on the next CP. It was in a steep reentrant. We had to go in and out of the reentrant to find it. Missed it on the way down. Then checked to make sure we had the right reentrant. Then found the CP on the way back up. Kristin was really the one powering us through this rough spot.

It got much more straightfoward after that. Followed doubletracks along long high ridges to capture more CPs. Skipped another because time was running short. Dropped down the ridge and then monster climb back up the next one to TA.

8 AM

Orienteering 20:00 0.5 mi (39:59 / mi)

Box Car Rocks

https://www.google.com/search?q=box+car+rocks&espv=2&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=O3e0U_X5IsTKsQTLsYHwAg&ved=0CCQQsAQ&biw=1920&bih=965

"Orienteering" section without maps. Just pictures and directions. This was a good way to force us to spend some time here and enjoy the feature without being cheesy. Awesome scenery. A nice little break too. Maybe too much of one.

Orienteering 45:00 2.5 mi (18:00 / mi) +389ft 15:41 / mi

Went to collect a few close CPs before leaving to make the finish cutoff. Got 2CPs quickly then headed for another 2 with hopes of getting at least one. As we approached the pond Brian encountered 2 rattlesnakes that surprised him one at a time at the last second running across some rocks. The second one was the only one who hissed and rattled. He was maybe a 100yds away from the pond but still not sure where the point would be and we were running low on our self-imposed cutoff so we took that as a sign to turn around.

9 AM

Mountain Biking 25:00 6.0 mi (14.4 mph) +420ft

Bike to the finish on roads. We left right at our self-imposed cutoff. 2 descents and 1 climb. Climb was about half the size that Brian thought it was (didn't look close enough) so we made it to the finish with 20 minutes to spare. We didn't think we'd be able to make it in under 30, but we did.

Odyssey Wild Wonderful Race Report 2014

Saturday May 17

Event: Odyssey Wild, Wonderful 24 Hour AR

Writer: Bryan Mayer & Kristin Eddy 

The team had a strong race. We moved fast and in the right direction almost the entire time. Urgency suffered a bit since GOALS was no longer elite and Odyssey had to go unofficial early on in the race (Mark punctured his calf with a stick). Probably would have been better if GOALS hadn't told us. We still moved fast but stopped for pictures and maintenance a little more than usual. We had a great time though and saw some great scenery. 

Brian: We executed everything well and worked well as a team. I made one wrong choice in route decision but lost minimal time. Also had trouble finding one tough CP in the dark and misplotted another. We triple checked the one that I thought was misplotted and still didn’t realize my mistake. Luckily it was the closest point to the TA/finish so we were able to re-attack at the end without wasting too much time. If this had been in the middle of the course we would have been in more trouble. 

Kristin: Next time I will ask you if you are 110% sure (not just 100% : ) makes me laugh just thinking about it.

Brian: Ronny put together a great MTBO on the new Fayetteville MTB singletrack trails (Arrowhead) and we had a pretty epic trek back to ACE HQ from there. Lots of tough Nav. 

Kristin: The arrowhead trails/mtb section was one of my favorite parts of the race - always sweet to have great singletrack rolled into the race WITH challenging nav (which, by the way, you'd never know was challenging the way that Brian navs it: fast paced & nailed each point)

RECAP: Black (Brian) Blue (Kristin) 

8 AM

Paddle was cancelled. River peaked at over 16ft exactly at race start. This was the 22nd highest peak recorded. 0 is standard and 4-6ft is normal for this time of year. The rafting would have been EPIC. The river looked insane. Like a beast. I surely would have peed my pants if we had rafted it (though would have been fun i'm sure) SICK!!!!

Road Running 5:00 0.34 mi

LeMans start to bikes. We literally had to tell Dan to slow down (by the way, I said this to him more than once during the race!!! : ) He was a human rocket...for the entire race!!!

When I got to my bike I found that someone decided to lay it down in some nice poison ivy. Thank you.

Mountain Biking 40:00 4.58 mi +960ft

Climb to Fayetteville from “takeout”

9 AM

Road Running 40:00 4.6 mi

Run through Fayetteville to gather some CPs the lovely rhodo that blooms in the neighborhood between the park & town was in glorious full bloom...it is tri-color and almost as big as the house that it shades - remembered it from previous races, love that beauty.

10 AM

Mountain Biking 1:50:00 11.63 mi

MTBO on Arrowhead trails. Really well designed course section. Adding topo lines to the trail map and making the lines less than a 1/2 in thick iwould make this a professional MTBO. Yes, Ronny did a great job with this - FUN!!!

12 PM

Orienteering 9:00:00 24.2 mi

Long Orienteering section. Started with some points we had to plot around Fayetteville area. Had some amazing views and awesome scenery on this section. Did some of it with GOALS.racing alongside goals & the sweet spots of the controls were definite race highlights - overlooks, waterfalls, cool rock formations - really gorgeous.

On the first half (14-19t) I had to make a few minor recoveries (1-2 min) to each of the points. But no real problems. Still good navigation. (GREAT nav)

The second half was on ACE property. Struggled deciding when to get CP 22. Got it after 20 because I thought it would allow for more trail travel but I think in retrospect it would have been better after 24 (i tried to tell brian this, but he wouldn't listen, can you believe that?). Distance looked just as far but with the way we ended up leaving 24, 22 wouldn't have really been out of the way and would have been on trails. It was a tough call for me though so I don't feel too bad.

On our way to the last few points before we went to TA I started having trouble with the trail map. The labels are aligned E-W. I kept reading it as if they were N-S though so we were going the right way because I was following terrain but every time I looked at the compass I couldn't understand what was wrong. Befuddled me for two points until I realized the cause. Other than the 1 route choice only one 5 min error on the second half. Misread the map right before the attack to 24.

The pace was fast for this entire trek (yes it was...brian & dan kept steady gunnin', even with no sense of pressure...always nice to push simply to do our best - which i think we did!). Running whenever we could. Finished just after civil twilight.

9 PM

MTBO 2:40:00 12.25 mi +1300ft

Gathering the last points around the TA on bike instead of foot. Moved slow on these because it was dark, the trails are slow and everywhere, and we were starting to get tired.

Translated CP30 to the trail map incorrectly onto a parallel spur (the spur had a matching road with a unique shape, trail, and reentrant). When it wasn't there we thought Ronny had misplotted because the clue was off. We double and triple checked and then moved on. Next two points were clean and the trails to them were all good.

27 was difficult. Everyone had trouble with it. The planned attack was through private property. Had to back out and attack from farther away. On my way realized I mistranslated this point as well (just 1 reentrant off) but caught it in time. Had trouble finding the small (actually big but shallow) reentrant in the dark. Spent time looking in an wrong reentract full of briars before we reattacked from the top/private property. Still had to go all the way back to the bikes though. (low point of the race for many folks...lots of stories afterwards about this one!)

Had trouble finding an ACE trail on the way to the last point but got it and then rolled back to TA. When we got back we asked about CP30. Teams had apparently collected it so I checked one more time and noticed my translation error. The road is really what messed me up. Luckily it was only a mile or so away (but 400ft climb) so it was fairly easily attainable.

Orienteering race 1:30:00 2.3 mi

Trekking during MTBO

You are invited to view K mama's photo album: Team American Adventure Sports at Odyssey's Wild Wonderful

Team TOG: Amber Clites

Amber Clites studied Sports Medicine and Athletic Training at Denison University. She obtained her Master's from California University of Pennsylvania in Performance Enhancement and Injury Prevention.  Amber is currently the Head Athletic Trainer for the Pittsburgh Passion.  After graduating college, Amber became involved in running and mountain biking.  In 2011, some friends suggested she participate in an Adventure Race, and she's been hooked ever since. Amber has participated in multiple 24-hr races and completed her first expedition race in 2014.

Team TOG: Lizzie Bronson

Liz studied athletic training at Ithaca College, and currently works as a certified athletic trainer in Pittsburgh, PA.  Although she was a sprinter on Ithaca’s track team, Liz transitioned to longer distances after becoming involved with the Pittsburgh marathon.   Liz was introduced to adventure racing in 2011, when she competed in the American Adventure Sports 24 hour Lionheart (and mountain biked for the first time).  Liz is drawn to the sport because it constantly challenges her to push her physical and mental limits.

Team TOG: Toby Angove

Meet Team AAS/TOG member Toby Angove. Toby is a long time adventure racer and a member of what we like to call the "twin towers" (himself and fellow teammate Bryan Mayer. Toby works at Indiana University of Pennsylvania in the Military Science Department and is a Scout Platoon Leader and 1st Lieutenant in the United States Army.

After a childhood of non-competitive manure-hauling and hay-bale-throwing, his racing career began while at college with marathons and triathlons. In the mid 90s, Adventure Racing presented itself as the next level of challenge – an opportunity to truly test one’s individual limits, character and the strength of team dynamics. Since then, Toby has competed regionally, nationally, and abroad in Sprint, Stage, and Expedition Races as well as work in race production and course design.

Kuat Racks: NV Review

Over the years we’ve looked at several hitch mounted bike racks. We’ve checked out popular offerings from the competitors.  In this review we’re taking a look at a relative new comer to the bike rack market, Küat Innovations (pronounced Koo-at). Küat has included some innovative features into their racks that we think many riders will find helpful, especially adventure racers. Küat offers a variety of bike racks in their lineup. In this review we’ll be taking a look at their tray style NV 2” 2-bike rack (there is also a 1.25” hitch version). Available only for the 2″ version, Küat also offers a 2 bike extension for those looking to carry more bikes with the NV rack.

The Product:

The Küat NV rack connects to the hitch mount on your vehicle. If you do not have a hitch on your vehicle already, you would have to get one installed first to be able to run this style of rack. We are reviewing the 2” version of the NV but they do make a 1.25″ version. The rack features are the same between the 2″ and 1.25″ version, except the 1.25″ version can not be equipped with the extra 2 bike attachment.

History:

Küat launched their first bike rack in 2008. Since then they’ve added more racks to their lineup. Their vision is to create the best racks on the market with strength, style, and the rider in mind. With the NV they wanted to create a platform rack that was easy to use and secure. They also wanted to create a rack that allowed for multi-functional use by including a repair stand into the design. No longer would riders have to pack a repair stand along on each trip and find stable ground. The vehicle is the anchor point which allows for use in just about any terrain scenario.

Features:

• Carries up to 2 bikes (can hold up to 4 with extension). 1.25” version can only hold 2 bikes.

2 bike extension (

• Carrying capacity for the 2” model is two 60lb bikes for 120lbs total. With the extension the 2” model can carry four 40lb bikes for 160lbs total.

• The NV can fit a wide range of bikes (20” to 29” wheel sizes) handling skinny road bikes to large downhill bikes.

• The NV makes minimal bike contact with the bike’s wheels and not the frame.

• Küat integrated a quick release lever in the racks tilting mechanism that allows the rack to be stored upright, down flat for use, and tilted down for rear vehicle access without having to remove any bolts from the rack.

(click to enlarge)

• Küat includes an integrated adjustable repair stand called the Trail Doc.

• The rack comes with built in security cables and locking mechanism.

• The hitch pin comes with a lock and removable sleeve for pin hole size variances.

• Hand tightened cam system locks the rack into the receiver with a wedge (chrome wedge in the above picture) for secure fit.

rubber knob for hand tightening rack into receiver 

• Küat offers a lifetime rack warranty.

Weight:

• 50lbs
  

Dimensions:

NV rack dimensions 

real world bumper clearance on our test vehicle was very good 

Installation and Bike Mounting:

When you receive the NV rack it is in several pieces. Küat includes all the hardware and tools needed to put the rack together. Assembly is very straightforward and is documented clearly in their instruction manual. Some of the key steps are outlined below.

included hex keys 

First you need to lay out the rack on the ground in its assembly orientation.

Then you slide the 10mm bolts through the arm and through the rack center to the other side and attach with a lock nut. Once fully tightened the lock nut is recessed and secured.

recessed lock nut detail 

arm attachment after final assembly 

Once all the bolts are tightened on both arms you need to insert the Trail Doc repair stand. Now you’re finished with assembly and just need to mount it to your vehicle.

The steps you have to perform to install the rack and mount your bikes are as follows:

1. Install the rack into the hitch and secure with hitch bolt and lock.
2. Hand tighten the hitch knob until rack is firmly secured.
3. Use lever to fold the rack down
4. Rotate the arm down and release the rear wheel strap
5. Load your bike into the trays
6. Secure your bike with the arms and wheel straps

Bike Securing:

The NV rack has built in security cables and a hitch pin lock. Küat includes 3 pair of keys (the locking hitch pin and cable lock use different keys) giving you 2 spare sets with a nice bottle opener key chain. The security cables come out of each rear wheel cap and are magnetically secured in place when not in use.

locking hitch pin 

stored security cable end with lock 

stored security cable 

Küat’s method to secure bikes to the rack is simply thread the cables that come out of each rear wheel area through the rear triangle of each bike and attach in the middle with the lock. 

security cable installed 

Adjustability:

The NV rack is highly adjustable allowing for use with 20” wheels all the way up to 29” wheels. To hold 20” and 24” bikes you’ll need to install a wheel adapter that comes with the rack.

wheel adapter for 20" and 24" wheels 

The front wheel tray and arm are contoured to hold road width tires securely as well as mountain bike tires. We tested tires widths up to a Schwalbe Muddy Mary 2.5 (which has a very wide width that is comparable to a 2.7″ Maxxis tire) and they all fit fine.

Schwalbe Muddy Mary 2.5 tire 

The front wheel arm rotates into place and ratchets down to the secure it in place. The ratchet detents on the NV are much smaller than other racks we’ve tested. This allows you secure the front wheel locking arm without having to push as hard to get the final click.

The rear wheel security strap can slide along the full length of the tray. This allows for easy securing of long and short bikes alike. We tested up to a bike with a 47” wheelbase and there was plenty of room to spare. The wheel strap snugs up by hand tension alone. Some competing racks have integrated a ratcheting system to enable the system to tighten the wheel tighter but this simple design has worked well enough in the field for us.

the clearance between the arm and rear chainstay is very wide (click to enlarge)

plenty of room between bikes 

If you do want to remove a tray to lighten your load and carry only one bike, removal is easy. Just simply loosen the 2 10mm bolts and the 2 arms detach.

Construction Quality:

The construction quality of the NV rack is good. The rack pieces all came in a nicely painted grey finish with orange anodizing on the aluminum parts. The arms utilize large tubing with solid looking welds. The 10mm bolts and lock nuts used to assemble the arms are nice quality and the tolerances of all the parts fit together without issue.

front wheel tray and rear wheel strap underside detail

The front wheel trays are made out of heavy duty plastic and the rear straps have aluminum spines for added strength. The hitch tongue itself was solid and the wedge helped secure the rack very tightly in our receiver. The only minor play that is noticeable was in the tilt mechanism, but is easily avoided by double checking it is locked before you get going. 

Form and Function:

The NV is easily one of the best looking racks we’ve ever seen. The orange anodizing pops with the grey rack and adds a bit of style, the new all black rack is hot! The NV is not one of the smallest racks we’ve tested. It’s full length trays add a bit of width to the rack.

*note the arms are not in stowed position, when stowing the arm are folded over the central beam so they can't move backwards 

The rack is easy to load and unload. The arms rotate into place easily and the smaller ratchet detents make getting the arm tight much easier. The arms are rubber coated so they don't rub the finish on forks harshly.

The tilt mechanism on the NV is nicer than a lot of racks we’ve seen because it is lever operated with a spring assist. To lower you simply pull the lever down and the rack pivots into place and the pivot bolt snaps into the hole for the position. The lever stays attached to the rack and never has to be pulled out or re-inserted to rotate the rack through its positions. To lower the platform past horizontal for rear vehicle access you just pull the lever and the rack tilts almost to the ground away from the vehicle. Simply lift the platform again and it clicks into place without having to touch the handle. The spring loaded lever is really handy for lifting and lowering the rack one handed.

tilt lever detail 

when tilted for rear access the L shaped stop comes into contact with a bumper to limit the rack from tilting further

you can see the 2 static locations for the pin to click into 

The repair stand is easy to use and operate. Simply release the QR and pull up the stand clamp until it clicks into place. You can easily rotate the head by pulling the lever and twisting the head. The clamp only has 8 angled positions for different orientations so its not quite as infinitely adjustable as we’d have liked.

The rack clamp has a metal hand crank to open and close the jaws. The clamp can open enough to fit between a .75″ to 2.75″ tube. It has rubber jaws to help the jaws grip the tube properly and securely without damage. When not in use just turn the clamp parallel to the rack and slide it back into the rack. Once fully inserted the clamp head is held in the lock position by the same spring loaded clip and the QR so it can’t fall or detach while driving.

We found the repair clamp to work great for quick repairs and adjustments. We wouldn’t want to do any heavy wrenching on the stand as it isn’t built for this use but for light duty wrenching it works great.

Price, worth every penny:

• $499 2” 2 bike rack
• $349 2 bike extension

Conclusion:

Overall the Küat NV rack is a great rack. It features some really thoughtful design elements that should benefit riders greatly. With its built in repair stand, highly adjustable design, and security features the NV is definitely a rack that should be put on anyone’s list who is looking for a nice hitch mounted bike rack. Part's don't break easily and plastic parts aren't there to be breaking. Purchase one at American Adventure Sports if interested and mention this article to receive a discount!