Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I've ownded an old Sportworks T2 (now Thule T2) for the past 5-6 years. It's been a great rack that's served me very well. Unfortunately, the backbone finally wore out on the rack and needed to be replaced. Sadly, Thule doesn't sell this part anymore, so you have to replace the entire rack now. They also don't sell replacement bushings for the hinge, which is a shame because the bushings wear out rather quickly when you add on the 2 bike extension. As a result I was in the market for a new rack. The T2 worked very well for me, but after seeing some friends have some catastrophic failures that involved very expensive bikes I decided to look around to see what else is out there.
When I saw the NV, I was really impressed. And after using it for a few months, I have to say it's the best rack I've owned.
The anti-rattle mechanism on the T2 was really poorly designed. I don't know anyone who has a hitch that it works properly with. The mechanism on the NV is much better and works really well. This is really important, because when the rack bounces around it wears all of the other parts out which leads to failures. I've seen these happen first hand and they're never good.
Also, the hinge on the NV is much better. The T2 hinge is overly complicated and a bit delicate. If you just run 2 bikes, it's fine. But if you run 4, it gets sloppy rather quickly; and slop is the kiss of death with these racks. The NV hinge is really simple, overbuilt, and works very smoothly. I vastly prefer it to the hinge on T2. That said, there is one issue with it. The stop on the hinge was designed for only two bikes. If you run the 2 bike extension, the extension will contact the ground when you tilt the rack down. You can use the plastic end cap on the bike stand to support it, which works pretty well but isn't ideal. It's not a big deal, but it's something to be aware of if you tilt the rack down with 4 bikes on it. Another note is that the hinge and main backbone with the arms sit higher on the NV than the T2. I shuttle bikes off-road frequently, and the end of my T2 used to bottom out in certain cicumstances. It was even worse if you had to back up in a weird spot. The extra ground clearance provided by the NV is really nice in this regard. I've also had the rack on a 4Runner and a 3/4 ton Chevy pickup and haven't had any issues with tailgate/hatch clearance.
Also, the bike cross arms are much sturdier on the NV. The cross braces that hold the T2 arms to the backbone sometimes warp, bend, and break. Losing an expensive bike at 65 mph on the highway isn't so much fun when the brace breaks or warps and slides off the end of the backbone. The arms on the NV are really strong (more on that later) and due to the way they're attached, they attach much more securely to the backbone. I also don't understand the previous reviewer's concern about tires wearing the paint off the arms. The paint on the rack is really sturdy and appears to have a glossy protective coat on top. Besides, if you secure your tire properly with the strap (which is really important anyway) then the tire won't rub against the paint at all. I will give the T2 the nod here for the rear tire strapping mechanism though. Even thought Thule cheapened the design vs the better old Sportworks mechanism, it's still pretty good. That said, it's not a big deal. Both the NV and T2 will secure your rear tire really well.
One other note. The cable locks on the NV are nice feature, but the cables are short. You can only run them through the frame or maybe one tire at best. They're good if you're only going to be away from the bikes for a couple of minutes; otherwise, I'd invest in a really good, long cable lock or chain. At least they're better than the locks on the T2, which are a joke. Still, it's not a selling point on either rack. And if you really care about your bikes, you won't leave them on for extended periods of time whether you have a better cable or not. Then you're just begging to get them stolen.
All that said, what really sold me on the NV is what happened on my last big road trip. We had a two day drive to get back home and stopped at a hotel overnight to get some rest. When we woke up in the morning, we discovered that someone had backed into the rack in the parking lot despite the fact we had swung it upright. The impact had cracked a couple of the arms on one side and twisted the whole rack on the main pivot. Unfortunately, we had no choice but to load up all 4 bikes on the rack and take our chances. The rack went another 500 miles with almost 160 lbs of bikes on it and didn't suffer any further damage nor did it fail.
All in all, I've been extremely impressed with this rack. It's extremely well built and very well thought out. I'd highly recommend you give it a look if you're in the market for a bike rack.
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