Kuat Piston SR Bike Rack for 1 Bike - 2" Hitches - Wheel Mount

Video Transcript for Kuat Hitch Bike Racks Review - 2024 Cadillac XT5

Hey, everyone, it's Evangeline here at etrailer. And today, we have the Kuat Piston SR Single Bike Rack, and we're gonna take a look at how it fits our 2024 Cadillac XT5. So the Piston SR is going to be a roof-mounted rack that also has a hitch adapter, and that's the kit that we are using with this vehicle. So because of that, we have some extra features you won't see on just the normal Kuat Piston Pro, but also, you have a humongous weight capacity of 100 pounds. So if you have an extra heavy electric bike or maybe you have an alternate frame or just a strangely shaped bicycle, this is more likely than not gonna be a very good fit for you. Now, let's talk about how it's hold it our bike.

We have two touchpoint, the front and the rear wheel mounts. This is adjustable, can carry tire sizes of up to five inches. And when you want to take the bike off, it's a very fast process. You have these pistons, these are gonna be one touch. (pistons clicking) So you just press on them and then notice how it pushes out.

Now, because this is the roof-mounted version, if you did want to ramp your bike down, you press on the piston again, and then continue to push that wheel mount down to the ground. So one and two, and now, you are ready to take your bike off. If you want to, you can get the Kuat Piston Ramp. That is an add-on feature, and you can have that attached to the end to make this process even easier. Now, taking our bike off, I'm just gonna set it over to the side, so you can take a closer look there at the trays.

Notice the trays with the different grooves, and notice the center of the tray where it has its lock. So there is an integrated cable lock that runs along the side of this tray, and that can be used to secure your bike and lock it into place. To bring this back up, I'm gonna press the piston to go back to the ready position, and then press the piston again to go back to the regular mounting position. (wheel mount ratcheting) Listen to how it ratchets down. So you can actually slide your bike back and forth before securing that mount.

(wheel mount ratcheting) And the maximum wheel base is gonna be up to 53 inches. With this being on the SR, so it can also be put on the roof, it has this extra lever here, or I guess, tab, and that secures that wheel mount. So that way, when you're ready to take it out of its compact position, it's gonna take one and two steps (wheel mount ratcheting) per mount. All right, let's talk about its lack of features actually. So compared to the Piston Pro, the Piston SR does not tilt away, it does not fold up, because it sits straight out of your hitch receiver. So for most racks, that might be a downside. For this rack, it's perfectly fine, because it doesn't take up much space. So let's take some measurements, so I could show you what I mean. From our bumper to the end of the bike rack, this is gonna be 13 inches. So if you're parked in the city, maybe you have a really tiny garage, if you wanna make sure you're not taking up a lot of space, this is perfect for that. Another measurement is ground clearance. So the rack to the ground is gonna be about 16 3/4 inches. And that's the height of your hitch receiver, so there's no rise, no drop, it just sits straight out. Now, for the height you're gonna have to lift your 100 pound bikes, that's gonna be from the tray to the ground, 20 inches, which isn't that high at all, so most bikes will be perfectly fine. You saw how it's able to just roll our bike down. But again, if that's a bit too high for you, then that's where that add-on ramp can come in handy. The hitch on the Cadillac XT5 is pretty recessed, so it sits pretty close inside the bumper. Fortunately, our Piston SR fits perfectly fine in there. We still have our hitch pin, and by putting the lock as you put the hitch pin on, we're able to secure both the bike rack and our bike, and we didn't have to figure out a better way to get that. So for other bike racks, sometimes their anti-rattle bolt and their lock don't fit well inside that bumper area where the hitch is. But this one, works well. So all in all, the Piston SR is a great fit for your XT5. I do like how you have that great weight capacity, very easy to use, you have the Kashima coating on the pistons. It is a single bike rack though. So if you do wanna carry more than one bike, that's when you start looking at our other options. If you want to, you can check out the Piston Pro Series, which is like this, but has a bike rack that's sitting a little bit further out. Now, all those options are available here on our website. But right here, right now, this is a look at the Kuat Piston SR, and you saw it on the 2024 Cadillac XT5.