Wahoo and Kuat

 Post #24:  I am stepping into another area of the bloggersphere.  I recently had a product issue with my Wahoo Roam and I purchased a Kuat Sherpa bike rack.  

    I bought a Wahoo Roam in 2020 I believe on April 1st or 2nd.  It has been well over a year since the purchase when I had an issue.  I went out for a road ride on a hot sunny Sunday.  Mid ride I saw a blind spot develop about the size of two pencil erasers in the bottom right.  It was so low in the bottom right I was not annoyed by it at first.  Two rides later, I was extremely annoyed by it.  I sent an email to Wahoo support.  They answered my complaint ticket, verified date of purchase, verified my mailing address, and I sent pictures of the issue.

    Wahoo Support sent my a shipping label a day later.  I boxed up the old unit and shipped it back.  The following morning I was sent a notification of a replacement unit shipping notice.  I had a new unit in my hands in 1.5 weeks from the time of the complaint ticket being filed till the end.  I am sorry, I find that to be impressive.  

    I have owned a few Wahoo products.  The Wahoo Heart Rate monitors I feel are superior to Garmin and Polar.  They pair easy to devices that are not Wahoo, and the strap lasts for me about 3 to 4 years.  I have owned an Element before and I had to warranty that one as well.  Except I had to warranty for the altimeter being faulty.  Again I had the same fast replacement service.  I think overall I have a good track record with Wahoo.  To me if you are Garmin or Wahoo, pick one eco system and go with it.  Overall I think they are very comparable, and unless you have a real desire to be picky over some trivial detail, they are pretty much the same.

    I bought a Kuat Sherpa rack from Sugar Bottom Bikes in North Liberty Iowa.  I have used it a few times now.  I have a few critiques but I think I already know the responses I will get from Kuat.  As a former process engineer, I am confident in the why's, but it still is the way I think.  The rear tire tray I find weird.  I wished they would of utilized the rear tray system they have on the Trio.  It is a simple piece of plastic that slides the length of the rail that adjusts to the length of the bike.  The second pic shows Kuat's rear tire tray on the Sherpa.  I believe this is done this way to do a few things.  

    Number one is to use less extruded Aluminum and lessen the over  all length of the bike tray.  This allows for the Sherpa to be more small compact car friendly when not in use.  You do not have bike rack over hang on the car when the bike carrier is not in use.  The second reason is to anchor the rear wheel firmly so the front tire hook can clamp better.  If the rear is firm and not moving it helps reduce the front tire clamping pressures needed.  

     In the 1st picture you can see the bike carrier spaces the bikes fairly well.  You can look at the blue soma bike and see the distance from the pedal to my Twin Six FSU bike crank.  It is about an inch clearance.  This carrier is design for a boost and narrow Q factor bikes.  A fat bike with tires over 3.1 wide, will not fit on this rack due to the front wheel cups.  Again those got back to keeping the carrier lite and narrow for compact cars (My Assumption).

    Overall I am really impressed with the Sherpa. The feature of putting compression in the trailer hitch tube to provide an anti-rocking measure is awesome.  A few turns of a rubber knob and all the slack is removed and the bike carrier is no longer rocking.  It gives you confidence in the set up when the hitch is not loose.  This is my second Kuat product and every time I feel the product is extremely detailed and well thought out.

Cheers and Godspeed.