Multiple flavors of racks are hitting the market, some with features that look cool on paper. These companies try to take your focus away from the important features and mask some deficiencies. Gas piston lift assist is one of them. There is a reason why you don’t see this on more products and other outdoor items. Even vehicle manufacturers know that gas piston need to be in an enclosed area, road grime, road salt, and just gunk on the road will quickly trash these parts and render them unusable.
The bigger picture, is why the lowering the rack is such a big feature. It speaks to the deficiencies in design. Most rack on the market start with a subpar design that restricts access to the vehicle, so all of sudden the rack lowering is now necessary at every interaction. Well, if the rack didn’t restrict access or take away features, these companies wouldn’t have to make such efforts. Alta Racks build products that work with your vehicle and not restrict it.
What it comes down to, if you want something to last, design it with simplicity. Bells and whistles are nice but once they break it will leave you not feeling so great. Don’t compromise and be fooled by these fancy features. This is the memory that it keeps bringing up for me. I love reclining couches, but every one of them we have owned has broken a cable or somehow lost that function. Now you are end up with a heavy couch that does not function as advertised. We stopped buying reclining couches.
Based your decision on, how are they welding these racks, is there continuous welds or spot welds, Does the rack by itself without the fancy feature would be something you would purchase. Price is a factor and we understand that. We choose to pay living wages, follow environmental laws, and provide real value right here in the USA. That is true capitalism. Only we as consumers can bring back, the expectation for better products, the expectation for American products, and the expectation for life lasting quality. Buy American made products. We build the best hitch mounted bike rack in the market; we prove it by precise engineering and reviews. Dinosaurs went extinct, and so will the imitators.
Ali
