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I can't justify a van and mrsj wants rid of the doblo, so I'm thinking a box trailer might be a good option. My [s]motor[/s] e-bike is too heavy for the roof and I dislike tow bar racks. There's increasing numbers of bikes needing to travel, so a box trailer looks like a reasonable compromise. I have secure storage for it and it would be a 2 min job to attach it.
What is wrong with this idea?
What do you do when you get to the trail head and there's no through parking ?
Tow bar rack is surely better than a trailer. Why don't you like them?
I've just never really got on with the tow bar racks I've had.
Heavy unwieldy things to store (yes I know 🙄 ) and I struggle to load them without bikes rubbing / holding bars being in the right place. I've only used Thule ones though.
Parking at the trail head could indeed be an issue.
To be fair tow bar racks are pretty pish.
The bikes live in the area of low-pressure and get covered in all the road spray and salt on the road.
Little trailers bounce around a lot, you might still need some sort of bike racking installed in the trailer to prevent everything knocking about (which will make it very expensive compared to a tow bar rack.
[quote=geoffj ]I've just never really got on with the tow bar racks I've had.
Heavy unwieldy things to store (yes I know )
I use Thule racks at work. 4 bikes (never the same combo) and it takes only seconds to get them to not be rubbing.
I like the look of that bosal
GeoffJ- If your ebike is as heavy as mine i wonder if the ramp thing for loading can take the weight ?
GeoffJ- If your ebike is as heavy as mine i wonder if the ramp thing for loading can take the weight ?
I can lift mine quite easily, so that wouldn't be an issue.
The Thule 918 velospace is probably what I would go for next if I don't go down the trailer route.
Bikes bouncing around is something I'd not considered though.
Next time you're in the area....geoffj - Member
I like the look of that bosal
I like the look of that rack, but the bikes wobbling that much would scare me!
You'll also be limited to 50mph on single and dual carriageways and 60mph on motorways.
Light trailers always worry me, tbh - they have rudimentary suspension and tend to bounce around all over the place at any sort of speed on a less than smooth road.
As above, parking anywhere is a nightmare and you'd need wheel locks etc to stop it being nicked along with your bikes.
I have a bike trailer - sometimes need to take 4- 5 people and bikes/ Its basically just not practical as you have to pick somewhere to park the thing and most of the places I park in the lakes are dead ends so its just a pain- especially turning on narrow roads!
Not something i would use for just one or two bikes personally but if you do you always need to go somewhere with wideish roads and great parking for a car and a trailer.
[quote=trail_rat ]To be fair tow bar racks are pretty pish.
The bikes live in the area of low-pressure and get covered in all the road spray and salt on the road.
someone said this before - perhaps you? All i can say is when it rains my bike is pretty dry when i get to where i am going so this is just not my experience. As i am then about to ride it through gritty mud and the like a bit of other dirt is not much of a concern for me personally
depends on the car -
-but see those with flat backs - estates and vans etc - notice they are always disgusting on the back and in winter the muck has a white tinge....
thats the same phenomenon - now all that salt spray on your bike - along with the grease and oil that gets mixed in with the water on the road. No thanks.
a previous life changing many pistons and looking at the corrosion caused by salt to alumnium means my bikes go in the car.
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Nice an airbrake for you car
I'm not trying to break the land speed record!!
😆Nice an airbrake for you car
And zero visibility!
Like in a van then.
Ah one of those who can't use mirrors 🙂
-but see those with flat backs - estates and vans etc - notice they are always disgusting on the back and in winter the muck has a white tinge....
True, but the car does 20,000miles a year (and doesn't get washed), and doesn't dissolve into rust.
The bike does maybe 2000 miles on the back, and get's washed (at least occasionally), and similarly doesn't dissolve into rust, if it's wet on the bike rack it'll probably get washed off by the mud on the trails!
Even if I was overly worried, it would be no worse than riding on the road.
Ah one of those who can't use mirrors
Ahh, one of those van drivers not aware of their blind spots........
Like in a van then.
Not really, my van has rear windows...
I guess I must not be aware of them. My vans beat up to shit where I keep crushing Cars.
Mean while with secondary mirrors and the addition of a mirror on the passengers sun visor my biggest blind spot ironically is between the windscreen and the front bumper as I'm almost vertically above it.
I guess I must not be aware of them. My vans beat up to shit where I keep crushing Cars.
Driving the work Transit I've concluded that the White Van Man stereotype for crap driving is best summed up by Hanlon's razor [i]"Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity"[/i]. You can hide a artic lorry between the mirrors!
That's where your going wrong. Stock mirrors on small/medium vans are horrendous.
I have seen bikes, on a rack, atop a trailer but it was a right wobbly affair.
Trailers are a right pain.
A decent size people carrier should swallow bikes, but in our case I could get 3 fatties in but the kids would need to go on the roof.
[url= https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4476/38087336931_387fe4a272_o.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4476/38087336931_387fe4a272_o.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/212DyjX ]Fat FOD[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/takisawa2/ ]pten2106[/url], on Flickr
Impressive road holding.
🙂
Heavy unwieldy things to store (yes I know ) and I struggle to load them without bikes rubbing / holding bars being in the right place. I've only used Thule ones though.
Surely if you have space to store a trailer then you have space to store a rack?
a previous life changing many pistons and looking at the corrosion caused by salt to alumnium
I commute through winter in the west of scotland and my bike has neither dissolved nor have I had to change the pistons.
Surely if you have space to store a trailer then you have space to store a rack?
A trailer would live outside. A rack wouldn't.
I commute through winter in the west of scotland and my bike has neither dissolved nor have I had to change the pistons.
Not really the same though, driving down the M74/M6 to the Lakes from Ayrshire with a towbar rack on a wet winters day is a [i]tad[/i] harsher on the bike, more akin to being pressure washed with salty, gritty water, for over 2 hours... 😀
After one particular trip my old SB66 took a full strip down and overhaul, what a state it was in. Granted, it didn't help that I left it for a week afterwards... 😯 😆
Store the rack in a trailer.....A trailer would live outside. A rack wouldn't.
A trailer would live outside. A rack wouldn't.
Put the rack in a plastic bag? Live the big bag mattresses come in.
Tell your wife if you drop the doblo she's getting strapped to the roofrack?
Buy a Pendle 4 bike rack and only fit 3 positions. Plenty of space without bikes touching. Really quick to attach if you can tolerate the bolted on towball adapter.
[url= http://tinyurl.com/ydz3657j ]eBay[/url]
Put the rack in a plastic bag? Live the big bag mattresses come in.
Mine just lived outside for 2 years untill I got my arse in gear and cleared out some space in the garage. No ill effects.
I actually have a trailer big enough to take bikes if I wanted to, and it has propper 13" wheels and proper suspension, not little 8" wheels and indespension units so it tows very nicely and I'm reasonably competent reversing it into parking spaces etc.
It would still be a monumental PITA to use it for bikes. The only time I'd maybe consider it would be if I had a people carrier and needed to move 7 people and 7 bikes a long way or had kids and was going camping.
We just got an Atera 4 bike tow-bar rack, first time loading took a while to figure it all out but now I can load it quickly and nothing rubs. Get to the trail and it goes in the boot if parking's tight.
Only issue I can think about regarding e-bikes is the nose-weight limit on your towbar.
You've convinced me. I've just ordered a Thule Velospace 918 - found an ex demo deal on eBay.
Just need to book my trip up north to be shown how best to load it 😉
We have an old Thule towbar rack that has the fourth bike attachment. The Turbo Levo goes on first and if we are taking four bikes then the 29er Enduro goes on last.
Never had a problem with the arms attaching to the top tubes or with the bikes rubbing.
The bikes are put on so they alternate first one forks to the right then second one forks to the left, third forks to right, fourth forks to left if that makes sense.
Use garden kneelers between the forks and chainsays if needed
Same as this with fourth bike attachment
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and these cut in two if needed
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Arrived this morning and tried it straight away. It's a joy to use.
The design of the doblo means that you can't lift the boot lid even with the tilt function activted, should be fine on my car - when I get the towbar fitted though.
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Some carriers tilt more than others
I have an Atera Strada Evo, works fine on an estate car. It won't work on a van as it doesn't tilt enough, I would have to go for the other version. I went for this one as it has removable arms and has a higher weight limit.
Roofbox were pretty good at answering questions like that
Atera Strada
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T5, Crosslight with Landcruisers
We carry 3 on the back, more inside the van...
*** assuming I can get the picture to show...
Presumably this is a US only Thule model, but looks great for van owners, clears standard van doors too.