E-Bike and Roof Rack, Possible?

Towbar with removable ball .

I think removable towbar is the correct answer, but is going to be £££.

but is going to be £££.

Not much compared to the cost of a new car and ebike though - also assuming the OP keeps the car for a few years. 

First thought is that the regular Thule 951 type carrier might struggle to clamp an e-bike downtube, so the (more fiddly) ones that require front wheel off and use the fork axle are the way to go. Friend uses the same for an Orbea Wild, no issues.

Fwiw I use a towbar but I always remove the battery as that is a big part of the weight, maybe that will help.  When I use the roofbars with other bikes I often add a toestrap to make sure the Thule mount stays in place, I had one slip off a Y frame bike once.  No need for a removable towbar if you go down the towbar route

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Towbar with removable ball .

Absolutely this.

I wouldn't want to trust my pig of an ebike on roof bars. It's not just the weight on it's own (no way I'm getting it on top of a Discovery anyway), it's the lateral forces of such a tall heavy object wobbling about

Don't write yourself off just yet with a bit of knee trouble at your age, unless it doesn't go away. I get a strained left knee about once a year - almost un-able to walk on it. Takes 2-3 weeks to clear up with copious amounts of ibuprofen. 

If going down that route, then definitely look at removing the battery before lifting the bike - it's not easy shifting a trail bike up on the roof, never mind an ebike.

These are the highest weight capacity I’ve seen at 23kg but that’s still battery-out weight on a lot of e-bikes and I wouldn’t fancy getting it up there.

https://www.roofbox.co.uk/scripts/rbvehsel4_tab.php/car-specific-accessories/inno_tyre_hold_bike_carrier_no_ina389/Qx@w,6M42VAwp3@Rb%7B~cC4urewyWXI

Thanks all, guess if I do go ebike it's bike in the boot with seats down as normal then, or go for one of the SL types.

@fossy how does yours occur? I've always had bad knees but cycling had never posed an issue really which is why I've always defaulted to it, I did have a problem 10 years ago and was advised I was doing too much on the bike and not enough of everything else which was causing some of my thigh muscles to pull too much in one direction on my knee ligaments, shelved the bike for a few months and started hill walking which seemed to balance it out.

This time round they said it's purely the result of me exerting too much and with my weight putting excess strain on the ligaments and to take it easier, do less and more often as opposed to one big ride every other week and going clappers.

@eatmorepizza I can't say what causes it. I'm nearly 54, never had knee trouble. I sometimes sleep a bit awkwardly and it will trigger either my knee going, or my foot instep.

I think you've just hit the issue - one big ride every other week.  You'll get fitter and stronger with more regular riding - I commute 3-4 days a week on the bike, then out at weekends.

I think mine is a bit of wear and tear. I can feel the knee pain starting, hit ibuprofen and rub on volterol, and I can sometimes catch it before getting too painful. The last three times it's 'gone' has been just before I'd due to be doing alot on it - once just before we walked up Snowdon (still did it), another time before a bike weekend with mates (still rode but gave up on day two) and this week, three days walking round two cities. If I'd rested it, I know doubt it would have been OK.

Used to stick mine on my roof rack, was a VW golf with thule bars and an Inno bike carrier, took the battery out, cleaned it down and so on, plus used a ratchet strap to hold it down further via the frame, no issues, bike would be 25kg pre battery removal, around 21kg after, so under the 23kg weight limit for the carrier.

Reality is, with that type of carrier, any issues and you'll know pretty much straight away, as the front wheel is over the windscreen, so you're always giving it a glance for movement.

Just a word of note for those removing the battery. If it's raining, then all that water/spray is going straight on the motor. At least on certain designs.

my colleague puts his(without battery)  on the roof of his C180 estate. its a nice height to lift onto

wouldnt fancy putting it on the roof of the berlingo .

We put our tandem on the roof which is a similar weight to most e-bikes (of the heavy MTB variety).

In fact we've put two tandems on the roof at the same time. The carriers are also quite heavy but we reckon it was within spec, just about.

I've had E bikes on my roof no issues... thule 591 and yakima 'front wheel grabber' ones. It's fine.

I take the battery out mind..

DrP

I used to have an ateca, do you really want to be lifting an ebike all the way up there?

I'd get a proper diagnosis on the knee from a sports physio before writing yourself off. £40-50 would be well spent to find out what it actually (hopefully nothing to serious) and they give you some stretches/strength exercises to sort it out. 

Towbar with removable ball, then a bikerack off ebay or similar. <br /><br />Also, take the battery out of the bike. Make a neoprene zip sleeve in about 15 mins. Problem sealed.

I put mine on the roof occasionally but it’s not a lot of fun getting it up there! However, you’re 5” taller than me and it looks like your car is a few inches lower than our Zafira Tourer so it should be a lot easier for you.

To give you some context to the towbar arguement, I always used to use roof bars for my bikes and it was fine - similar to you, early 30s pretty fit and strong, actually getting the ebikes up there wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

However, with the weight of the bike the ebikes shift a LOT in the Thule roofbars to the point where I had my bike half fall off the car as I was heading down the A470 away from BikePark Wales. If I hadn't taken the extra precaution of strapping the bike to the bars because I'd had it slip quite a lot perviously I'd have seriously damaged both my bike and the car.

What do I have now? A towbar.

“ However, with the weight of the bike the ebikes shift a LOT in the Thule roofbars to the point where I had my bike half fall off the car”

Scary! Did the bike come loose from the carrier or the carrier from the bars or the bars from the car? I’ve got a Thule Upride, the one which holds the front wheel with an X-shaped thing.

Just a word of note for those removing the battery. If it’s raining, then all that water/spray is going straight on the motor. At least on certain designs.

You either buy the blank that fits on the battery, or just cover it up with a neoprene cover like i do, costs a tenner or so, velcros on easy enough and keeps the water out.

As for getting the bike up and off, i find a foot stool does the job, rather than faffing around, it's about a foot high and lets me get the bike up and in place easy enough.

radbikebro

I had my bike half fall off the car as I was heading down the A470 away from BikePark Wales.

Frankly, driving down a jumps trail in a car was a daft thing to do and I'm not surprised your bike fell off

im following this with interest. As a new ebike owner and short arsed weakling im curious as to how you are getting the bikes up on the roof?

Im also curious as to the impact of driving along the motorway with all the electrics?

I only really bother putting bikes on the roof if the car is full of people and luggage, these days I've got a knock-off sea sucker as it's slightly less faff than fitting the bars (no rails in current car unfortunately) and it clamps the fork axle for stability rather than the Downtube.

So I'd say a Front wheel off type roof rack reduces the weight on the roof and as pointed out already battery out on your EEB will help further reduce load bearing and the amount you have to heft above your head, just don't drop your fork legs and smash the sunroof 🙂

I'd also recommend getting/using a small step ladder to make the handling a bit more achievable, all of that means you still need to trundle about with a ladder and front wheel in the boot.

But yeah Tow bar mounted FTW, but if it's not got one already and is a shiny new car I'd assume you'd be looking at stealership fitting costs to maintain the warranty...

unfortunately i cant fit a tow bar to my car 🙁 bit rubbish that as the lesser models have them

I use a Thule 599 which has a 20kg limit.

My Ebike with battery out is 1kg over, which I am not too worried about

My tandem always went on the roof. Just saying. Getting up there was not always easy. There are some nice racks that can lift the bike onto the roof. Mine was more agricultural though. 

We used to just lift the tandem straight up, but that was only on a nissan micra and I'm very tall and reasonably strong. My wife would help when available but I could certainly do it by myself when required.

We've now got a tandem carrier that pivots and clamps the front fork now so it's a (much easier) two step job - front up, then lift the back end. However the greater roof height of our new car was also a significant factor in getting a towbar rack for singles so my wife can go for a ride by herself when she wants.

says its damage to ligaments from putting too much load on them when MTB’ing,

As above, I'd strongly advise a second opinion from a sports physio. Mine was scathing about NHS advice after I tore a knee ligament, he reckoned it would've caused permanent loss of mobility. I do know that following his treatment and exercises had my knee better than ever.