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Thinking about starting riding again, stopped in 2020 due to the knees.
I’ve hired an e-bike last couple weekends and although the knees hurt obviously an e-bike is a revelation.
The big question is can I reasonably expect to be able to lift an e-bike into the back of my Kuga laying it flat. It’s what I used to do with my Ibis Mojo but there’s quite a weight difference and I’m no youngster anymore!
Anyone else do it?
I assume you'd be taking the wheels off? If you remove the battery as well surely it won't be that heavy??
I assume you'd be taking the wheels off? If you remove the battery as well surely it won't be that heavy??
I used to take the front wheel off, the rear becomes a faff. Battery removal won’t be possible
Get a bike with a removable battery? Mind you I can lift my 25 kg ebike anyway - but putting it in a car would be tricky I think
I haul mine into a saloon car. It’s pretty difficult as the added weight means it catches on things and won’t budge. If I took the battery out it’d be a load easier. Taking the pedals off really helps.
I lift my fully built Rail into the back of my Berlingo. At the end of the day it can weigh surprisingly more than I expect but it is always manageable. FWIW my knees and ankles are on their way out but my hips are (now) OK. The benefits (FUN!!!) of riding far outweigh the inconvenience of lifting a heavy bike.
I get my Orbea Rise (21kg) in to the back of my estate Merc fairly easily with from wheel off .
However it does have a very handy handle built into the frame .
After a long hard ride it dies feel significantly heavier putting it in the boot
It depends on how heavy you are as well as how strong you are.
We took two e-bikes lying flat in the back a big hatchback and although I’m reasonably strong the cantilever as I tried to lift my bike over the other one made it pretty difficult, whilst my mate who’s a few stone heavier made it look a lot easier. I’d have been fine with a guy line stopping me from tipping forwards!
Throwing one into the back of my car is easy because once it’s halfway in it can be slid/pushed the rest of the way - I think that’s easier than putting it on the roof, which I do occasionally. But I’m young-ish and go to the gym.
Having rambled this much I now realise I should have said, “I think you need to take your car to a shop that sells e-bikes and ask if you can try putting one in it!”
I put my "lite" Mondraker Neat into a long hatchback coupe car, front wheel off. I don't think I'd do it with a full weight eMTB. I'm reasonably young but not very strong, technique is required to avoid straining my back.
Step 1 stand between the downtube and fork, put it in. Drivetrain side up, handlebar turned left.
Step 2 come the other side of the fork and lift/push it in. I have a tarpaulin so I pull it back before step 1, then step 2 is just pushing the bike which slides the tarpaulin deeper into the car.
Get the Nox Sox / STW soft pedal covers.
It would be a struggle, but I'd fancy my chances much better with a low battery capacity 15Kg road/gravel ebike like my Bolt, than anything like a ~500Wh+ battery MTB ebike weighing ~25Kg!
Does your licence cover trailers? It would surely make things easier.
Thanks for the replies guys FYI I forgot that I used to take one pedal off too.
Think it’ll be more than doable if a bit of a struggle.
*not all ideas are good,
anyway
If it’s an estate could you put something like a cut bit of plywood or thick shiny hard plastic on the floor - intention being to create a surface slippy enough that you could slide the bike along it rather than having to lift it into position.
take front wheel out, put rear on tail lip on ply at the side , allow bike to go over on side while pushing in.
I used to be able to get a dt175mx trail motorbike (probably 200lbs in total) into a austin maxi this way - petrol tank and seat off, front wheel out, lift back wheel up onto boot lip, then sort of push/slide in and lay onto side at same time .
I got a new eBike earlier in the year. Naively thought it would be easy getting it into the back of my Megane - front wheel off, battery out, it was still a chew on. Got a tow bar and a buzz rack which has made my life much easier and it's much kinder to my back too. Battery weighs 4.5kg on mine so the bike's still an awkward weight and shape with it removed.
Just take both wheels off and put it in the back with the seats down. what I do when I realised that lifting it onto the roof carrier was a disaster waiting to happen
Orbea Wild owner. 23.5kg and non removable battery. Mine goes in the back of my Ford Focus estate quite easily.Im 55 and not particularly strong.
Front wheel off, seatpost down (obvs). Put front forks in with bike stood up and then lift / slide / tilt in from the rear. Bike lies on its left side with the left crank arm in the up position. A slidey surface as mentioned by Towzer would make this easier,
I only do this for longer drives though. For shorter distances i use a towbar bike rack.
“when I realised that lifting it onto the roof carrier was a disaster waiting to happen”
My car is tall and I’m 5’10 so I found the answer to putting my Levo up there was a step, letting me put one foot on the step and one foot on the sill. This was a good idea…
Using a step that couldn’t take the weight of me and the bike together was not, as it collapsed whilst I had a full-fat bike overhead. Thankfully someone else in the car park leapt in to help before we came tumbling down!
I think the thing about e-bikes is not that they’re super heavy but it’s that modern full-sus MTBs are already quite heavy and, as you’ll know if you’ve ever voluntarily lifted anything in the gym, once you’re near the max weight you can lift then a small increase can make it impossible for you to move.
And bikes are really really awkward shapes!
I guess once you take the wheels off an ebike it weighs about the same as a normal bike of the same type does complete.
I take both my wheels off to fit in the rear of my Yeti (XL Levo), and have an old (26er) bike bag that I couldn't give away, to use as a cushion.
Im sure you've read/been told before -but thought about tow bar rack? i know it might mean a new tow bar (not expensive) and some racks have ramps made for them now - will solve quite a few issues.
After a long hard ride it dies feel significantly heavier putting it in the boot
Should feel lighter as the bike will weigh less with an empty battery.
... i know it might mean a new tow bar (not expensive)..
But fitting trailer electrics can be really quite expensive and if it's a modern car the control systems might need updating. You're not suggesting using a rack without lights I hope?
Tow bar plus rack isn’t something I’d want to get into tbh. It’s man handle it into the back with seats down or not at all.
I have a Vauxhall Combo with a tow bar and a towbar rack, however, I never use the towbar rack for transporting the e-bikes. The e-bikes always go inside.
Given the size and space available in the back of the Combo transporting the bikes inside is pretty easy. My wife has a Peugeot 2008 and recently I took that with two e-bikes inside. We had to take off both wheels and it was still a bit of a mission to get the bikes in and out. What made it easier was having something that could slide over the base of the load area with the bike on top of it. In this case it was a really old EVA blown foam mat that used to be a boot liner in a fiat punto, but it worked really well to help slide the first bike in. Taking off the pedal which is facing down really helps too.
I put my Cube (25kgish) in the back of my Kia Sportage with rear seats down and with a boot liner ( Carbox Your Size Boot liners | High Sided Car Boot Protection. I have the bootliner sticking out a bit behind the open tailgate/bumper, lift bike on its side (drive side up) onto liner with the bars just overhanging the back of the liner. Remove front wheel, then slide bike fully onto liner, then slide liner fully forward into car. At the unload end it's just the reverse. Btw, I'm 78. Other times I use a towbar rack.
Make sure you have an old rug or bit of carpet that you can fold out over the boot and bumper to protect it from knocks. I have a rug in the back of my van that’s about 30cm longer than the cargo area and it covers the body coloured bumper from scrapes my wife can (just about) lift her YT Decoy in to the back of our van
Vans and hatchbacks for the win.
Make sure you have an old rug or bit of carpet that you can fold out over the boot and bumper to protect it from knocks. I have a rug in the back of my van that’s about 30cm longer than the cargo area and it covers the body coloured bumper from scrapes my wife can (just about) lift her YT Decoy in to the back of our van
Vans and hatchbacks for the win.
Yes, I should have added that. I add some protection tucked under rear of liner whilst I'm loading.
I always used to line whatever SUV I had at the time with a dustsheet just for the dust/mud anyway.
I regularly put my Mondraker Neat into many many various rental cars. Admittedly it is a lighter e-bike at less than 19Kg. But to be honest, I find it sooo much easier to manoeuvre in and out of the car with both wheels off. My Neat has a wireless rear mech, so I was nervous about taking the rear wheel off at first. But now that I can see how much easier it is to handle and transport, I take the rear wheel off every time.
I found that some foam pipe lagging/pool noodle helped get the bike in. If you place it across the storage space it rolls with the bike as you push/pull it in and then acts as extra padding.
I have since got a towbar mounted rack and that is much easier but not as secure and more spendy