E-bike rack for campervan
We want to have a bike rack fitted to our new camper. Does anyone have experience/advice on what to go for? We don't have the e-bike/e-bikes yet. The camper is 6.3m long, Fiat Ducato, with double back doors .
Thanks all.
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Check the weight that Fiat recommend as a max as the door hinges will bear the strain. From memory, it’s less than the weight a bike rack can carry.
I know of several people who have opted for fitting a towbar and having a towball mounted bike carrier.
Whatever your choice, the weight of the bikes, carrier and, possibly, towbar will eat into your payload allowance so care needs to be exercised.
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This video might be worth a watch? It is something call a Van Swing which fits on a tow bar and swings clear of the rear doors. You would need to check that it can accept the weight of your bikes.
David
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We have the Memo Van-Swing fitted to our AS Peugeot PVC.Permitted load on the VS is 60 kg.We have a Thule Velo Compact which carries two lightweight road bikes.
RoadPro fitted ours and they were excellent.
Ebikes may be an entirely different matter.OK if you want a towbar mounted rack but you will not be able to open the rear doors with a fixed rack.If you door mount a rack,as others have pointed out,you could be into hinge issues on the doors.Also consider your ability to lift an e bike to just above chest height to mount the bikes.If you are considering an e bike are you physically up to it any more?
I am 67 and had two cancer ops last year by the way -so not being "ageist" etc.I am just not ready to "chuck in the towel" yet,so I use my own leg power while I am still up to it,
Alternatively we put a Thule Backup Box and frame but only put lightweight items in the box.In that mode we carry two Bromptions inside the vehicle.At night they slide neatly in the cab between the seats and dash
The VS permits us having the rear doors open when we want to.
Compromises have to be made in M.H,ing,so you may have to consider your options.You can get a Swytch kit to fit to a folding bike like a Brompton.I have seen one in action and it was OK.Much cheaper than the Brompton ebike.An idea?
Other folders are available,of course.
Hope this has given you some food for thought.
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Whatever you go for, you need to consider how to lift your ebikes onto it. Even with the batteries out/off, they come in considerably heavier than non electric bikes. We have a Thule tow bar mount for the back of our Jeep Wrangler, this has a tilt facility, so we can open the rear. Out MH came with a Fiamma rack on the back, we carry two ebikes nowadays mainly, sometimes one and a non electric. Can highly recommend Thule gear, excellent quality. Fiamma is good, but second best to Thule.
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We are currently thinking of changing our e-bikes to save about 20kgs in total on 2 bikes, even though we have spare capacity in our payload in the caravan.You can get them nowadays weighing in at about 15kgs each.
At the moment we have a caravan but can endorse Ttda's comments about the Thule tow bar mounted rack, although the carrier itself does weigh quite a bit. We carry it in the boot when we have the caravan on the back.
It will, as TW alluded to, eat into your payload and I must admit I like the look of the system shown by WTG. If we go down the PVC route, as well we might at some time in the not too distant future, we'll consider one of these so thanks to WTG for the post.
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Point of clarification re my earlier post FYI,
The Memo Van Swing is bolted on to the tow bar of our Peugeot PVC.The tow ball and electrics are on the Van Swing.We chose this because it is a versatile arrangement; option one is to fit a Thule bike rack onto the tow ball the second option is to mount a Thule Easy base and Back up box on the VS and carry Bromptons inside the van.
Option 1 allows us to carry either our lightweight road bikes or our heavier MTBs.Option 2 allows us to carry more kit for extended tours but also have the Bromptons for transport/ shopping bikes.
With both arrangements above we can open the rear doors of the van,to load it and to ventilate it,
Option 3 is to dismount all kit from the VS and travel "naked" so to speak -principally for short Winter trips or to reduce loa for more expensive ferry trips,by putting kit inside the van and then to remount it upon landing.
Versatile as an egg ....
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