Bike Rack advice for a PCV

JohnnyRoyal

JohnnyRoyal

Joined
Dec 2, 2019
Posts
93
Likes collected
100
Location
Hampshire
Funster No
67,143
MH
Dreamer D68 Ltd
Exp
Since 2020
Good afternoon All
We are thinking about buying a Dreamer D68 Select. We currently have a SunLiving S60SP.
So if we do take the plunge we will lose our garage.
We currently have an electric step through bike for Mrs W. I have a choice of a normal road or hybrid bike, for when we go away.
What are the options in regards to having a bike rack fitted?
What make and model would people advise?
We want to be able to open the back doors when we are away and not to have to keep taking off the bikes to do this, when not in use.
Would it be wise to use a tow bar opotion and if so which one?

Thanks for any advice

John
 
Once you've stopped whacking yourself in the head when closing the rear doors, the on-door bike racks are good and carry up to around 30kg.

As soon as you go over the weight, which you will with ebikes, then you'll be looking at towbar systems or maybe door hinge setups. You are not too far from LNB They carry a large range and are an excellent company to deal with (y)
 
Fiamma do a bike rack with rails that bolt to one door does the job and secure allowing doors to be opened the type that hook on the top of one door have been a problem bending the door it appears
 
Jim said:
Once you've stopped whacking yourself in the head when closing the rear doors, the on-door bike racks are good and carry up to around 30kg.

As soon as you go over the weight, which you will with ebikes, then you'll be looking at towbar systems or maybe door hinge setups. You are not too far from LNB They carry a large range and are an excellent company to deal with (y)
Click to expand...
Just had a look at LNB, seem very good and have some good products, thanks for the advice
 
timetochill said:
Fiamma do a bike rack with rails that bolt to one door does the job and secure allowing doors to be opened the type that hook on the top of one door have been a problem bending the door it appears
Click to expand...
thanks for the advice, will take a look

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We have a Fiamma bike rack on the back of our Boxer, which states a total weight of 35kg and an individual bike weight of 19kg - which is fine for us as we put our MTBs on it.
The doors still open with the bikes on, but I try not to leave the doors open as I'm conscious of the extra load on the hinges.



Bike_Rack.jpg
 
I should perhaps also add that the above image was the first fit.
Since then I have moved the rails slightly to the left to get the bikes sitting more within the van width.
 
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We used LNB in Bristol and found them to be very good.We too were concerned with the weight on the back door.
 
We had a Fiamma door rack which was fine for pedal bikes, but when we bought E-Bikes it was
a) not man enough for the load and
b) too high to lift heavy e-bikes onto

So I removed it and now use a Thule Tow-ball rack... It is so easy to load with heavy bikes, ..

however, you cannot open the doors, even with bikes off, the rack fouls the doors..



IMG_2286.jpeg
 
Go for a tow ball mounted rack.
They cost a bit more, but are a lot better.
Easy to put on/remove
Easy to move between motorhome and your car
And they store flat, so can live in the car boot, understair cupboard or the back of the motorhome.

Big selling point you don't need to be a weightlifter to load the bikes over your head onto the back.
(Especially if they are electric bikes!)
Even my 4'11" wife can load the bikes on the tow bar, even with a step ladder she struggled with the rear mounted one.

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I went through the same problem. Had a fiamma door mount on my old van, often had to really slam the door to satisfy the alarm system. Now considering electric bikes, don’t want the weight to lift or have on a door. Swing systems very expensive and heavy. Went for a tow bar (less than £600 fitted). Halfords rack swings down further than my Thule one because the pivot is further back, but use the lower tow ball holes. You can open the doors without bikes, but need to slacken the grip and swing the mount slightly.
 
scotjimland said:
We had a Fiamma door rack which was fine for pedal bikes, but when we bought E-Bikes it was
a) not man enough for the load and
b) too high to lift heavy e-bikes onto

So I removed it and now use a Thule Tow-ball rack... It is so easy to load with heavy bikes, ..

however, you cannot open the doors, even with bikes off, the rack fouls the doors..



View attachment 903097
Click to expand...
Thanks that is useful advice
 
Ed Scratcher said:
I went through the same problem. Had a fiamma door mount on my old van, often had to really slam the door to satisfy the alarm system. Now considering electric bikes, don’t want the weight to lift or have on a door. Swing systems very expensive and heavy. Went for a tow bar (less than £600 fitted). Halfords rack swings down further than my Thule one because the pivot is further back, but use the lower tow ball holes. You can open the doors without bikes, but need to slacken the grip and swing the mount slightly.
Click to expand...
Thanks Ed it seems a mindfield out there ref this!:ROFLMAO:
 
Brains said:
Go for a tow ball mounted rack.
They cost a bit more, but are a lot better.
Easy to put on/remove
Easy to move between motorhome and your car
And they store flat, so can live in the car boot, understair cupboard or the back of the motorhome.

Big selling point you don't need to be a weightlifter to load the bikes over your head onto the back.
(Especially if they are electric bikes!)
Even my 4'11" wife can load the bikes on the tow bar, even with a step ladder she struggled with the rear mounted one.
Click to expand...
Mrs W will be pleased about that!:ROFLMAO: What make and model was yrs? also where did you get it from?
 
gefsal said:
We used LNB in Bristol and found them to be very good.We too were concerned with the weight on the back door.
Click to expand...
I have looked at their site and if we do get the van I will give them a shout, thanks

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I have a Ducato pvc and manual bikes. As we mainly camp abroad I needed to have access to the rear doors for our garage space & gas locker checks when transiting at ports. I wanted a tow bar mounted rack that could be easily removed too. So as far as I am aware the only one that can give this easily was the Altera Strada DL3 which slides away and drops from the tow bar enabling both rear doors to be fully opened. I understand the tilt ones don’t give the space to do this.

PS I had to put a spacer on the tow bar & use the lower holes to give max clearance for the bottom of the doors. Ask away if you want more info. I bought it from HERE

You can see some photos on a van review I’ve done HERE
 
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royandsharont said:
I have a Ducato pvc and manual bikes. As we mainly camp abroad I needed to have access to the rear doors for our garage space & gas locker checks when transiting at ports. I wanted a tow bar mounted rack that could be easily removed too. So as far as I am aware the only one that can give this easily was the Altera Strada DL3 which slides away and drops from the tow bar enabling both rear doors to be fully opened. I understand the tilt ones don’t give the space to do this.

PS I had to put a spacer on the tow bar & use the lower holes to give max clearance for the bottom of the doors. Ask away if you want more info. I bought it from HERE

You can see some photos on a van review I’ve done HERE
Click to expand...
What he says 😅
Alters strada , have a look on YouTube, seems it’s the only one that lets the doors open
Great quality, recommend
 
Another vote for Atera Strada but you need to get the 3 bike version ( at least with a Sprinter) for it to slide /tilt enough to open the rear doors with two bikes on( using the two rearmost of the 3 bike fittings).
 
JohnnyRoyal said:
Just had a look at LNB, seem very good and have some good products, thanks for the advice
Click to expand...
We had our towbar fitted to our A class at LNB.You can stay the night before at their premises but we stayed at a pub in Pilning 20mins away.They will also lend you a car to get around.If you are confident it's easier to do a pvc yourself though.We also have an Atera Strada DL as we also use it on the hatchback but there is also a hinge away option like this
 
I was disappointed with the Altera Strada DL3. The concept is good but it is not as well built or as stable as the Thule we now use. The DL3 rocks left to right and forward to back when travelling especially when loaded near its weight limit.
The DL3 also did not allow the doors to be opened when the bikes were loaded. Even if it did, you are still 'dancing' over the A frame on the tow ball when accessing the rear.
We added a MEMO Van Swing to give us full access to the rear and haven't looked back.
 
We’ve had the Atera strada DL3 on both our IH vans and it does work. We can open the doors by having the towball on the lower two holes on the Witter tow bar and with a 1 inch spacer. I would agree with treblid that it’s nowhere near as sturdy as the Thule that we had before. Couldn’t open the doors though.

We’ve just ordered a new van and are keeping our options open. We haven’t ordered the towbar and have been watching LNB which is close to us and may well think sod the expense and go all out and get one of the swing out ones. Fingers crossed Jim gets a discount. We may well need to then uplate the van but it’s on the heavy chassis so is a paper exercise.
 
Re The Thule Tow Ball Rack which we use.. I should have added..

On our van, the only time you may need to open the rear doors while travailing is to access the gas locker to turn the gas on/off and to show staff at Eurotunnel it is off..

I solved this problem by fitting an Inspection Hatch inside the van.. I bought it from Gaslow .. it is purpose designed for this with an O ring seal ..



IMG_2298.jpeg
IMG_2299.jpeg

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carolyn said:
We’ve just ordered a new van and are keeping our options open.
Click to expand...
If I was starting again with a PVC, and didn't need a towbar for towing, I would go for the MEMO Van Swing that fixes directly to the chassis using similar mounting points as a towbar.
This saves some weight and is slightly easier to use as the pin to unlock it is nearer the side rather than in the middle.
 
GMLS said:
We had our towbar fitted to our A class at LNB.You can stay the night before at their premises but we stayed at a pub in Pilning 20mins away.They will also lend you a car to get around.If you are confident it's easier to do a pvc yourself though.We also have an Atera Strada DL as we also use it on the hatchback but there is also a hinge away option like this
Click to expand...

That is really helpful thanks. I have sent LNB an email to enquire
 
We like to be able to fully open our doors, when you regularly only stop a night or two you want to be able to get your chairs out easily to enjoy an hour or two in the sun!

Also it takes the stress out of being searched at the ferry! They really do seem to like the look of us every flippin time.
 
As I had a bike rack I made the choice to spend kn the light weight ebike 16kg with battery
If u sell the van I keep the bike the towbar would go with it and takes payload
 
Nanniemate said:
kn the light weight ebike 16kg with battery
Click to expand...
"kn". presumably a typo .. .. what lightweight ebike did you buy ..?

interested as we may also be looking soon

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