Transporting bikes (1 Viewer)

[Ashie333]

Hi there, can I ask how many people store their bicycles inside the van versus using an external bike rack? Is bikes being stolen a big problem? Thanks Ash

 

[Gingernuts]

External bike rack …….2x unsuccessful attempts at theft, one in Dieppe one in Morroco!
Cheap Halfords full suspension mountain bike!
Cheap ish Raleigh array electric bike.

The charger and battery for theArray were inside the van!

Both were secured with a (gold secure) motorcycle chain lock so the bikes weren’t going anywhere unless they cut the chain or rack!

A new leccy bike over £4K wouldn’t put it on an external rack as I reckon you’re advertising for it to be stolen imho

 

[Al n Val]

Kept ours on the rear rack for 2 years, 4 locks inc 2 motorbike locks and an alarm lock, also had them covered, no issues at all.

We now had a new motorhome with large garage so the new bikes go in there, out of sight out of mind

 

[Phill D]

Hi there and welcome

We always secure our bikes on the rack with some decent quality locks/ bike chain.
If it’s a decent bike or electric take it off on arrival and secure it to the van.
I have a shackle that fixes to the bike to the chassis by its secure chain.

 

[Guigsy]

I can take the Thule rack off the back of my van in about 2 minutes with a screwdriver. Plus, it's all aluminium tubing, so an angle grinder would slice it in seconds.

If I'm transporting my gravel or mountain bike, I use a couple of heavy d-locks, some cable loops and the alarm loop. Someone that really wanted my bike could still take it if they didn't care about the noise. And the bikes are security marked.

If we're touring, we take the Bromptons. They fold up small enough to fit in the lockers.

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[Barchetta47]

We store one electric Dutch style eBike (£3k) and a mid range bike on a rack under a decent cover. We use gold standard locks. In 6 years 60k miles Morocco and all over Europe we haven’t had a problem, we have no garage so no other option for us.

I ran a thread last year to try and find out if many people had had their bikes stolen from racks. The number was very low. However as some people said it only takes one person and your bike is gone. In my mind that’s what insurance is for.

Travelling around Europe, that’s where we are mostly, almost everyone takes electric bikes with them and despite having garages many people still put their bikes on an external rack.

In summary if some wants to steal your bike from your rack they will. For me it’s not something I lose sleep over and I wouldn’t let it dictate my choice of motorhome.

 

[Howard B]

We have folding electric Raleigh bikes which live in the garage.

 

[VXman]

Did use to keep them in the garage but now on a rack. Only used the rack for one long trip (2 months) but didn't have any problems. I lock the bikes to the rack with gold standard locks and remove the batteries (to reduce the weight on the rear as much as a safety action)

It would need a serious thief to spend time sawing through the locks and removing them from the rack.

 

[Blisteringblue]

We bought a couple of cheap folding electric bikes and manage to keep them inside when travelling with a 6m PVC. When stopped We can get one behind the swivel passenger seat and one fits under the front dinette table.

If on a proper site for a few days we tend to store under a cover outside, chained but without the batteries of course