Bikes

Hi stoweyvan 

you can get several racks to fit flange-type towing brackets I.e 2 bolts, Witter etc. For use with van attached.

however I'm looking for a rack for 2 bikes to fit our detachable swan neck hitch. Can't find any that 'clamp' onto the actual neck, only ones for the flange type.

I take a bike a roof mounted cycle rack on a tall 4x4, Freelander & XC60. I use a small 4 tread aluminium set of steps which we carry in the van. Also handy for erecting awing etc..

I have always assumed that carrying bikes on the tow hitch would make the noseweight excessive.  We used to carry bikes on the roof of the car when we had saloons but since having 4x4s, we have carried folding bikes inside the car  -  I found I was struggling to get our normal bikes on the roof even using a folding platform.

My understanding of it is cycles on the towbar will not increase the trailers noseweight but add to it, so you have to look at the car and tow bracket capacity.

Cycles will add at a guess an extra 35kg for arguments sake.

My car has a maximum permitted noseweight of 150kg as do my tow bracket, most cars do not. I run with a caravan noseweight of about 80kg so could in effect carry cycles and still be within limits (providing I had clearance)

So what is the maximum plated weight on the tow bracket? does your noseweight of your trailer in normal use plus the weight of cycle(s) and carrier exceed the cars and/or tow bracket design.

Before spending any money I would suggest you have a look at where the rear corner of the car and the front corner of the caravan are on full lock.  It may be the only safe space would be mounted vertically over the hitch.

There was a special roof rack mentioned on a Discovery forum. It hoisted the cycles up onto the roof, but now I can't find the post!!

I am getting a rear cycle rack fitted to our Sprite Alpine tomorrow. I've tried everything - on the roof, did my shoulder in - on the towbar , weight pulled the caravan down and hauled into weighbridge by the police on the M11 for nose weight excess which it wasn't - in the caravan which damaged the caravan and finally in the car on a special Skoda Yeti rack - ok, the best solution but need to take car seats out and wheel off bikes so no room for anything else. The caravan bike rack is made by Thule and all in will be under £300 fitted. My last desperate attempt to make for an  life with the bikes easier.

2Blackcats.....

best place to have your bikes on the back of your van. Just remember to factor in approx 35kgs off your nose weight if carrying a couple of bikes. Don't forget your nose weight will need adjusting. Towed our 28ft Burstner with one on the back for years Carried 3 cycles most of the time.. Never an issue despite what the doomspreaders would have you believe on CT.

Tj

On the back of the caravan is fine IF people knew what nose weight was and bothered to A: check it and B: loaded the caravan properly, for the most part people either A: don't know what nose weight is or B: don't think is applies to them so they don't check it.

On the tow bar is ok but again it is down to nose weight of A: the car, B: the tow bar and C: the caravan. Adding weight to the tow bar usually means taking weight off the caravan hitch which means an unstable caravan unless you have a Land Rover where the nose weight of the car is usually 150kgs. Most adult bikes weigh around 16kgs, plus the rack, so two adult bikes plus the rack could weigh around 45kgs. If your car only has a nose weight limit of 85kgs you could be in a spot of bother.

As someone has mentioned, carry a small, light set of steps to help you get them on the roof, or put them in the caravan, if they are loaded correctly they won't do any damage.

We’ve used an Atera Roof Carrier system for our tandem for nearly 20 years on a variety of cars. It has an ingenious pneumatic arm that lifts the tandem into place. You can get them for solo cycles as well. Now we own a Ford Kuga SUV we find the lifting arm is too short, so we stand two plastic caravan steps beside the car, lift each wheel onto a caravan step, then clip on the Atera arm and click, up goes the tandem. We do have to be mindful of low bridges though.