Bike Racks: Advice Wanted

RSD7a

RSD7a

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We need to equip our Boxer PVC to carry push bikes. Up to 4 bikes (well 2 adults and 2 child). Experiences please!

I get nervous about the racks that hang off the back door like Fiamma's. Should I be?
And what about tow bar mounted racks? Are they any good and are there any that allow the PVC rear doors to open easily?
And where in earth in Scotland (preferably Edinburgh-ish) can you get them fitted?
 
I have no experience of this but my preference would be for a tow bar/ball mounted arrangement rather than hang that weight on the back door.
My son used a tow bar mounted carrier on his car (Volvo XC90) some time ago and I thought it was superb, carried 4 bikes and tilted to allow the back to open, different arrangement to a PVC. I doubt you'll get a 4 bike tow bar/ball that will allow you to open the rear doors of a PVC so maybe a door mount will be your only option. Will be interested to know how you get on.
 
We have a pvc and 2 e-bikes , went down the tow bar route , with an atera, tilt frame , I tripped over the legs so many times we have upgraded to a van swing
Expensive but worth it saving the face planting injuries
 

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andyjanet said:
We have a pvc and 2 e-bikes , went down the tow bar route , with an atera, tilt frame , I tripped over the legs so many times we have upgraded to a van swing
Expensive but worth it saving the face planting injuries
Click to expand...
Van swing??
 
RSD7a said:
We need to equip our Boxer PVC to carry push bikes. Up to 4 bikes (well 2 adults and 2 child). Experiences please!

I get nervous about the racks that hang off the back door like Fiamma's. Should I be?
And what about tow bar mounted racks? Are they any good and are there any that allow the PVC rear doors to open easily?
And where in earth in Scotland (preferably Edinburgh-ish) can you get them fitted?
Click to expand...
I think the racks that go onto the rear doors are fine. When loaded up I would think you would not want to open the door to make sure things are kept nice and straight though?
Are you talking about standard bikes or electric bikes? electric bikes tend to be heavier and you could be into overloading territory with multiple eBikes - they have a relatively low capacity and I think my Fiamma one, which is designed to take up to 4 bikes would be very close to being overloaded with just a pair of electric bikes.
The Tow Bar option might be the best one overall for taking the weight and depending on what you get might be a very flexible option as well? You can get dedicated towbar mounted bike carriers, or you could get a load carrier and fit bike rails to it - good for carrying bikes but also you can use it for other stuff as well. I have a Thule Load Carrier hanging off my tow bar and I use it to carry stuff like Kayaks, a Paddleboard, gazebo, etc, but recently added on a bike rail so I can also carry my eBike on it (rather than using the Bike rack fitted to the rear of the Motorhome).
 
RSD7a said:
And what about tow bar mounted racks? Are they any good and are there any that allow the PVC rear doors to open easily?
Click to expand...
When it comes to towbar mounted racks and wanting to easily open the rear doors, something like the van swing is a good option, the racks which hinge down might allow the doors to open, but it doesn't make it easy to access the rear of van. The van swing might look like a towbar, but you cannot use it for towing, if you want to retain the ability to tow without having to remove the van swing there is another rack, but I can't recall it's name.
 
colinm said:
When it comes to towbar mounted racks and wanting to easily open the rear doors, something like the van swing is a good option, the racks which hinge down might allow the doors to open, but it doesn't make it easy to access the rear of van. The van swing might look like a towbar, but you cannot use it for towing, if you want to retain the ability to tow without having to remove the van swing there is another rack, but I can't recall it's name.
Click to expand...
I have a vague recollection of a system which has some kind of built-in extension bar to the tow-bar mounted rack. so you can release the extension and the whole rack pulls back and allows access to the rear door.
Can't recall the name but I think I read about it when I was a VW owner and forum user? I believe it was a popular setup?
 
wildebus said:
I have a vague recollection of a system which has some kind of built-in extension bar to the tow-bar mounted rack. so you can release the extension and the whole rack pulls back and allows access to the rear door.
Can't recall the name but I think I read about it when I was a VW owner and forum user? I believe it was a popular setup?
Click to expand...

Think it was this? - https://bak-rak.com/product/box-rak-tumble-mount/

Bak-rak certainly rings a bell for me for load carriers.
 
The other one I was thinking of was 'busbiker', looking at their website and it looks like it can be combined with a towbar, but not used at the same time. The 'van swing' has to be unbolted and removed and a towbar fitted.
The colinm combined bike rack/ towbar (pat,pend.) , can be used as a bike rack and simply folded up to use as a towbar without use of tools, unfortunately it had a limited production run of one. 😜
 
My BIL has a van swing, and carries 2 electric bikes, my only criticism, is that it extends the distance from the back of the van quite a lot, and must add at least a metre to the o/a length.
I use a tow bar mounting Buzz rack (for 2 e bikes), this does tilt down, but still not enough to open the back doors.
 
The van swing adds 9 inches tow bar bracket to tow ball
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and to remove the van swing is 6 bolts and replace the two on the tow bar, I’ve had mine off regularly to tow a trailer
 
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