I have been searching for a suitable solution to transport my bikes in the van for a while now. It has been bungee strapped to the sides so far which is not ideal. I met the Bikestow company at the recent NEC Cycle show where they had a prototype on show. This version didn’t have wide enough slots to take an oversize tyre. They went away and redesigned the rack slightly and now this improved version is available. It will take a 3″ width tyre and wheel sizes of 26″, 27.5″ and 29″.
The rack needs the V plates assembled, but this is easy and takes 5 minutes. everything fitted perfectly. The stand folds flat when not in use and takes a second to set up. It has a wide base that makes it incredibly stable and I found that it didn’t move even with my erratic driving. There are holes in the base to allow you to strap it down and I will probably make some brackets in order to secure it firmly.
Loading the bike is simple – undo the thumbscrew holding the plate and slide it up. Wheel the bike in backwards and then drop the plate onto the tyre and do up the thumbscrew. It holds the bike very well, no movement whatsoever. I had three bikes in it at the weekend and apart from having to squeeze past them to get at the plates, it worked seamlessly.
I have a Transit Custom M Sport LWB. It has a row of seats behind the driver and the bike fits with several inches to spare. My Cube is an XL and my Mondraker is also an XL and one of the longest bikes I have seen and its still fits. They do a 2 and a 4 bike version in both plain and laminated. Mine is laminated (black). The plain version retails at £199 and the laminated version at £289. I appreciate that is not cheap but this is a quality product so in my opinion worth it.
Check them out here: BikeStow
