ebike bike rack / bike carrier / towbar / transportation - issue and solution

[Jdog]

Hi all,

Apologies for the ridiculous title but when searching for a solution to this issue myself I struggled to find what I was looking for so I've tried to cover all bases when sharing my experience, issues and solutions to carrying these 20kg+ ebikes...

Pre owning an ebike I always used the Thule ProRide roof mounted bike rack and never had any issues however when I switched to an ebike I encountered a number of issues:

First issue - I couldn't clamp onto my downtube as the integrated battery has added some girth meaning the clamp doesn't fit...rack deemed useless.
Second issue - I then noticed that roof mounted racks are only suitable for 20kg but I am yet to see a sub 20kg ebike...rack deemed useless.
Third issue - ebikes are too bloody heavy to lift above your head to roof mount...arms deemed useless, gym a possible fix.

So I decided it was time to upgrade my transportation system and opted for a towbar mounted bike rack.
The rack of choice was the Thule VeloCompact 927 however my problems didn't stop there...when I received my bike rack from the brilliant and competitively priced Skippys Roof Racks (find him on ebay for best deals) I found that my 2020 Specialized Kenevo in size S3 does not fit as the wheelbase is too long for the bike rack straps however I found a simple, cheap and manufacturer solution in the form of a set of £10 Thule XXL wheel straps from amazon and once fitted all my issues have been resolved and I am happily transporting my ebike in what I feel is the safest was outside of the car.

I highly recommend the Thule VeloCompact 927 3 bike rack, it's a well made bit of kit, ebike weight suitable and effortless for ebikes and at the time of writing this I have used the rack around 10 time and it's absolutely solid, no movement at all. No damage or rubbing to the bike and I've not had any wear on my towbar either.

I also got a great deal on towtrust towbar from Towbars-UK normal RRP is £400 but I picked mine up for £225 with the 7 pin electric kit and relay for the can bus network on my car. I will say though that the fitting of the towbar was fun...next time I would get it fitted professionally almost regardless of cost .

I hope this has helped and I be keen to see other peoples transportation solutions (yes I have seen the van thread)

Thanks,
J

 

[Swissrider]

Note that the Vélo space x2 already comes with longer straps as it is especially made for bigger bikes. My Kenevo fits fine and it is totally solid with Kenevo and Levo loaded up.

 

[ebikerlancs]

My car is not type approved for towing despite being a large 300bhp car more than capable of pulling most things. So no tow bar for me, going to be fun lifting it up onto the roof. I think with battery removed many models should just about come under 20kg and Thule do an ebike specific roof holder.

 

[Jdog]

Note that the Vélo space x2 already comes with longer straps as it is especially made for bigger bikes. My Kenevo fits fine and it is totally solid with Kenevo and Levo loaded up.

This would have been the prime information I was saying I couldn't find great for everyone else to know though!

 

[Jdog]

My car is not type approved for towing despite being a large 300bhp car more than capable of pulling most things. So no tow bar for me, going to be fun lifting it up onto the roof. I think with battery removed many models should just about come under 20kg and Thule do an ebike specific roof holder.

I tried the Thule Ebike roof rack but it was really average, I found it to be flimsy and the quality just didn't fill me with confidence to carry a 5k ebike and as you can probably tell I am a Thule fan boy so was surprised by this.

I never really contemplated removing the battery as the weight was only a secondary issue after the rack not fitting the frame but it is a very good point you make.

 

[Jdog]

Thought I’d just share the picture of the difference in length between the normal Thule bike straps and the XXL ones

 

[steve_sordy]

My car is not type approved for towing despite being a large 300bhp car more than capable of pulling most things. So no tow bar for me, going to be fun lifting it up onto the roof. I think with battery removed many models should just about come under 20kg and Thule do an ebike specific roof holder.

Your car may not be approved for towing because it is too light. But you won't be towing anything! You will be carrying a bike rack, not towing a trailer or a caravan. Or is the back end of your car not designed to have a tow bar fitted?
When I had a tow bar fitted to my Audi A5, they unbolted an alloy heavy gauge complex-looking channel section from underneath the rear of the car and refitted something else with the tow bar gubbins welded to it. Maybe the design of your car does not allow for this modification?

 

[Howz]

Have just done the same, bought a new towbar from eBay for £96, bespoke electric kit used from eBay for £40....fitted them both myself. I then did lots of research for towbar carriers and found that Dutch company Twinny do a normal bike carrier with a capacity of 50kg, so potentially I could carry 2 ebikes, anyway found one again used on eBay for £90, only done one trip so far, all seems good.

 

[ebikerlancs]

Your car may not be approved for towing because it is too light. But you won't be towing anything! You will be carrying a bike rack, not towing a trailer or a caravan. Or is the back end of your car not designed to have a tow bar fitted?
When I had a tow bar fitted to my Audi A5, they unbolted an alloy heavy gauge complex-looking channel section from underneath the rear of the car and refitted something else with the tow bar gubbins welded to it. Maybe the design of your car does not allow for this modification?

MB CLS so def heavy enough. I'm thinking the height of the bumper is probably part of the reason they didn't type approve as would probably need an unsightly cut out. That said just done a google image search and there are some in NZ with tow bars with no bumper mods.

Would this be legal then in the UK as I'm not towing anything, it's just a bike rack?

 

[steve_sordy]

..............

Would this be legal then in the UK as I'm not towing anything, it's just a bike rack?

No idea, sorry. But I expect that your insurance company won't be too pleased if Mercedes say your car is unsuitable.

I had to pay an additional 10% on my premium just to fit a tow bar.

 

[Rich-EMTB-UK]

Your car may not be approved for towing because it is too light. But you won't be towing anything! You will be carrying a bike rack, not towing a trailer or a caravan. Or is the back end of your car not designed to have a tow bar fitted?
When I had a tow bar fitted to my Audi A5, they unbolted an alloy heavy gauge complex-looking channel section from underneath the rear of the car and refitted something else with the tow bar gubbins welded to it. Maybe the design of your car does not allow for this modification?

if your car is not approved to tow then you would find that you are not insured using a tow bar and rack of any kind I would expect.

Worth a mention that there are no separate regulations based on what you fit to the tow bar its either manufacturer approved and tested or it isn't.