Unanswered Saris Bones 3 for Ebike and Voodoo non-ebike?

[Vaiai]

I have just got a Cube Reaction ebike and to go riding with my son (standard mid range voodoo from Halfords so not too heavy) we need to pull out our partially fitted dog cage every time we go anywhere to ride.

We don't have a towbar and likely changing the car to a van soon anyway but in the meantime want to find a rear mounted rack that would work for us.

I was looking at a Saris Bones 3 as it's rated to carry 3 bikes - would it be safe to carry the 2 bikes if they are under that recommended total weight or is there still a maximum for each of the 3 bike holding sections?
Battery and front wheel could be removed to reduce weight further.

Or have you guys any alternatives?

 

[FSEngineer]

Saris specifies a 35lb (15.9kg) limit per bike for the Bones 3, so if you could get the ebike under that limit by removing wheels/battery and be able to fit the frame on the rack that would probably work. If not I'd be wary of using it, because whilst the overall rack might not be overloaded the seat tube restraint that stops the bikes swinging back and forwards will be if you exceed the individual bike limit.

As an (admittedly slightly expensive) alternative, have you looked at seasucker racks? Their two bike mini-bomber rack will take 20kg per bike, and you have to take the front wheel out to fit the bikes to the rack so should be able to easily get within that. As a bonus they pretty much fit anything short of a soft top.

 

[IanVersion2]

I don't believe there are any boot mounted carriers which are rated to carry even 1 eBike. That doesn't necessarily mean they are unsafe to use, but you'd be using the product outside of the manufacturers guidelines. So no guarantee,and you might even affect your car insurance in the event of an accident.

I'm sure plenty of people do it. Would I? Probably not.

 

[slypanda]

I have toyota mr2 Mk3 soft top with no tow bar. My options are severely limited until I can buy a van. I can take the passenger seat out and fit in with a ratchet strap but that's not ideal and looks kinda stupid. My solution, just bought a Saris Bones Ex 3 , rated at 45kg for the bikes, 15kg per bike.

My ebike weighs 24.5kg, take battery out that'll get it down to 20kg, take front wheel off, haven't done the math but has to be at least another 1-2kg. Let's say iti s 1.5, take us down to 18.5, maybe go the back wheel as well, that be about 16/17 kg give or take, that pretty much takes us near enough to the per bike weight limit, and I only intend to carry one. Give or take I think it's going to work!

Arrives early next week, will report back how it goes. Wish me luck!