Towbar rack for the e sommet

[Wooders]

Hi all,

First time poster, currently excitingly awaiting delivery of an e sommet for my partner - never has a gift been as much for me as it was for her!

I'm trying to work out what bike rack will work the sommet. The rack I really fancy is the Westfalia BC60/70/80/Bikelander as it folds up really neatly, but I'm not sure if the arms will actually be able to clamp onto the sommet anywhere as the hoop looks pretty low:

It looks the inner clamp would be right around the seattube/shock area, which looks mighty congested, I can't see there's a lot to clamp onto there?

The other option seems to be clamping the downtube where the battery goes (with the battery off obviously), but I'm not sure if the clamps will open wide enough for that (they say the limit is a downtube diameter of 80mm)? Could someone possibly stick a tape measure across the down tube under the battery and tell me how wide it is (green arrow dimension below)?

It would be really useful to know which racks people have tried successfully (and a pic would be super useful too, I'm trying to mentally map where the arms will go when I try and mount an Intense Spider too!)

 

[Akiwi]

Those clamps can be moved around to wherever they suit best. E.g. move it up to the topbar.
I have a similar rack from Thule. I used to have a cheap no name thing, so I am thoriughly enjoying the build quality and convenience of the Thule rack.

 

[ggx]

I have a Thule (3 bikes) and it is similar to that. Some strugle with the clamps carrying 3 bikes

 

[Wooders]

Thanks @Akiwi and @ggx, do you know which model of Thules you have?

 

[flash]

I have a Thule 933. It also folds and has the lower attachment bracket. I attach two eBikes via the downtube. I do not need to remove the batteries. My bikes are Meridas with the external Shimano batteries.

 

[gtaadicto]

Hi
The downtube width on my E-Sommet VR is 69mm.

 

[Wooders]

Brilliant, many thanks both. The Westfalia rack is supposed to be good for tube diameters up to 80mm so it sounds like it could work.

 

[ggx]

I have the velocompact 3

 

[steve_sordy]

I went for the Thule VeoSpace XT 938. It is designed for eBikes and Fat bikes. It has wider channels for the fatter wheels and it is a stronger build and can take up to 60kg in total and a max bike weight of 30kg. The jaws open very wide and I have had no difficulty clamping my Focus Jam2 on the top tube. Because it's a carbon frame, I use some pipe insulation on the top tube before clamping the jaws. The clamp arms can easily be removed and placed anywhere on the frame of the rack for easy access to the bike(s).

Overall, it is very good kit, but they really should spend another 50p on better quality locks, as I never seem to be able to slide the key in first time, its always a few seconds of fiddling! It's a minor annoyance and it would not stop me from buying another rack.

It weighs 18kg, vs the lighter version that weighs just over 14kg I believe.

I bought on-line from Halfords and opted for the "click and collect" option in which they deliver to your local Halfords. I did not see it on the website, but I got 10% off for using "click and collect". That was a nice surprise.

PS: I fitted two "L" brackets to the wall inside my garage and I store the rack on that. It is such an odd shape that it really is the best place for it.

 

[Wooders]

Thanks @steve_sordy, I hadn't spotted that one, that has good width between the bikes and allows for a 1.3m wheelbase, which I'm thinking I'm going to need when I replace the Spider one day.

The only downside is that it's too big to go in the back of the Golf without the seats down. In an ideal world I'd be able to take it off and put it in the car when we're away for the day on the bikes.

I'd been discounting the Strada M Sport 2 for the same reason, but it may be I just have to live with leaving it on the car (possibly definitely over-thinking this...!)

 

[Gary]

Yeah. I think you might be over thinking this slightly. My E-sommet will fit on either of my rear towbar mounted racks (both thule. One is a 3 bike wheel support rack and the other is a 2 prong 2 bike hanging xpress rack. It will also fit on my GFs roof mounted thule bike racks fine too.
Other than those saris bones plastic racks I can't think of many racks it wouldn't fit on.

 

[steve_sordy]

Why do you want to put the rack in the boot of your car? Are you concerned it might otherwise get stolen? They lock to the tow bar ball.

 

[Trail Doug]

Watch the spacing between two boost spaced bikes on older racks with wheel troughs. The clearance between the bikes can get tight enough that there isnt any and you need some padding forced between them.

I also run a beefy 12mm diameter cable lock similar to the one below through the bikes, rack and around the towbar bracket/towing eye under the car and secured with a beefy padlock. This acts as an extra lock for both the rack whilst out on the trails and more importantly the bikes whilst stopping at lights/nipping into shops.

You pass one end through the towbar/tow eye and then pass the other end through the loop and pull it tight then you run the cable through the rack and bikes and use the padlock to secure the other cable back onto the cable after looping through the last bike. It's good enough to give stop opportunist thieves.

Steel Security Cable 12mm x 1.8m

 

[Gary]

Just don't ever leave the bike unattended on the rack.
that cable can be cut in seconds

 

[Trail Doug]

There's always someone in the car when I run into a shop but the bike locks on the tow bar racks themselves are that poor they can rip them off at traffic lights or parked up that quickly that someone in the car doesn't have time to react. I'm only trying to create enough time to either drive off or get out the car. Same principal with the ground anchor, motor bike lock, security door, alarm etc. If a professional thief really wants them and have come equipped they're going to get them but if it's going to take longer with lots of noise then less serious thieves will think twice.

 

[Wooders]

Why do you want to put the rack in the boot of your car? Are you concerned it might otherwise get stolen? They lock to the tow bar ball.

That's exactly what I was thinking about yes. More for if we were parked up in a lay-by than leaving it in a trail centre car park

 

[Trail Doug]

That's exactly what I was thinking about yes. More for if we were parked up in a lay-by than leaving it in a trail centre car park

I could post up on here how to get a Thule tow bar rack like Akiwi's off the back of a car without the key in under a minute but that wouldn't be wise. The manufacturer lock is only really designed to stop the clamping mechanism working loose as you drive. As Gary says, if an experienced thief really wants your rack, bike or both whilst you've left them unattended then they will come with the tools required to get them whether it's on the back of you're car, inside it or in your van. Some of them don't even wait for things to be unattended!

 

[steve_sordy]

ooh err!

 

[Akiwi]

I think that removing the battery is also a good thief preventative measure! As who wants to steal a bike and have to invest €500 before they can even use it. Of course in addition to other locks.

 

[Wooders]

I completely agree re a professional thief. The car has a removable tow bar neck too, so taking off the rack and the neck and sticking them in the boot then stops the car screaming "bikers returning soon with shiny things to steal" or "there might be an expensive rack in the car" to thieves casing the car park.

At the end of the day it's all insured, it's just a PITA to come back after a hard day in the saddle and find there's no way to get the bikes home!

 

[gtaadicto]

I'm in Spain and I always leave the rack on the towbar while my car is parked, haven't had any issues with thieves in the last 6 years. Maybe it is not so appealing for thieves as the rack is not the most expensive one and it is quite beaten up after several years of abuse

 

[flash]

While it's certainly possible for a determined thief to steal my bikes off my locked Thule, with the right tools, it's highly unlikely that it will happen while I stop for a coffee, if the Thule locks are used.

And although a thief could just steal the whole carrier and hitch, I've never had a problem. I do occasionally put the rack in the back of my Landrover but that's only if I'm thinking I don't want it sticking out as someone might hit it as it make a big car even bigger. If I'm leaving the bike for any period of time my Landrover also has a rated tow point next to the electrical connector so I attach a cable lock (like Trail Doug showed above) and remove the battery.

After that insurance will get me a shiny new bike.....

Gordon

 

[R120]

In London they would nick the rack whether it had a bike on or not - lost count of the number of mates in London who have had their rood rack mounts/tow bar mounts stolen.

 

[Polaris]

I have a whispbar 3 bike carrier which are not too well known in the UK but are huge in the US and Aus, holds the sommet perfectly and folds down neatly, even legthways to get it nicely away in the boot when its not atached. better build quality than the thule velospace xt3 I returned before it as well.

 

[Wooders]

Thanks everyone for all the info and suggestions.

In the end, after a huge amount of over-thinking, I went for the Atera STRADA E-bike ML 2 bike carrier.

I've done 3 trips with it now and I'm pleased with it; it holds the bikes securely and does the job well. Observations and thoughts for anyone coming to this later:

• The ML2 has rachet straps that go round the frame rather than clamps - that's slightly more faff, but it means you don't have to do them up as tight to secure the bike (that strap is just stopping the bike swaying) which I really like as I have thin walled carbon bikes to go on it too sometimes. I wrap a strip of inner tube around the frame first too.
• The 23cm between the bikes is about the minimum I'd want for bikes with two bikes with Boost spacing to avoid rubbing. The bikes only clear each other by a couple of cm.
• I got the long version of the rack because the max wheelbase for a lot of the racks is 1200mm and even our small Sommet is touching on that length
• Folding mechanism works fine with the bikes on and isn't too heavy
• I like that you can get spare parts for the Atera racks
• The supplied rachet straps are fine for the Sommet's tyres