bike carrier for folding bikes on 2008 ducato

[johnlc]

I'm looking at getting two folding bikes to go on a bike carrier at the rear of my 2008 Ducato van.

The key reason for folding bikes is to keep as much visibility as possible through the rear windows.

I've seen the Fiamma 200DJ bike carrier for the Ducato but am told the bikes won't fit in a folded position.

Has anyone used this carrier with folding bikes? Is it possible to keep them folded?

Are there any other carriers I could consider for my van?

Given the Fiamma one can be placed at a low or high position at the back of the van, it seems the best one I have come across, and would use it in the lower position to aid rear window visibility, by retracting the saddle height as much as possible. But maybe there are others around that I don't know about.

Any information gratefully received.

[Billggski]

I'm assuming it's a panel van, as putting a folding bike on a bike rack is a bit counter productive.

When you fold them they are at least twice the width, so will need a four bike rack for two.

I use a folding bike so I can put it in the garage, or several standard bikes on a rack at the back.

All I can suggest is you go to somewhere like Halfords or Decathlon where they have a selection, be cheeky and see if they fit.

The alternative is a roof rack fitting.

[Keithl]

John,

 

Is the Fiamma 200DJ the kind which clamps around the edges of the door? If so I have read several reports of these racks damaging the doors quite severely!

 

Do a search on these forums and you should find at least one or two posts on this subject.

 

Keith.

[Guest JudgeMental]

IF it is a panel van, these door fitted racks are known to cause damage. If you decide to get one anyway, just carry the bikes unfolded and fit a rear view camera?

[colin]

I'm guessing it's due to the rear lounge you want max visibility whilst parked up? If so I think Mel might give you a better answer as she has had folding bikes on a rear door rack, although IIRC your rear doors are lower than hers.

[gocro]

Fit a tow bar then get a rack mounted to that, this will give you the lowest carrier and the clearest view without folding the bikes at all.And no danger of damaging the doors either.

[Mel B]

Johnic, as Colin has said, we have a Fiamma 200DJ rack on our PVC's rear door and also have folding bikes (albeit electric ones now).

 

I believe your camper is built on the standard height Ducato with a raised roof section added by East Nuek, whereas ours in on the high roof version and therefore our rear doors go right to the top of the roof. Looking at pictures of your type of PVC and ours both with the same bike rack on however they appear to be mounted in the same place.

 

When we put the bikes on the rack we remove the seat posts/saddles and store them inside, and also drop the handlebars down into their folded position to reduce the height of the bikes which doesn't make any difference to our being able to fasten them on as the securing arms go onto the frames of the bikes but obviously reduces the height of the bikes especially if we want to put the bike cover on. If rear vision is still not ideal for you then the other other option would be to get a rear view camera - they are quite cheap off ebay and not difficult to fit.

 

 

[Mel B]

Others have mentioned the damage caused to rear doors by bike racks mounted onto them, however I suspect that this may be caused, in some instances, to overloading them as they only have a 35kg maximum load and a lot of bikes individually weight over 20kg, indeed in our search for electric folding bikes this proved to be a difficult 'requirement' to meet but we managed in the end! :-D

[pepe63xnotuse]

Johnlc..

If you haven't already found them, here's one thread in which the damage to the rear doors is discussed

(..and Keithl's 2nd post contains a link to some photos).

 

https://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/Motorhomes/Motorhome-Matters/Fitting-a-bike-rack-to-a-2014-Peugeot-PVC-/34101/

(..and as the top fixing on the rack shown in the photos appears to mounted only just above the window line, I can't see how much lower they could've put it...?)

 

As you are looking at folders, when folded they'll be twice as deep and will therefore be setting the load/forces even further out, *increasing the leverage on the door lips... :-S

(*or should that be "creasing" ?... ;-))

 

Can you not just stuff 'em into a couple of bags and strap them down inside the van?..If not, I'd certainly be looking at a towbar mounted solution, rather than just clamping racks to the rear doors....

[Guest JudgeMental]

Folders pretty horrible to ride to be honest compared to full size bikes.......just fit a camera. The Truma rack is rated at 50 kg and that's what we got originally and they are junk, first one fell to bits, replacement likewise and both our electric bikes with batteries removed weighed approx 17kg each :-S

 

We now have the far superior to anything out there, busbiker NL swing out bike rack, not cheap but a suburb piece of equipment with a 80kg weight capacity . That can be swung open with bikes loaded without concern........

[MickyDee]

Hi, we have 2 folding bikes and opted for Westfalia bike carrier.This mounts onto a tow ball and takes two electric bikes easily.Not cheap but very solid and safe , The westfalia tow bar is detachable as well. :-)

[johnlc]

Thanks to everyone for your comments - really helpful.

Yes I wanted folding bikes to keep as much visibility as possible, particularly when driving, as I am struggling to adapt to just driving on mirrors. Given our rear lounge layout it would be nice to see something out of the rear window when parked up as well.

I realise that folding bikes may not be as good a ride as normal sized bikes but am prepared to compromise on that as we only want them for cycle tracks and shorter journeys so we don't need to move the van.

I definitely don't want the depth of a four bike rack so as to keep the bikes folded, so would do what Mel B suggested and lower the saddle height as much as possible and fold the handlebars down.

I was aware of problems with damaged van doors from fitting bike racks, but did wonder whether this was a result of overloading the rack, although I'm sure that even now, Fiat doesn't "design in" strength for the doors to take bike racks!

I had vaguely considered the tow bar/ball option but wasn't comfy with the idea.

This is partly with it making the length of the van/bike rack even longer, but mainly to do with adding more weight to the back end of the van.

I knew my van wasn't generous on payload as I insisted the seller weigh it before I bought it.

I'm currently getting a 200kg upplating via SVTech and could get another 100kg allocated to the rear axle with the addition of air suspension.

Of course I had thought about putting folding bikes inside the van but as it is only a 5m long van there isn't a lot of room! According to measurements of bikes I could fit them between the rear bench seats but then where do we go when we stop during the day and want to eat in the van! I don't want to be stuck in the cab seats all day - the change of scenery sitting in the back is essential, especially if stuck in the van in the English summer rain!

Mel B - thanks for digging out the pictures of your and my vans. ( The Fifer is identical to mine bar the last 3 numbers of the reg. plate!). Am I right in thinking that the bike rack brackets on your van fit on top of the door? Presumably this stops the "slipping down the door" problem shown on an Autosleeper Symbol in another thread?

So I can consider all the options would you let me know what the rear view camera kit was that you bought. I thought they were really expensive but maybe not.

Finally, If anybody could recommend a towbar kit they have used which is as light and cheap as possible I'll look into that as well.

Thank you again everyone - I really appreciate it.

John

[colin]

As far as driving with restrictive rear view, I wouldn't worry about that, my van like many others doesn't even have an interior rear view mirror you get used to it.

I'm a bit puzzled that the EN van Mel's posted seems to have a high rack but without the secondary frame set high.

Mels rack is like ours (I think) and the clamps go to the side of door, I've considered making extra brackets that go to top of door.

I see no reason that you would need a 4 bike rack, a bit of though whilst mounting the bikes should sort that, what you might need to do is get a longer top bar to keep the bikes 'apart'.

[Mel B]

John, as we have the full height doors the upper horizontal securing bar/clamp sits into the part of the door that is indented/angled - you can see it on the left side rear door, and this 'should' prevent the rack dropping down. As your doors only go part way up, the point where the upper section of rack attaches appears to be the very top of them with no indented bit, so I would suggest you check on how suitable it is to attach a rack to your rear door and whether it is strong enough.

 

As for a camera kit, this is the sort of thing we have, instead of 'hard wiring' it into the ignition though we have it on a 12v cig socket plug so we can have it on all the time as a rear view camera and means that we haven't invalidated our camper's warranty by messing with the wiring.

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Waterproof-18-IR-Car-Reverse-camera-7-Car-Monitor-Mirror-Car-Rearview-Kit-UK-/271454434758?pt=UK_In_Car_Technology&hash=item3f33f1f5c6

[bobalobs]

On our PVC we have a Fiamma rack in the lower position but you need a trailer board as the number plate on the van is partially blocked and friends have been stopped by the Police for this. At the higher mounting no problems over visibility of the number plate but for the shorter of us difficult to fit the bikes and impossible without a stool !

[Guest JudgeMental]

problem with towbar mounted racks is you cant open rear doors, so a gas inspection on tunnel crossing a real hassle, if gas bottles accessed through rear doors that is.......folders with small wheels are very skittish and lack grip, certainly not suitable for off road bike trails!

[johnlc]

Mel - I see what you mean now about the difference between the doors on your van and mine.

I have previously asked East Neuk about fitting the Fiamma rack as they offer that as an option on new vans. One person I spoke to said the bike rack brackets would have to be cut down by 5mm because of the GRP roof that East Neuk fits. Another person, also at the factory, I spoke to said no adjustments were necessary! I'm not sure what or who to believe!

I'm very surprised at the price of the reversing camera system. I thought they were hundreds of pounds.

Do you find it effective for general rear vision when driving, not just reversing? The blurb says it can also be used at night, which seems surprising.

This would get round the rear view problem, and allow full size bikes to be put on the bike rack - if I feel confident that the rack wouldn't damage the rear doors. I can see how the indent in your style of door should help avoid slippage.

The only other option is the towbar - which I'm not really keen on .......

I'm only 3 months in to it and this motorhome malarkey is getting more and more expensive!

(But I love it)

 

Thanks

 

John

[Brian Kirby]

I suggest you try any folding bikes before buying, ideally over some distance. Most folders have small wheels and, although many tracks are surfaced (tarmac), some are not, or vary between surfaced and unsurfaced, or are simply rough. Small wheels over uneven surfaces a recipe for comfort are not! :-) Larger wheels even out the irregularities far better, so riding comfort is greater.

 

Although implied above, folders are invariably heavier than rigid frames, and are somehow just "dead" to ride. It's a bit like pedalling a lead bike!.

 

Also, larger wheels also improve stability, so control is better.

 

Final point is that in my experience bikes carried on rear racks, whether covered or not, get plastered in bad weather. I don't know if the wet plus road dirt would adversely affect the folding mechanism, or its safety, but it seems unlikely to improve either!

 

Have you looked at Airnimal bikes, as a possible compromise? Not cheap, but a half decent folder that is rideable won't be cheap in any case.