Bike racks inside the MH Garage

I am puzzled as to why you think that the Fiamma racks are not up to muster. It seems to me that would be ideal for securing bikes in a motorhome garage. On my previous van I had two 22 kilo ebikes on a Fiamma Pro bike rack for a number of years without incident I can't imagine you would have any difficulty inside a garage? Thule do this system which I imagine is more expensive (?) but it seems to do the same job as the Fiamma.

David

I've got two racks bolted through the floor of my Carthago Compactline with penny washers. They were in the van when I bought it, so I don't know the make. They each have a pair of struts that swivel up from the rack channel with a quick release clamp mechanism that grips the main crossbeam of the bike frame. Keep my two folding (20Kg) Ebikes secure. I've done a cursory Google search to try and find the make without success.

Is there anything to be taken here from the technique we use transporting an E bike and a conventional, in the extended boot of our Discovery? It would form the basis of my initial thoughts, if facing carrying them in a  HM garage.

Cut a piece of decking plank a close fit across the boot, and fixed the bike racks to that.
Here I envisage two well spaced planks might be used, much like railway sleepers.

A further permutation in our case, the bikes travel without the front wheels in place, using a pair of fork clamps bolted to the “sleeper”. Doing this minimises the height, for us that is essential. Each rear wheel is simply strapped down, which could be to another "sleeper".

This just only illustrates the mounting concept, but note there are differing axle systems and therefore, for each the appropriate clamp are of course required. 

LINK

Thank you chaps, most helpful. I appreciate your experience and willingness to help. I guess my concern over the Fiamma was just that these new bikes seem so heavy compared to my old MTB and I just felt the bikes might be too much for it. No dealers anywhere near here that actually have one to go and see (they all have the book though!) so will investigate the Thule System David but I might be tight on the Hight. Cyberyacht I think the idea of bolting through and securing below is a great one, I just did not like the self tapper idea and I thought OCSID your setup looked great so will investigate that too. Thanks once again!

Derek

Hi Derek, We dont have a MH but have recently been looking at how to carry an ebike.

Due to the weight wished to avoid a roof mounted rack, which we have used up to now, but looking at Thule info shows that almost all their racks are not rated for the weight.

Then spoke to the bike shop and they were very clear that, in their opinion, the only roof mounted rack suitable is the Thue Upride.

So looked at other options but,as we tow, using a tow ball mount is out and MAXXRAXX options are a possibility but very expensive for my non flange towbar.

So that has left carrying in the car, not ideal but as we have a roof box can use that to offset the lost space and the set up that ocsid mentioned is what we have considered however, i would have a concern/question re using in a MH garage.

The concern is that the bike shop concern was due to the lateral forces when cornering being too much, and resulting in damage to the bike and/or car, and these would likely be far more prevalent mounted across the MH than 'inline' on the car roof.

My question is, why do you need a rack?

Is there not enough room to simply put it in and secure them?

My bike is just over 19 kg with the battery removed and I would rather have the flexibility, if possible, of not being restricted to a fixed position within the garage.

Our MH friends had a flange mounted towbar fitted to take a suitable, weight capacity, rack.

Let us know how you get on!

A&J, Dellers is not seeking a bike rack as you know it but needs a rack system to secure his bikes inside the garage of his MH. 

I was trying to show how I arrived at considering the set up that ocsid described, and Dellers said he liked, and the potential issues of mounting a bike on a thru fork mount.

Mitchell Cycles, which you will likely be aware of, have made it clear that, in their opinion, fork mounts are unsuitable for the weight of ebikes, due to the lateral forces which, it would seem, will be greater with a bike mounted across the vehicle rather than inline.

If the bike can fit inside without taking the front wheel off it might be possible to secure it in a satisfactory manner-but, equally, maybe it wont or there are other reasons for Dellers wanting a rack.

I see. You made no mention of Ocsid's post and it was your words

"My question is, why do you need a rack?

Is there not enough room to simply put it in and secure them?"

which led me to think you had the wrong end of the stick as Dellers is trying to do exactly that - secure his bikes in the garage by means of a purpose designed system.

"So that has left carrying in the car, not ideal but as we have a roof box can use that to offset the lost space and the set up that ocsid mentioned is what we have considered however, i would have a concern/question re using in a MH garage."

As above, I did mention ocids post and was wondering if the 'purpose designed system' might have issues not considered by Dellers-I was quite happy to consider using a thru fork mount till the concerns were made clear to me.

I think you will be fine with a Fiamma Garage Plus system to be honest. Fiamma equipment is very robust, we carry two ebikes on back of our MH with no problems on a Fiamma rack, and the in garage option looks very similar. I am sure some retailers will offer a fitting service if you don’t fancy doing it yourself. Transport the batteries elsewhere to spread the load whilst on the move. It will be easier getting bikes into garage without them anyway.

One thought before you buy.... you are still going to have to lift bikes up into garage, or rig up a little ramp. You might want to check you are ok with this and the weight before buying garage system. Hope all goes well👍

Edit.    Just watched little video of Thule velo slide. If you are ok lifting ebikes weight up onto that rack, it does look a better option. Fiamma racks are good, but Thule is a better quality product, better fittings by far. Our MH came with Fiamma rack fitted, and it’s fine. But when we wanted something for back of our car for everyday use, we opted for Thule.