Looking at possibly getting a bike rack for the car, which is safely capable of carrying two electric bikes, car is a 2011 Nissan Note. At the moment it would carry a Batribike Diamond Pro XL and a non electric Marin San Raphel, hopefully I will make up my mind what e bike to buy soon, it would be something along the lines of Wisper Classic. I am looking at a budget of £ 150 max, not including electrics and number plate board should I need them. Needs to be easy to fit, as some of the cheaper ones I have seen look arkward to fit and not very substantial. If it makes it easier and safer we can take the batteries out of the bikes to save weight on the rack.
Bike Rack
- Thread starter denwyn
- Start date
Hi; have a trawl through Ebay for Thule cycle carriers - if you have a towbar they fit with very little effort and are rock solid in use.
Happy hunting!
Happy hunting!
As timidtom says the way to go is a tow bar rack, fit in a minute and solid. I have been using one for a few years with two Wispers on with no problems.
No tow bar on the car, i can see it is probably the safest system to use,expensive though with cost of getting a tow bar fitted, after spending £1000 on her new bike, i may have to look more down market for mine.I reckon the cost of a towbar and electrics around £250 approx fitted, and say £200 for SH rack. I could end up with a Woosh bike : (
I have this rack on my car http://www.towbarsdirect.co.uk/cyclecarriersPrius.htm
They may well do one for your car, I find a brilliant design, takes up little room in the boot yet is so sturdy.
They may well do one for your car, I find a brilliant design, takes up little room in the boot yet is so sturdy.
Oops...sorry just a bit of fun, I really am considering a Woosh bike, they look good value, I just need to be sure I get the right one, pity they dont sell through dealers, but the I would imagine the price would go up.
Not heard anything about a new bike from them. I had more or less ruled out the Big Bear, it looks far to big and bulky for me, i was looking at the CD or CDL, not to sure on which would be a best buy, i think i will go ahead with the tow bar though, as we would both like to take our bikes away for holidays etc. This would take a big portion of my bike budget, so i am looking at Woosh as probably my best buy, looked at a Freego Hawk, but the Woosh CD / CDL looks a better buy to me, and almost £200 cheaper
If you get your Towbar, i can recommend this 2 bike Thule g921, £255 from Retto, that includes delivery to UK.
Click here
It has a 46kg limit, i can take 2 Woosh bikes (46 / 47kg) with battery's removed, and it weighs about 13kgs on its own.
I means i can have a nose weight of 59/60 kg but im reliably informed that my 50kg limit (nose weight) on my i20 is really only for towing, and the bikes should be ok despite the extra 9kg.
Click here
It has a 46kg limit, i can take 2 Woosh bikes (46 / 47kg) with battery's removed, and it weighs about 13kgs on its own.
I means i can have a nose weight of 59/60 kg but im reliably informed that my 50kg limit (nose weight) on my i20 is really only for towing, and the bikes should be ok despite the extra 9kg.
Just checked nose weigt on my Nissan Note, its measley 50kg.Her new Batribike Diamond Pro xl is 22kg without battery ( just weighed it ) . It doesnt leave enough left for rack at approx 13kg and Woosh or any other bike at about the same 21kg. As car is still under warrentyi dont think I would risk going over the nose weight, and for that matter prob same when warrenty is out. So not an option really
Thats interesting, but I suspect it will not be suitable for the slightly heavier rider
reducing weight usually means taking out the suspension in tthe front, mudguards, disc brakes and that BPM motor - you have to make do with two spring saddle, V brakes and the 250W SWXU motor. The good thing about this year is the BMS can now runs at 2.5C with new cells, so it's not all too bad, I reckon about 100kg weight limit for 6% gradient on throttle.
I have booked the car in for towbar to be futted, and going to order a Thule bike rack this week. Nissan dealer I bought the car from say it will be ok, nose weiht more aimed for caravan towing, even though iam about 8 kg over the Nissan Note nose weight. Its going to cost me £425 in total, so bang goes my budget for my e bike, I am looking more and more at Woosh. Have a couple of questions re there bikes to post in other forum section..
She has only just bought her Batribike Diamond Pro XL, no chance she would want a fold up bike, im to big for one, besides the fact I dont like small wheel bikes.
Nose weight.
What ‘nose’? The ‘nose’ on your Caravan or Trailer. It is that bit of framework at the front that goes over the ‘tow’bar hitch ball (TBHB) and connects Caravan/Trailer to Car. Now try this for an experiment. Get two pencils with blunt ends and holding a pencil in each hand put the two ends together so that the pencils form a straight line and now push them together. Go on, push. You will notice that quite a considerable force can be applied without any defamation in the conformation of the pencils. Now cause a bend to appear at the junction of the pencil ends and now push. Your hands which were previously kept apart with the straight pencils now rapidly come together and that is what ‘nose’ weight is all about. Too much ‘nose’ weight causes defamation in the straight line between Caravan/Trailer and Car and under heavy braking instead of the Caravan/Trailer trying to push the Car forwards against its brakes it tries to push its ‘nose’ under the Car which has the effect of lifting the Cars front wheels off the road. Too little ‘nose’ weight has the opposite effect and under heavy breaking tries to lift the cars back end into the air. Gauges can be bought that measure when loaded the height of the TBHB from the road. Car (Passengers and Luggage) and Caravan/Trailer should be loaded in such a way that there is no defamation in the straight line alignment of Car and what is being ‘towed’. The amount of weight that causes defamation at the connection point can be found in the cars handbook. And that is all that ‘nose’ weight is concerned with. The fact that when not ‘towing’ you could put two twenty stone builders in the back of the car and half a ton of cement in the boot of your car without any cause for concern proves the point.
If anybody with a TBHB has concerns over their ability to perform to task without breakage should remember that the Tensile Strength of Mild Steel is in the region of 68,000psi. (Pounds per square Inch) or if your rack is made to hold two bikes of 34lb weight it can hold one thousand pair of them before there is any cause for concern. Don’t believe me. I weigh 15stone and have jumped up and down on mine in the interest of science with no problem at all. The only consideration that you have got to keep in mind is that if you are going to put a couple of Motorbikes on the rack which compresses the rear suspension and lowers the rack closer to the road then ‘Sleeping’ Policemen could prove a problem with the grounding of the rack. Some of them around here tend to be in the very rotund Sergeants mould.
Yours Sincerely
Linfitter.
What ‘nose’? The ‘nose’ on your Caravan or Trailer. It is that bit of framework at the front that goes over the ‘tow’bar hitch ball (TBHB) and connects Caravan/Trailer to Car. Now try this for an experiment. Get two pencils with blunt ends and holding a pencil in each hand put the two ends together so that the pencils form a straight line and now push them together. Go on, push. You will notice that quite a considerable force can be applied without any defamation in the conformation of the pencils. Now cause a bend to appear at the junction of the pencil ends and now push. Your hands which were previously kept apart with the straight pencils now rapidly come together and that is what ‘nose’ weight is all about. Too much ‘nose’ weight causes defamation in the straight line between Caravan/Trailer and Car and under heavy braking instead of the Caravan/Trailer trying to push the Car forwards against its brakes it tries to push its ‘nose’ under the Car which has the effect of lifting the Cars front wheels off the road. Too little ‘nose’ weight has the opposite effect and under heavy breaking tries to lift the cars back end into the air. Gauges can be bought that measure when loaded the height of the TBHB from the road. Car (Passengers and Luggage) and Caravan/Trailer should be loaded in such a way that there is no defamation in the straight line alignment of Car and what is being ‘towed’. The amount of weight that causes defamation at the connection point can be found in the cars handbook. And that is all that ‘nose’ weight is concerned with. The fact that when not ‘towing’ you could put two twenty stone builders in the back of the car and half a ton of cement in the boot of your car without any cause for concern proves the point.
If anybody with a TBHB has concerns over their ability to perform to task without breakage should remember that the Tensile Strength of Mild Steel is in the region of 68,000psi. (Pounds per square Inch) or if your rack is made to hold two bikes of 34lb weight it can hold one thousand pair of them before there is any cause for concern. Don’t believe me. I weigh 15stone and have jumped up and down on mine in the interest of science with no problem at all. The only consideration that you have got to keep in mind is that if you are going to put a couple of Motorbikes on the rack which compresses the rear suspension and lowers the rack closer to the road then ‘Sleeping’ Policemen could prove a problem with the grounding of the rack. Some of them around here tend to be in the very rotund Sergeants mould.
Yours Sincerely
Linfitter.
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