Electric bikes

[jlandreth]

The wife and I are looking at getting a couple of ebikes. Looking for suggestions on how to transport them. Prefer not to put them inside the AS or in the bed of the truck. Thanks

[waninae39]

do not hang them off the rear or the bumper

many AS have flipped and/or turned over with rear bikes

[Dave-n-Janet]

You might want to check lunacycle.com and their folding 20" e-bikes. About 45 lbs. I know you don't want to carry in TV bed, but e-bikes are expensive... We have one of these folding e-bikes and like it a lot. I can easily unload/load and it doesn't take up much room in my bed under my tonneau cover. My regular bike goes on top of it. Still can carry generator, gas, weber, propane, chairs, fire circle etc etc... My main criteria was something I could load/unload myself. This is one of the only e-bikes light enough to fit the bill. Has worked out very well. 20+ mile range. Got it for my wife...but will get myself one at some point.

[Mollysdad]

Originally Posted by waninae39

do not hang them off the rear or the bumper

many AS have flipped and/or turned over with rear bikes

Many? How many? Where? Who's?

Let me understand. Airstream will SELL you a bike rack and mount it on your Airstream, but somewhat that doesn't cause your Airstream to roll over?

Someone posts a photo of an Airstream that flipped over, and everyone has a theory on what caused it, when in fact, no-one knows.
"He should have bought a PP hitch."
"He should have run 80 psi in his tires."
"He put stuff in the back."
"He should have bought a F-350."
[/rant]

I digress.
I'm still trying to decide the best way myself, everything from a front receiver on the truck to a mount on a board inside the door. I have a hard tonneau, so it's not going in the bed.
A cap on the truck bed is probably the best, if you can get past the "grandpa" look and loss of visibility.
Here's the YouTube couple LoLoHo, and their solution.
I admit it's not right for me, either.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35MQwnRNKzY

[jlandreth]

Originally Posted by Mollysdad

Many? How many? Where? Who's?

Let me understand. Airstream will SELL you a bike rack and mount it on your Airstream, but somewhat that doesn't cause your Airstream to roll over?

Someone posts a photo of an Airstream that flipped over, and everyone has a theory on what caused it, when in fact, no-one knows.
"He should have bought a PP hitch."
"He should have run 80 psi in his tires."
"He put stuff in the back."
"He should have bought a F-350."
[/rant]

I digress.
I'm still trying to decide the best way myself, everything from a front receiver on the truck to a mount on a board inside the door. I have a hard tonneau, so it's not going in the bed.
A cap on the truck bed is probably the best, if you can get past the "grandpa" look and loss of visibility.
Here's the YouTube couple LoLoHo, and their solution.
I admit it's not right for me, either.

This is the exact cover I have. Problem is, most bike racks are rated for 35 to 40 lbs. Our ebikes weigh 59 lbs. Don't know whether to chance the extra weight or not.

[Mollysdad]

Originally Posted by jlandreth

This is the exact cover I have. Problem is, most bike racks are rated for 35 to 40 lbs. Our ebikes weigh 59 lbs. Don't know whether to chance the extra weight or not.

They have two Arial Riders Plus a Yakima carrier on the crossbars. I believe they remove the batteries so the bikes are in the 50# range.
That cover doesn't work for me because with a Honda 3000is, I need every inch of headroom, thus the hard tonneau.

The secret of the tracks is the ability to use the rails for cargo. Yakama says this system is rated for 300# on road, and 180# off road.
https://www.yakima.com/bedrock-hd
I noticed his cargo carrier is a Thule.

[jlandreth]

Just got off the phone with customer service at Yakima. They don't have anything that will take the weight of our ebikes. They weigh 58 lbs each and Yakima's top rated bike carrier is 40lbs.

[jlandreth]

Also forgot to mention. The manufacturer of our bikes stated that they should be transported with the batteries in place because they create a water tight seal for the electronics.

[Daquenzer]

My wife and I have Trek ebikes. We have a bit of an advantage in that my son works at Trek and we can get them very reasonably. He works in the ebike development part as an engineer. We do love them. Very solid and great rides. You get what you pay for with ebikes.

We tow them on the front bumper. I put a hitch on the front. It makes them easy to get on and off. They are much heavier due to battery and motor than typical bikes. DO NOT put them the back of the AS. With bikes, hitch, and rack that's quite a bit of weight.

I also have a way of putting them in the trailer if need be (raining) with bike stands and then covering them up with packing blankets so they don't scratch everything up should they move around. They are pretty solid while riding. If you need to see what I use you can personal message me with your email and I can send you pictures of the type of stands I use for the inside.

Putting them on the front isn't maybe ideal for road dirt, etc. but we haven't found it to be a problem. Just spray them down a bit and you have to make sure chains etc are lubed well.

The advantage of using the front bumper is easy on and easy off, and then when we want to go and ride somewhere to travel we can then load the bikes on the back with the rack.

[jlandreth]

PM sent

[lsbrodsky]

I bought an Evelo folding bike at the end of last year. Love the features, best of the designs, I think. Mine folds and fits nicely in the truck bed under my cap. Would never work with a tonneau, but it is one of the reasons I have a cap.
Larry

[Caffeinated]

Originally Posted by jlandreth

Just got off the phone with customer service at Yakima. They don't have anything that will take the weight of our ebikes. They weigh 58 lbs each and Yakima's top rated bike carrier is 40lbs.

Simply not true. I don't know who you talked to at Yakima but they don't know their product. This is the specs for the Holdup two by Yakima. I own it and use to to transport our ebikes, a Raliegh for my wife and a Giant for ne, both around 50 lbs, no problem.

Specs:
Application: 2" x 2" trailer hitch receivers
Carrying capacity: 2 bicycles
Weight capacity: 60 lbs per bike
Carrier weight: 49 lbs
Wheel diameter: 20" - 29"
Tire width: up to 2-1/2"
Maximum wheelbase: 47-3/4"
Distance from center of hitch pin hole to:
Closest wheel holder: 12"
Closest wheel holder when folded: 7"
Limited lifetime warranty

The only issue is whether to add a two inch reciever to the trailer, or to put a front receiver on the truck. What to do, what to do...

Mike

[n2916s]

If you have decent regular bikes, you can convert them with a kit from electric-bike-kit.com. I have the Hilltopper conversion on my Trek 7500. Works great and in ten years, I've only gone through two batteries.

[jlandreth]

Originally Posted by Caffeinated

Simply not true. I don't know who you talked to at Yakima but they don't know their product. This is the specs for the Holdup two by Yakima. I own it and use to to transport our ebikes, a Raliegh for my wife and a Giant for ne, both around 50 lbs, no problem.

Specs:
Application: 2" x 2" trailer hitch receivers
Carrying capacity: 2 bicycles
Weight capacity: 60 lbs per bike
Carrier weight: 49 lbs
Wheel diameter: 20" - 29"
Tire width: up to 2-1/2"
Maximum wheelbase: 47-3/4"
Distance from center of hitch pin hole to:
Closest wheel holder: 12"
Closest wheel holder when folded: 7"
Limited lifetime warranty

The only issue is whether to add a two inch reciever to the trailer, or to put a front receiver on the truck. What to do, what to do...

Mike

The Yakima rep was referring to their bike racks that fit on the crossbars.

[ghaynes755]

I've got a pair of Pedego bikes. In the 50# range. With a new truck on order I'm going with the Retrax cover and bike racks that Long Long Honeymoon is using. Yakima bars will handle the weight. The bike mounts are usually 40# with some saying 45#. But being sheltered behind the cab I'm not to worried that an extra 10# will be an issue. Of course time will tell.

[SilverWind]

You might want to give Bike Friday E-Assist a look. https://www.bikefriday.com/folding-b...ystem-overview

They are normal BikeFriday folding bikes with the E-Assist module. They take up much less space than conventional e-bikes. You can easily remove the E-Assist module from the bike whenever you want to go conventional or want to reduce the weight for transport.

We ride and carry non-electric Bike Fridays on our Fiamma Airstream mounted rack. Each of our conventional Bike Fridays weigh 27 pounds. Their combined weight is 21 pounds less than the 75 pound weight limit of the Fiamma carrier.

An additional benefit of the Bike Fridays unfolded on the carrier is that they do not obscure the Airstream's tail/brake lights which we found was a problem with our full size mountain bikes. So imagine the bikes pictured with an E-Assist module easily attached and removed from the seat post.

[pkm123]

You might also check out the many different models at a Seattle company Radpowerbikes.com. $1500.00 shipped. They have a fold up bike and a fold up fat tire. Plus Townies and fat tire mountain bikes. Top quality for a reasonable price.
Ken

[jlandreth]

Has anyone tried the SeaSucker bike racks. Interesting idea.

[pmclemore]

I've seen the SeaSucker rig. I liked it a lot, still thinking about it.

Pat

[jlandreth]

Thinking now that we might go with tailgate pads to carry our two 59lb bikes. Does anyone have any experience with these?