Does anyone have experience of the Camplet bike rack?
We recently bought one, and almost lost a bike when the screw holding the bike frame worked loose, apparently just through the vibrations of the trailer.
We have used a Thule roof bike rack for years with no problems, but unlike the Thule, the Camplet doesn't appear to have a locking mechanism to stop the screw from shaking loose. I'm considering using gaffer tape to prevent the screw from turning, but this seems ridiculous after spending so much on the rack.
I have written to Camplet and await a reply. Any suggestions in the meantime?
For the price of them I would be back there for a refund!
We brought a towbar mounted one, we can still tow the camplet with it. That way, we can use the bike rack any time not just for camping and no way I was going to pay over £400 for a camplet one!
we got one in august last year not had any probs so far w ent to the loire and back my screws are not loose, but will check.we did notice that the sticky pads that were put on under the screw fixings came away
Quote: Originally posted by kasglass on 25/5/2010
we got one in august last year not had any probs so far w ent to the loire and back my screws are not loose, but will check.we did notice that the sticky pads that were put on under the screw fixings came away
Thanks for the response kasglass. It was actually the clamp holding the bike frame that worked loose, not the screws holding the rack to the carrier. Perhaps I just need to tighten it more...?
I have been using the bike rack for a couple of years and only once suffered the clamp coming loose. I always wrap one of the small straps round the clamp/frame to ensure that if it ever happened again it would still be bound by the strap. So far so good.
mzzy - I agree towbar mounted racks are the best option (I have one that I sometimes use when I am not towing the trailer that takes 4 bikes) but are only a viable option if you do not have a front box on the trailer as this usually interferes with the turning circle/clearance - unless you have been lucky enough to get one that does have enough clearance but even then I think you would have to be very carefull about noseweight on the towbar with both rack and trailer attached to the towbar as this would exceed most vehicles,even 4x4s.....
Quote: Originally posted by mzzy on 26/5/2010
We have the front box, but the bikes still seem to miss it, they are quite high up, think the nose weight is ok, nothing heavy in the box.
not wishing to scare you but you do need to make sure of your nose weight as you could find yourself not insured if you have an accident.
an adult bike is about 15kg rack 5kg kids 7.5kg so with 4 bikes you are looking at 50kg just for bikes and as some towball limits are 50kgs(like mine)this is why i had to mount our bikes on the tt.
I tend to agree that either you will exceed the towball/vehicle limit or that the trailer will be "light" on noseweight (if you are compensating by having little weight in the front box/front of the trailer)making it potentially unstable and bouncy.
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Topic: Camplet Bike Rack problem
