Not been on here in quite a while, been persuing my other interests and started my own business.
Anyway we are planning a hol on Anglesey this summer and I would like to take all 4 family bikes, our outfit is a Toyota Avensis Estate, 2000 model Erde 102 trailer and a roof box,we put the tent and poles on top of the trailer so my question is, is there a 4 bike carrier available that I can still tow my trailer with that is solid enough to take 2 adult bikes and 2 20" wheel kids bikes?
Thanks for any help
------------- Martin.
It's not the size of the dog in the fight- it's the size of the fight in the dog!
I had a towbar mounted one for the Pajero from here
http://www.Buy-A-Bike-Carrier.co.uk
a division of
towingandleisure.co.uk (found them through e-bay)
Very strong rack, carried 3 adults and 1 childs with no problem. Really helpful people to deal with too. Informed them on Tuesday the standard 'up' tube wasn't giving enough clearance over the trailer so they made me an extension piece and sent it next day delivery so I'd get it in time for our weekend away the following Friday.
Mozann, reading your reply with interest as we are looking for one of these. Am I right in assuming that you could use it without the trailer as well - a trailer board for lights etc is not a problem as even if we have long ditched the ones we had pre kids, they are easy enough to pick up. Also will they carry the newer style full suspension bikes?
We have an erde 122 and have the MaxxRaxx 4-bike towbar mounted rack. There is no way we can take all four bikes on the back with the trailer as the short draw bar means that it is too close to the car to avoid crushing the bikes when you turn. We looked at all sorts of rack options and companies and just had to compromise. We use the MaxxRaxx often anyway (without the trailer), but with it we we can fit ONE big bike on the back and three on the load bars of the trailer. Have just upgraded to an erde 193 which has a longer draw bar, so may be able to fit an extra bike on the back. We'll see.........
------------- Hotels Suck. Villas are great but I can't take my Cadac on the plane....
MaxxRaxx do a lift kit, that brings the bikes up another 300mm to clear caravan gas bottles etc.
Here's what it looks like: http://www.maxxraxx.co.uk/Accessories/tow_ht_ext.html
http://www.maxxraxx.co.uk/Guides/towing_clearance_chart.pdf shows how far away the trailer/van needs to be to clear x bikes - for 1 bike it's 880mm, for 4 bikes it's 1065mm.
I just measured my Erde 142, and the applicable ball to trailer distance is only 710mm. So according to that, I shouldn't be able to safely (read: with trailer at full lock) carry any bikes at all :-(. This is a situation I'd prefer not to have to remember, as inevitably I'll forget and end up squashing bikes in a futile attempt to reverse into somewhere tight. Having to take off all the bikes would not be a preferred option.
The ball to trailer top lip height on the 142 is 500mm. I reckon that the normal MaxxRaxx lifts the bikes around 200mm above the towball, but as it's a factor of tyre diameter and bike top-tube slope, your mileage may vary. The smalles bikes logically get loaded last, and they have the largest clearance. I surmise that with the additional 300mm lift kit, we should have no problems with trailer vs 4-bike clashes.
Cheers,
Mike
------------- --
Don't give your money to a jerk
Outwell Vermont L, Karrite 450 roofbox, Erde 142 trailer, MaxxRaxx Premier 4-bike rack, all dragging on/behind a Volvo XC70 D5.
I haven't seen one - not sure how safe that would be. We did buy a height extension that, in theory, lifts the bikes above the trailer, but the hard top on our 122 still gets in the way. If you use a soft top this may well work.
------------- Hotels Suck. Villas are great but I can't take my Cadac on the plane....
Erde don't recommend a drawbar extension. I can't imagine it's rocket science to chop the drawbar, slide a smaller tube inside and weld both into place. The whole thing would probably be stronger than the original. Not sure of the possible insurance implications though.
This is the sort of thing: http://www.redtrailers.com/ShowItem.asp?id=SJ85ER
/m
------------- --
Don't give your money to a jerk
Outwell Vermont L, Karrite 450 roofbox, Erde 142 trailer, MaxxRaxx Premier 4-bike rack, all dragging on/behind a Volvo XC70 D5.
we have the 4 bike MaxxRaxx -tow bar mounted - and we bought the height extension bit - to use with our Picasso and a trailer tent - but hubby wasn't happy with the clearance when loading 3 bikes . Our trailer tent has a front box which is wuite high. Fortunately we have 2 racks mounted on the luggage bars on our tt so we were okay. We haven't yet tried the rack with our little campsing trailer yet - we have a Franc with an APS lid - no luggage bars - so hope it works!
Amazing family weekend with old steam engines, classic car displays, market stalls, and full catering and bar. And camping on site - Save £25 by booking in advance.
Topic: 4 Bike cycle carriers
It's not the size of the dog in the fight- it's the size of the fight in the dog!
