MrBadger
Badger out
Moderator comment - as thread has gone OT from the news of an official Tesla supplied bike rack, merged threads on duplicate topic
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Tow hitch bike racks
- Thread starter pmg102
- Start date
As a mechanical engineer (C.Eng) I can confirm this is correct. It is the torque leverage (Force x horiz distance from lowball) that effectively limits the bike rack weight to only 55 kg. Unlike a bike rack, a trailer is supported on its wheels and therefore the nose weight on the towball can be somewhat higher. Now I'm sure that 55kg is a very conservative limit with a huge safety factor, but it is what it is. FWIW I've carried up to around 65 kg on my Model X bike rack, but not often or for any long distance. Usually I'm only carrying 1 or 2 bikes, so under the 55 kg limit.
Thunderbird1
Thunderbird1
Interestingly enough displayed with Vanmoof S3 electric bikes,I believe.The Tesla of the bicycle world.
HI. So I have the exact same bike rack and I tried fitting it today to my Model 3 using the official tow hitch. And I could not get the clamp to go down to any of the rachet positions where the grey button clicks out. The most it would go down was about 30 - 40 degrees. I must have tried for an hour or so. Any ideas as I am stumped.
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I needed a shim for it to grip my hitch? You don't have one in there from previous use, or any other foreign objects in there? Without the shim mine bottomed out and wasn't flaming hard enough, deapit being fine on the westfellia ball of the previous car.
MrBadger
Badger out
For those that regularly use a tow hitch mounted cycle rack (on any vehicle), when off cycling do you remove the cycle rack when parked up or leave it in place and just hope that it doesn't get hit or tampered with? I'm thinking more when parked up in a car park when it may protrude out of the parking space.
MrBadger
Badger out
Thanks. I should have clarified that I mean multi bike on tow racks rather than frame hung racks. ie, they take up significant space behind the car and potentially inside the car.
I've not travelled to a carpark and then gone for a cycle often (rack is more usually used to take bikes on holiday and cycle from where ever that is). Would taking it off and tucking it under the car be an option? or too likely to go walk about? Sentry would technically be protecting it?
I always take mine off. IIRC the same one as yours and it takes very little time to take off and out in the boot.
MrBadger
Badger out
You are probably right as the Thule Easyfold is so quick to hitch/unhitch (I can't believe Halfords charge £35 for fitting!) its probably worth playing safe, but after a bike ride I was kind of hoping that it would be one less thing that I could get away with.
I've not used my bike on the rack in anger yet, but its a big old bike and when I did a trial fit I was surprised how much effort it took to position it properly (before any jokers say anything, this is it intentionally tilted) as it kept wanting to roll along the runners. I guess it will come with practice, but I was surprised it wasn't more "bike on rack, clip, tie x 2, check, drivable" and that even getting the rack straight was trial and error on our sloping driveway. I think I may end up buying one of the loading ramps...
I've not used my bike on the rack in anger yet, but its a big old bike and when I did a trial fit I was surprised how much effort it took to position it properly (before any jokers say anything, this is it intentionally tilted) as it kept wanting to roll along the runners. I guess it will come with practice, but I was surprised it wasn't more "bike on rack, clip, tie x 2, check, drivable" and that even getting the rack straight was trial and error on our sloping driveway. I think I may end up buying one of the loading ramps...
When you're attaching the electrics you can have a wee lie down
For all the time it takes it gives you a lot of peace of mind.
Am I missing something here..?. My Easyfold locks itself to the tow-bar so there is only a remote chance of its being stolen unless I park it in a tough neighbourhood, in which case I would be more worried about vandalism to my car..!When you're attaching the electrics you can have a wee lie down
For all the time it takes it gives you a lot of peace of mind.
Thule locks used to be notorious for being easy to pick and using a limited number of keys for everything. i.e. if you had a relatively small set of keys you could open up any Thule product and be off with it or the contents. I think they've tightened up on the keys, but for the sake of less than 2 minutes work, no chance of it being stolen or vandalised. Also easier to park.
Edit:
An amateur picking one of the new style locks in about a minute:
And this will give you sleepless nights too:
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As to the additional drag caused by a rack I can report one set of data points from two 500 drives from central France to London mostly cruising at 130 km/h. The rack held a single lightweight carbon road bike.
The first, without the rack, was 74.56% efficient and consumed 200 Wh/km
The second, with the rack, was 64.05% efficient and consumed 232 Wh/km.
The net effect then was a range loss of 16%. In practical terms this meant I felt the need to fill up to 90% at Le Mans to make it comfortably to Rouen. Of course if I hadn't been in a hurry to make the tunnel I could have let up a bit instead...
One other point that I have to report with my tow bar is the danger of the bike slipping out of the grip. On my first journey I had the traumatic experience of this happening and the bike (the wheels still held by the straps) handlebars dragging on the road for a few hundred yards before I could stop. Since then I always use a belt-and-braces approach and use a strap as a secondary means of securing it -- this was just a well as the grip failed again yesterday and the strap prevented any serious dislodgment.
The first, without the rack, was 74.56% efficient and consumed 200 Wh/km
The second, with the rack, was 64.05% efficient and consumed 232 Wh/km.
The net effect then was a range loss of 16%. In practical terms this meant I felt the need to fill up to 90% at Le Mans to make it comfortably to Rouen. Of course if I hadn't been in a hurry to make the tunnel I could have let up a bit instead...
One other point that I have to report with my tow bar is the danger of the bike slipping out of the grip. On my first journey I had the traumatic experience of this happening and the bike (the wheels still held by the straps) handlebars dragging on the road for a few hundred yards before I could stop. Since then I always use a belt-and-braces approach and use a strap as a secondary means of securing it -- this was just a well as the grip failed again yesterday and the strap prevented any serious dislodgment.
MrBadger
Badger out
Do you mind giving a bit more info, especially the type of rack and how the straps were fitted. Iirc @avandit had an issue that I think sounds similar to what you might have experienced with the rack rotating and needed to fit a shim. I've not really looked into the clamp mechanism of my Thule rack - it seems pretty firm, but real world will be quite different.
No, nothing so complicated: the way that the bike was placed on the rack meant that I had to place the clamp that grips the bike frame in a slightly awkward position on the downtube. I should have tried another position: the turbulence generated by driving at speed caused the grip on the tube to loosen so that the bike suddenly flopped backwards, pivoting on the point on each wheel where the ratchet strap held the rims.
It could have been much worse -- the brake hood on one side was a write-off but the brakes and the handlebars were only slightly abraded. It does suggest though that one should stop frequently to check everything's OK. It is a Thule Easifold FWIW.
MrBadger
Badger out
Thanks for that. Did you do the clamp up until it clicked when the correct torque was reached? I've got an Easyfold too so need to ensure that similar does not happen. I had assumed that if fastened until it clicks it would fasten to the point that things would not slip even if the open grip was facing out - I'll see if I can find a position where the open side doesn't face out if that makes sense. Actually looking at my photo it looks like the clamp is facing down so hopefully that should be OK.
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