E-bikes on rear bike rack

Hi, I have a 2010 Broadway fitted with a Fiamma Carry-Bike rack with a maximum carrying capacity of 60kgs. Considering buying a couple of E-bikes each with a weight of 22kgs. Has anyone carried this weight on such a rack and if so were there any problems? Have emailed Auto-Sleepers direct for advice but would like to hear of any personal experiences.

Hi Tom. We carried 2 Giant Suede E.Bikes on our rack with no problems.  Just remember to remove the batteries and carry them in the van. Also take a little more care when riding over speed humps as some of these are on the nasty side.

Hello Tom and welcome to the forum.    I have a Carry-Bike-Three fitted to my present van and have been carrying two ebikes for about six years,    I have one on the inside rack and one on the outside rack, leaving the centre rack free.   You might be toiling with a two bike rack...it will be dependent on the size of the bikes.   It's also quite a lift depending on the height of the rack, taking off the batteries helps.
My two bikes come in about 50kgs.

cheers  Bob

Ditto. Until we fitted a lower, and so easier to load, Alko Velo 111 chassis mounted bike rack we carried our two e- bikes ( about 20 kg each without batteries) over vast chunks of Europe on a Fiamma rack designed for 2 bikes . No problems or indications that it was too heavy.

It’s horses for  courses on this one, we choose to get a towbar and rack that fits to that when we bought the 2nd ebike. The benefits are that it requires less lifting and is more stable we feel. The whole system weighs more and of course this comes off your payload. But we see many people using the  Fiamma pro C with two ebikes and they seem to manage perfectly. When we bought our van 4 years ago we too contacted AS for their view and they were happy that the Fiamma was adequate for the job.

Hi and thanks to all for your responses. I also got a quick and helpful response from Auto-Sleepers who told me maximum recommended weight on rear panel is 60kgs so at approx 44kgs on rack, (also showing max weight of 60kgs) should be ok all round. They did suggest also checking the fixing methods but unfortunately I do not know when or by whom the rack was fitted. 
To constable, will certainly ‘try’ to remember to remove batteries and you’re quite right about speed bumps too.
To BobK, bikes seem to be a standard size so hope the present 2 bike rack will suffice and am sure my wife might be able to help me lift them into position.
To quilter and Harrysp, my van is already fitted with a tow bar and I will have to buy a tow ball mounted rack to fit my car which has a detachable tow ball fitted. An alternative would be to remove the Fiamma rack and use the tow ball rack but the height of the tow ball on the van is 16” whereas the one on the car when fitted is 19”. I had looked at the Thule 925 Velo Compact but this may be very low at the back. Harry, you say you have a towbar with a rack and is the rack mounted on the tow ball or between the bar and tow ball? If on the tow ball, can you tell me which one you use please?
Once again, thanks to all for your help.

Our rack is mounted on the towball and we use an Atera Strada E bike ML. We bought this from Roofbox. They have a large selection of towball mounted racks. It is 3 years old now and apart from the bulbs going it has worked ok. Friends have a similar Thule rack and that has also been satisfactory. 

When we bought the van we only had 1 ebike so used the Fiamma. After having the towbar fitted we removed the Fiamma and bought some covers for the fittings that remained on the van.

Thanks Harry. Having a look at them now.

Tom Wardlaw wrote: I had looked at the Thule 925 Velo Compact but this may be very low at the back.

That's the one we have, and it has been fine. No problem at all, and so much easier to heave the bikes onto it than the Fiamma one that needs the assistance of a weight lifter!!

harrysp wrote:It’s horses for  courses on this one, we choose to get a towbar and rack that fits to that when we bought the 2nd ebike. The benefits are that it requires less lifting and is more stable we feel. The whole system weighs more and of course this comes off your payload. But we see many people using the  Fiamma pro C with two ebikes and they seem to manage perfectly. When we bought our van 4 years ago we too contacted AS for their view and they were happy that the Fiamma was adequate for the job.

We are with you Harry a tow bar , Thule bike rack, two Raleigh e-bikes. Easy to get on and off being a lot lower. Mind you we did have to buy several straps to secure properly bikes to rack. You may also need a Flamma cover and rear warning sign if going on the continent.

I was chatting to someone a couple of months ago about this.  I had two pushbikes, he had two e-bikes, and we both had the Fiamma Pro C bike rack with a 60Kg limit.  The difference was that his Fiamma wheel supports were stiffer than mine as they were specifically for e-bikes.  My dealer also said something that suggested my rack was not for e-bikes.

If you look on the Fiamma web site https://www.fiamma.it/en/pro-series.html  you will see that Fiamma market a Kit Upgrade E-Bike for a Carry-Bike Pro or Pro C.  As far as I can see the kit reinforces the rack for the heavier e-bikes however the overall loading of the rack remains as 60 kg.  Fiamma also market Pro E and a Pro C E racks specifically for e-bikes.

As a (hopefully useful) aside, I wouldn't recommend a Fiamma cover. We had one and it was rubbish. Very thin material which tore after only a few uses, and snagged on just about every part of the bikes as you tried to drape it over them!!.

We now have a Taylor Made cover which is infinitely better. Very strong and tough material, and being a lot stiffer and less flimsy it is far easier to drape over the bikes.

We have the same thing 2 ebikes a Kalkoff and a Raleigh, worked perfectly earlier this year in France.
The only problem, which is not major is that i have to turn the handlebars to fit them on the rack. 
Batteries are kept inside.
One thing i fit which no one has mentioned is a trailer board. If you were in a lorry at the back of me you would not be able to see my indicators through my bike cover.

Biged wrote:One thing i fit which no one has mentioned is a trailer board. If you were in a lorry at the back of me you would not be able to see my indicators through my bike cover.

Being of an idle disposition, I took the scissors to the bike cover and trimmed it a little shorter at the rear so the lights on the carrier are exposed.

It needed a slight adjustment anyway, so I did this at the same time.

The Road Vehicle Lighting Regulations 1989 require an unobstructed view of the rear lights over a 45 degree inside angle and from above over a 15 degree angle.  If a bike with or without a cover obstructs the view, a lighting board should be fitted but it should not be a trailer lighting board as its triangular reflectors will be the wrong shape.

Caraman wrote:The Road Vehicle Lighting Regulations 1989 require an unobstructed view of the rear lights over a 45 degree inside angle and from above over a 15 degree angle.  If a bike with or without a cover obstructs the view, a lighting board should be fitted but it should not be a trailer lighting board as its triangular reflectors will be the wrong shape.

What shape should the reflectors be?

I have done a search on this. Thule are round, Maypole have none, some have square, some have rectangular, most are triangular.
All these were listed as cycle rack lighting boards.

It would be a most pedantic and officious individual to stop and point out the reflector shapes were the wrong shape when most travel with nothing. 

Someone quite recently quoted the regulation on the Forum.  As far as I am aware, the two red reflectors can be any shape except triangular.  Rectangular or round are the common shapes.  Mine are rectangular.  Triangular reflectors should only be used on trailers.  If the motorhome has a rear fog light that is obstructed, the lighting board should have a fog light - not all do.  Reversing lights do not need to be replicated on the lighting board.

The Road Vehicle Lighting Regulations 1989 Schedule 18 Part 1 8b covers it:
 
- http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1989/1796/schedule/18/made

b) No vehicle, other than a trailer or a broken-down motor vehicle being towed, may be fitted with triangular-shaped rear reflectors.