Bicycle holder for GC 600

Eber123 · Jul 2, 2022

Hello,

Since a few days we are back from our holidays on the continent. I will put up some information about this in a different post.

During this road trip my wife really missed the bikes and said that we need to get a bicycle holder / bike rack for the camper. In general that is ok with me, but the more I look into this the more complicated it gets (it might be that I "over thinking" all of this).

Let me start with what we are looking for:

A bike rack for the GC 600 that is able to carry 2x folding ebikes (each weights 22 kg without battery) on the rear door.
I would like to be able to open both rear doors, even if the bikes are loaded
I don't want a bike rack for the towbar (we don't have one, but that is not the reason). First they are in the way to get in the boot of the camper and also they can be a bit in the way driving up in narrow places
The bikes should not be up to high (that might mean we need to get a towbar for the electric installed, but that would be ok)
The bikes should not obstruct the view of the reversing camera too much

There are various versions of bike carrier available, but none that might cover all of the above:

Bike carrier for the towbar
It might be a good place to transport ebikes, but it seems that they are really in the way to get things out of the boot. That can be a lot of reasons that I need to get in there and it is not feasible to have the carrier always in the way.

The standard bike carrier for the rear doors
There are offers form VW, Thule and Fiamma for instance, but the have a max load capacity of 35 kg. So they are ruled out

Bike carriers for the rear doors / connected to hinges
Those might be an option, but there are a few questions in my mind which I need to get back to the supplier. Many of the supplier say that they carry up to 50 or even 60 kg, but the door should only be opened when the bike carrier is not loaded, which I think is a bit "out of touch with reality".

I was wondering who else might have a bike carrier installed with a load capacity higher than 35 kg and installed on the rear door. If you have done this, could you let me know what carrier you had chosen and what are your experience?

Thank you for your help.

Kind regards,
Eberhard

Wildcamper · Jul 3, 2022

Eber123 said:
Hello,

Since a few days we are back from our holidays on the continent. I will put up some information about this in a different post.

During this road trip my wife really missed the bikes and said that we need to get a bicycle holder / bike rack for the camper. In general that is ok with me, but the more I look into this the more complicated it gets (it might be that I "over thinking" all of this).

Let me start with what we are looking for:

A bike rack for the GC 600 that is able to carry 2x folding ebikes (each weights 22 kg without battery) on the rear door.

I would like to be able to open both rear doors, even if the bikes are loaded

I don't want a bike rack for the towbar (we don't have one, but that is not the reason). First they are in the way to get in the boot of the camper and also they can be a bit in the way driving up in narrow places

The bikes should not be up to high (that might mean we need to get a towbar for the electric installed, but that would be ok)

The bikes should not obstruct the view of the reversing camera too much

There are various versions of bike carrier available, but none that might cover all of the above:

Bike carrier for the towbar
It might be a good place to transport ebikes, but it seems that they are really in the way to get things out of the boot. That can be a lot of reasons that I need to get in there and it is not feasible to have the carrier always in the way.

The standard bike carrier for the rear doors
There are offers form VW, Thule and Fiamma for instance, but the have a max load capacity of 35 kg. So they are ruled out

Bike carriers for the rear doors / connected to hinges
Those might be an option, but there are a few questions in my mind which I need to get back to the supplier. Many of the supplier say that they carry up to 50 or even 60 kg, but the door should only be opened when the bike carrier is not loaded, which I think is a bit "out of touch with reality".

I was wondering who else might have a bike carrier installed with a load capacity higher than 35 kg and installed on the rear door. If you have done this, could you let me know what carrier you had chosen and what are your experience?

Thank you for your help.

Kind regards,
Eberhard

You can get tow bar mounted bike racks that swing out of the way to allow access to rear barn doors on a van. Google, swinging tow bar mounted bike racks.

The Yorkshireman · Jul 3, 2022

Hi we store our folding e bikes in the boot yes it gets a bit messy but it works for us without having the extra weight of a rack or towbarThey are e-go lite bikes.

thesquirrelpatrol · Jul 6, 2022

Anyone have experience with the memo swivel adapter?

WelshGas · Jul 6, 2022

Eber123 said:
Hello,

Since a few days we are back from our holidays on the continent. I will put up some information about this in a different post.

During this road trip my wife really missed the bikes and said that we need to get a bicycle holder / bike rack for the camper. In general that is ok with me, but the more I look into this the more complicated it gets (it might be that I "over thinking" all of this).

Let me start with what we are looking for:

A bike rack for the GC 600 that is able to carry 2x folding ebikes (each weights 22 kg without battery) on the rear door.

I would like to be able to open both rear doors, even if the bikes are loaded

I don't want a bike rack for the towbar (we don't have one, but that is not the reason). First they are in the way to get in the boot of the camper and also they can be a bit in the way driving up in narrow places

The bikes should not be up to high (that might mean we need to get a towbar for the electric installed, but that would be ok)

The bikes should not obstruct the view of the reversing camera too much

There are various versions of bike carrier available, but none that might cover all of the above:

Bike carrier for the towbar
It might be a good place to transport ebikes, but it seems that they are really in the way to get things out of the boot. That can be a lot of reasons that I need to get in there and it is not feasible to have the carrier always in the way.

The standard bike carrier for the rear doors
There are offers form VW, Thule and Fiamma for instance, but the have a max load capacity of 35 kg. So they are ruled out

Bike carriers for the rear doors / connected to hinges
Those might be an option, but there are a few questions in my mind which I need to get back to the supplier. Many of the supplier say that they carry up to 50 or even 60 kg, but the door should only be opened when the bike carrier is not loaded, which I think is a bit "out of touch with reality".

I was wondering who else might have a bike carrier installed with a load capacity higher than 35 kg and installed on the rear door. If you have done this, could you let me know what carrier you had chosen and what are your experience?

Thank you for your help.

Kind regards,
Eberhard

How high can you lift the e-bike?

Eber123 · Jul 6, 2022

WelshGas said:
How high can you lift the e-bike?

Hello,

Well, I don't know. I will do some tests tomorrow.

While we had our T6 Ocean we had a standard VW bike rack. During this time she bought a full grown ebike. Of course I had to transport it home.

Well, it was a struggle to get this bike up and to secure it I needed a third hand. Needless to say I put that bike only once onto the rack.

Regards,
Eberhard

Eber123 · Jul 6, 2022

Hello,

I did spend some time this afternoon to search for a bike rack for the GC 600.

Eurocarry came up all the time and seems to be a good product. So it looks like that I get the Eurocarry bike rack for 2x bikes for the VW Crafter.

I contacted the company with a few questions and I will do some tests (lifting) tomorrow.

Regards,
Eberhard

andyinluton · Jul 6, 2022

Can you get it hinged the other way? It would make sense to hinge it on the right as it’s the right door that you open first.

Chainline · Jul 7, 2022

I will be buying an ISI from Australia! It should be an interesting experiment...

rod_vw · Jul 7, 2022

There may be someone who can help on this Facebook Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/2017CrafterTGE

Eber123 · Jul 7, 2022

Hello,

I follow (now and then) various Facebook groups to get information and ideas.

So far I haven't seen a lot about bike holders. But as I mentioned above I might have decided to go for the Eurocarry standard Crafter 2x bike holder.

It will be connected to the door hinges and can carry up to 50 kg, which should be ok for us. Also I need to accept the loading height of 1.39m. Below that the rear lights will be obstructed (it doesn't matter what carrier it is) and I need to get the light bar installed. To get this done I need the towbar installed. I asked my VW dealer for the price (did not get it yet). But to pay EUR 2 K for the towbar and the bike carrier is a wee bit excessive.

Regards,
Eberhard

leeb · Jul 9, 2022

We have this fiamma rack. Easily carried 2 ebikes...each around 22kgs. We now have lighter ebikes at 14kg each because lifting the heavier ones on and off the rack was a problem!
It is ok to open the doors when loaded. You will need the light bar which means fitting a tow bar and electrics. With the high reversing camera there is no issue.