Tow ball mounted bike rack with tilt

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Shaun_E
Bongonaut
Posts: 51
Joined: Sat Aug 21, 2010 5:10 pm
Location: Nr Tadley, Hampshire

Tow ball mounted bike rack with tilt

Post by Shaun_E » Wed Jun 27, 2018 10:01 am

Hi Everyone - I've not posted here for a long time but hoping someone knows of the right product for us.
We would like a tow-ball mounted bike rack for 2 bikes that can be tilted enough that the tailgate will open. I've been on a few T5 forums :oops: and it seems that most of the good quality bike racks will not tilt enough to allow the tailgate to open and in some cases the handlebars of the nearest bike can foul the rear window. I don't want to have to turn the handle bars to fit the bike to the rack.
I was hoping the Thule VeloCompact 925 would do the job as it has all the right features but I haven't seen any clear images with it fitted to a van and none that show a tailgate opening. A lot of the T5 crowd use the Atera STRADA DL3 and most can just about open the tailgate although it does depend on the tow-bar being used. The Atera isn't cheap though.
We don't want a tailgate mounted rack as we have the tow-ball and will also use the rack on other vehicles.
Thanks,
Shaun
JoeC
Bongolier
Posts: 268
Joined: Wed Jun 25, 2014 9:00 pm
Location: The Home Of Ferodo.

Re: Tow ball mounted bike rack with tilt

Post by JoeC » Thu Jun 28, 2018 5:27 pm

Take a look at the Bak-Rak systems.
www.bak-rak.com
Shaun_E
Bongonaut
Posts: 51
Joined: Sat Aug 21, 2010 5:10 pm
Location: Nr Tadley, Hampshire

Re: Tow ball mounted bike rack with tilt

Post by Shaun_E » Fri Sep 14, 2018 2:07 pm

Just thought I'd post an update on this. The Bak-Rak looks interesting but I prefer a wheel support rack rather than one that you hang the bike frame on. In the end we went for the Thule Velocompact 3 bike rack: https://www.thule.com/en-gb/gb/bike-rac ... n-_-927002 (£360 from Halfords plus I got 10% off!!)
With 2 bikes in the outer 2 positions of the rack, the handlebars are clear of the rear window - you can't use the position nearest the tailgate which is why we didn't go for the 2 bike version. With the rack tilted away, the tailgate can be opened enough to get at our gas bottle but it doesn't quite clear the handlebars of the nearest bike. A little bit of fettling of the rack might make that possible. We were tempted to go for the Atera STRADA DL3 but it was £100 more expensive with no guarantee it would fit any better.
Bob
Supreme Being
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Joined: Wed Oct 17, 2007 12:54 pm
Location: North Somerset

Re: Tow ball mounted bike rack with tilt

Post by Bob » Sat Sep 15, 2018 10:06 am

Thanks for update. 8)
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