Bike Rack

nikster

nikster

Member
T6 Pro
Hi all so due to take delivery of my almost new T6 Caravelle tommorow - very excited family & a wallet still wincing from the pain of the heart over head decision...I have been looking for an older one but either description didnt match what we found or they never hung around long enough for me to go and look and then we saw the 2017 ex demonstrator blackberry...... then well, that was that!

So after shelling out another ton load on roof rack & camping gear the only real eesential i think we need at the mo is a bike rack, theres 4 of us so guess my only option is the VW - but thought I'd check here in case any one has any other thoughts? VW want about £800 inc fitting and upgrading struts. Ouch.
 
£800:eek::eek: The racks are about £550 and struts £90 if you fancy fitting it yourself, the forum shop used to have them but can’t see the racks at the minute.
 
You can get a genuine T6 bike rack new from TPS for about £386.59 +VAT

The uprated gas struts are £29.70 each here (Inc VAT) VW Transporter T6 Caravelle Uprated Bike Rack Tailgate / Boot Gas Strut - 7E0827550D.

To buy and fit it yourself it would cost £523.31 (a saving of £276.69!!) Fitting the rack and the gas struts are pretty easy and will take about an hour all in (at most). Make sure you get someone to hold the tailgate when you pull off the current gas struts. I pulled one of the struts off and the tailgate fell straight onto my head (obvious really).

The other alternative is a towbar mounted rack. The Atera Strada is about £370 for the 3 bike version, so y0u'll need to buy the extension at about £180.00. Atera STRADA DL 3 to 4 bike carrier (UK lights) no. AR2603.

Good luck.
 
Oldrat said:
Tow bar rack is the way to go if you can IMHO
Click to expand...
gmaster said:
You can get a genuine T6 bike rack new from TPS for about £386.59 +VAT

The uprated gas struts are £29.70 each here (Inc VAT) VW Transporter T6 Caravelle Uprated Bike Rack Tailgate / Boot Gas Strut - 7E0827550D.

To buy and fit it yourself it would cost £523.31 (a saving of £276.69!!) Fitting the rack and the gas struts are pretty easy and will take about an hour all in (at most). Make sure you get someone to hold the tailgate when you pull off the current gas struts. I pulled one of the struts off and the tailgate fell straight onto my head (obvious really).

The other alternative is a towbar mounted rack. The Atera Strada is about £370 for the 3 bike version, so y0u'll need to buy the extension at about £180.00. Atera STRADA DL 3 to 4 bike carrier (UK lights) no. AR2603.

Good luck.
Click to expand...

Ooh that looks good thanks for that had a tow bar one before on a landy and was easy to use didn’t know you could get a 4 biker. Makes more sense to get tow bar fitted I think and go down this route.

Nice one!
 
I have the OEM rack on my tailgate and love it for the the convenience of it always being there and not having to worry about additional lighting and/or number plate boards. The bikes feel very secure on in. Also, unlike a tow bar mounted rack, you don't have to consider where you are going to store it once on site.

Main disadvantage of tailgate rack is inability to open tailgate once the bikes are on it but we just plan accordingly. However, you may find the same problem with a tow bar mount rack, i.e. even the ones that fold out of the way may not offer enough room to open the tailgate with some tow bars and/or installations.

I have a tow bar mount rack (Maxraxx) for my Defender but since getting the T6, it has not been used - if taking the bikes anywhere we just use the T6 now for the convenience.
 
Just thought it worth mentioning that we have the VW rack and it gets used for everything other than carrying bikes, we carry the camping chairs and awning on it, on long holidays we have a waterproof bag we can put on it and stuff all the bedding in it. On short moves between sites we chuck all the ancillary junk on it (BBQ and windbreak etc)and lastly my wife says it’s invaluable as a cloths drying rack and for hanging things from.
So its a versatile rack with many other uses
 
upgraded struts myself 15 min job but you can do it in less :)-bought them from strutsdepot ebay
bike rack £380 vat included from VW Van centre
 
Before you buy have a peek at this.

We have the three bike rack and the tailgate clears easily, I understand that they also make a 4 bike version. Because it’s on rails not a hinge there is no heavy tipping up to do, it just slides.
First time you use it, you adjust the wheels chocks etc, but after that there’s no need for further adjustment and fitting and loading takes half the time of the video. It’s just so damn easy.
 
Last edited:
If it’s of any use, ‘TOUR10’ gives a 10% discount off bike racks at Halfords (until end of July I think).
 
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