Tow bar mounted racks

[RizzoTheRat]

I want to get a tow bar mounted rack for two bikes, my wife's is an e-bike possibly around 25-27kg, and mine's probably around 20kg. I'd like something that folds up so I can store it in the shed easily.

Looking at Thule they seem to have the Easyfold XT, Easyfold 3 and Epos. Other than the price, the only real difference I can see is the XT has slightly smaller spacing between the bikes, which I don't think should be an issue. Does anyone have any insights on these 3, or an alternative suggesting for a 2 bike folding rack?

I've been keeping an eye on second hand sites for a while but nothing seems to be coming up so I'm looking at buying new. The 3 is around €80 more than the XT, and the Epos is another about €200 on that.

[aterribleusername]

Look at Buzzrack, sold via roofbox.com. solid things that are a lot cheaper but just as good. Also be aware of the weight limits of your towbar, ebikes can easily exceed this when taking leverage into account.

[Shooter McGavin]

I've got a Buzz Rack Eazzy 3 which I picked up hardly used from a local seller on eBay for a decent price.

It's very good in use and folds up really neatly. However capacity on that is 20kg per bike.

Looks like you might need the Scorpion in their range to cater for the extra weight. Not cheap but a very good product.

https://www.roofbox.co.uk/scripts/rbvehsel4_tab.ph...

[boxedin]

For alternatives, look at the German bike carriers from Uebler ( BMW / Ford OEM ) or Atera.

[RizzoTheRat]

I hadn't thought about total weight being an issue. Lexus's website says nose weight of 60kg, which isn't much, but by my estimates both bikes and a rack will come to about that. I was planning on always putting the e-bike on closest to the car though.

You say the Scorpion isn't cheap, but its a good €200 cheaper than the Thule's, and I like having the mounting bracket between the bikes rather than having longer attachment arms. About 3kg heavier than the Thule's though which might be an issue on total weight, I think I need to weigh our bikes, I'm assuming the internet quoted weight for my wife's includes a few kg of battery which can come off for travel.

Anyone know how well these kinds of racks work with step throughs? All the product photos/video's I've seen show them clamped on the crossbar.

[dundarach]

RizzoTheRat said:

I hadn't thought about total weight being an issue. Lexus's website says nose weight of 60kg, which isn't much, but by my estimates both bikes and a rack will come to about that. I was planning on always putting the e-bike on closest to the car though.

You say the Scorpion isn't cheap, but its a good 200 cheaper than the Thule's, and I like having the mounting bracket between the bikes rather than having longer attachment arms. About 3kg heavier than the Thule's though which might be an issue on total weight, I think I need to weigh our bikes, I'm assuming the internet quoted weight for my wife's includes a few kg of battery which can come off for travel.

Anyone know how well these kinds of racks work with step throughs? All the product photos/video's I've seen show them clamped on the crossbar.

I bought a bar which goes from seat pole to handlebar stem for my mountain bike:

https://www.halfords.com/cycling/bike-racks/bike-r...

Turns out a 'false crossbar' they're called!!

[RizzoTheRat]

boxedin said:

For alternatives, look at the German bike carriers from Uebler ( BMW / Ford OEM ) or Atera.

Interestingly Uebler's website gives the the bike weight in relation to the tow bar load, sadly only for 50 and 75kg limits though. they look to be a bit lighter than some other options.

[boxedin]

RizzoTheRat said:

Anyone know how well these kinds of racks work with step throughs? All the product photos/video's I've seen show them clamped on the crossbar.

I use an Ubeler: https://www.uebler.com/en/products/bike-carriers/d... with a step-through eBike and crossbar bikes.

I clamp the step-through using the seat post's part of the frame and a Thule cross-bar accessory. I've been using this this setup for 10ish years with no problems driving at very UK illegal speeds in Germany.

For bike carrier reviews look on Youtube, there's quite a few done by Germans.

[benny.c]

I’ve owned quite a few Buzzracks over the years. Very good quality and durability for the price IMHO. I had an E-Scorpion 2 for a while which was great, but recently swapped it for the non-folding E-Hornet. It takes up less space in my garage leaning against the wall than the Scorpion did with the number plate attached. The Scorpion is easier to move around and lift on to the car though.

[Fastdruid]

RizzoTheRat said:

I want to get a tow bar mounted rack for two bikes, my wife's is an e-bike possibly around 25-27kg, and mine's probably around 20kg.

RizzoTheRat said:

I hadn't thought about total weight being an issue. Lexus's website says nose weight of 60kg

You're going to struggle. Both bikes together are 45-47kg which only leaves you ~13Kg. That is a *very* light rack.

The Buzzrack Scorpion Pro 2 for example looks to be what you'd need.... but its 21.5kg for the rack.
The Buzzrack Scorpion Lite 2 is still 17.7kg for the rack.
The Buzzrack E-Hornet 2 is 16Kg.

I would be more accurately weighing your bikes to see how much you have to play with.

[RizzoTheRat]

Fastdruid said:

I would be more accurately weighing your bikes to see how much you have to play with.

Agreed. I like the look of the Scorpion Pro2, but the Uebler's look to be lighter which might be needed.

I need to confirm the towbar limit too, I found a towbar retailer online claiming 114kg nose weight for what looks like the exact same towbar (fitted by the dealer on mine), which is a big difference

[Shooter McGavin]

RizzoTheRat said:

Anyone know how well these kinds of racks work with step throughs? All the product photos/video's I've seen show them clamped on the crossbar.

I can only speak for the Buzzrack, but all the mounting attachments are adjustable. I have a large framed adult MTB, my wife has a small framed adult MTB and our son has a small 20" wheel MTB. It took me about a few minutes on first use to adjust all the fixings to give a solid mount against somewhere on the frame one each bike, with them tapering outwards from largest to smallest/lightest the further away from the towbar they get. Once done just forget about it if you use the same bikes all the time, or simply reposition with an allen key if you need to. I'd have no qualms about them fitting a step thru.

Other great features are the tilt facility (this is my first towbar mounted rack, I wouldn't be without it now) and the fact it folds up really easily to lob in the boot once at the destination. Some parking locations aren't great to leave the empty rack on the towball whilst away riding, just because esther the rack or your bonnet ends up sticking out too far depending on parking orientation, so the fact it can just be whipped off in a couple of minutes folded up and chucked in the boot is a real bonus.

[Fastdruid]

RizzoTheRat said:

Fastdruid said:

I would be more accurately weighing your bikes to see how much you have to play with.

Agreed. I like the look of the Scorpion Pro2, but the Uebler's look to be lighter which might be needed.

I need to confirm the towbar limit too, I found a towbar retailer online claiming 114kg nose weight for what looks like the exact same towbar (fitted by the dealer on mine), which is a big difference

It's going to be down to what the car manufacturer says, the individual tow bars may have a higher limit but the car will have an acceptable maximum limit regardless of what the tow bar itself could take.

Assuming its the NX 450h+ in your "my garage" then it would appear 60Kg is the limit.

https://mag.lexus.co.uk/towing-capabilities/
(that's a pretty dire towing limit for an SUV tbh)

[RizzoTheRat]

Yeah, that's the site I found and it does seem surprisingly low.

This looks like the exact tow bar I have fitted and claims 114kg! The fitting instructions show some pretty chunky metalwork bolted on to the chassis so I'll have a look underneath and see if mine is the same. https://etowbars.com/uk/Towbars/Lexus/NX/LEXUS-NX-...

Mine's a UK spec, and the option was just for a tow bar (fitted by the dealer). I also considered getting a Dutch spec one, and there two options for the towing pack, with one involving a higher towing weight limit.

The UK brochure says the maximum towing weight is 500kg unbraked and 1000kg braked, while that Lexus magazine link says 750 and 1000.

To add further confusion it's the same platform as the RAV4 which appears to be 750 and 1500kg and a 70kg nose weight.


The start point though will be to weigh the bikes, with the battery off my wife's bike it might not be a problem anyway.

ETA: Just looked up the Dutch brochure, it shows 1000kg towing weight as standard but 1500kg with the "explorer pack", which appears to be a bunch of cosmetic stuff like roof rails and scuff plates, but presumably a chunkier than standard tow bar.

Edited by RizzoTheRat on Thursday 18th December 11:50

[DaveyBoyWonder]

People often seem to recommend the Atera Strada DL3 on these kinds of posts. I had one and I thought it was awful - my mates Thule was far, far better.

[troc]

We have an easyfold xt3.

No complaints. Works perfectly well and will happily take my wife’s e-bike as well as my various mountain bikes etc.

[RizzoTheRat]

Looks like the nose weight on your X5 is 120kg or more. I think the 60kg limit on mine might drive me to the lightest one I can find

[Dog Star]

I use a Thule Velocompact 2 for both mine and Mrs DSs e-bikes.

It collapses up pretty small and it neat looking (unlike clunky buzzracks) and stable.

It has a limit of 46kg which for us is fine - our bikes (Canyon eMTBs) are ~20kg each without batteries and my SL has a nose weight limit of 60kg. Rack itself is 14kg. If I’ve both bikes on I take the batteries off.

[benny.c]

I looked at the VeloCompact but it only tales a 1,250mm wheelbase. My XL Bronson is too big like a lot of modern MTBs but it’s obviously fine if you are on a smaller bike. The Buzzracks are more like 1,400mm which should cover most bikes.