Tips for loading heavy electric bikes onto car racks by yourself

[Taylor57]

My wife with her bike in first "slot". Second slot for bike has wheel holders folded down still. Third grooved track is the loading ramp latched in place and locked.

Looks very similar to the 1 UP racks from Wisconsin...

 

[Merle Nelson]

Absolutely. As I read it, designer of One Up has gone on to produce this with X impovements. Probably not groundbreaking changes compared to someone who already owns a One Up. But, nice by my standards of convenience etc.

 

[Elkman]

I have the OneUp Super Duty double rack and it is OK with the modifications I needed to make to have my license plate visible and to attach a motorcycle ramp for loading very heavy 70 lb. bikes (this is where walk mode is very helpful). If it gets stolen I will replace it a different rack.

Something to check is whether the rack is "RV rated" as if it is not then its use either on a travel trailer or on bad roads on the back of a vehicle is not advisable with two heavy e-bikes mounted on it.

 

[Taylor57]

Absolutely. As I read it, designer of One Up has gone on to produce this with X impovements. Probably not groundbreaking changes compared to someone who already owns a One Up. But, nice by my standards of convenience etc.

I traded in my SUV with Stealth hitch and sold my 1 Up Super Duty w the extra rack. I am getting a new 1.25 hitch on my new e-car and am going to buy the 1up Quick rack 1.25 to carry my Sport. 1 UP is rock solid...

 

[E biker]

Ours ride in the bed of the truck, made a ramp, planning on a mini van next.

 

[Merle Nelson]

Yes I have a $40 or $60 aluminum motorcycle ramp that works great for when they go in the pickup. We're going to set up a utility trailer with inside space for them when we go camping.

 

[Bikeknit]

The only racks that have integrated ramps are the ones from Thule and Yakima. The 1up has an available ramp but it is short, prevents using their license plate holder, it does not securely attach to the rack and flips over with wide tires, and as it is only 3" wide it does not work with wider fat tire bikes. I bought a Motorsports folding motorcycle ramp for my 1up Super Duty double rack.

I believe that Küat has a rack or 2 with ramps.

 

[Merle Nelson]

I tend to look for or notice easier ways to do hard things. I stopped using my ramp on my weekly rider bikes because of one such discovery.

I push the bike up to the bike rack or pickup bed tailgate at an advantages angle, grip the front brake to lock it up with my left hand, pivot/lift the back of the bike to balance on its front wheel and then pivot back of bike around to set on tailgate or car rack. Then lift front of bike into place with two hands.

 

[Taylor57]

I bought a lighter bike! Easy as pie to put on the rack.

 

[Merle Nelson]

Ha. I love picking up my wife's 40 lb Orbea Rise after dealing with the other bikes.

 

[David Paisley]

Here is my video on loading 2 bikes on a Hollywood rack. I now have the Como and a Juiced Ripcurrent S step thru which is 65 lbs without the battery. I take the battery out when loading and travel with the batteries in the car.

 

[Merle Nelson]

That looks good for not having to deadline an entire bike all at one time.

 

[Merle Nelson]

I was following this car with what I believe is the One Up rack. The whole time I'm watching the four bike rack sway back and forth from side to side. And I was thinking of some of the other features the QuikrStuff rack has. They seem to be a big plus in my mind - I know some people here have one coming - including a handle to crank up internal tension in the hitch so that your rack doesn’t move back and forth.

 

[Merle Nelson]

You can barely make out an out of focus blue handle between the bike tires. That's what you turn to tension up hitch tongue in reciever.

My wife just started practicing using this on her car so she can transport her bike without me.

 

[Bikeknit]

I really like those lights from Menards. What is the brand?

 

[Merle Nelson]

This is a licence plate hanger they came up with which easily transfers from car to rack. (Or thief back pocket.) I'm only going to use that if we get a third license plate made as it is so easily removed.

 

[JVD]

Very interesting method for loading your ebike, Court. I decided to go with a Yakima On-Ramp model, which includes a detachable ramp segment to help roll the bike up onto the rack. However, it's still a 2-person operation because guiding the wheels into the rails needs more than 2 hands. Also, once the bike is on the rack, one person needs to steady it while the mast is raised to clamp to the frame. We've gotten pretty good at it so it works for us.

 

[Merle Nelson]

Ha,.......just went back and watched that video for the first time - yeah, that's how I do it.

It had me realize that a lot of videos move along a little slow for me and I think I've fallen into tending to not watch them oftentimes. One thing that content makers might want to consider is first show the action and the result (in this case loading method) then more people would see the value in watching the longer explanation and how to.

Not saying any of this as a critique. I'm sure I just came on this thread one day and started posting in the later parts of it. Thanks for starting it Court and taking the time to make a great video to show what you meant.

 

[scrambler]

7 Month later, I finally got my QuikRStuff
Yeah

Need to order a spare license plate now

 

[Taylor57]

Looks like the same builder as my 1UP