Hello,
I know this subject (bike racks) has been discussed a number of times and I thought I was on the right track until I pulled the trigger and purchased a Thule EasyFold XT bike rack for my wife's Rad City ST. From everything I had read I thought the Thule was the right rack because it has a ramp that keeps the user (my wife) from having to lift the 65 lb bike up on the rack (she can't). The provided ramp is pretty short (about 3').I know you can purchase an extended ramp (53") for it and we were planning to do so. However, we have a Honda Pilot (SUV) and the receiver in about 19" above the ground. When the rack is placed in the receiver, the rack bottom (where the wheel would sit) is 32" above the ground. If you can envision it, the 36" long ramp is at a pretty steep angle when attached to the 32" high rack! The longer ramp would certainly be better.
That brings up another problem....
The handlebars are 46" above the ground, Even with the long extensions there is no way to control the steering when running the bike up the ramp because it's difficult to reach 78" high (32+46).
Am I missing something here? Do any of you forum members have experience using a Thule EF with the long ramp and if so, is it "easy" (consider wife here) to control the bike while moving it up the ramp to the 32" height?
Is there another rack that would be more user-friendly on an SUV?
Thanks for your help.
Wow! That's up there. I'd suggest looking for a receiver adapter that lowers the hitch. It will stick out more, be aware of that.
Man, that's way up there! Far too high for the weight of an e-bike.
Here's what I'm getting closer to buying I've just ordered for my Mini StepThru: https://www.radowners.com/index.php?topic=1079.msg5421
I'd either return that carrier or try one of these to lower the receiver height a little bit (at the cost of extending the whole assembly further rearward):
Are you saying you want to steer the bike holding the grip on the handlebar? I often just hold onto the one side of the front fork to steer when it's at this altitude. Maybe worth a try...
I just realized that I had not responded with a satisfactory "fix" for this situation. The provided ramp is about 36" long (as seen in the original post) and folds up on itself in 3-1 foot pieces for easy storage. It would be much better if the ramp was longer. I purchased a 4' length of 3"X1" aluminum channel. I riveted a 1' length of the long channel to the lower 1' section of the provided ramp. Once they were attached, the effective, usable length of the ramp is now 5' This makes rolling the bike up the ramp much easier!
The only downside is that I have a 4' folded long ramp to store rather than a 1' folded length. Not a show-stopper though and my wife can now load the bike herself.
Quote from: JimInPT on June 13, 2021, 07:01:17 AM
Man, that's way up there! Far too high for the weight of an e-bike.
Here's what I'm getting closer to buying I've just ordered for my Mini StepThru: https://www.radowners.com/index.php?topic=1079.msg5421
I'd either return that carrier or try one of these to lower the receiver height a little bit (at the cost of extending the whole assembly further rearward):
That was my first thought after seeing how high it is. Using an adapter to lower the position, or get something else.
A trick I learned from this video applies to other bike racks too. Basically you position the bike next to the rack and pop a "wheelie" while holding the rear brake and pulling backward and then placing the front wheel into the rack. I do this with the battery removed to save weight.
https://youtu.be/qZC7WcDkxV0
For what it's worth I have the new Hollywood EBike rack and have found it very easy to get the bikes into the rack at least on my Sequoia.
Looks like your tail lights are hidden, poor visibility
Indeed poor visibility with two bikes on . I added the Curt led light kit. Was less than $30 on amazon as I recall. The day I took the above picture was the first day I bought the bikes. Highly recommend adding led turn signal s for safety and also getting stopped by police. I just set bike on rack for picture.
Kit completely wired already.