Benefits of Caravan Bike Racks: Which One Does Your Motorhome Need?

The originally intended use of a caravan may not have been leisure travel, but transportation has certainly changed a lot since the 15th century. The first luxury caravan was made back in 1885, named “The Wanderer” was 5.5 metres long and made of maple and mahogany. This is considered the world’s oldest caravan. Later on, the introduction of the more affordable “Car Cruiser” in 1937 the market began to change significantly. The caravan market was also affected by World War II, interestingly enough in a positive manner. After the war, the golden era of caravanning happened and that slowly but surely made the caravan what it is today.

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Today’s caravans come equipped with all kinds of electronics from TVs and microwaves to fridges and heating too. What’s more, a caravanning holiday is much more affordable than your typical trip abroad with the added benefit of having the freedom to explore much more. You can bring everyone and everything with you on a caravan trip, even another type of transportation like a bicycle. For this though you need what is known as a bike rack.

Benefits of Caravan Bike Racks

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Storage

The main purpose of bike racks is twofold: proper bike storage and safety. A caravan bike rack will provide additional storage space just for your bicycle. With a rack you won’t have to get rid of stuff in order to make space for your bicycle and you won’t have to worry whether or not you have space to bring more things.

Bike Condition

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With a caravan bike rack your two-wheeled friend will stay in good shape. Since your bicycle will be placed in a separate place it won’t get scratched during your travel. If you were to place it inside your caravan, a bumpy road is all it’s going to take to leave some scratches on it.

Tangling

If you want to bring multiple bicycles with you a bike rack is a must. Without one the bikes can easily get tangled but with a bike rack this can be easily avoided since the rack keeps each bicycle in its slot with the help of straps. Untangling bicycles can be quite difficult and you can end up damaging them, remember prevention is better than cure.

Which Bike Rack Is Best?

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A-Frame

These are mounted on the caravan’s A-frame, hence the name. With an A-frame caravan bike carrier the bicycles are typically up high so they are out of the way of caravan fittings. In case your caravan has a front boot coupled with a short drawbar, this type of rack can get in the way. Make sure to check if any part of the bike is touching the front window of the caravan and if it does, this is a big no-no.

Towbar

A towbar bike rack is a cost-effective solution that is mounted on the ball mount of your motorhome. Unlike other racks, a towbar rack allows you to take your bikes and leave the rack on the caravan but one disadvantage is that prevents you from accessing the towing assembly on your caravan. If you caravan has a short drawbar or has a spare tyre at the back you might want to avoid getting a towbar rack.

Rear Wall

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If you’re not going to be towing anything, a rear wall rack is the perfect solution since it can attach on the rear spare wheel assembly. There are other mounting options too such as on the back wall of the caravan as long as the caravan itself is strong enough to support the rack and the bikes too.

Hitch

Hitch racks can be mounted onto the towball or underneath it. Such rack will however get in the way of the rear door but there are also designs that allow you to fold or swing the rack out of the way. Hitch racks are usually capable of holding a maximum of five bicycles.

Drawbar

Similarly to a hitch rack, a drawbar rack is going to get in the way of the rear door but these racks are mounted on the drawbar itself. This means that you need to counterbalance the weight of the bikes with some weight on the other end of the caravan to prevent the towball from flying off. A drawbar rack allows you to carry up to 4 bicycles.

Roof Mounted

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These motorhome bike racks go on top of your caravan which makes them extremely versatile. Just remember that taking off and mounting your bikes onto the rack will not be an easy task since they’ll be that high up. Roof mounted bike racks usually lock the forks of the front wheel which makes them the most secure bike racks.