How to Transport TWO Recumbent Trikes? | Do It Yourself Trike Roof Carrier | Steintrikes Wild One

In this video, we show you exactly how we made a do-it-yourself roof carrier to transport our two recumbent trikes on the car. Our trikes are Steintrikes Wild One, but this setup is also applicable for other models.
To make this trike roof carrier, we used 4 aluminum U-profiles, 5 cm wide, 2 m long. We attach them to our THULE WingBar Evo roof bars with original THULE T-screws, which we took from our regular bike carriers. This carrier is just a prototype, and will probably have more changes/additions over time.
Location: Novi Sad, Serbia
Filmed: March 2020
Trikes: Steintrikes Wild One
steintrikes.com/
More photos on our Instagram profile: / family_adventures_on_t...
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Music in this video:
BELLA CIAO SKA
royalty free Music by Giorgio Di Campo for @FreeSound Music
freesoundmusic.eu
/ freemusicforyoutube
/ freesoundmusic
original video: • Money Heist's BELLA CI...
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Silent Partner - Straight Weather
No Copyright music from KZbin Audio Library
#recumbenttrike #SteintrikesWildOne #familycycling

[@bici.family]

If you have any ideas on how to improve our trike carrier, or you notice some potential dangers in using it, please share them here! 😊 So far, we consider drilling some additional holes in the place of the wheels, so that we can firmly attach the strap to the carrier, and maybe adding something to connect the four profiles on the front and the rear. What do you think?

[@karlInSanDiego]

I think you should have the kids decorate the outer rails with some fun trike messages for people you see on your travels. This was a nice solution for people who already have roof racks and looks like a good way to help you get to new touring destination. Thank you for sharing!

[@bici.family]

Thank you for the comment! I love the idea of decorating the rails 😊👍

[@steveholderfield]

Very helpful. Thamks from America! I was looking for away to carry my trikes!

[@jackievereen6656]

I love your trikes & your family. I watch this over & over. I am getting me a trike to ride & I am so excited. Hope you keep sharing your adventure.

[@KutWrite]

Looks good. Simple design and nicely done! I think I'd either spread the two Thule bars further apart or add a third one at the rear, to spread out the weight more and add stability against crosswinds. I have only one trike, but have wondered if I could fix up something like this for my Scion FR-S sports car.

[@mauricedelrosario22]

Use a u-bolt , attach it to at least two separate (u-channels) and then to the two wheels of each trike. This will hold the trikes in place to the rail with no movement.

[@bici.family]

Thank you for the suggestion! In the meantime, we did get U-bolts and we use them, exactly as you explained. We took the trikes on multiple travels (the farthest was some 600 km from home) without any problem. 👍

[@Tranquility-Base_on_the_move]

Great idea to put the trikes on the roof so you keep the space inside the car for the kids and luggage. (the other way around would be weird ;-) ) Perhaps you can bold (wooden) triangular wedges in the U-beams just before and after every (front)wheel of the trikes and tie every wheel to the frame with heavy duty tiewraps. It is maybe also a good idea to put some crossbars on the underside of the U-beams so you don't have to measure the distance between them every time you put them on the car. When you don't fasten them to strong you could fold the U-beam frame to a small size for storage when you don't use it. I would also recommend to round of all the sharp edges. Not only for your safety, but also to protect the sidewalls of the tires because they are not that puncture resistant as the tread of the tires. All in all it seems a good workout to put the trikes on and off the roof. And for the rest: keep it safe and have lots off fun.

[@bici.family]

Hahahah that would be indeed funny if we did the other way around 😂 Thank you for the advices, they all make a lot of sense! We will definitely do something with the edges, and will also consider adding something inside the U-profiles to fix the wheels from moving front-back. And also the crossbars are something to think about! Not only for the measurements 😂 but I also feel that it would make the whole carrier more solid.

[@haenzelv6287]

I always use straps to secure the trike. Make sure the strap also goes around the roofbar. Do not us bungee cord. The most import thing whilst securing is take out any movement so momentum cannot be built up. Other than that a nice solution!!

[@bici.family]

Thank you for the advice! We will search for some better straps, and make sure they are also attached to the roofbars.

[@jamesbarker4752]

Excellent!!

[@bici.family]

Thank you! 😊👍

[@PhotoStrider]

Great job !!! 👍👏😃🇨🇦

[@bici.family]

Thanks 👍

[@joseluisdiazrubio3051]

Congratulations!, you are very good enginers!😉

[@bici.family]

Thank you very much!

[@sammckeown362]

Good job!🙏🏿✌🏿🐸

[@bici.family]

Thank you! 😊

[@petrhouska6487]

Thank you! Very god idea.

[@bici.family]

Thank you 😊

[@petrhouska6487]

How long is this AL profil? 250cm? Thank.

[@LeoMafra]

Nice!!

[@bici.family]

Thank you!

[@morrisyarnell6083]

Great idea. I was trying to figure out how to make something similar. My vehicle is taller but that’s not what will determine how to make the rack.

[@jimschultz9465]

Thanks for sharing. Will probably adapt for my purposes. Thanks again.

[@bici.family]

Thanks for the comment! I'm glad it was helpful! 👍

[@jimschultz9465]

@@bici.family How is it working out so far? I wish I had seen this last year. My bad.

[@bici.family]

@@jimschultz9465 it's working great! We have used it multiple times, the farthest trip was to the seaside, approximately 600 km one way, with our two trikes, and additional two bikes in between on regular bike carriers, on the roof. We went over the mountains, also took the highway (not too crazy, up to 120 km/h), one time we went on a gravel road, and we haven't noticed any problems so far.

[@jimschultz9465]

@@bici.family Glad to hear it. Will probably make one myself. Glad you didn't patent it. :)

[@bici.family]

@@jimschultz9465 Haha, no, we are more of "open-source" type of people 😂

[@DavidRidesaTrike]

Good job!

[@bici.family]

Thank you David! Btw, I was remembering you the other day, the weather was bad, and I was hesitant to leave for a ride, but I remembered the Good vs Bad David, which made me laugh, and helped me get out and ride. As I started riding, I was so happy that I did it!

[@DavidRidesaTrike]

@@bici.family I'm glad it got you out riding AND made you laugh! Those good vs. bad battles are alway taking place with me!

[@SFCRambo60]

Awesome idea, may want to add some eyebolts for your straps

[@tandemriders6791]

Great job on the rack build, one suggestion is to add some wheel blocks inside the channel on the front and back side of the wheels. Then use straps to hold the wheel to the channel. Have fun and be safe.

[@bici.family]

Thank you! That is a great idea, we will think about something that we can add in the channels. That will make the trikes stand better in the rack, and will be easier to fix them.

[@nigelnightmare4160]

@@bici.family The easiest way would be to fix wood blocks in the channels. Or drill and put bolts across the channel. ratchet straps will secure the trikes better than bungies. HTH

[@bici.family]

@@nigelnightmare4160 Thanks for the advice! 👍

[@jasonnealey8325]

I would be a little concerned with the bolts that hold the rack you make onto the Thule. Great job better than I could do . Have you heard of Seasucker Trike Rack ? It cost about 400 dollars so not cheap but very clean and secure , they also sell suction cups that you can attach your tie down ropes too. Lastly I wouldn't trust bungi cord , a ratchet strap would be better . Love your videos keep them coming

[@bici.family]

Thank you for the comments! The T-screws are originals from Thule bike racks, so they fit perfectly to the roof rack and are normally used to hold the rack of an upright bike, which is why we chose to use them here as well. We will consider some more options to further secure the carrier on the roof racks and we will definitely look for some better straps. At the moment we have a kind of a lockdown over here, where only grocery shops, pharmacies, and similar are open, but once we can go shopping again, we will look for other options. In the meantime, we decided to post the video and maybe get some useful comments - which is exactly what happened. 😊 We have heard of the Seasucker trike rack, but it is quite expensive, for two trikes it is twice the price, and I am not sure how two of them would fit on the car. And most importantly, we didn't find any that ships to Serbia. Actually, that was one of the main reasons why we chose to build it ourselves - there is no trike carrier that can be found or shipped over here, at least at the moment.

[@joseluisdiazrubio3051]

Maybe I think that a good idea will be to install a pair of arms to fix completely the trikes to the roof carrier

[@bici.family]

Thank you, we will think about some more ideas to fix them better.

[@alpeadriabike]

Hello! I use a similar solution on my Skoda Fabia. But we need 6 tracks as our trikes are from different manufacturers. We don't use aluminium but stainless steel 😅

[@tidjydu5754]

Hello ! Un coucou bonjour de France ! Bien vue pour le transport des trikes, or si je peux me le permettre, il faudrait arrondir les angles des profilés ou les protéger pour éviter de se blesser, mais je pense que vous vous en êtes appercu par la suite 😉, parés pour de nouvelles aventures ! Yesss !

[@tidjydu5754]

Ha re-bonjour ! Une petite idée me vient, : - sur l'avant de vos profilés, avec une chute, faire un arrêt fixé par rivets et raidit par une patte de chaque côté fixée en diagonale. En cas de freinage brutal, cela est plus sécurisé ! C'était mon petit clin d'œil ! 😉 Prenez soins de vous !

[@bici.family]

Bonjour et merci pour vos conseils! On va les prendre en compte, on va définitivement faire quelque chose avec les angles des profilés, et on verra comment faire un arrêt comme vous l'avez expliqué - ca serait vraiment plus sécurisé!

[@tidjydu5754]

@@bici.family 👍👍👍🚴🚴🚴

[@OAPMeander]

Good video. I enjoyed the ingenuity. All looks a bit precarious to me. I would not be confident with it under cornering or heavy braking. Great idea though. The runners would benefit from being joined together across the width (so it becomes one unit) and for safety sake, the rear wheel and one front wheel at least on each trike need to be clamped into the runner (A clamp that is connected to the runner either welded of fasteners used) 👍

[@OAPMeander]

Another quick side note. It will only be as strong as the roof rack and fixings. Have you been in touch with the manufacture of the rack regarding weight load and stress? 👍

[@bici.family]

Thank you for the comments! We will take them into account. We will think about some ideas to fix the trike frames or the wheels better. It has already crossed our minds to add some elements that would join the 4 profiles, to make the carrier more compact, and which would also make the mounting easier (without measurements every time as someone mentioned in the comments). As for the weight load, we are very well within the limits of the roof rack. As for the stress I am not sure, but these racks are made so that you can easily mount 4 standard bike racks for upright bikes, and my understanding is that the trikes will cause less stress than the upright bikes that also need to keep balance on the racks. I will try to find some information about that as well. 👍

[@TomBorgstadt]

I am building a similar rack. Can you share the specifications on the aluminum channel you used? Thanks!

[@dansv1]

Videos like this are better without music.

[@bici.family]

Thank you for the comment!

[@VIrtualRaceways]

Dont leave the flags on when driving, and maybe dull/round off the sharp corners of the U beams.

[@bici.family]

We will definitely take the flags off for transport, you are right! And also the seats to lower the air resistance. And thank you for the advice on the sharp corners, we will do something about it! 👍

[@fatroll1506]

Hello, what is the width of the rail? If it’s 1 mm, it’s not too thin? Thank for shared this great idea!!

[@bici.family]

The walls are 2 mm thick, and the dimension of the rail is 50 x 50 x 50 mm.

[@fatroll1506]

@@bici.family Thanks for the answer

[@wojciechlenardt9870]

Max weight on roof for peugeot 406 combi is 45 kg. How heavy yours trike ?? How many kgs You can put on the roof??

[@bici.family]

Our car is a Ford Focus Estate - which has a roof weight limit of 75 kg. Our trikes are approx 20 kg each, and when we put them up we take off the seats which takes some weight off them as well. I am not sure of the exact weight though.

[@jamieherrera98]

Can you do another video whether your wife can do this by herself? I’m a female about her height with a trike and want to transport it. I’d like your idea but I am not a tall man and don’t have someone to help.

[@bici.family]

I get your point completely! I (Ivana) am not able to lift the trikes by myself, I need someone's help!

[@craigrichmond9609]

This DIY roof rack for two trikes is worthless if you're not tall enough and strong enough to hoist trikes up high like that. So, this won't work for me.

[@bici.family]

I agree with you, it wouldn't be easy for one person, even if you're tall and strong. But as we are two, we are able to lift the trikes together without issues.

[@nigelnightmare4160]

@@bici.family To make it possible for one person you need to hook another channel from the end of the back wheel channel to the ground. Then roll the trike up it backwards lifting the front wheels onto their channels. Once loaded simply strap the extra channel to the roof bars. Unloading is the reverse procedure. HTH

[@bici.family]

@@nigelnightmare4160 That is a good idea! Also, I would add that it is easier to lift them from the back of the car than from the front - it is easier to access the roof from the back (at least on our car). Thank you for commenting 👍