ChrisF Posted August 23, 2025 Posted August 23, 2025 On 8/21/2025 at 10:40 PM, OVERDRIVE said: A bit off topic but still need to sell my towbar from the polo if anyone looking: https://bikehub.co.za/classifieds/item/trailers/826931/brink-towbar-for-a05-pq25-poloa1-platfform Back to the lecture at hand, never thought ebikes were so heavy. Moving goalpost .... A typical 250W motor and 600W.h battery in a typical aluminium frame full suspension is in the order of 25kg, before saddle bag, water bottles, etc .... So the race started to reduce weight ... carbon frames ... smaller motors ... smaller batteries ... wide selection now well under 20kg. Another race is ongoing for more powrr and especially more range .... a 900W.h battery ADDS a lot of weight .... Many bikes has a key that makes swopping out the battery a matter of seconds. So really easy to drastically reduce the weight. Much easier to lift the bike onto the carrier, and much less force on towbar. Zebra 1
Shebeen Posted February 12 Posted February 12 On 8/19/2025 at 5:54 PM, Bro Derek said: https://www.vertorack.co.za/ These are awesome. Price is also really good for what it is. Pieter is an amazing dude and will work with you for the best solution as he manufactures/machines parts etc all in his workshop in Paarl Saw one of these in the wild. Looks very much like a copy of the original KarooRak concept, but without the hydraulics it is quite a bit cheaper. https://www.wildforged.com/store I suppose imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
Bro Derek Posted February 12 Posted February 12 19 minutes ago, Shebeen said: Saw one of these in the wild. Looks very much like a copy of the original KarooRak concept, but without the hydraulics it is quite a bit cheaper. https://www.wildforged.com/store I suppose imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. I think both are imitations or a take on the DH shuttle trailers and gondola bike racks to be honest. I've certainly hung my bike like that many times for decades at various uplift systems Pieter is a very experienced DH racer and has been using versions of his for many many years before anyone else in SA had a similar product. Running shuttles at Paarl every other weekend. He is also an amazing machinist and engineer, so he can and will customize a rack for you. It's a really good way to move bikes and fine tuning it for cars has been done by quite a number of companies over the years. If Thule started doing it, I reckon it would explode. Their brand dominance is massive in the bike transportation industry and small guys breaking into their space really struggle
Shebeen Posted February 12 Posted February 12 14 minutes ago, Bro Derek said: I think both are imitations or a take on the DH shuttle trailers and gondola bike racks to be honest. I've certainly hung my bike like that many times for decades at various uplift systems Pieter is a very experienced DH racer and has been using versions of his for many many years before anyone else in SA had a similar product. Running shuttles at Paarl every other weekend. He is also an amazing machinist and engineer, so he can and will customize a rack for you. It's a really good way to move bikes and fine tuning it for cars has been done by quite a number of companies over the years. If Thule started doing it, I reckon it would explode. Their brand dominance is massive in the bike transportation industry and small guys breaking into their space really struggle fair enough, karoorak looked like a unique design when I first saw it. hardest thing for Thule would be to make the concept look sexy, just looks like they are from the Landbouskou! Bro Derek 1
Bro Derek Posted February 12 Posted February 12 3 minutes ago, Shebeen said: fair enough, karoorak looked like a unique design when I first saw it. hardest thing for Thule would be to make the concept look sexy, just looks like they are from the Landbouskou! Looks like we missed this! https://www.thule.com/en-us/news/thule-revert
jcza Posted February 12 Posted February 12 1 hour ago, Shebeen said: Saw one of these in the wild. Looks very much like a copy of the original KarooRak concept, but without the hydraulics it is quite a bit cheaper. https://www.wildforged.com/store I suppose imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Karoorak and Wildforged is the same company.
ChrisF Posted February 12 Posted February 12 8 hours ago, Bro Derek said: Looks like we missed this! https://www.thule.com/en-us/news/thule-revert Interesting .... Thule knows the game, they know the regulations .... those promo photos needs a numberplate and lights .... basically a "trailer board" .... (same requirement for all of these brands, just found the Thule add surprisingly non-compliant)
Kuys Posted February 12 Posted February 12 As far as I know number plates and lights are not a requirement in the USA (at least not all the states) And Thule do not import this type rack to SA ChrisF 1
Mamil Posted February 13 Posted February 13 I have a karoorak 2 bike rack. There are pro's and cons. One con is that it is flipping heavy. I haven't weighed it but you need to be quite strong to attach it to the vehicle. Once on its a dream to use though.
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