Carrying a bike while trailering???
We have an Airstream travel trailer, a 25 foot Flying Cloud. The "authorized" rack for the back of the trailer is a Fiama bike rack. We ordered one, but there is a constant flow of complaints about failures in the Fiama structure that have made me gunshy. THE QUESTION IS: WHAT ALTERNATIVES DO I HAVE?
Here are some of the parameters I'm working with. We both have 30lb Trek bikes (2 x 30 = 60, the Fiama limit is 70). I'm mid 60s with a bad back, so lifting those bikes into a rack on top of my tow vehicle or on top of the bed is going to be a non-starter. We have a flush bed cover, so either that will have to be open if the bikes are in the back, or the bikes will need to go in a rack over the bed cover (again, back hurts just thinking about lifting 30 lbs over my shoulders).
Surely there are some alternatives? Here's what I've identified so far:
1. Put the bikes inside the trailer (these are big bikes!) where they'll bounce around and wreak havoc.
2. Put a hitch receiver on the back of the trailer for my existing platform bike rack (my trusted hitch guy said he won't do it because of "liability") (???)
3. Get a different (non-Fiama) rack installed on the AS
4. Get folding bikes that will either lighten the load on a bike rack or fit more easily inside the trailer or the bed of the truck.
I'd appreciate any suggestions.