Bikes inside a caravelle

nath1977

New Member
Does anyone have any good/bad experiences of getting 1 or more MTB's inside a Caravelle? I know there is the muck to consider. Completely new to the 'velle and would like to know what options work for folks. I need three seats in the rear for children and have considered replacing the bench with another captain seat, therefore giving me far more space and length.
Would love to hear about the good and bad experiences.
 
Not a Caravelle, but I've done this:-

Works well and you can either use the existing lashing tie downs in a Caravelle - or you can get fancy 'T' shaped connectors that work with the 'velle rail system.

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Thanks - yes I’d seen that pic when searching earlier. What seats do you have in with the bikes?
It's a Kombi SWB - with 2+1 seat configuration in the middle (2nd) row of seats. Don't need to remove any of the seats to get the bikes in.
 
@TallPaul_S has a build thread - click on the About tab on his profile to see it - which shows his bike rack.

Alternatively have a look at these threads:

Oh and welcome to the forum!
Yeah I've built out my Caravelle to hold 2x mountain bikes, I've got 2x captains seats in line on there passenger side.

My longest bike is very long (1350mm wheelbase) and so if yours are a bit shorter, you might be able to get them in with them front wheel off, with the bench seat slid almost all the way forward. From my measurements, work one of the captains seats slid fully forward it gave me 175cm of room behind.

PXL_20230718_191308220.jpg

Do you have the Caravelle already? If not, how long are your bikes? And how much room do you need for your kids legs, are they 4 or 14 haha?

It might be a case of removing the 2x middle row seats (can be done by one person) then having a play around with the bench seat and your bikes to see if you can fit everything in! That's basically what I did. If you can leave the bench seat in place it means you can leave it as a normal 5 seater when no bikes are in, with a huge boot, or loads of rear legroom!
 
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Yeah I've built out my Caravelle to hold 2x mountain bikes, I've got 2x captains seats in line on there passenger side.

My longest bike is very long (1350mm wheelbase) and so if yours are a bit shorter, you might be able to get them in with them front wheel off, with the bench seat slid almost all the way forward. From my measurements, work one of the captains seats slid fully forward it gave me 175cm of room behind.

View attachment 268426

Do you have the Caravelle already? If not, how long are your bikes? And how much room do you need for your kids legs, are they 4 or 14 haha?

It might be a case of removing the 2x middle row seats (can be done by one person) then having a play around with the bench seat and your bikes to see if you can fit everything in! That's basically what I did. If you can leave the bench seat in place it means you can leave it as a normal 5 seater when no bikes are in, with a huge boot, or loads of rear legroom!
This looks great - is it LWB as I’m fairly sure my Orbea 29er won’t fit it behind the bench even without the front wheel. I’ll have a play at the weekend!
Kids are young so legroom not a concern
 
This looks great - is it LWB as I’m fairly sure my Orbea 29er won’t fit it behind the bench even without the front wheel. I’ll have a play at the weekend!
Kids are young so legroom not a concern
Nope mines a SWB. The bench seat goes a long way forward when you slide it all the way, but you might need to check where it locks in place, as the furthest forward position might only be for removing it.

You might be able to get 3x single seats down one side, I've got 2 and there's enough legroom for me to sit in both seats, at 6ft 3in, and that's with a section blocked at the rear.

Edit: yes, you can, someone else tested this (the 9 seater link in thier post). That's with a LWB which has 40cm more room but as you can see there's enough room for an adult to sit in each row, so if no legroom is needed then I'm sure you can squeeze 3 rows in the back into a SWB.

 
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Granted not a caravelle and aware you have the extra panels on the inside.. Have tried a few layouts.. photos from the old bus but doing the same across the back with the new too.. snug as 29er but works well as have a forty winks bed in the back and kids bikes go on the bike rack

tempImageSFq2wq.jpgIMG_7661.jpgIMG_9009.jpg
 
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