Genuine vw rear bike rack

I think the tailgate one was called the Linea.

A lot of aftermarket parts are very slow to come to market for the T6 it seems. That's why I've ended up ordering custom seat covers!
 
I had a Fiamma Carry Bike for VW T5 fitted by my dealer on a new van who assured me that it fitted the T6 as well as T5 (he had been assured by a Fiamma dealer on this). It came off after the tailgate was opened and closed about half a dozen times. There seems to be some confusion in the market so I have rung a number of Fiamma dealers to be sure and I can tell you that the Fiamma Tailgate rack for T5 is not designed for T6 - it will fit but not very well as I have found out. The double door version however is OK for T5 and T6 so the issue is just with the tailgate version. No-one can tell me when the Fiamma carry bike for T6 is going to be available which means the only option for tailgate mount is VW and £500+ versus £250 for the Fiamma. I was told at a recent show that VW have an exclusive contract with Thule so you have to go to VW. I resent having to do this so probably I am going to keep things in the family and fit a Westfalia towbar and clever expanding bike rack to my Westfalia van.
 
How about Atera? They make great T5 racks. I think it was called the Linea?

Having seen the VW rack, it does look good; will probably end up with one.
 
I had the vw rack for my t5 good rack for road bikes ,but if you have full suspension mtb then the bikes rub together as they are too close together .I used mine to carry 2 bikes and left a gap between them .A friend had one aswell ,he once got four bikes on ,he said it took ages to get them all lined up .
 
carlg said:
I had the vw rack for my t5 good rack for road bikes ,but if you have full suspension mtb then the bikes rub together as they are too close together .I used mine to carry 2 bikes and left a gap between them .A friend had one aswell ,he once got four bikes on ,he said it took ages to get them all lined up .
Click to expand...
I wonder if the design has changed? We carry 3 bikes on ours, using the 3 spaces closest to van, with plenty of room between them and quick to position them - we alternate direction of each bike and everything seems to line up well. We've had a few bike racks on other vehicles but never had one where the bikes feels so secure.
 
Dave Harris said:
I wonder if the design has changed? We carry 3 bikes on ours, using the 3 spaces closest to van, with plenty of room between them and quick to position them - we alternate direction of each bike and everything seems to line up well. We've had a few bike racks on other vehicles but never had one where the bikes feels so secure.
Click to expand...
Yes it was a strong rack and bikes felt secure .The big down side for me was not being able to put a spoiler on .So now I have a spoiler and tow bar rack .
 
The 'genuine' VW bike rack design has changed from something which actually looked designed for the Transporter - same shape as rear window - to something a lot clumpier and closer to the Fiamma styling. The price though has remained high which is why there are examples of the old style racks claiming to fit the T6 (a rare beast but apparently they do exist) on auction sites for £600 ! Here are two photos of what I'm talking about - old style VW (not available for T6 any more), new style VW (available now for T6) and Fiamma (not yet available for T6). To my eye the old style VW wins hands down.
.oldstyleracks.jpgNewstylerack.jpg fiammarack.jpg
 
and for completeness sake the Atera Linea which only fits the T5 and to my eye looks like the worst of the Fiamma and the newstyle VW rack combined - and is actually between the two prices.
.ateralinea.jpg
 
By contrast with the £550 for the new VW rack I have been quoted £380 for a Westfalia removable towbar (non factory electrics) and £320 for a Westfalia BC-70 bike carrier. There are add on cargo carriers for the Westfalia so as well as being able to tow my boat this option will also give me many other future options for carrying loads - useful when space is at a premium in my camper.
 
Chris Mitchell said:
By contrast with the £550 for the new VW rack I have been quoted £380 for a Westfalia removable towbar (non factory electrics) and £320 for a Westfalia BC-70 bike carrier. There are add on cargo carriers for the Westfalia so as well as being able to tow my boat this option will also give me many other future options for carrying loads - useful when space is at a premium in my camper.
Click to expand...
Looks neat but no good if you want to tow a boat at the same time as carrying bikes. I quite like the look of the VW T6 rack and view it as a permanent fixture on my van which means I have nothing else to store. Only thing I don't like (as I discovered on Friday) is driving at night without bikes and having the high level brake light reflected back!!
 
Also, something else to factor into your costs, which might sway you further towards tow bar mount, is that the standard gas struts on the T6 tailgate won't cope with a bike rack - you have to get them replaced with stronger ones.
 
Polzeylad said:
I think Calis get stronger struts as standard.
You need four large blokes to hang on ours to close it and a careless boot opening can fling you into the flight path of commercial aircraft.
Click to expand...
Just me and Mrs H required - diets start tomorrow! Lol
 
Polzeylad said:
I think Calis get stronger struts as standard.
You need four large blokes to hang on ours to close it and a careless boot opening can fling you into the flight path of commercial aircraft.
Click to expand...

Four strut strengths AFAIK
1250N (California), 1130N (Caravelle), 1080N, 970N
 
Well I fitted our genuine VW rack today and it's rather good and very well thought out.
Made a bit of a mess of the protective clear tape (helicopter tape) with a few bubbles in it but otherwise it fitted perfectly.

Takes some fiddling to fit four bikes in the right order but once done they are very secure. I do think those with big wheels (29") or really fat tyres might struggle but otherwise good.

The boot can be opened but you need to be a near power lifter to hoik up four bikes and closing it felt a bit dodgy (hang on, release, jump out of the way) plus auto latching seems to get slightly confused but no drama really. Will just need some forward planning on our big trips away.

Great fit and finish though and a really good piece of kit.
 
I need to get one ordered, I missed the boat with the Banwy discount. I didn't think they recommended opening the tailgate with bikes fitted though ?
 
superflyguy said:
I need to get one ordered, I missed the boat with the Banwy discount. I didn't think they recommended opening the tailgate with bikes fitted though ?
Click to expand...

I was very careful but it did feel a bit dodgy.
Our bikes are all light (two are kids Islabikes that weigh very little) so it's not too much of a strain on anything.
 
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