Yah or Nah: Fiamma Bike Rack w 3rd bike

[goodtimes3000]

I am a new '90 van owner and my kiddos and I take bikes with us often on trips. I am looking for a solid, easy to use, not altering the vehicle option for carrying 3 bikes - mtb's and gravel-y bikes. I perused the forums and found the Fiamma Carry Bike Rack seems like a good option. I use a Kuat hitch rack on my other car.

Just curious if anyone has any yay's or nay's on the Fiamma for my van, especially using the 3rd bike adapter. I've also been traumatized by bikes swinging off bike racks in the past (before I got the Kuat) so I'm really hoping for something super solid.
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1979 Westy Bus
1972 Beetle
1969 Ghia
1969 Westy Bus
1987 Vanagon Westfalia
Current: 1990 Westy Multivan

[shagginwagon83]

I am a fan of a hitch mounted solution. I feel 3 bikes on the Fiamma is kinda pushing it for the weight on the hatch.

Van Cafe, GoWesty, and Burley Motorsports offer Vanagon hitches. You can also DIY build your own.

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"Jo Ann" - '83.5 Westfalia EJ22e w/Peloquin

[kamzcab86]

The Fiamma is a great rack. I love mine (ditched a Thule hitch rack for it).

That said, keep in mind, the Fiamma rack has a weight limit of 50 kg/110 lbs.
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1986 Cabriolet: www.Cabby-Info.com
1990 Vanagon Westfalia: Old Blue's Blog
2016 Golf GTI S
"Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance." - 孔子

[jimf909]

My take...

Fiamma hatch mounted rack Pros: taillights are fully visible; rack does not interfere with access to the hatch, esp. if the hatch has heavy duty struts; lowest cost; lightweight. Cons: can be difficult to open the hatch with bikes on it w/out heavy duty gas springs (Before I added heavy duty struts I raised the hatch with two bikes on it and put a stick under the hatch to hold it up.).*

Hitch mounted rack, Pros: easier to put bikes on the rack; no added weight on the hatch; usually very sturdy. Cons: Heavy; very much in the way of the hatch unless mounted on a swing out**; usually 2 - 4x the cost of the Fiamma, esp. if adding a swing-out; often block the taillights.

I've used Kuat and Yakima hitch mounted racks, 1Up tray racks and the Fiamma. I loved the Fiamma but only used it with two bikes so I can't speak to adding a third bike.

* This thread describes Heavy Duty gas springs (struts) that hold the hatch up even with bikes on the Fiamma rack:
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=687800

** A hitch mounted rack with a swing-out is a pretty sweet setup but it's another $500 and 40 lbs of weight on the back.
https://kuat.com/products/pivot-v2?variant=47404133056810

The Fiamma was my favorite rack until I went to 1UP racks on an RMW swing-out.

p.s. Welcome to the Vanagon and Samba pleasure cruise! We do love photos of new vans.
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- Jim

[Xevin]

What’s the approximate weight of the bikes? I have used Fiamma racks with two bikes on the 72 bus. This is only 50lbs of weight. Fiamma designed a fantastic rack for Type 2 and T3s.

I have a Fiamma 3 tray rack for the 85 weekender I have yet to install. I think for traditional bikes I’d have no worries loading 3 bikes. I wouldn’t be comfortable with 2 E-bikes. Fiamma knows what they are doing. It would make my butt pucker loading up three E-bikes. So I will be following this thread. Or perhaps a call/email to Fiamma US
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Keep on Busin'

[clamay]

We have 2 ebikes with a total weight of about 100 lbs and we have gone through 2 Fiamma bike racks. We finally went to a hitch rack.
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91 Carat, automatic, GW 2.2, GW EFI, Peloquin TBD

When you come to a fork in the road, take it. --Yogi Berra

[4Gears4Tires]

^ 3 regular bikes will weigh close to 100lbs, probably 30lbs a piece.
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'87 Syncro Ferric Oxyhydroxide Superleggera Edition
'85 Westy Sciuridae Domus Edition

[Love My Westy]

It makes a difference what kind of roads your driving on. Rough roads beat lhe crap out of things. We destroyed a Kuat NV2.0 with 2 ebikes on it on a swingout . Every thing has its limits. I carry my e-bikes inside my van if I can.

[Xevin]

[dobryan]

That rear hatch is very strong and can take a lot of weight. I would not worry about it as a limiting factor.

I have had a Gary Lee rack on mine with a spare tire, 5 gallons of gas, and other stuff. The hatch didn't care, even off road.
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Dave O
'87 Westy w/ 2010 Subaru EJ25 (Vanaru) and Peloquin TBD

"To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive." Robert Louis Stevenson

MD>Canada>AK>WA>OR>CA>AZ>UT>WY>SD
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=620646

Building a bus for travel in Europe (euroBus)
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=695371

The Western Syncro build
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=746794

[airschooled]

[4Gears4Tires]

[dabaron]

[vanagonjr]

[Xevin]

[brickster]

We still like ours after over 3 years of use. It is well made, easy to use and has held up well to unpaved road vibrations.

I agree that one should budget in the cost of heavy duty tailgate shocks (they weren't expensive when we bought ours). The set I went with are too strong for my wife to be able to close the tailgate and so I'll be replacing them soon.

Can't comment on the 3rd bike option, but I say 'Yah' otherwise.
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1984 Campmobile Automatic

[Crooked Designer]

If you're only bringing mountain bike style forks (can be with or without suspension, but the crown width needs to be pretty consistent) North Shore Racks NSR 4 is a good option. Super easy to load. I can put 4 mountain bikes on in 3-4 minutes. Very stable with a 2" hitch. and drops down to the back tires of the bikes to open the tailgate. Velocirax is a similar solve, but with a basket for the front wheels instead of "fingers" that interface with the fork crown.

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'85 Westy full camper, Subaru 2.5L, 5 speed SubiGears + 5speedbus shifter kit

[goodtimes3000]

Thank you, all very helpful. Would be analog bikes and for now only 2 are really adult sized - one teenager's MTB, kids bike and my gravel bike. I assume in the tolerable weight range of the Fiamma.

She's at the doctor's right now getting a few fixes but this is my new van. I'm really looking forward to driving her around town and an October campout in the San Juan Islands.
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1979 Westy Bus
1972 Beetle
1969 Ghia
1969 Westy Bus
1987 Vanagon Westfalia
Current: 1990 Westy Multivan

[goodtimes3000]

Would putting a 2" hitch on the Van with my Kuat 4-bike rack to be too much? That's what I have on other vehicle and the rack itself is very heavy. I assumed it would be too much for the Van so I researched the Fiamma.
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--
1979 Westy Bus
1972 Beetle
1969 Ghia
1969 Westy Bus
1987 Vanagon Westfalia
Current: 1990 Westy Multivan

[1988M5]