BikeStow – a great rack for your van (and your home)
The BikeStow Original bike rack was born like many great ideas out of frustration caused by not finding the right solution for a problem. In this case: How to transport multiple bikes safely in the back of a van without installing a permanent fixture. Unlike many other great ideas, though, this one was followed through with, and the final product has gained praise from users and established review sites alike.
The Laight family spent three years testing, tuning, and prototyping various designs, materials, and components until they had the final version. The patented design features brushed aluminium ‘v-shaped sliders that slide down and are locked with a thumb screw to hold all standard wheel sizes firmly.
Provided tie-down straps and corresponding cut-outs allow easy rack securing to the van’s cargo loops. When not used, the cross supporting ‘dog bone’ lifts, and the BikeStow Original folds flat, with magnetic catches keeping it neatly closed. Since the weight was significantly reduced through the iterations, the rack can easily be moved around if needed.
Here is a closer look at the thumb screw and the aluminium slider:
The rack is available for 2,3,or 4 bikes. Pictured below are the 2 – and 4 bike versions.
The BikeStow Original is family made by the Laights in Stourbridge, UK, in small batches, ensuring high quality and adherence to a well-engineered standard. The main structure is CNC routed in-house from furniture grade birch plywood, and the aluminium ‘v’ sliders are hand-brushed just outside Birmingham’s historic Jewellery Quarter. The rack is made out of regular plywood, so it is not weatherproof. In the future, there might be a version out of a different material that can endure the elements (for example, on the back of a pickup truck), but this is still a couple of years out.
I met with Matthew from the Laight family in Hong Kong, and we put my Trek Y-foil next to his Cannondale Scalpel into the 2-bike version of the rack. No matter what kind of bike, you should always be able to fit the number of bikes the rack is intended for. In our case, the best arrangement was to put my bike in with the front wheel and the mountain bike with the back wheel.
The rack is great looking, well constructed, simple and intuitive to use and easy to move and fold. If you need a rack for your van or even your home, this is an outstanding solution.
Specs:
- weight: 8.7 – 11kg depending on version (2, 3, or 4 bikes)
- Unfolded size: 74cm deep, 60cm wide (2 bike2), 85cm (3 bikes), 110cm wide (4 bikes)
- Material: laminated birch plywood, aluminium
- Available colours: Volcanic Black, Storm Grey, Orange
- wheel sizes: Min: 26″ – Max: 29″ (Small Wheel Adapter available separately)
- max tire width: 3″ on 26″ or 27.5″ wheels, 2.6″ on 29″ wheels
| Product | BikeStow Original |
| Price | GBP 191 – GBP 299 (depending on version) |
| Brand | BikeStow |
| International Shipping available | Yes |
| Company Location | U.K. |
| Manufacturing Country | U.K |
| Sustainability Info | locally produced out of birch plywood |
| Product / Company link | https://bikestow.com/ |
Got any feedback or questions? Please comment in the section below!
