Do you have bicycles or eBikes that you want to bring with your with your RV? We have two Lectric XP 3.0 eBikes that we usually have with us and have found a great way to transport those. In fact we like this bike rack so much, we bought it twice. What?

I had been to several bike shops and looked on line at a few options and there was always something about the rack that I didn’t like. Until I saw an ad somewhere on social media from Curt for their Aluminum Tray-Style Hitch Mounted Bike Rack. I was sold! Twice.

Curt Aluminum Tray-Style bicycle rack for RVs

The Curt Aluminum Tray-Style bike rack is a relatively light (the rack itself weighs 45 pounds) but very strong bicycle rack that holds two bikes in a combination of cups and ratcheting grab handles and can support up to 200 pounds. It is mounted in a two inch receiver hitch and is surprisingly stable and strong.

This bike rack is mounted to the two inch receiver hitch of a vehicle, like our travel trailer. From there it has a pin, as you would expect, but there’s also a knob. That knob tightens a pawl against the receiver hitch which accomplishes two things.

The pawl against the sleeve of the hitch reduces shaking and rattle but it also locks the hitch to the tow vehicle. There’s a lock in the round handle of the adjuster. Once you’ve got your rack tightened up you can use the key to disengage the mechanism making it very difficult to remove the bike rack without the key.

As the name describes this is a tray-style rack so the bikes ride on a flat aluminum platform. On one end is a half cup where one wheel of the bike goes. There’s then an arm that has a ratcheting elbow on it. You adjust the arm and push the elbow down on a tire and your bike isn’t going anywhere.

But then there’s more. At the end of this arm is a cable that you can circle around through the bike’s frame and lock it offering additional security. That uses the same key as the knob mechanism so one key does it all.

Don’t lose your keys.

On the other end of the tray is a sliding mechanism that has a ratchet strap in it where you can secure the other wheel. The carrier for this ratchet strap has a good range of motion so I can see kids’ bikes or our larger eBikes being accommodated easily.

Assembly

While the features are what made me want this contraption the quality of the materials and ease of building this made me glad I got it. Assembly was really easy with an instruction manual in real English with color photographs.

Seriously!

The hardware all fit really well together and was well marked. Further, all the bolts used had nylon inserts so they won’t rattle loose down the road. Curt even included all the tools you’ll need to put this together which is great when you’re doing this on the road.

Results

After putting this together and putting both bikes on it I took it for a test spin. Using my GoPro and a suction cup mount I shot this video of the bikes.

Of course there was a bit of movement as this isn’t a rigid structure but at no point was I worried about losing the bikes. In fact I have subsequently made trips down the freeway through construction zones and the bikes are just fine riding back there.

Getting the bikes on and off, so long as you have that key, is really easy as well. This bike rack makes me really happy and is really, really well thought out. I am completely happy with this.

In fact we’ve toted our bikes around all over the place and never had an issue with them coming off or being a problem back there.

We bought this twice

I had mentioned that we bought this bike rack twice and, in fact, we did. We had the first one on the back of our 2022 Rockwood Mini Lite 2205s. As we were parked at a construction zone waiting for a pilot vehicle, a lady missed a giant white box that is a travel trailer and plowed into the back of the trailer. We were just fine, but the bikes and rack and trailer were totaled.

Being someone who doesn’t always plan ahead, I waited until the last minute to buy a replacement rack and bought one at a local bicycle shop because it was in stock. It worked okay, but I wasn’t confident in the rack nor did it do an exceptional job of holding the bikes. They stayed on but the wheels occasionally popped out of the holder.

So, I bought a second Curt Tray-Style Aluminum Bike Rack. I really like this rack quite a bit and, again, we feel very confident about its ability to keep our bicycles on the entire journey.

Bike rack hints and tips

First of all, some bike racks specifically state not to use them on the back of a trailer. That’s this one.

Part of the reason for this is that many towable RVs have pretty lousy suspensions. As a result the bike rack, and the bikes, get quite a shaking - more than many of these are designed to accommodate. When I got the first one of these I contacted Curt and told them what I was doing.

I also told them that our Rockwood Mini Lite 2205s has a torsion axle suspension, not cheap leaf springs. And, it’s a relatively short trailer. While they didn’t fully commit to breaking their own rules, this is a better set-up than many towable RVs so I feel confident breaking Curt’s recommendation.

I do have friends with a fifth wheel whose bike rack literally snapped off the back of their trailer but they have a Grand Design with a cheap leaf spring suspension. Make your own decision and interpretation.

As for covering the bikes, I went through several bicycle-specific covers. They were either expensive or cheap but they all failed with the wind that’s back there. Then Peggy got a great idea so we went to the big box home improvement labyrinth and bought a barbecue cover. That continues to serve us well and it was far less expensive than a specific bicycle cover. Of course we use bungee cords and Nite Ize Gear Ties to hold the cover in place.

Lastly, I take the battery out of the eBike (it’s really easy) just to lessen the load on the bike rack. This reduces the weight of the bike by about seven pounds.

In summary

The folding eBikes is a good idea and we really like the size and convenience factor of these, but getting them in and out of the truck was a bit fiddly. With the bike rack I can easily lift a bike off and head out in the morning and have been doing that.

I will say the bike rack is rated for 165 pounds and the two bikes, at 64 pounds each, came close enough to that number that I keep them on the rack without the batteries, which saves seven pounds each. This makes me more comfortable as I don’t like to stress systems to their limit, except for my wife. She has to put up with a lot from me.

There are products I’ve seen that I like, some I don’t and some about which I’m very enthusiastic. I would say the Curt Aluminum Tray-Style Bike Rack falls into the enthusiastic category.

One feature this has which I can’t use is the ability to fold up flat against the vehicle. I can’t use this because of the spare tire on the back of the trailer, but I don’t care. For the way I use the bikes and the carrier it works great.