Bikestow Four in Review - smart bike transport solution Part 2

Bike stands and holders are, it seems, as plentiful as grains of sand. That alone already shows the complexity of the seemingly trivial task of simply wanting to park bicycles. Because it's not just the variety of bikes, but also the different needs and locations where you want to secure, transport, or store them that make this a challenge.

This is where the Bikestow Four comes into play, and with it the high art of reduction and minimalism. It solves, in what appears to be the simplest way, many problems that can arise when transporting bikes. Bikes are inherently unstable, can wobble, slip, get scratched, are sometimes feather-light or really heavy, aerodynamic like an airplane wing or as cumbersome as a rocking chair. The founders of Bikestow also wrestled with these problems when they wanted to stow their bicycles for family outings and vacations.

The original Bikestow was developed for transporting bikes in a van as well as for storing them in an apartment or garage. It is foldable and therefore not only easy to transport but also extremely space-saving to store. The original Bikestow is available in variants for 1-4 bikes and also as the "Original - Three Plus", which offers extra space especially for mountain bikes with very wide tires.

Tech Specs

The goal of any transport solution must be that the bikes stand securely, do not slip, wobble, scratch, or come loose. They need sufficient clearance from the vehicle, but also from each other. Added to that is the variety of bikes, from heavy eMTBs with 29" tires at 2.5" width to super-light road bikes, where carbon rims are always a prime candidate for "enemy contact". Bikestow solves all of this in a simple and ingenious way.

How compact a sturdy and robust transport solution for four bikes can be becomes apparent even before unpacking. Despite all the customs hassles, the box — as flat as a 90s laptop — made it into our office. The box is labeled 15.1 kg; that shows the Bikestow Four is no lightweight, so you should carefully consider the use cases beforehand — whether a nimble three-bike setup or a double-pair might be the more flexible choice. In our case it's about securely fixing as many different bikes as possible in as small a space as possible. And this is where the Bikestow shows all its strengths.

What in most cases will be a van or a larger car is, in our specific case, a trailer - you can find all details about that in Part 1 of the smart transport solutions. The only thing that changes about the fixation of the Bikestow is that it is lashed to the floor of the trailer instead of in the car. Once tightened, the stand doesn't move an inch - the same goes for the wheels secured in it. Only the other side of the bikes needs to be additionally lashed to the trailer, because, lacking car shock absorbers, the trailer moves considerably more than a towing vehicle. In our deployments we have so far always done this with two ratchet straps - it's quick, simple and flexible.

The Bikestow itself can be unfolded and secured to the floor in a few seconds. Loading the bikes is not much more complicated. The only thing to watch when carrying the full number of bikes is the loading order, so that handlebars don't end up against handlebars or a saddle isn't in the way elsewhere.

The greatest strengths of the Bikestow, in addition to its compact folded size and the resulting ease of storage, are above all its robustness and its flexibility. From ultra-light carbon road bikes to e-bikes weighing up to 30 kg, you can secure four bikes side by side in the Bikestow Four so that you don't have to give a second thought to whether everything is really secure during transport, even on a trailer. The wheels can be clamped into the stand in seconds, and the stand itself folds up just as quickly when it needs to be transported from A to B.

Many of the things the Bikestow masters with flying colors may seem trivial at first glance. But the sum of well thought-out features and the attention to detail—without losing focus on the essentials, namely the safety of the bikes—make it an outstanding product. There are many bike stands and transport solutions that master individual aspects just as well, but I don't know of any product that combines so many advantages in one like the Bikestow.