The ultimate MTB transport

Got to try out a SWB Rifter, and the dealership let me take my bike.

Pretty much think it’s perfect for weekend adventures and off the cuff camping.

Will put some pics up once i get them on imgur

Things like the old Renault Espace were awesome for space and comfort but that was a big vehicle.

The old Renault Espace was like a Tardis. A 4.25m x 1.78m it was narrower and shorter than the current Megane but spaceous inside, however, people got their legs smashed in corner shunts.

b33k34
Full Member
The trend for everything to be some kind of SUV has removed a lot of options but I always think the most interesting Mtb vehicles are the less obvious ones – @RustyNissanPrairie being a perfect example.

My ‘Blingo is good but I also have a Volvo XC90 that I’m removing the (two) rows of rear seats from that is massive inside and will easily swallow my 1351mm XL 29er. I’m planning on using it as a carcamper on a Scandi roadtrip.

It’s £500 purchase price is nice when reading about the van prices on here.

How about a Nissan Pathfinder? They are hoooge!

Pathfinder’s basically a pickup though. I like the XC90 idea – they’re not huge by modern SUV standards (and they’re lovely inside) but ideally you’d do without the high ground clearance and 4×4 kit (which both eat interior space and add complexity and weight.

Generation 6 velle is a very nice thing indeed. Basically a launch special edition that bristled with kit. I think the only thing it lacked was the dif lock and parking heater.

Beware though. VW fitted some, but not all, with the old t5.1 180bitdi engine – the CFCA lump that ate its own EGR cooler’s dissolved fumes, boiled itself and generally misbehaved. They did this until they ran out of engines before the 204bitid was available. This has much better cooling (it’s charge cooled) and doesn’t have an aluminium EGR cooler, because that would have been an insane choice of materials for such a thing. The gen 6 CFCA engines do have the revision D EGR cooler which is less prone failure, but it still does happen and the engine is flawed elsewhere anyway.

Generation 6 velle is a very nice thing indeed. Basically a launch special edition that bristled with kit. I think the only thing it lacked was the dif lock and parking heater.

Beware though. VW fitted some, but not all, with the old t5.1 180bitdi engine – the CFCA lump that ate its own EGR cooler’s dissolved fumes, boiled itself and generally misbehaved. They did this until they ran out of engines before the 204bitid was available. This has much better cooling (it’s charge cooled) and doesn’t have an aluminium EGR cooler, because that would have been an insane choice of materials for such a thing. The gen 6 CFCA engines do have the revision D EGR cooler which is less prone failure, but it still does happen and the engine is flawed elsewhere anyway.

Cheers for that, good to know – I’ll definitely check the engine code to make sure any 204bhp van I look at has a CXEB engine and not a dirty CFCA! 👍

Got to try out a SWB Rifter, and the dealership let me take my bike.
Pretty much think it’s perfect for weekend adventures and off the cuff camping.
Will put some pics up once i get them on imgur

So here’s my Bird Aether 9 in ML (tyre edge to tyre edge 2100mm) in a SWB Peugeot Rifter. I’ll be picking it up this weekend!

From the back

From the front; with the boot closed.

From the side – the wheel edge just comes a little in between the front seats – arms are not exposed to bare brake rotors

With the wheel off; theres plenty of room for car-camping for one; especially as the passenger side front seat can fold all the way flat if you remove the arm rest.

Here is the second row of seats; in this configuration is a bench of two and a single seat behind the driver.
You can remove the plastic guard highlighted in red; its only held down with 3 screws. You should then be able to unbolt the 2 seater bench from its pivot on the left and the main fixing on the right. Once done, you should have a completly flat surface from tail to footwell, which could be extended to the front seats with a bit of ply. This should allow easier bed building and bike transport, creating ceiling height by removing the rise the folded down seats create.

Nice pics, cheers.

So here’s my Bird Aether 9 in ML (tyre edge to tyre edge 2100mm)

Just clarifying this, because 10cm can make a huge difference in whether a bike fits or not. That’s a Bird Aether 9 ML with a wheelbase of 1240mm according to the geo chart, right?

If so, unless you’re running 3 inch tyres, it’s not 2100mm from tyre edge to tyre edge.

This is my XL Geometron with a 1350mm wheelbase (11cm more!) and 2.4″ 29er tyres and it is almost exactly 2100mm in length.

It might be pedantic, but like I say, when trying to fit long bikes in vans 10cm can mean the difference between it fitting and not fitting, or the wheels being intrusive into the driving area that it becomes an issue, or not.

You’re no doubt right – I’ve likely mis-remembered the measurement I took!

Its maybe closer to 2000mm then.

👍 no worries! Provided you’re running 29er front and back, it’s easy to work out tbh, a 2.4″ 29er wheel is 750mm diameter – add this to the wheelbase and you’ve got the length.

Long bike problems – the shortest I can make mine is 1900mm with the bar turned 90 degrees! With the bar flipped 180 degrees it’s about 2000mm long.

In your pics, the bar seems pretty close to the roof, what fork travel are you on? Thinking longer travel might not fit even upright!

That is a really nice gen6. I forgot they have the adaptive suspension. Possibly the only thing I wish we’d added. LED lights are an absolute must on any transporter – the standard halogens are awful. It might have a towbar (most do) in which case you could look at an atera strada rack (none of the other racks allow the tailgate to open, even then I have to turn my bars and make sure my pedals are at BDC nearest the car), as they’re less of an issue aerodynamically than the tailgate racks. Though the geometron will hang off the ends.

That is a really nice gen6. I forgot they have the adaptive suspension. Possibly the only thing I wish we’d added. LED lights are an absolute must on any transporter – the standard halogens are awful.

Yep, LED’s are on the must have list, I’m not paying £40k for halogen lights!!

It might have a towbar (most do) in which case you could look at an atera strada rack (none of the other racks allow the tailgate to open, even then I have to turn my bars and make sure my pedals are at BDC nearest the car), as they’re less of an issue aerodynamically than the tailgate racks. Though the geometron will hang off the ends.

I’ve already got a towbar rack for my superb, the Geometron fits ok but clearance might be an issue on a Caravelle then… Bars will be fine but it might not clear the rack! See my towbar rack below.

Ahh, with 800mm bars it might not fit without hitting the rear window either…

At this rate I’ll be forgetting about the towbar and just getting a tailgate mounted one if I find I need it!

In your pics, the bar seems pretty close to the roof, what fork travel are you on? Thinking longer travel might not fit even upright!

Thats a 150mm Pike Ultimate. The bike is unsupported in the pics; with it properly upright theres probably 10mm breathing room. It has to go in forwards though; if you put it in backwards the boot door can’t get the bike in when the handlebars and fork are vertically aligned; but its fine if you go front first with the back wheel lower until the handlebars clear the threshold.

If you removed the seats as I described to make a totally flat, van-like bed, you’d easily gain another 30-50mm I reckon. You could even dispense with that and have the wheel nestled in the footwell.

And spec wise if I can not lose much from my current car I’ll be happy, I currently have:

Keyless entry
Adaptive cruise control
Adaptive dampers
Android auto
‘Canton’ 12 speaker audio
Heated screen
Android auto
Active lane assist
Speed limit sign recognition
Reversing camera
All round parking sensors (front, back, side)
Tri-zone climate
Front and rear heated seats
Smart light assist on bi-xenon headlights

From the above list, I think all the executive/generation six Caravelle is missing, is:

Keyless entry
‘Canton’ 12 speaker audio
Active lane assist
Side parking sensors
Rear heated seats
Smart light assist

Do they come with an auxiliary heater as standard or as an option? It’s not much of an issue with the heated screen, but there’s a lot more air in the cabin to heat up on cold days than in my car!

Thats a 150mm Pike Ultimate. The bike is unsupported in the pics; with it properly upright theres probably 10mm breathing room. It has to go in forwards though; if you put it in backwards the boot door can’t get the bike in when the handlebars and fork are vertically aligned; but its fine if you go front first with the back wheel lower until the handlebars clear the threshold.

See, I knew there was another reason I’d discounted the smaller sized vans! My bike has 170mm forks with a 35mm bar so it’d probably be too tall! And I’d need to keep the seats in for carrying people occasionally.

I’ve got the auxiliary air heater, which is made by Eberspacher. There’s a 7-day timer/programmer and a leisure battery under the passenger seat. There’s also a remote control which is great on frosty days for preheating the cabin. This is all a single option so if they selected the aux heater then they get the full bundle. It’s lush. The remote has a +1km range so when skiing or biking I can pause on the way home and get it nice and warm before I get there.

In addition to that they are all fitted with a Webasto thermotop-c as standard. This is used to aid in engine coolant heating and makes a massive difference to warmup times. As a result they’re a lot less susceptible to DPF issues than regular T5/T6s. The thermotop doesn’t come with a remote, but you can buy one to retrofit.

The heated screen is the regular ford sh1te that VW license off them. So expect moire and other random effects at low sunlight. Blind people claim you can’t see it. You can. It’s awful. I long for a retrofittable silver dissipated screen like skoda and the rest of VW have been using for donkey’s years.

Transit van owners laugh at the mirrors which are flat, like a bathroom mirror. Side assist (blind spot warning) is consequently a valuable option.

There was a premium audio option. I seem to recall it was jokingly priced at £2500. A retrofit system would be a lot less than that. The discover system is ok, its embedded VW connect stuff is junk.

Awesome! Cheers – I’ve registered on the T6 forums but there’s such a massive wealth of info on there it’s hard to narrow it down!

If it’s got the optional auxiliary heater it’ll be easy to see as it has this control panel above the rear view mirror, correct?

In place of the blanking plate:
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Might have to put this option towards the top of the list as it’ll come in extremely handy when camping in the van.

I’ve driven a ford with the wires in the screen and didn’t notice it too much so should be ok with thah, I agree it’s a shame it’s not the same tech as the Skoda though.

Yeah the control unit for the aux heater is in that space. there should also be two stickers on the driver’s door: one for the thermotop and the other for the eberspacher. The intake for the heater is in the driver’s footwell and the exhaust is in the b-pillar base:

Should probably give the poor thing a sweep out.

As mentioned a few posts up turning the bars 180 degrees will make the bike shorter but judging by the pictures no one seems to be doing this.

I could fit a 1240mm wheelbase 29er in a crewcab transit custom L2 straight with both wheels on but had to turn bars 180, make a small cutout in the bulkhead at axle height to push tyre through and remove rear door plylining.

Having the bike completely straight helps when loading multiply bikes and fitting things round them

LWB Rifter owner here. L Orange stage Evo slots straight in, no bars turned.

@Wally
LWB Rifter owner here

Should be picking up my SWB this weekend. Anything I should know about them; any mechanical gotchas or anything like that?

No issues 2 years in for me- 19 plate. Main issue with mine is it’s a wet belt 1.2 petrol, so I change oil every 6 months myself. Garage does rest. No idea on Diesel issues. Also, not exactly frugal, but I do less than 4K a year. Pulls away fully loaded no issue and very comfortable.

Pathfinder’s basically a pickup though

How so, other than looking like a Navara? It’s a full-on seven seater SUV with proper rear suspension.
Saying that, all of the stuff you say about the XC90 applies to the Pathfinder; high and no roomier than an estate. Mine was a big slow smokey lump which cost £500 a year to tax

What estate is as big inside as a Pathfinder?

No issues 2 years in for me- 19 plate. Main issue with mine is it’s a wet belt 1.2 petrol, so I change oil every 6 months myself. Garage does rest. No idea on Diesel issues. Also, not exactly frugal, but I do less than 4K a year. Pulls away fully loaded no issue and very comfortable.

Sounds promising. I couldn’t find a petrol near to me or at a decent price; so I’m getting a diesel. A little bit anxious about it to be honest. But it’s just going to be for leisure, I’m WFH 100% so I guess it doesn’t make a huge difference

What estate is as big inside as a Pathfinder?

With rearmost seats down, Pathfinder has 515l boot space.

Mercedes E Class: 640
Passat: 650l
Octavia 610l
Fabia: 530l

When all seats are folded, the Pathfinder has a huge 2091l, which beats most estate cars, but I found that to be a long, narrow tunnel which was not conducive to loading bikes.

XL Rifter from Parkers “Choose the seven-seater and boot space with the first two rows in place weighs in at 1,050 litres, while folding the middle row down frees up 3,500 litres of space”

What does a litre of space look like? Absolute nonsense measurement that actually tells you nothing beyond the total volume.

Check the RIDC database for proper measurements.

What estate is as big inside as a Pathfinder?

Mondeo is just about, 100mm and or so shorter in narrowest width and very slightly longer.

https://www.ridc.org.uk/features-reviews/out-and-about/choosing-car/car/mondeo-turnier-20-tdci-titanium-5dr-estate-2016

https://www.ridc.org.uk/features-reviews/out-and-about/choosing-car/car/nissan-pathfinder-v6-dci-5dr-4×4-2011

Interestingly enough, a Roomster isn’t far off that either, you only lose 300mm in length and 75mm in width compared to the Pathfinder.

https://www.ridc.org.uk/features-reviews/out-and-about/choosing-car/car/skoda-roomster-12-tsi-green-tec-elegance-5dr-mpv

What does a litre of space look like? Absolute nonsense measurement that actually tells you nothing beyond the total volume.

Completely agree, boot space in litres means nothing, apart from ‘x boot is bigger than x boot’.

But then, some litre measurements are only from the load cover down, some are the entire boot to the roof, so it’s like comparing apples to rottweilers.

And don’t get me started on reviews that say the boot will fit a mountain bike upright with the wheels on’ – which what they mean is, it’ll fit the 1996 26″ wheel rigid BSO they dragged out the shed. 😡🤣

Just getting basic measurements like boot length with no seats or 1 seat in the seating position, or fully slid forward, requires a physical measurement. These things should be easily accessible online, but…

What does a litre of space look like? Absolute nonsense measurement that actually tells you nothing beyond the total volume.

I dunno about you guys but I find it really useful. Don’t you leave a hose pipe running in your vehicle to transport water, or put your bikes through a blender to transport them? You can get so many bikes in when you measure them in litres 😉

requires a physical measurement. These things should be easily accessible online, but…

This is the real struggle here – especially for passenger vehicles. Its such a pain

These things should be easily accessible online, but…

See my RIDC links, they cover all that since for some reason disabled folk want to stick bulky stuff in the boot as well 😉

It’s honestly the best and only resource I’ve found that actually collates all the important dimensions.

See my RIDC links, they cover all that since for some reason disabled folk want to stick bulky stuff in the boot as well 😉

It’s honestly the best and only resource I’ve found that actually collates all the important dimensions.

Yeah it’s handy, it doesn’t give all the info though, sadly.

For instance I know the boot floor on a SWB Caravelle is 2532mm according to the official brochure – sliding door is 1m wide, and the middle row of seats is around 70cm deep. So, I’m presuming the below measurement is with middle seats in the seating position, with around 60cm kneed room. So with the middle seat all the way forward I’d expect 175cm of space, roughly.

Length of boot floor – middle row of seats folded down
2564mm
Length of boot floor – back row of seats folded down or removed
1075mm

This is more an issue with cars that have seats on rails as you have an unlimited amount of configurations.

This site has a lot of measurements too, but none of the big van based MPV’s, presumably because they’re obviously big enough to camp in.

https://nimblecamper.com/best-cars-for-camping/

So with the middle seat all the way forward I’d expect 175cm of space, roughly.

Do they slide all the way forwards? I’d suspect they only go a certain amount, as most people don’t have a need to slide them all the way forwards.

Do they slide all the way forwards? I’d suspect they only go a certain amount, as most people don’t have a need to slide them all the way forwards

They slide most of the way forward as you have to slide them to the front to remove them. Once I get a chance to have a look at one I’ll take some measurements. So long as there’s 170cm room my bike will fit front wheel off.

I think my Geometron has about the same wheelbase as that car 🤣

M/L Bird Am9 wheels right in my 2013 Ford Galaxy with one rear and the middle middle seat unbolted.

Cheap as chips, handles well due to being a car and all mod cons.

I had my old Stinky in my Cinq a few times, but there’s no way the alpine or whyte would fit. Especially now with the scaffolding.

Having spent an hour on the Classifieds page trying to give the hive mind first refusal on my 2014 T5 Sportline 2.0L, I have given up attempting to post it. It’s therefore on FB Marketplace. Not sure if am I allowed to post a link but should be easy to find with a search. It is marketed to the general public at £22k, but the STW price is £20k. There is no VAT on it.

In the same response to the SUV thread, you don’t need anything more than a saloon car with a 4 bike roof rack. Takes 4 trail bikes on top, all the kit you need in the boot, and the 4 of you are in a nice comfy space in the car ? Estate for the win.

We take our saloon cars for our MTB weekends. The SUV stays at home, as does my mate’s Defender 110. We prefer the wafting down the motorway, good sound systems, and all wet kit in the boot (with a liner). My car is beige inside and my mate’s black leather. They work very well.