J
jonddd
I have just bought an Atera 3DL bike rack. Although as new, it is dated 2019.
Initially I was very disappointed with it.
The problem is that the designers appear to have made security a priority over usefulness. The attachment arms are fixed to the frame by tamper-proof bolts which means that they cannot be removed or put in a different position. This obviously limits which bikes you can use and how they are attached. It also means that if you only use it for one or two bikes you still have to carry around the redundant arms. The ability to remove the arms and put them in different positions would transform the versatility of the carrier.
The brackets holding the arms to the frame are held on using a covered bold held in place by a loctite sealed nut. The only way to remove this is to cut it. (When you saw it, make sure that the bolt is not fully wound out tight and is free to move). Once the bracket is off, the offending nut with its green loctite glue can be wound out of its housing backwards using a small screwdriver on the flats. Push the remains of the bolt out of the thumbscrew (the cover will pop out) and replace with a new, longer M6 bolt. The original seems to be stainless but that isn't strictly necessary.
Now you can reconsider how to fit your bikes with a vastly better choice. I used the arms on the seat down-tubes which makes our two E bikes much easier to load. This also has the advantage that, if the rear door clearance is very tight, you gain room by not having the interference from the brackets attached to the top of the carrier. bar.
If security is a big issue for you then a 'D' lock simply attaching the bikes to the rack would serve better than the clumsy and limiting 'built in' locking system from Atera.
Reading other threads here it is possible that the fixed arms are not a problem on newer carriers. Is that true?
Initially I was very disappointed with it.
The problem is that the designers appear to have made security a priority over usefulness. The attachment arms are fixed to the frame by tamper-proof bolts which means that they cannot be removed or put in a different position. This obviously limits which bikes you can use and how they are attached. It also means that if you only use it for one or two bikes you still have to carry around the redundant arms. The ability to remove the arms and put them in different positions would transform the versatility of the carrier.
The brackets holding the arms to the frame are held on using a covered bold held in place by a loctite sealed nut. The only way to remove this is to cut it. (When you saw it, make sure that the bolt is not fully wound out tight and is free to move). Once the bracket is off, the offending nut with its green loctite glue can be wound out of its housing backwards using a small screwdriver on the flats. Push the remains of the bolt out of the thumbscrew (the cover will pop out) and replace with a new, longer M6 bolt. The original seems to be stainless but that isn't strictly necessary.
Now you can reconsider how to fit your bikes with a vastly better choice. I used the arms on the seat down-tubes which makes our two E bikes much easier to load. This also has the advantage that, if the rear door clearance is very tight, you gain room by not having the interference from the brackets attached to the top of the carrier. bar.
If security is a big issue for you then a 'D' lock simply attaching the bikes to the rack would serve better than the clumsy and limiting 'built in' locking system from Atera.
Reading other threads here it is possible that the fixed arms are not a problem on newer carriers. Is that true?
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