Travel Life Bike Carrier SBC-01

We have owned couple of bike carriers before and  for almost 2 years we have been hunting for a second hand bike carrier that can fit our Delica rear. It was not easy looking for such bike carrier as our vehicle rear is rather tall.

Finally we found someone was selling his for a good deal. He was a police man and we had to drive to his station to view the bike carrier. Formerly he had use it on his SUV until his car crashed. The original price for this model SBC-01 cost NT7800 but we only paid NT2800.




The previous owner was very thoughtful, gave us all the documentation including certificates. In Taiwan all bike carriers must be certified by the authorities. If planned to install bike carrier permanently on vehicle, one has to send it for inspection and endorse by relevant authority.

The bike carrier was in satisfactory condition, some scratches, a light dent and a little rust here and there, all that can be fixed easily. I was amazed with weight of the bike carrier, it was even lighter than my 12kg bike. The next day after we got the bike carrier, I tried installing myself and found some problems. Previous owner told us the bike carrier is fixed, that mean the length cannot be adjusted, however I can adjust the top bracket. In order to install the bike carrier properly, the rear mirror has to be removed and the lower part of the carrier bar was blocking the license plate. 

Below are few pics of our bike carriers we owned before.

 Our first bike carrier was from Typus on Hyundai Wagon

 Second bike carrier was from Yakima on Toyota Corolla

Third bike carrier was from Saris model Bones on Ford Mondeo

Not satisfied with the bike carrier installation, this afternoon I went to the vehicle to have another look and found something I was looking for. The bike carrier frame can be lengthen, just unscrew 2 screws from the stiffener bar and lengthen to suit the vehicle height. Took almost one hour of trial and error and finally had it all fixed up. 

 After installation tested my bike, tried the shake the bike carrier but it stayed in place.

 storage position, rear mirror mounted back and license plate can be seen.

The upper part holder with rubber padding and adjustable stainless steel bracket. One thing I was not satisfied with the design is that the upper bracket is held only by 1 hex screws on each upper leg. If any of the hex screw comes loose, the complete bike carrier will come falling off. 

To prevent the hex screw from coming loose, I used Loctite 243 thread locker. It also act as rust preventer  

 There are 2 side straps to fasten on the side of the door. This will prevent the whole bike carrier from swing 

 2 centre bracket for securing on to bike frame. The longer bracket is also used for securing  bike carrier in storage position.

There are 2 lower securing brackets. This is the most important part and must be secured tightly and properly. There is another locking nut to prevent the whole bracket from coming loose.

 There are 2 bike racks and each can be extended and retract for storage. On the bottom there are butterfly nuts to lock the bike rack.

 max loading weight 45kg and max speed 100km/h

 The securing strap to bike wheels  is similar to our previous Yakima Bike carrier 

For added safety, I have cut old inner tube and used it and band. This will be placed on each bike handle bar. and act as hand brake on each handle to prevent the bike from any movement during transportation.  

Our Thoughts

Travel Life Bike Carrier is made in Taiwan, can be fitted on any SUV or Delica. Overall the design is lightweight and rigid. 90% of the construction is 6061-T6 aluminium graded.  The securing strap is easy to use and held firmly. However we experienced such strap became deteriorated after much sunning. The material needs some oiling to restore back its condition. 

Removing and installing is rather simple. Once the initial adjustments are made properly, installation can be done by one person, just hook the top brackets to the upper door and fasten the lower securing brackets. All this can be done in 5 minutes. Now that we have our bike carrier, our Bug Out Vehicle is almost complete.