Oct 15, 2021

The Ply Guys + Loaded Bikes = Epic Bike Setup

October 2021, Old Kilpatrick Hills

@theplyguys #wakeuptoadventure @loadedbikes

Loaded Bike surface mounted rail fitted to our shop T5 LWB

We've been looking for solid option for transporting bikes in our shop van for a while. We've tried the usual Amazon-type-things and they're not great. They just about hold your bike in place but when you look at how they're fabricated and fixed down it's not a brilliant solution especially if you're running around with a heavy-ass Enduro / DH or E-Bike(s). So, after a customer contacted us about adapting one of our Torridon systems to work with an existing Loaded Bike rail we jumped at the chance to follow up and put a very cunning plan into action...

Our Torridan and Clachan units can now be specified with a cut out for the Loaded Bikes Threshold rail (no extra cost - just add Loaded Bike Threshold Rail to the comments section at checkout). So, if you carry a lot of bikes in a LWB/SWB or have a SWB Kombi this is the option you need! There's also a version for the Mercedes Vito and a Transit Custom version is on the way. Check out: https://loadedbikes.co.uk/shop/retrofit-threshold-rail-vw-transporter-kombi/

Anyway, the pictures above show their Surface Mounted rail which we fitted to the T5 because it's a piece of p*ss to fit, is solid and works really well with a Torridon + Clachan setup (we've actually got the flush fit version in the back of the works Ducato...more on that another time). Although we're MTB through and through, it has been known for at least one member of the team to get dressed up like a character from Tron and push around a skinny carbon thing and that's where we think the Loaded Bikes setup really rocks. You can buy a whole range of Fork Mount Spacers and in seconds change the Fork Mount from say Boost to a 12 x 100mm Road Spacer or 9 x 100QR. So, if you have one of those Zwifty-type pals you can take their bike in the van without having to completely change the setup. Handy.

Next up we're going to fit the Threshold Rail to our T5 so keep an eye out for the video and pictures on our social media.

Who are Loaded Bikes?

(Shamelessly copied and pasted from their homepage!)

Loaded Bikes are a UK based business with a background in top level Motorsport and aerospace engineering, a passion for two wheeled sports and the great outdoors.

Over the years the ability to transport our bikes and gear by van has become essential to enabling us to do the things we love and we’ve done our fair share of playing Tetris® in the back of the van trying to squeeze in our bikes, kit and everything else we need for camping trips as our various van uses are not always compatible with each other.

When we bought our new van, we knew it would need to be able to work both for MX and MTB day trips, for weekend race events and for longer camping trips, with and without the bikes. Our journey to finding the best solutions for us led to the development of our first products.

We figured we can’t be the only ones who’s transport vehicle needs to adapt to various uses so we decided to launch our products for sale, and so Loaded Bikes was born.

As a small company, we strive for perfection in everything we do, which isn’t always easy to achieve; a lot of work goes on behind the scenes to develop and deliver our products. We won’t ever skimp on quality, which is why everything we produce is designed and made right here in the UK.

We’ve partnered up with some fantastic companies to manufacture our products, as they hold the same high standards we do when it comes to precision engineering, meticulousness and quality control.

Together we make a great team and we hope you continue to like what we do!