Loading Ramp for Swagman Skaha and Escapee Bike Racks

Video Transcript for Swagman Skaha and Escapee Bike Racks Loading Ramp Review

Lifting up your e-bike to load up your bike rack can be really difficult. That's where something like an add-on ramp comes in. This is the Swagman Add-On Ramp and Bridge Kit for their Skaha series or Escapee Bike Rack. What it's gonna do is give you a large ramp and a bridge between the two cradles to easily ramp up and load up your heavy bikes into those bike racks, making the setup process a lot simpler and easier, and you don't have to do any heavy lifting. And with the shallow cradle design, unloading is very simple, too. You don't have to do any lifting, and just kind of pull against the tire, and it'll work its way out.

So, this is a two piece kit: the ramp and the bridge. The first piece of that puzzle that we're gonna talk about is the bridge. That's gonna be the piece that joins together the two cradles on your bike racks. The Skaha series and the Escapee share a very similar design with the very shallow front cradles here. And on the back cradles, there's going to be two indentations, two slots, that this bridge can actually attach into.

The back cradle is going to have two slots here that will line up with two tabs on the bridge kit. And the front cradle is going to line up with these two hook dens on the other end of the bridge. Just feed the hook dens into and around that front tray, that front cradle, and then the back end will just drop in, lining up with those slots and securing in. Now, aside from the tabs at the back, there's really nothing else locking it in, but it is very stable. I'm not getting any side to side movement.

And I'm trying to shake it quite a bit here, so rolling the bike over it, I did feel very confident in it when I was loading it up. Now, the ramp is going to have a very similar design, with two tabs lining up with two slots on the back cradle. And it is expandable. So, there's hand knobs on the back that you can loosen up to slide the whole thing into the expanded position. In it's longest state, coming in at 56 and nine 16ths of an inch, sliding in with those tabs and having a bit of a rubber grip at the bottom to help keep it nice and still.

This ramp is also four and seven eighths of an inch wide, keeping it plenty wide for things like fat tire bikes. The ramp construction is a black powder coated steel. The fact that it's metal is really nice because it's durable, and I trust it whenever I'm wheeling my bikes up here. The weight capacity of it is gonna be 65 pounds, which is actually just a little bit more than what the Escapee and the Skaha are rated for. So, you don't have to worry about your bikes being too heavy for it. You might run into an issue with pedals being a little bit in the way on this second bike here with the wheel hooks, but you can just kind of lift it out of the way there. You're not having to fully lift the bike. And overall, it still makes the hookup process a lot easier. With a bike loaded up, you still can get the ramp out. Those tabs are pretty short, so shouldn't have too many issues getting it undone. Same with the bridge. Just loosen up the hand knobs on the ramp to compact it down. You'll have to find a place in your vehicle for it because it doesn't store on the bike rack, but if you've got a truck like this, throw it in the bed, or it'll fit in the back seat just fine. The whole thing is very thin and compact and can stack up with the bridge. Overall, I think this is a really solid addition to the Skaha series and Escapee bike rack. Whether you are using the Escapee on a motor home and your hitch is really high off the ground so it's hard to lift the bikes that high, or maybe you just want it for a little bit of extra assistance after you arrive, when you're fatigued and not wanting to lift the bikes up into place, something like this can come in really handy to assist you. Of all the ramps and ramped bike racks I've worked with, this one is definitely one of the favorites, because that metal construction on the ramp keeps it solid. It's heavy enough that it kind of weighs itself down and it doesn't shift on you. The width makes it great for a wide variety of different tires, so I didn't feel like anything was rubbing on it. And it's easy to hook up and unhook, and when you have to store it in your vehicle, it doesn't take up much space. But that'll do it for a look at the Swagman Ramp and Bridge Add-On for your Skaha Series and Escapee Bike Rack.