While there's enough room to carry two or more bikes in the cargo area of most minivans (with the back seats removed), there's typically nothing to keep them securely in place. The Slide&Go system is designed to help, by providing floor-mounted wheel-attachment points.
Created by Italian entrepreneurs Giovanni Mazzocchi and Paolo Briccoli Pontiggia, Slide&Go is currently the subject of a Kickstarter campaign. And while we're told that it should be adaptable to most van types, it's presently only guaranteed to work in the Volkswagen Multivan. Some of the crowdfunding money will go towards testing on other makes and models.
The system consists of two stainless steel wheel-mount units – one for the front wheel and one for the rear – which the user positions on the van's floor to match the wheelbase of the bike. An extendable adapter plate on each unit allows it to be slid into two of the van's existing parallel-running floor rails, then tightened into place via integrated wing bolts.
When the bike is loaded in, its rear wheel goes between two plates in the rear-wheel unit, which are tightened inwards to grip its tire from either side. The front wheel goes into a brace in its own unit, and is held there by a bolt which is inserted through the brace to sit over the wheel's rim.
The idea is that once secured, the bike won't slide back and forth when braking or turning, it won't scratch the interior of the van or the paint of another bike being carried with it, and it won't go flying forward in the event of an accident.
Assuming Slide&Go reaches production, a pledge of €399 (about US$430) will get you a system in a color choice of black, green, blue or brown. It's demonstrated in the video below.
Source: Kickstarter
