All Things Bikes and Tacos! (...and every vehicle imaginable)

Is that a towel between the bike frames and the tailgate? I just got my Taco last weekend and am definitely not that brave yet! Nice pair of Santa Cruz bike tho!

 

thanks! yes it is! don't worry, i ran that way for 6 months or so before buying a tailgate pad

 

We completely fucked the tailgate on a rental truck from SLC to Moab to Colorado from doing that. I stick to racks now. Plus the pads always worry me about trapping dirt and rubbing the tailgate.

 

Not sure if that towel is enough to keep the bikes from sliding side to side.

 

Speaking of racks... who here is running a full cover bed rack w/ RTT, tools, bikes, etc... ? I have the vision in my head but have not yet started looking at mfrs. Basically, bikes outboard, RTT w/ batwing shelter, solar shower tube on the other side, and tools, liquid containers, storage in the bed.

 

I just mean that underneath your external res you have a tube strapped to the frame. When your shock compresses, your reservoir will go down, possibly making contact with the tube, not the frame.
But, if you tested that cool. Just happened to me, and I had to relocate the tube.

Man, I’ve been thinking the same thing. Plus bed drawers. But I was thinking to get a swing out rear bumper for a tray style bike rack.

 

Ahhhhh, I thought you meant the downtube.

 

i can partially open my bed drawers with my Kuat when i tilt it back. the gear at the back of the bed is hard to reach but i can reach back there and pull out the storage bin. Eventually i buy the Kuat swing arm allowing my drawers to slide fully out.

 

Took this before painting my bumper caps. The Kuat Sherpa is what I was using on my STI before I traded it in for a Tacoma. Debating on keeping it or going bed mount bike rack.

 

This is a funny bike to be so stoked on, but I really am. Have been wanting something new to ride beach bike paths with my kid. Have been eyeing Townies for a year or so, but when they came out with the Townie Path in Nardo Grey I had no choice.

 

Other than batwing, That's my setup:

 

@NWTFIowa We are trying to get some Pisgah in this weekend. Trying to check the box on different trails. Thoughts on the below?

Thinking steep gravel climb to Farlow Gap then Daniels Ridge in the morning.

Then classic Dupont fun after lunch. (Depending on how we feel after 4k ft in the morning)

 

Any bike is a dope bike to be stoked on man! As long as yo uget out there!

 

Rode Farlow last year on a trip. definitely worth the climb!!!! Actually everything was awesome there, enough so Im considering doing the extra 4hrs of driving (12hr total) instead of riding VA in a couple weeks.

 

it isn't -- if you drive fast or go offroading, def don't use a towel. i'm for sure not claiming that the towel method is better than racks/tailgate pads/or any other method. for the daily commute a thick towel worked great for 6 months before i bought a tailgate pad. i have no scratches, no dents, bike fell over, it's fine too.

 

No, we weren’t off-roading. Just transporting in between destinations and a few shuttle runs when we had a RZR to get all the way back to the truck. The crown of the fork rubbed the towel thin and gouged the tailgate. I really wouldn’t recommend a towel, it only takes one time to leave a lasting impact. Not trying to bena jerk, I’m just trying to save others from the same fate. Thankfully it was a rental and Enterprise was cool about it.

 

dang, no worries, glad enterprise helped you out!

 

I used an old blanket (folded a few times over) for a few years before getting a pad and it worked fine with no damage to the tailgate.

 

From what I hear it's chunk the entire way down. More or less rocky than Pilot Rock?