Mountain Bike Carrier Ideas

I’ve got a swagman chinook hitch rack. However been looking for other ideas so tagging in.

 

If it’s just me and don’t feel like taking the tonneau cover off, easy on/off. Bomber strap

 

I have three options available to me any any point it time.

A) Tailgate pad (aka Canadian Bike Rack). IMHO, the EVOC pad is my favorite. Holds up the best and protects the bike and the tailgate best. I also clear-bra my tailgate. This does WONDERS for protecting the tailgate throughout the life of the truck from all manner of scratches. Also, some tailgate pads will decimate your bike. The old RaceFace pads would strip the paint off the downtube and shred the stickers on the fork leg in less than five miles of driving. So we always ended up putting a rag between the bike and the pad. Tailgate pads are the most convenient, but also the least stable. But also what I end up using the most.



B) Hitch Mount. I prefer the Thule T2 Pro XT 2 (WTF?!?) or the One Up hitch mount. I own a Thule because it'll carry everything from a Fat bike to a Road bike. Not many hitch-mount racks do this. This is really convenient, protects the bike. Slightly more secure than the tailgate pad because it has integrated cables - albeit thin cables. But it gets used the least because I can't park my truck in the garage when it's mounted. So it really only gets used on my wife's Crosstrek any more.



C) Bed Rail Mounts. (writeup on how to do this) This is the most secure and stable, but the most hassle to put the bike in and take it out because you have to remove the wheel. But I've done some rugged off-rading with bed rail mounts because the bike is not touching anything. However, as bikes get longer (or if you ride a large) it's getting harder to fit bikes into the back. My medium Nomad has to sit crooked to fit.

 

OP,

I went through the same kind of decision making process you are going through now ... looked at every option, pros and cons, etc. Ultimately, settled on the tailgate pad and have not had any issues at all. Actually really love it. Granted we are not riding bikes as much as you are but overall it has not been a problem at all. Bikes are secure for fairly long trips (we drive 100 miles to and back on the weekend to our house in upstate NY).

This article was pretty useful to me when doing my research. Ultimately, I liked the tailgate pad as the best solution and chose the updated RaceFace based on the attached article:
https://www.outdoorgearlab.com/topics/biking/best-tailgate-pad

Hope that helps ! Let me know what you decide.

The only drawback is having the big block letters on the back of my truck saying RACE FACE. People ask what that is all about mostly because tailgate pads are not as popular here.

 

Had the yakima bedrock with a frontloader on my second gen. I liked the concept and having space in the bed, but the bedrock clamp style bases were not good quality. I broke two trying to adjust to fit my third gen.

 

Buying a North Shore here shortly;

 

I would encourage you to reconsider. I have a buddy who has that rack and he hates it. So badly he hates it he bitches about it at every opportunity.

 

It comes down to a NSR or something similar to carry 4 bikes, I've looked at the Hangover but it's much more (and NSR is local to me);



Don't want t a tray with four bikes out the back.

 

Well, he hates how the bikes bang around and bang against each-other. A four-tray sucks too because it makes you so, so long.

 

We've got a canopy so gate-pad is out, could put two up on the Prinsu but it would be a reach..

 

This is similar to what I was thinking except I have the factory toneau and don’t want to remove it.

 

Thanks for sharing the article! I guess if people ask about the RACE FACE letters you can just say you are part of a racing team from Sweden or something fun.

 

Ha ! I assure you that I don't resemble anyone who could be on a racing team. .

Check it out though. When I started to look at bike carrying solutions I had no idea those pads existed. Great option for us at well under $200.

Best of luck to you.

 

Having done a tailgate pad, just taking the wheel off and throwing it in the bed, a hitch rack and a hacked together mount on the tonneau on my f150 my vote is always for a good hitch rack, love my 1up.

 

They are pricey but seem to be a popular choice

 

I have the high rise bars and a roll up tonneau cover, I wish the high rise bars were about 2” taller ... it still works, but it’s a hassle to roll up.

 

These Mobtown bars are taller and designed for a rollup tonneau.

https://mobtownoffroad.com/product/2005-2020-toyota-tacoma-low-rise-bed-bars/

I've had both Voodoo and Mobtown.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/went-to-modtown-on-some-mobtown-bed-bars.607513/

 

I had contacted voodoo to see if the bars would be compatible with the cover before purchasing either and they said yes. Well they are compatible in that they can be installed together, but not so much functionally compatible.

 

I have a recon - http://recon-racks.com/

I like it a lot and it's a small business. Owner is a helluva guy and all made in WA.

The only think I don't like about it is trying to put it up and down with a full load of 4 bikes. It's heavy and I can't move it and release the pin at the same time - so it's a 2 man operation.

The bikes are rock steady - no slopping around.

I saw one of these recently. https://www.velocirax.com/

I was very impressed. I'm considering replacing mine so I can move it up and down myself.

 

The mobtown looks awesome