Mountain Bike Carrier Ideas

One more pic of that Yakima. Did a 2 hour drive with the wife and kids bikes on it today. Works like a dream. Super stable and the bikes don’t really touch.

 

No issues with a tailgate pad here - have a Dakine pad. Have taken multiple 2+ hour trips with it, as well as some off roading with the bikes strapped down. Just used a ratchet strap for extra security for the long haul. I'm also slightly paranoid, I use a bike lock cord just for normal driving around so no one snatches em...

 

ACLB RULE! ;-)

 

KB Voodoo softopper rack with two outboard bike racks. I can use the tailgate pad with enough clearance with the softopper, but it's more of a pain tha removing the front wheel. Usually only carrying mine and my wife's bike on trips, as we can bike to the trails we normally ride.

 

Oooh I have contributions to this thread--

I started off with a $16 fork mount that I put on my billie bars and that was the most secure (when used with a ratchet strap to keep the rear down and secure) but I got a new bike with a thru axle and I really did not want to keep taking the wheel off.



Then I just threw a yoga mat over my tailgate as a DIY tailgate pad. This works perfectly fine but it's annoying to have to roll up my tonneau and take the billie bars off everytime I rode my bike (usually 2+ times a week)


I then bought a used Thule big mouth upright carrier but due to the bikes geometry I had to drill some holes in the alu. tray. It was too flimsy and would sway. I reinforced it with 1/4" thick steel flat bar and it held up perfect for the first drive until I hit a big bump mid turn and all of a sudden my bike looked like the leaning tower of pisa.



I'm upset I spent almost $100 on the upright thule and I still resort back to the diy tailgate pad.. I like having my cover down to keep my skateboards and various other junk dry/secure. I'll probably just buy a hitch mount although I did not originally want to due to the back-up sensors/camera.

 

could you go the tailgate pad route and just take off one bar, the farthest one back, and put the bike in at an angle? youd still need to roll the cover up, but then if you stop somewhere you could take the front wheel off and put the whole bike under the cover

 

when I first bought my bike I brought it home with the billie bars on, cover rolled up. I can fit it in there but its leaning at a weird angle and there's a lot of room for play. Rather not scratch it up and my perfectionist mind does not like seeing it crooked haha. With the short bed there's no way I could fit it all under even if I was okay with scratching up my bike laying it down like that (I'm not, haha). Hate to admit it, but with a bed rack/tonneau I think my best option is the hitch.

 

I have a 1up rack with a swing out hitch accessory. On 1up's website they sell the rack attach model, but the shipping is backed up so i got this Saris version from REI (free returns perk) and have been using it on my road trip recently. Been workin gout well to clear the tailgate and access the bed while i have a shell on. https://www.rei.com/product/193680/saris-swing-away-hitch-accessory

 

RCI bed rack mount works good for me. Of course it’s a good reason to get a bed rack if you don’t have one.

 

Went the "much-less-complicated" route without draping a yoga mat over the tailgate.

 

Assuming DIY?

Pretty sure people would buy a set from you.

Great job!

 

My set up

 

do you strap anything down? looks like a short bed and you would need the tailgate down to fit bikes in there?

 

Thanks! Yeah I made them. 1x1 box steel and some flat 1" wide 1/8 strip. Maybe I'll just post the CAD and let the people figure it out haha.

I do open the tailgate, so I use a pull strap around the sloped part that goes around the rim thru the spokes. It would take an evil kenevil level jump to get the bike out of there even without the strap though.

 

Used a tailgate pad that I more or less left on for 2.5 years straight through summer and winter, with the occasional wash underneath. No issues to bike or truck.

Then went to a shuttle rack, with the downside being that its heavy, huge, and doesn't make sense if most of your riding buddies move away.

Now rocking a 1up rack, but could easily rock it under my tent again if need be.

 

Here's a short video of what I used ( INNO RT202 truck bed bike mounts ): https://marcamos.com/2021-tacoma/log/#bike-mounts

 

HEY! That's my bike! The Krampus

 

Love the Krampus. Having some bad thoughts about adding a suspension fork and 2.6s, but love the rigid with 3.0s.