Carrying a bicycle

mtbikernate

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GT5050

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I run a tailgate pad for the bikes when hitting nearby trails - I have a hard folding tonneau and I donā€™t have to fold it all the way up to fit my 29er mtb in my 5ā€™ bed, I just put the bike in at a slight angle and it fits with the cover folded to the most open flat position, if that makes sense. Basically I donā€™t have to block my rear window.

For longer trips, when we have the bed full of familyā€™s luggage and whatnot, I use a hitch rack that I already had prior to getting the Ranger - a Kuat Transfer. Great rack and I love it, but on issue is that I canā€™t open the tailgate with no bikes on the rack without the tailgate hitting it.

Question: anyone have a tray style hitch rack that stays out of the way of the tailgate? I have the factory hitch for what itā€™s worth.
 

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Donā€™t overlook Rockymounts hitch racks. I have the Monorail and have been really happy with it. Great load rating too, so I donā€™t have to worry about having heavy ebikes or DH bikes on it. Had I gotten the rack after my truck, I probably would have gone with their swing away model, the backstage, so I can open the tailgate with bikes on the rack. The monorail I have will allow the tailgate to fully open, but I have to remove the bikes and fold the racks completely down for it to not hit the tailgate.

https://rockymounts.com/collections/hitch-racks
 

mtbikernate

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Question: anyone have a tray style hitch rack that stays out of the way of the tailgate? I have the factory hitch for what itā€™s worth.
You can get swing-out adapters that will work with your existing bike rack. I linked a couple a few posts up.
 

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I am looking at swing out adapters, there is a Kuat and a Thule version. They are all backordered as of a few weeks ago...
 


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You can get swing-out adapters that will work with your existing bike rack. I linked a couple a few posts up.
Thanks! Yeah saw that, just a bit spendy. Definitely the ideal solution though overall.
 

Joe.sbg

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How is the best way to Carry a bicycle around I have a bed cover Looking into the trailer hitch one.

Thanks Brian
Here are a few important things to know.
- the best way I know of to transport bikes is with a fork mount.
- you first must learn how to use a front wheel skewer. Fairly simple to learn if the person showing is knowledgeable and able to teach or you are mechanically inclined and can self learn.
-fork mounts can be locked.
-they can be mounted in many different ways. on bars in truck bed, o bars mounted to tops of bed, on plywood pieces on floor of travel trailer, bumper mounts, on roof mounts. Use your imagination.
-They are relatively cheap and the most stable type of mount.
the problem is most people donā€™t want to deal with front wheels on and off. If you own a bike you might as well learn because you will get a flat one day. I know youā€™ll cross that bridge when you get to it.
 

mtbikernate

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I am looking at swing out adapters, there is a Kuat and a Thule version. They are all backordered as of a few weeks ago...
Most racks worth anything are hard to get, unless you find a shop that has one in stock and hasn't sold it yet. The overall outdoor recreation industry right now is kinda screwed with increased use/demand AND a f*cked up supply chain.

Thanks! Yeah saw that, just a bit spendy. Definitely the ideal solution though overall.
With as long as the side swing bike racks have been out, I'm surprised it took this long for someone to come up with a universal side swing adapter you can use with any rack.

Here are a few important things to know.
- the best way I know of to transport bikes is with a fork mount.
- you first must learn how to use a front wheel skewer. Fairly simple to learn if the person showing is knowledgeable and able to teach or you are mechanically inclined and can self learn.
-fork mounts can be locked.
-they can be mounted in many different ways. on bars in truck bed, o bars mounted to tops of bed, on plywood pieces on floor of travel trailer, bumper mounts, on roof mounts. Use your imagination.
-They are relatively cheap and the most stable type of mount.
the problem is most people donā€™t want to deal with front wheels on and off. If you own a bike you might as well learn because you will get a flat one day. I know youā€™ll cross that bridge when you get to it.
I think that's fairly subjective. Sure, I use fork mounts, but I also use other types depending on the application. I have a strong preference for wheel-on upright racks that don't touch the frame of the bicycle. When you're loading/unloading to go ride frequently, fork mounts can get tiresome. You're effectively fastening/unfastening the front wheel at least 4 times every trip, and that occupies lots of time. That can be even more if you're doing a shuttle or point-to-point type of bike ride with a group.

Plus, if you've got a quick release skewer, your wheel alignment is never exactly the same. You might not notice this with rim brakes, but with the tight tolerances of disc brakes, it becomes noticeable really fast. Hence thru axles. Many have QR style levers, but many require a tool. More time. Now add to the fact that there are a ton of different axle standards out there now depending on whether you're talking about road bikes, mountain bikes, fat bikes, and so on.

I have 5 different fork mounts with 3 different types. I have 2x 9x100, 2x 15x110, and 1x 15x150mm fork mount. Yeah, there are adapters you can put on QR type mounts to fit different thru axles, but meh. Adapters reduce the strength of the fork mount (biggest advantage, aside from being cheap), as well as the lockability (I've always just used a cable lock, anyway...I've never gone for locking fork mounts).

Then you've gotta deal with the front wheel some way or another so it's not bouncing around loose and getting damaged. I've been using straps to secure it to the bike it belongs to in the back of my Ranger. Working so far, but there's a risk that the strap could damage the finish.

Me, I'm a former bike shop employee and I've built most of my bikes from the frame up. I'm intensely familiar with how most parts work. I built the wheels for my current mountain bike and I do most of my own suspension service. I ride fairly often, and the extra time of removing front wheels all by itself gets annoying. Especially when dealing with multiple bikes (especially with multiple axle specifications). Put a kids bike with bolt-ons on a fork mount often enough and you'll be clamoring for an upright carrier for that bike.
 

Deleted member 1634

The overall outdoor recreation industry right now is kinda screwed with increased use/demand AND a f*cked up supply chain.
It's always been a "I wish everyone could experience how awesome this view or this remote campsite is" in the moment, but once everyone knows about it, comes in, and ruins it for the rest of us then it's not good anymore. This Covid thing is making/letting (depending on your perspective) get outside and do the things I've been doing all my life. They've been overcrowding the nice places and a lot of cases locally here destroying these places. They don't understand the rules and the etiquette and have been cutting down trees, starting fires, leaving garbage all over, and just all around destroying these nice places.

More turned into a rant about proper outdoor use than anything. haha
 

mtbikernate

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It's always been a "I wish everyone could experience how awesome this view or this remote campsite is" in the moment, but once everyone knows about it, comes in, and ruins it for the rest of us then it's not good anymore. This Covid thing is making/letting (depending on your perspective) get outside and do the things I've been doing all my life. They've been overcrowding the nice places and a lot of cases locally here destroying these places. They don't understand the rules and the etiquette and have been cutting down trees, starting fires, leaving garbage all over, and just all around destroying these nice places.

More turned into a rant about proper outdoor use than anything. haha
Well, yeah, there's definitely that going on, too. But I was referring more specifically in this thread for increased demand of at least some products and service on those products.
 

Deleted member 1634

Well, yeah, there's definitely that going on, too. But I was referring more specifically in this thread for increased demand of at least some products and service on those products.
Yeah, I know. I just needed some place to rant about it. haha

Back to your regularly scheduled thread. haha
 

Deleted member 1634

Yeah, this year has been crap for my usual spots
We've had to try even more remote spots to try and get away from the city ruffians invading our usual spots, and even those are being invaded. Usually to their detriment as well. Because most super remote spots require a lot of safety awareness and survival tactics. They're not just more wooded state parks like most people think of as the outdoors. So the number of rescue missions have gone up by almost an order of magnitude already this year because people don't know what their getting into and don't take the time or care to research and read the rules.
 

mtbikernate

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Got the Exodux MultiTaskR rack installed and adjusted finally.

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0723201730
by Nate, on Flickr

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0723201730a
by Nate, on Flickr

It's a tight fit loading bikes with the Yakima Overhaul also installed. I may either slide the rear crossbar towards the cab a few inches or even remove the crossbars altogether unless I actually need to transport something above the cab.

Also, the mounting plates Exodux made for me weren't a perfect fit.

50145841467_2eea94a7ff_c.jpg
0717201723
by Nate, on Flickr

Apparently they wouldn't fit on the CNC machine the company uses to make parts, and the holes had to be drilled with a drill press. The bottom two were perfect, but the top one was maybe 1/16" low. I wish I had a drill press so that I could have done a cleaner job of making it fit, but all I had was a handheld drill. I made it work, but it isn't the prettiest. Exodux didn't charge me for the custom work, at least. But I DID re-measure the holes based on the dimensions of the plates. Hopefully he can get them dead on if he makes these parts again.

It's a slick rack solution, that's for sure. Given how high the grips poke up, I'm not sure how easy it'd be to transport 4 bikes plus boats. But given that I'll mostly be transporting 2 bikes, and definitely just 2 bikes when boats are part of the equation, I shouldn't have a problem.
 
 



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