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If you have different bikes that have different needs the great thing about a pickup is you can build custom stuff to fit in your bed to meet your needs. You may just want to look into gettin some plywood for a base to design a mount that fits your needs. You could also have multiple mounts and just put in the one you need for that outing????
Yea, I've been thinking about "custom". I looked at a bunch of different options and though I said no fork mount, Rocky Mounts makes one that is super easy to go between 9mm for the road bikes and 15mm for the trail bikes. Only problem is that I'm not ready to drill the bed, and while Yakima and Thule make crossbars with sliding mounts, Rocky Mounts does not.
I suppose I could bolt them to a piece of wood, but then how do I anchor the wood? I know another poster said to cut precisely and kind of rely on the close dimensions. Even if it's heavy oak or something, I can't take the chance of it letting go.
I do have a spray in liner so I'm not worried about the bed so much, but at 250 miles on the truck, I'm not ready for permanent alterations.
Yea, I've been thinking about "custom". I looked at a bunch of different options and though I said no fork mount, Rocky Mounts makes one that is super easy to go between 9mm for the road bikes and 15mm for the trail bikes. Only problem is that I'm not ready to drill the bed, and while Yakima and Thule make crossbars with sliding mounts, Rocky Mounts does not.
I suppose I could bolt them to a piece of wood, but then how do I anchor the wood? I know another poster said to cut precisely and kind of rely on the close dimensions. Even if it's heavy oak or something, I can't take the chance of it letting go.
I do have a spray in liner so I'm not worried about the bed so much, but at 250 miles on the truck, I'm not ready for permanent alterations.
Thanks for all the suggestions!
I just cut a 2x6 to fit across the bed and screwed the fork mounts to it. I have an adapter for a 9mm thru axle that attaches to the normal QR mount (got a deal thru friend at my LBS, it's a Thule adaptor).
Anyway, I put it by the tailgate and just throw a strap over the top tube or stem (or thread via some combination for height differences). Keeps them from bouncing and sliding.
It's not all pro looking or anything. But, very inexpensive compared to the products listed, easy to put in and take out and does the job it's intended to do quite well.
It depends what kind of bikes you're transporting. Most of the bikes I end up hauling are big QR20 axles and are a pain to remove the front tires. The tailgate pad works great for most mountain bikes.
Please excuse the Chevy in this pic! I've driven probably 10,000 miles or more w/ bikes over the tailgate and haven't noticed any problems with the truck or the bikes. Doesn't work for road bikes, though, and isn't as stable for mountain bikes w/ a high angle head tube -- makes them sit way upright.
If it is just me or possibly one other transporting road bikes, I usually just lay my road bike down in the bed (although I don't often transport my road bike -- if I'm driving somewhere to ride, it is probably gonna be on trails!). If I were transporting my road bike a long distance, I would either put it on the hitch mounted rack or take the front wheel off and put in inside the cab (2 road bikes fit easy in the crew cab w/ the seat flipped up).
I do have a Thule hitch mount that holds on to the front wheel, and works well for all my bikes from the road to the DH, although I don't usually put it on my truck -- we usually use it with our Suburban. Expensive, but works great. I guess I'm not sure I get how the hitch mount is too cumbersome for living on the front range. It folds up out of the way and only sticks out 6" or so behind the truck when folded. Aren't half the vehicles on the front range full size pickups and SUVs anyway?
Just go with the Thule T2 hitch type of rack. I have a SCREW with 6.5ft bed. The rig is long when I have all 4 bike trays on the rack but you get used to it after a few trips. Going with a hitch rack will keep you from having to drag the bikes up into the bed and possibly scratch the truck or bikes. It will also keep the bed clear for all of your riding gear, pumps and spare parts/tools.
Anyone have any negative thoughts about putting a piece of angle steel or aluminum in the bed, attached via the bed bolts? I'm talking about the large-ish torx bolts most of the way up to the cab.
I would slot the angle steel so that the bed bolts didn't have to come out, just up a few turns, then slid in the steel piece. Attach fork mounts to that, and two bolts in/out for the mount system.
What do you guys think? Are those bolt connections going to be compromised by missing a few threads, or are the long enough that the same number of threads would engage anyway?
I am an avid mountain biker and haul my bikes with a tail gate pad. I do put a blanket down first before I put my tailgate pad on. I also had the problem of the clear coat getting scratched and that why I use a blanket first.
I put a couple of snap type hooks on the tie down straps and just clip the pad on every time I use it. Take about 2 or 3 minutes.
Parking is terrible where he live so I don't to use a hitch type bike rack.
Cool, I picked up my pad yesterday. I'm going to wax the tailgate and then see if I need a blanket under, depending on what the back of the dakine pad looks like. I could probably just Velcro an additional blanket / microfiber towel to it and call it a day.
08-14-2014, 02:43 PM
