Ways to carry mountain bikes IN/ABOVE Bed:

[Nick The Great]

Yeah no kidding.

I should have said that Thule and Yakima are the 2 most popular and most expensive brands. Probably are the highest quality, but you'd wonder if they're 400% better than the Harbor Freight one.

I just looked on my Craigslist and somene has a 2-bike Thule for $45. And there's a couple others for around the same $$$. Give it a shot, you might get lucky!

 

[mblouir]

I've used my bike rack in the hitch before with nothing in the bed.

I don't have any other way to carry them without throwing them in the bed and letting them get thrown around. Not about to do that with a $1000 bike (more with friends' bikes), especially when I have paid $200 for a nice hitch rack. I got the hitch rack back when I had a Ranger, which didn't have room for 4 bikes.

Don't be so quick to judge.

Still sounds just like the guys who buy a rack for the hitch to haul their deer so they don't get the bed of the truck bloody.....

A dead deer getting tossed around is completely different from $1000 worth of equipment getting tossed around.

I always get a kick out people who have bike racks in the receiver hitch on a truck with an open box and nothing in it

Bikes can get fWONked up in a truck bed being tossed around. Securely transporting one on a hitch mount makes complete sense, especially when sometimes the bed is full of camping gear, coolers, etc. If he's already got the hitch mount, why wouldn't he use it?

So true. I've even roughed up the paint on my Ranger by leaning two bikes against each side of the bed with the handlebars hanging over. The handlebars scuffed the paint.

Any good suggestions on a receiver monted bike rack? I need to start riding again (I could use the exercise) and the only way I could transport my bike is to lay the seats down and pile the bikes inside. A Suburban doesnt have a bed, so I'd like a nice receiver mounted bike rack that also wont kill my bank account (which is sadly of life support right now ). I'll need one to hold at least two bikes.

Thule and Yakima are 2 of the major brands of racks. I don't have either (seeing how I have a bed) but thousands of people do.

I have this link saved in my bookmarks http://www.rackattack.com/hitch-mount-bike-racks.asp

You can see they make all shapes and sizes of them. Naturally they get more expensive as you add more bikes and more features (hinge down, pivot, etc.)

Probably any local sporting goods stores would have something to look at. And I bet Craigslist would have loads of them. Especially guys wanting to dump their old one for a bigger/newer one.

Damn, those arent cheap. I was looking at one at Harbor Freight for like 50 bucks, but it looked like a cheap POS. You get what you pay for I guess. I'll just keep searching and maybe find a used one on CL or Ebay. If not, I guess I'll just stuff the bikes inside the Burb again. I'd mount em on my roof, but I can't lift a bike up onto my roof with a fWONked up back.

Yeah they are very good quality. Most of the time I have two bikes with me, so I was looking at a Yakima 2-bike rack. Ended up with a 4-bike rack simply because it was only $20 more and sometimes I have more people with me. If you ride a lot it's definitely worth the investment, especially if you use your bed for other purposes when you go riding.

 

[Matt_]

I am actually looking into a bike rack that will mount on top of my camper shell.

just get the Thule TB60 rails like i used.... thats what they're made for .

you can also get the TK13 or TK14 adapters but then you lose the adjustability.... rails are the way to go.



As for harbor freight..... most decent entry level mountain bikes run ~$800. So if you're carrying 2 bikes thats over $1500 in value.... id spend the extra 400% to get a quality rack to protect that investment.

You also dont want a bike sliding around the bed. Thats a good way to bend rotors, derailleur hangers, etc. If you have a POS bike... sure who cares.... but most of us care about our bikes as much as our trucks... (hell, my bike wheels cost as much as my truck wheels!).

 

[ScottyBoy]

Yeah they are very good quality. Most of the time I have two bikes with me, so I was looking at a Yakima 2-bike rack. Ended up with a 4-bike rack simply because it was only $20 more and sometimes I have more people with me. If you ride a lot it's definitely worth the investment, especially if you use your bed for other purposes when you go riding.

Well I don't ride a lot, but I probably ned to start riding more (mainly to get more excercise and help stregthen my back more). I don't do any mountain biking or anything, just go to the park and ride the bike track/trail. Its usually me and my wife, or sometimes we bring the kids and their bikes too. Ever tried to squueze two mountain bikes and two kids bikes into the back of a Suburban? Its do-able, but a pain. Twice I even decided to just strap them all on my trailer and tow the damn trailer. Thats why I'd like to get a rack to mount at least the two big bikes on the back of my Suburban. The kids bikes I have no problem tossing in the back, I can fit those in there without even moving my third row seat.

 

[RebelThunder]

I always get a kick out people who have bike racks in the receiver hitch on a truck with an open box and nothing in it

Bikes can get fWONked up in a truck bed being tossed around. Securely transporting one on a hitch mount makes complete sense, especially when sometimes the bed is full of camping gear, coolers, etc. If he's already got the hitch mount, why wouldn't he use it?

Umm...I never said anything about racks when the bed in full, I said when it was empty.

 

[daddy]

I always get a kick out people who have bike racks in the receiver hitch on a truck with an open box and nothing in it

Bikes can get fWONked up in a truck bed being tossed around. Securely transporting one on a hitch mount makes complete sense, especially when sometimes the bed is full of camping gear, coolers, etc. If he's already got the hitch mount, why wouldn't he use it?

Umm...I never said anything about racks when the bed in full, I said when it was empty.

Umm... I addressed that specifically.

 

[Matt_]

You also dont want a bike sliding around the bed. Thats a good way to bend rotors, derailleur hangers, etc. If you have a POS bike... sure who cares.... but most of us care about our bikes as much as our trucks... (hell, my bike wheels cost as much as my truck wheels!).

 

[DV2000NJ]

to the above. My $2200 bike isn't just going to get left sliding around the bed. I worked for a year to pay for that thing when I was 16.

 

[Matt_]

What you ride again Dan?

And why haven't we gone riding?

 

[Sunset_Z28]

I rigged this up a while back with some scrap around the shop and a couple fork mounts I had. I used the existing tailgate handle bolts but has to run a small self tapper on the ends to stiffen it up. It has to come out if I have to slide anything big into the bed but cost me pretty much nothing.