Fitting bike in the bed

[Garyintexas]

I have an electric pedal assist bike that weighs 73 lbs. I leave the tailgate down and leave my bike standing straight up with the kickstand down. I use ratchet straps to keep my bike secure.

I’d never put anything over my tailgate for fear of denting or scratching.

Photos?

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[BDennis]

Not sure about the rest of you, nor do I know the reason why, but I have never seen a road bike transported using a tailgate pad. They work great for mountain bikes and based on my friends, they won’t damage the tailgate, at least a quality one won’t.

Has anyone tried a road bike using a tailgate pad?

THX

 

[Noahma]

Not sure about the rest of you, nor do I know the reason why, but I have never seen a road bike transported using a tailgate pad. They work great for mountain bikes and based on my friends, they won’t damage the tailgate, at least a quality one won’t.

Has anyone tried a road bike using a tailgate pad?

THX

I personally would not, Road bikes, at least the carbon ones use much thinner carbon than mountain bikes. I would fear cracking the down tube.

 

[nunucello]

Did anyone see them close the bed with the bike in the back on the first edition at the Chicago show? I seem to recall pictures of a bike fitting with the wood rack in the back. My guess is that it would depend on where the bike fork mount is mounted on the 2x4. Seems like the bike can be positioned further back in the bed. If it is a difficult fit, nice to know there is a hitch for a bike rack. Of course you can always just lay a bike in the bed as well.

 

[Noahma]

certainly keep an eye on the contact areas where your strap ties are going over the frame, the abrasive straps will eventually wear the finish off the frame. There is no way I would strap my carbon bikes down like that. too much pressure on areas that could be cracked fairly easily.

On my carbon bikes, I will only use a wheel restraint system, my aluminum gravel bike, a rack that supports via top tube works as well. The link contains a picture of both road bikes, and my Gravel bike, which just happens to be mounted on the rack system I have on my Mav.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/W2RKhaLUEwoAki9E8

 

[nunucello]

certainly keep an eye on the contact areas where your strap ties are going over the frame, the abrasive straps will eventually wear the finish off the frame. There is no way I would strap my carbon bikes down like that. too much pressure on areas that could be cracked fairly easily.

On my carbon bikes, I will only use a wheel restraint system, my aluminum gravel bike, a rack that supports via top tube works as well. The link contains a picture of both road bikes, and my Gravel bike, which just happens to be mounted on the rack system I have on my Mav.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/W2RKhaLUEwoAki9E8

Bike frame is Titanium (Lynskey). But fork is carbon fiber (Lauf). Good point on pressure weighing down on fork. Straps are not tight. Just to stop bike from bouncing out of bed.

 

[JimParker256]

When I put my bike in the back, I generally use the handlebars rather than the frame as the front anchor point. Bike has a really nice pair job, and I'd like to keep it that way... On the rear, I loop over/around the powder-coated rack, again to avoid paint damage.

I put just enough tension on the tie downs to compress the fork halfway through its travel. That keeps it from moving while allowing some flexing (fork compression), and seems quite stable while driving. The rear (no suspension) is just tight enough to remove all the slack to prevent bouncing around, but with no significant tension at all.

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