Yet Another Possible Bike Rack Mod?

[Ray and Susan Huff]

On 11/8/2020 at 9:11 AM, Jim_Oker said:

BoB - thanks for the specifics, particularly on how you secure your freezer.

John - I  do take your warning to heart. Frankly with respect to  this thread and on the topic of planning for failures I'd also  point back to  the warnings I suspect you've seen from the Yakima bike rep about putting  the bikes on  the  rear of the trailer. On top of all the  crap that gets on  bikes while on  a rear rack... Yeah I suppose the resulting damage from  failure there  may be more to the bikes than to  the trailer in  case of  rack system failure, so  at least there's that, but  I'd prefer to start with location that has  less forces in play - closer to the trailer wheels would in that respect  be better than out at  the end of the moment arm as the trailer pivots vertically around the axles. Inside our van is another option I'm pondering (the feedback is  pretty instant if the  attachments  there  go wrong) but the inconvenience factor while traveling would be a few meaningful steps higher than if they're inside the  trailer. Another  option is to  buy a truck andn put them in the bed under a cap but price is just  one of multiple reasons that's  also not high on my current list of options to ponder.

And yeah I've thought about the inconvenience of having them in the trailer hallway. Locking them to the hitch the same way one might lock them to the rear rack for a night in a sketchy  spot is pretty simple. One of my requirements for how we'd position them would  be to ensure we could navigate around them if needed during the  day  (i.e. to get something  from a cabinet or to use the bed for a nap -perhaps we'll start wanting to do that but  it's  never happened yet in 15years  of van based  road tripping).  

Any place where I'd put our bikes requires some significant  tradeoffs frankly. Life consists of many  risks. Thanks for helping me think out the relevant risks here.

Are these strictly road bikes?  If not, I'd think twice about transporting them inside the Oliver. We ride our bikes more off-road than not.  Visualize bringing a bike that's been "off-roading" into a clean white trailer. . . . . . . unless, of course, you want to give the bike a good cleaning first (or the inside of the trailer, later.

[Jim_Oker]

11 minutes ago, Susan Huff said:

Are these strictly road bikes?  If not, I'd think twice about transporting them inside the Oliver. We ride our bikes more off-road than not.  Visualize bringing a bike that's been "off-roading" into a clean white trailer. . . . . . . unless, of course, you want to give the bike a good cleaning first (or the inside of the trailer, later.

Yes road bikes, though in either case we'd rinse bikes off if they'd gotten dirty (road  bikes  can  get kinda dirty when riding in the rain depending on where  you're  riding -  lots  of fine  grit  though not the mud that  tends to cake into various  spots  on  mountain bikes). And then let the water drip off under the awning or the cover of a tarp before stowing them inside (we tend to have  them locked under a tarp quite often  at camp, particularly  when camped near  the  Pacific with fine salty spray  blowing inland as  it tends to do along the  west coast. In any case I have observed a bit  of a spectrum between let's say Felix Unger and Oscar Madison here in the community.  I  think we may  be somewhere  between the middle and Oscar  based on calibrating this to  what  I've read in  various threads 😉 

Edited November 10, 2020 by Jim_Oker

[Patriot]

On 11/9/2020 at 8:06 AM, BackofBeyond said:

I have never seen a road bike transported in this manner. As you said - all MTB. 

Patriot - exactly - simple fork mount - works very well. KISS. Thanks for the pic. I carry my MTB's outside, the  Felt roadie - under  the camper  top. 

BackofBeyond - 

You bet, I just like our Trek 920’s kept under cover and out of view. For local rail trail rides our Kuat Transfer 2 works great for transport.

 

[BackofBeyond]

My poor MTB, it gets treated like a mongrel dog -  dirty, muddy, and cleaned only when I do maintenance, or its so muddy I can't stand it. The roadie, just a little better treatment, but then its on the road. I primarily put the road bike under wraps cause its more valuable overall. 

As for inside the Oliver - my only reason for not - is bikes  would take up too much room, access to stuff would be very restrictive. We us the Oliver a lot between stops, and along the way....

The Oliver is so easy clean. A little mud and such would not be that big a deal for the floor, the  other areas, upholstery I would worry about.  

[Jim_Oker]

4 hours ago, BackofBeyond said:

As for inside the Oliver - my only reason for not - is bikes  would take up too much room, access to stuff would be very restrictive. We us the Oliver a lot between stops, and along the way....

This is indeed my biggest concern  about my notion. I'll  be using the  camper for a while before settling on a bike  plan in part due to this concern. I want to see  what  our usage patterns are.

If we want to  use the bikes in the near term (less likely due to our getting  the camper in late December, with plans to use it a decent bit through  the  temperate PNW "winter") we can simply bring  the  bikes inside our E250 van which will  double as TV for the time being. We do this on many day trips - it would be kind of inconvenient for camping outings  given how we use the inside of  the van  while  traveling. It will be interesting  to  see how  much of that  van interior  use on travel  days  shifts  to  the interior of the  Oliver. I'm sure we'll still do  things  like make lunch  in the van, as it has a still-happily  functional  dometic fridge (which the  bikes block  when in the  van btw) and a microwave (we use the  microwave  most  while on the road for reheating leftovers for quick hot meals) and a furnace and a Fantastic roof vent we can  use to keep it comfy in the van  during  breaks  on all  but the  most  brutally  hot days.

Edited November 12, 2020 by Jim_Oker

[Ray and Susan Huff]

On 11/8/2020 at 4:45 PM, Jairon said:

I love these but I don't have a truck... yet. 😁

https://www.gearhacker.com/best-mountain-bike-tailgate-pad-review/

 

This might be a solution for us, if the dual hitch receiver plan doesn't work.  We are hoping to install a Bakflip tonneau cover.  Do you think this would work with one panel of the Bakflip flipped back?

Is there a way to use theft deterrent cables/locks with bikes transported this way?

Edited November 20, 2020 by Susan Huff

[topgun2]

Flipping up only one panel of the Bakflip only gives you an opening of 15 1/2 to 16 inches (I have the standard 6 foot bed).  Your top tube would have to be terribly short and you would have to take the saddle off in order to make that work.

Bill

[Ray and Susan Huff]

19 minutes ago, topgun2 said:

Flipping up only one panel of the Bakflip only gives you an opening of 15 1/2 to 16 inches (I have the standard 6 foot bed).  Your top tube would have to be terribly short and you would have to take the saddle off in order to make that work.

Bill

Thanks for the info;  I figured the bike frame would interfere.  Our bed is 8' so the panels will be a bit wider, but probably not enough to make it work. My bike is a smaller frame with a dropped top tube, but the husband's frame is an XL with level top tube and much taller.  We like to avoid removing bike parts.  We could always open the top further since we will mostly use it closed to make cargo somewhat secure while we are away.  Might have to reconsider the tonneau idea . . . .  so many decisions . . . .

[SNY SD UP]

The back of our T-V bed is where we put two e-bikes.  We break them down and cable-lock them into the D-Rings on the inside of the bed.  I pull the Batteries, and put them inside the truck in the rear passenger area.   For pedal bikes, I loosen the handle bars,  and turn to be parallel to the front wheel.  If I really want to reduce the profile, I remove the pedals...  We also carry some additional items in the bed with the bikes.  

At this time, we have a soft tonneau (roll-up) cover, as far as I am concerned, they help with wind dynamics vs. an open bed.  However, they are not secure and can be breached by anyone wanting to get in there.  There are some hard panel bed covers tonneau that may be a bit more secure; however again, if someone wants to get in and see what is “under the cover”, they can do it. 

That said, we are looking at a “Topper” with side and rear entry, they are more aerodynamic than the tonneau covers.  and buffet wind for the Ollie. If we want to ride bikes we are probably untethered from the Ollie, and we would go into thru the rear of the topper to access the bikes.  The topper I am looking for has compartments inside the side entry, which keeps those things off the T-V bed & bikes.   Now as far as security on the topper, I am looking at locking T-handles, which you can lock in the flush position.  I am not fretting over if someone wants to gain access, as much as I am making sure I have quick & easy access to the things I need that are carried in the bed.

Edited November 22, 2020 by SunySdUp