dedmiston wrote:
I built a PVC rack for ours.
https://www.instructables.com/id/Truckbed-Bike-Rack/
I may buy some PVC and see what I can come up with. I'm finding it hard to figure out how to make a setup that'd deal with the four different tire widths, but maybe I can have 2-3 vertical bars per bike "location" that'd work.
I made a long post yesterday but I must have forgot to hit submit and so it's not here. If you're posting about bikes that have kickstands, these are not those kinds of bikes (a kickstand is not only extra weight, but would be very dangerous on the trail obstacles as it could hit the ground and get hung up or throw the rider off the bike). These bikes range in price from $2,000-5,000+, and I may be carrying friend's bikes that are in the $7,000-10,000 range. No those aren't typos. Even a very modest hardtail mountain bike starts at about $1,200. The frames are made from carbon fiber, aluminum, or steel, and they definitely have to be kept from banging together or rubbing on anything when going down the road or it will cause damage. They also can't be hung upside down nor should they be hung vertically for long as they have hydraulic brakes and that would be a good way to introduce air into the hydraulic system, which would require me to have tools and fluids that I don't typically take with me on a trip to bleed them or be potentially dangerous if I somehow didn't notice until I was at the top of the mountain. These reasons are why I'm wiling to spend money to have a decent/semi-permanent way to carry the bicycles because even just two of them cost more than my fifth wheel and there's enough room in my garage to carry bicycles that exceed the cost of the whole rig! And of course if one gets damaged in transit, the trip would be ruined and all of that fun vacation time would be lost.
SteveAE wrote:
I welded up a steel frame and screwed some track it so that the bikes stand vertically, alternating between front tire up and rear tire up. The track (and frame) extends horizontally at the bottom to better support the weight of each bike. There is a bar between the bikes to keep them secure and a large hook up high to hold them in place while I strap the wheels to the trays. Darn thing weighs more than my two bikes....but it is rock solid.
Do these bikes have hydraulic brakes? I hang my drop bar bikes upside down in my shop at home because they have mechanical brakes, but I have yet to consider that for the hydraulic brake bikes as my friends who flip their bikes over even to install the wheels have introduced air into the system and I've ended up having to bleed their brakes for them.