Mountain Bikes - show/tell me how you lug yours around! (2 Viewers)

[LINUS]

I finally am fed up with stuffing my bike in the back of the 80 --especially when done riding & it's generally wet & muddy. Tracking mud in the 80 is my dog's job, and he's no slouch.

I have a receiver, but with the bumper swingouts (tire/basket) - yeah, Yakima & Thule make those receiver mount jaws, but not sure they'll clear the basket since they are meant for cars without our style of equip hanging out past the receiver tube.

What are you all doing, how did you solve the situation? Do the Yakima -type setups work & if so which one are you using to get out past your swingouts?

 

[scottryana]

I use a 1UPUSA hitch rack. I have done many different ways but this is the best. I don't have a pic on an 80, but my old Tundra.

With swing outs you could get a receiver extension.

You buy add-ons to put the racks together to make them from 1 to 4 bike carriers.

 

[profro]

Northshore Rack for 4 bikes. Heavy, overbuilt…just like the Land Cruiser

When not in use it swings down and out of the way…

 

[rockstate45]

I had a Yakima roof rack on an '03 4runner that was great... Sold the 4runner but kept the rack. Long story short, put it on top of my lifted 80. Had it there for about a month before I went to use it. As it turns out, these things are far too tall to put a bike on top unless you carry around a ladder.

So, off it came and now it sits in the garage.

@Robkc built a pretty cool attachment for his swingout rear bumper using an old hitch. Hopefully he can chime in since it's been quite a while since I last saw it.

 

[Qball]

The only way to lug your pride and joy, inside!

 

[wearsabrowncoat]

I use the Yakima sparetime on my slee swing out.

 

[wearsabrowncoat]

Also works great for big camp folding chairs.

 

[4loToys]

Second vote for the North Shore rack. It is heavy duty and very adjustable making it work with aftermarket bumpers, swingouts, etc. They also carry any type of mountain bike regardless of tire size, suspension design, axle type, brake type, or any other factor that can make other racks not work as designed.



Works equally well on the 80 but don't have any pics yet.

 

[SUMMIT CRUISERS Jr]

+1 for the Northshore

Folds out with bikes on to access vehicle when setting up camp etc. also very easy to load/unload bikes, and departure angle is the best out of any 4 bike rack.

 

[TexasD90]

Will the north shore carry kids bikes? Say like 20" mountain bike as well as 27.5 at the same time?

 

[SUMMIT CRUISERS Jr]

Will the north shore carry kids bikes? Say like 20" mountain bike as well as 27.5 at the same time?

It depends on the exact bike, but I would say it probably won't hold it due to the way it holds the bikes around the suspension forks. There's also a Swagman Jackknife bike rack that holds bikes vertically but by the wheels. I considered it, but the Northshore seemed like the more robust option. I have dealt with cracking rubber straps and plastic stuff breaking on other racks which lead me to the simpler design of the Northshore.

 

[profro]

I have gotten bikes as small as a 12" wheeled strider bike on there but it was a pain in the ass. I have also gotten 20" bike on there but they don't go/off as smoothly as 24"+

 

[4loToys]

Will the north shore carry kids bikes? Say like 20" mountain bike as well as 27.5 at the same time?

It will work, sort of a pain possibly but will work.

 

[Iceaxe]

X2 for 1UPUSA. I've done the roughest dirt roads with two bikes on it without any problem. Service is great and priced reasonably. I'm an avid mtn biker.

 

[MANUCHAO]

I made my own...
Built it right into the pass swing-out..
It gets out of the way quick...

 

[MECA58]

I welded a short piece of 2" receiver hitch to the base of my 4X4LABS jerry can basket attachment. I attach a Thule mountain bike rack to the receiver when needed. Open the swing out and the bikes swing completely out of the way. I just returned from a 1,500 mile trip to Nova Scotia without issue. I also welded a 2" receiver hitch to the center of the tire carrier to mount a 5# propane tank.

Meatcove Campground, Cape Bretton, Nova Scotia

 

[Mlachica]

Another vote for 1upusa...

I had a Thule vertex 5 bike rack and it was a PITA. Bikes bounced around, fork stanctions were scratched and that was enough for me to put it on Craigslist.

The 1up will carry between 1 and 4 bikes. I don't recall how small of a bike it will hold but for sure it will hold 20, 24, 26, 27.5, 29" in bikes. Will work with road bikes and fat bikes. As stable as can be. No bike damage during transit - on or off road. Ridiculously easy to mount/dismount rack, and bikes. I love it. It folds up and down.

With my labs rear bumper I use a hitch extension from Amazon and it fits perfectly with my 35" spare

 

[Robkc]

Here is what @rockstate45 was talking about. I can't lay claim to it's creation though that was by @2fpower.

Modified the spare mount plate to contain a 2" receiver in the middle. Pulls double duty as a great easy to line up rest spot when loading 35" spare on swing out. Cut and turned a cheap Harbor Freight 4 bike rack. Turning it 90 degrees recenters the bikes behind the 80.

 

[wcbr]

I've been a Yakima roof rack user for many years, but now that I have a garage that practice is less optimal. Call me crazy, but I prefer a fork mount to something that hold the bike by the frame or tires.

There are "good" options out there in the swing out and receiver hitch market. But, my ideal solution would be a 2-4 bike system based on a bumper swing out that would replicate a roof rack;allowing use of fork mount long trays AND would lie behind the bumper so as to allow for the tailgate to open when no bikes were mounted.

I'm 90% a roadie/track cyclist, but do still rock the 26" rim brake hard tail from time to time.

As far as I know no one has fabricated this type of rack, but some day, hopefully soon, I will find someone to make this happen.

P.S. I may be spoiled because just about every mtb trail in the south has a wash down station @ the trailhead parking area. So far, not the case in Ohio.

 

[conviccted]

1up USA is so solid and won't bounce around...Holds both Mountain and Road bikes