we can all agree riding your bike is a
lot of fun
but figuring out how to best get your
bike to the trails at home
just isn't so here are my top five tips
on how to better transport your bike to
the trails
[Music]
hey guys josh here again with daily
mountain bike rider and today we're
talking all about getting your bike to
where you want to ride it
if you're anything like me you got super
into biking you started riding around
locally where you live and then you
realize
it's a lot more fun to throw your bike
in or on your car
to go to some new destinations but man
it can be a lot of money to find a good
bike rack option
it can be a lot of time trying to load
your bike in and out and
man i've learned so many tips of the
trade that i would love to share with
you guys to hopefully give you a better
experience on how to transport your bike
so i'm going to cover the five main ways
that you can transport your bike in your
car or your truck
and give you five huge tips on how to
have a better experience
let's get into it alright so transport
option number one
is probably something we've all tried at
one point or another and that is simply
putting your bike into your car or your
suv or your truck
you've probably found out as you first
got your bike that you have to get at
home somehow
and the nice thing about bikes is you
can take both the wheels off and whether
you have a very small car
like maybe a toyota yaris like i have
driven before or you have a bigger suv
it's pretty easy to either take one
wheel off and fold down a real
rear seat and get your bike in there or
even take both wheels off put your bike
sideways put it in the trunk
and get your bike fitting so you can
probably get at home or getting it to
the trails
now the biggest pro of this option is
that it's nice and cheap
it's free if you already have a car to
just use it as it is
but the biggest con in this is one it's
such a hassle
it's a hassle to take both your wheels
off and it's easy to forget an axle
or pull a hydraulic brake and then it
messes your bike up and you're gonna
have a bad time
and then of course last but not least it
is just super
dirty and messy bikes have a lot of
chain lube and grease and oil on them
and taking wheels off and putting them
axles back together and throwing it in
your car can make a mess
so a couple of tips i have for you guys
number one always fold that rear seat
down if you can
and try as best as you can not to take
the back wheel off unless you absolutely
have to
this will make it a much easier
experience getting your bike in the car
and then getting it set up to ride
number two i would say put your rear
axles back in right after you take them
out
i will say i've showed up to the trail
and realized i left my front axle in the
driveway at home because i always fall
out
and the last tip which is by far the
biggest is a simple option to keep your
bike's filth out and off of your car and
that is to get a
bike traveler bag these are often used
to travel with your bike on an airline
you can take both the wheels off and put
your frame in there and then put the
wheels on the side
but this works really great for when
you're done with a ride whether it's
muddy or dusty
is you can just take your front wheel
off put your bike in this bag so it's
just sitting
open and loose and then when you put it
in your car all that dirt stays in the
bag and not on your car
these run about 40 to 50 bucks on amazon
you can click
the link down below for this item and
any other item i talk about so that you
can see it
on amazon all right moving on to option
number two which is the second most
popular way i see people transport their
cars
and this is the good old-fashioned bike
rack that is meant for a truck or the
back of an suv
you've probably seen this maybe hanging
up in your parents garage or in a
friend's
they're pretty inexpensive coming in
about 50 to 100 bucks
and these include four straps and a
couple of uh plastic styrofoam things to
protect your car
and these clamp onto most cars with a
little finagling and ease
and then to sum up these bike racks
basically once they get clamped onto
your car there's just
two uh poles that stick out that your
bike can either go through or kind of
sit on kind of sideways
the pro of this design is it fits most
vehicles on the rear except for a truck
and they are pretty cost effective and
cheap but the biggest cons of these
is that they are such a hassle to put on
your
car and then get your bike tied to while
it is nice to have all the dirt and
filth of your bike on the outside of
your car
these feel like they're always just not
the right size to put
your them through the inside of your
frame you got to kind of set the
one in the frame and one on top and then
you got to get bungee cords or zip ties
or titles or something to keep it from
moving
and then your wheels are spinning it can
kind of be a pain
so here's my biggest tip if you are
using one of these traditional style
bike racks or maybe you have a trailer
hitch mounted one that still has
the two poles and that is to buy a
simple little tool that connects
uh your stem to your seat post by a
little bar and i just call these bike
rack mounting bars
they cost about 20 on amazon they make
it super easy to connect your bike and
put them perfectly on these type of bike
racks
and it makes it so your bike's frame
isn't rubbing on them it's easier to tie
down
and it just looks a lot better because
your bike's not all sideways and caddy
wampas
so whether you have one bike or four
bikes and you're using this type of bike
rack
buy these bike rack mounting bars it's
gonna save you a bunch of time
and frustration all right we're moving
on up the lift to number three and
literally moving up on top of your car
now we're going to talk about roof rack
bike racks these are the racks that you
can go put on top of your car which has
roof racks it gets your bike up and out
of the way while still being outside
it's more aerodynamic because it's
pointed the way your car is going
and it can make your car look pretty
stinking awesome when you have two bikes
on top
now some of the cons of this option is
this is where you're starting to buy a
little more expensive bike racks
and with these roof top racks usually
the more
money you spend the more stable and
secure your bike is going to be
on top now one of the biggest cons in
this option
is it involves putting your bike on top
of your car which depending on how tall
it is
can be a pretty big pain in the rear
usually people have running boards or
they step on their tires and find a way
to get up on their car
but one of the biggest tips i can share
with you is one that my friend matt
shared with me because he's been using
rooftop racks for a long time
and that is to buy a simple one or two
foot step stool
that you always keep in your car ready
to go when it's time
to put your bike in the rack when it's
raining
or your bike is dirty or your car is
dirty and you don't want to get all
over yourself just getting a couple feet
up off the ground on something
super sturdy makes the bike loading and
unloading experience
much much simpler so these are actually
a great option
maybe you've had that old style rack or
you're still putting your bike in the
car if your car already has roof racks
but again you can spend 60 bucks on
amazon like i have before on a roof
style rack but spend a little more money
and you're definitely going to
appreciate it all right moving on to
option number four and this is probably
the most popular option
for those all around the world and and
the country because it is
for bike enthusiasts and this is a
trailer hitch receiver
bike rack most suvs and trucks do have a
trailer hitch receiver so you can put a
trailer ball or tow a bunch of stuff
but along with that they design bike
racks that slip right in there with one
single bolt
keeps your bikes on the back of your car
so that it's still pretty aerodynamic
usually holds them very well you can get
the little two
metal prong style like the old racks but
most of these are tray racks
and it creates a super stable low
contact point on your bike way to
transport them to the trails a couple of
big cons with this option and the first
one is this can be a pretty expensive
option
while suvs and trucks do come with
trailer hitch receivers for a lot of
people they have to buy a receiver
themselves
and if you go down to your local u-haul
or some other auto place or even to the
dealer
they'll give you a quote of two to four
hundred dollars in order for them to
install a trailer hitch receiver
just so you can use a bike rack that
costs another two or three hundred
dollars
so my first tip is to use a great little
source called etrailer.com i've been
using these guys for the last eight
years
seriously to put all my trailer hitch
receivers on my car and normally i find
that their trailer hitch receivers run
80 to 120 bucks
depending on no matter what your car is
and with a little elbow grease
and a lot of patience you yourself at
home can put your trailer hitch receiver
on and save
hundreds of dollars now my next tip is
when you're looking for a
bike rack that fits on a trailer hitch
receiver is i
very strongly encourage people to buy a
tray style
bike rack tray style bike racks usually
involve two
little holders for your wheels so that
way only your tires are making contact
with the bike rack
and this allows it so you have less wear
and tear on your frames or delicate
parts
and it makes it a lot more sturdy when
you have both wheels being supported and
clamped down
on a bike rack now these do run anywhere
in the range of 250
all the way up to like six seven eight
hundred dollars for really nice bike
racks
but i also encourage people my last tip
is to look for used bike racks on
craigslist people just like anything
else buy nice bike racks
use them for 5 10 years and they're
still in great quality but they look to
upgrade
so you can save hundreds of dollars and
get a really
nice bike rack set up for the back of
your vehicle
and last but not least the fifth option
for how you can transport your bike is
my personal favorite
that is putting your bike on your
truck's tailgate
here in america we love our trucks but
all over the world people have their
trucks
and it's super nice to buy a tailgate
pad in order to throw your bike over the
rear of your tailgate
if you're not familiar with tailgate
pads basically if you think about
putting your bike over your tailgate
that is going to be the metal of your
tailgate rubbing up against your bike
which is going to cause a great deal of
damage in a very short amount of time
when you're transferring your bike to or
from the trail so a great option for
this
is to spend 150 or 200 bucks on a
tailgate pad
which both protects your pad and
protects your bike from your tailgate
now these things are pro of them as they
are pretty cheap but a huge con in them
is these things kind of are a pain in
the butt i've had
three different tailgate pads and they
all usually have the same
three issues with them number one the
straps do not work over time i have
velcro straps on the yakima one i've had
for
only like the last five months and
already the two straps that i've used
the most which is
not that often because i ride to the
trails are already not sticky enough
and can cause my bike to come loose now
the bike doesn't come loose that often
but the second biggest con
is that these tailgate pads while they
protect your bike so to speak
still allow a whole lot of pressure to
be on your bike on the stanchions and
delicate areas that your bike is not
designed to feel pressure on
in fact i was shuttling my friend mike
back when i broke my hand a couple
months ago now with my gravel bike
and one of the straps that i thought was
solid came loose unfortunately
and it caused my bike to flip over
because it was resting poorly on my
truck
and it rubbed away a huge circle on my
carbon
fork on my gravel bike which i was not
stoked about
so what do you do in these situations
well i think the first great tip that i
would give you is
look for a better way to use your
tailgate uh there's companies out there
who are coming out with great
innovations one of them that i reached
out to and sent me one of their items is
the latch it rack
the latch it racks set out to fix all
the issues that i was mentioning
and make a really sturdy bike rack that
actually clicks
into your tailgate that makes it so you
have little to no pressure points on
your bike
keeping it nice and safe has better
connections so that your bike doesn't
move
and gives you more storage space in your
tailgate
i've been using this for the about the
last two months and i must say
i probably will never go back to using a
tailgate all the time
because my bike is more secure i'm less
worried about it being damaged
due to high pressure points on my
stanchions and my wheels
and man it just looks pretty dang
awesome
so be sure to click down the link below
to check out the latchet rack
it is a little more pricey option than
just a tailgate pad but i think the
damage
alone on one part of your bike
definitely makes it worth it to check it
out
all right well i think that about wraps
up the five main options on how to
transport your bike and
and more than five tips on how you can
do it better but by all means i realize
i may not have covered everything so
leave your comments down below
and please help some other people
looking to find some better options
so that their day is made a little
better when they're loading up their
bike
alright that about wraps it up i think
it's time for me to load up my bike and
go for a ride
but you know what time it is don't spend
too much time watching a guy talk about
transporting his bike in his garage
but get out there ride your bike make
sure you do it
every day
