Safest way to transport a bike on pickup bed with wheels removed?

[bikeman242]

I am planning on purchasing a shell (or possibly softopper) for my short-bed pickup truck with a 5 foot length.

The only way my bike under the shell would fit would be with both wheels removed. I am wondering what the best way to support the rear of the bike is, without the derailleur getting all banged up from the ride.

I do have a Topeak Tune-Up Stand X:

TUNE-UP STAND X

The perfect solution to store your e-bike or other heavy duty bikes on a tune-up stand. The adjustable hooks allow positioning to fit chainstays and seatstays easily and provides rear wheel lift for maintenance, washing, storage, and display.

www.topeak.com

Which I could conceivably strap to the bed of my truck and support the rear of the bike, but it isn't exactly stable. The bumps in the road might throw it off the stand.

For the front, I was just going to use a Kuat Dirtbag fork skewer mount.

Not sure if there is a more stable solution for transporting the rear of a bike with the wheel removed.

 

[bikeman242]

Anybody? I can't be the first person to have this thought.

 

[Elkman]

Your bike should fit with only the front wheel removed and the front forks rotated 180 degrees. I put a heavy rubber bed mat in the truck to keep the bike from sliding around with the bike so that the derailleur is furthest from the bottom. With two bikes I use a piece of thick cardboard (flattened bike box works very well) to keep the bikes separated. The cordboard makes it much easier to get the second bike in and out of the truck.

A blanket or other heavy material can be wrapped around the handlebar where it touches the bed and protect the tape on the bar as well as reduce lateral movement of the bike.

I single bike can fit in the back of our Toyota Rav4 small SUV so it should not be a problem with your truck. When I bought the 2018 Chevy Traverse instead of other available SUVs it was because it was the only one with a long enough cargo space for our two road bikes to fit with the wheels left on. The only other vehicle was the Subaru Outback which has only 2 rows of seating and a much larger cargo space than very large SUVs and many pickups.

 

[Avg_Joe]

1. Don't place the bike such that the derailleur is closest to the bed. Have the left side of the bike closer.
2. Not sure if you're carrying eleventythousand other things in your bed, but rather than stand it up, see if you can lean it over to the left side of the bike.

I have a Tacoma w/ 5 ft bed, and do not remove the wheels to transport it. Not rocket science, leaned over and secured crosswise across the bed and it's lower than the cab, no issues.

 

[6zfshdb]

In my travels, I've seen a few folks carrying their bikes in short bed pickups with caps. They leave the wheels on and use a bed extender like this one:

Amazon.com

Most of the rigs I've seen have tall bed caps to allow the bike to stand vertically.

One clever lad I ran into carried his bike in a short bed with a hard tonneau cover like this one:

Amazon.com

He laid the bike horizontally on a sheet of plywood with the wheels on. The plywood was cut to fit the bed and bed extender so it wouldn't slide around. He made a cradle with padded blocks of wood and screwed them to the plywood to support the bike. He just slid the plywood & bike out of the bed far enough to be able to lift it off. No tie downs were used at all. Pretty clever!

The only down side was the rear wheel of the bike extended out onto the tailgate and wasn't protected by the tonneau cover. I can see this idea would be nearly perfect for a long bed truck though.

 

[PDoz]

Do you know what the bike weighs without wheels? I've used an upside rack occasionally https://www.upsideracks.com/ I think it's rated around 18 kg which is JUST ok for my levo sl , but most full power bikes would be above that. The image below is my sons giant reign (xl size) , attached to the racks mounted above by rangers PITA rolling tub cover. I assume you could do something similar with the rails being on the bed?

Other things I've tried include:

2 roof rail type bike racks on those tub rails - rear wheel left on but forks mounted to a front axle clamp - this isthe most secure option but I hate having to remove the front wheel.

I occasionally fit my size m giant full e pro upright - diagonally across the tub, tie down straps just like I would witha motorbike, backed in and with forks turned she JUST fits in

Next vehicle will be a VAN !!!!!

 

[pxpaulx]

I'm curious why the need to put the bike fully in the truck bed? Removing and attaching both wheels it significantly more work than just the front wheel - particularly with ebikes given the weight (and if you have a rear hub, triple that effort!).

Why not go the tailgate pad route and forego having to remove both tires at all? Might need 2 people for that though.

Would the bike really not fit with just the front wheel removed and on a mounted skewer? A bed extender like the one above, plus a skewer fork mount could be the best compromise solution if the height/clearance works (will depend on your bed depth and overall height with the soft topper).

 

[PDoz]

I'm curious why the need to put the bike fully in the truck bed? Removing and attaching both wheels it significantly more work than just the front wheel - particularly with ebikes given the weight (and if you have a rear hub, triple that effort!).

Why not go the tailgate pad route and forego having to remove both tires at all? Might need 2 people for that though.

Would the bike really not fit with just the front wheel removed and on a mounted skewer? A bed extender like the one above, plus a skewer fork mount could be the best compromise solution if the height/clearance works (will depend on your bed depth and overall height with the soft topper).

I think it'd be hard going tailgate mounted if the ute had a canopy - lifting a full weight e bike over the tailgate is about the limit my strength / dexterity - in particular getting the motor over the lip when REMOVING the bike. Most of the time I end up with a contorted circus act and the rear wheel in the air looking like the trapeze artist forget to join the act. I miss my ancient mitsubishi triton with it's lower tailgate / longer tub!