Just purchased a new Honda Ridgeline and already installed a soft tonneau cover. I have a 4 bike tray rack that makes the truck super long and lets face it, putting on the rack is heavy and burdensome.
Anyone have opinions on the tailgate mats? Thinking about getting one, but also thinking it would be nice to keep the tray hitch if I want the Tonneau cover closed for security. For more info, there are times where I pull a small trailer with kayaks on it and two bikes. I’d need to haul two more bikes somehow, either laying in the bed or laying in the trailer https://spacetrailers.com/ . These additional bikes are a 20 and 24inch kids bikes.
I use a tailgate mat in my pickup for my mountain bikes and it works great. For my road bike or tri bike, I just lay it flat in the bed with a velosock cover on the bike.
They will work, but will cause additional wear and tear. I’ve hauled gravel bikes a short distance on a tailgate pad and it works but it always makes me nervous.
I have outboard bike racks that mount off the bed rails that work well for road bikes, and I’ve seen people mount 2-piece bike racks on top of a toneau cover as well.
There are a million options, it’s just a matter of determining what fit’s your needs best.
Just pointing out the irony of buying a pickup truck, a vehicle nominally designed for it’s ability to haul (pickup) materials, and not being able to carry a few bicycles in it.
I laugh at myself everytime… lol. But it’s usually a “best way” issue for us. Often we have camping gear in the bed, or dogs, or other things that make the truck bed inaccesible or un-suitable for bikes.
I know I often look like the Beverly Hillbillies going down the road through, truck bed packed full of stuff, bikes hanging off the side and the back, and dogs hanging out the windows. It’s definitely a sight at times.
Agree, thought of this. But you include camping gear or stacking bikes on top of each other, doesn’t work. If all of the bikes were Huffys or Schwinns…stack way.
We have a tailgate pad and the tri bikes won’t work with it. The clearance between the wheel and the frame isn’t enough to fit over the tailgate. Gravel and road bikes work though.