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Over the past several years of using my RVs on countless trips, a question is still unanswered for me – where to tote my mountain bikes when traveling with my RV. It may seem like an easy question, but to me it doesn’t have a great answer, still. I put a video together on the 8 options you have when wanting to tote bikes, which we will talk through below. Be aware, that any of these potential solutions have weaknesses. This blog corresponds to the YouTube video: RV Bike Rack Options. You can also listen to this on Podcast.
So here we go, 8 ways to tote bikes with a travel trailer. We’ll cover these options going from the very front of your tow vehicle to the very back of your RV.
Put a hitch receiver and bike rack on the front bumper of your tow vehicle. The benefits are that the bikes are out of the way sitting up front and do not add weight to the tongue or trailer and do not take up space in the tow vehicle bed. I like this part of the solution. I want more space in the bed of my truck not less. I’d also rather not add more stuff to the tongue of my trailer.
However, with the bikes up front, you need to consider diminished visibility when driving and the fact that the bikes now become great bug screens while towing. The bikes also become very visible to others when you stop anywhere. Besides these things, it isn’t exactly free to add a hitch receiver to the front bumper and frame of your tow vehicle (see example)*, although there are specific front receivers for various truck and SUV models.
Put your bikes on top of your tow vehicle roof. The benefits here are you are not adding weight to the trailer or tongue and you can still use your tow vehicle bed for other items. On the other hand, I hope you like spending money, because you will need a custom rack system that fits properly on the roof of your tow vehicle. Did I mention that this solution is on TOP of your tow vehicle? This means you likely will need some help getting bikes up and down from your truck or SUV’s roof. The bikes are once again bug catchers when in motion and fairly exposed to the elements.
On top of your truck bed. This option has similar benefits as putting bikes on the roof of your tow vehicle. You keep the bikes off the tongue or back of the trailer and so don’t add weight to the trailer. You also can still use the bed of your truck for other items, even with bikes on top of the truck bed. However, you again need an expensive rail and rack system that goes over the bed of your truck. You will also have to again hoist the bikes up and down. There is also an argument to be made about getting at the bed of your truck when the bikes are racked on top of the bed. My truck’s tonneau cover is a trifold and I access the area directly behind the cab regularly. A rack system likely would inhibit this access.
In the truck or SUV bed. This solution again keeps weight off the trailer’s tongue and cab, and if your truck bed has a cap or you are using an SUV as a tow vehicle, then you can better secure your bikes. This is also lower cost than buying and installing a bike rack system. Just load the bikes inside your SUV or in the bed of your truck. Of course, this removes huge amounts of storage in your SUV cab or truck bed as bikes are such a weird shape that they basically never stack well or travel well. Besides this, with other stuff you put in your bed, bikes are difficult to remove.
The exception to this is to hang your front bike tires over the tailgate using a tailgate protection pad* which can be a good solution but still removes a bunch of space from your truck bed and won’t allow a tonneau cover to close.
Add a hitch extender system. This option extends the hitch shank on your hitch receiver (see example)* to the point that you can add a bike rack. The nice thing about this solution is that you don’t lose any space in your tow vehicle and no longer have to hoist bikes to various awkward positions. Bikes are at a good height to put on and remove. The draw backs of this solution are that it will reduce your tow capacity by adding to tongue weight. Also the hitch extender and needed bike rack do cost. It is difficult to say exactly by how much a hitch extended lowers towing capacity and for this reason many forgo this as an option.
Add a hitch riser on the trailer’s tongue. This seems to be the choice of many currently, given most manufacturers really don’t build RVs to tote bikes at the rear of the trailer. A hitch rack, like the Let’s Go Aero Jack-it* or Stromberg-Carlson Bike Bunk* are real options as they move the bikes onto the A-frame tongue of the trailer and out of the way while traveling. Of course, one main trade-off here is more tongue weight, so your tow vehicle needs to be rated to handle 100+ lbs. of extra tongue weight with this option. Also, you again will need to lift the bikes fairly high in the air to get them on the bike rack and bring them back down. These are not good options if you can’t lift a bike above your head and don’t have someone helping. Finally, plan to spend a bit of money to get one of these racks.
Put bikes inside your trailer while traveling. I’ve seen many people do this and it pretty much scares me. The benefits of using this method of toting your bikes are that the bikes are not in or on your tow vehicle, nor easily seen, nor adding to trailer tongue weight (although they do add to overall trailer weight), and it is low cost. The huge downside to me is potential trailer damage if a bike cuts loose during travel from whatever is used to secure it inside the trailer. We are talking significant risk of real damage if a 30-40 lb. mountain bike gets loose inside your trailer while traveling. To me the risk is too high for the potential ease of the solution, but many people do this. Of course, if you pay to have a bike folk mount* installed securely in your trailer somewhere, you may be fine.
Put bikes on the back of your trailer. This solution should be standard on any RV but many times isn’t. Many RV’s, like my R-Pod 179, do come standard with a hitch receiver on the back bumper, and also have a weight rating for the receiver. Yet there is always a twinge of concern when toting bikes on the back trailer bumper frame, mainly because of the effect of the force of torque on the frame from bikes bouncing while traveling. Some people actually have supports welded to the rear frame of their RVs to mitigate this stress on the frame, and there are many unfortunate examples of bikes falling off of RVs as frames bend or brake from stress.
If you are curious as to the bounce effect of hanging bikes on the rear of your trailer, you can catch a glimpse of this from a 2-minute video I put together out of curiosity as to what was happening to my bikes when they were on the back hitch of my R-Pod 179.
The benefits of this solution (if done safely) are obvious, as you keep the bikes away from your storage space in or on the tow vehicle, and it is pretty easy to mount and dismount the bikes at the rear bumper. You do add weight to the trailer, but usually it is manageable. Of course, you still need a bike rack to go into the factory hitch (if your RV has a factory hitch) and the bikes are easily seen by others.
We have gone through eight potential solutions for carrying bikes while traveling by RV and by now you likely understand why no solution is without its detriments. To me, it is a matter of your personal risk tolerance and your willingness to put up with the drawbacks of any potential solution being outweighed by your desire to have your bikes with you. Remember to do your research and understand the risks well before settling on any solutions.
All the best on your camping endeavors!
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