Picture this — you just spent a boatload of cash on your new bike, you throw it on a bad bike rack, and it tumbles off the back of your car at 80MPH on I-15. Not sure you’ve ever seen a roadkill carbon frame, but it’s not pretty. So let’s discuss how to transport your bike safely so you can go tomahawk it down a mountain instead of into oncoming traffic.
There are a bunch of ways to transport a mountain bike, and they all have tradeoffs. Truck bed, SUV cargo area, tailgate pad, hitch rack, roof rack, trunk rack, and then the full overland swing-out setup if your life has gotten expensive and rugged.
So let’s break down what works, what sucks, and what I’d actually recommend depending on your situation.
What matters when looking for a transport method.
First and foremost, safety. You don’t want to put yourself or any other folks at risk. That means keeping your bike firmly attached to whatever it’s attached to. Second, bike safety. Let’s keep your precious bike in one piece if we can. And third, in my book, is convenience. You don’t want to be spending 30 minutes disassembling your bike to put it in the passenger seat of your smart car every time you want to ride. The best bike transport setup is the one you’ll actually use. If it takes three ratchet straps, a blood sacrifice, and a shoulder injury to load your bike, it’s probably not the move. And lastly, vehicle compatibility — a tailgate pad doesn’t work great on a Corolla.
Option 1 – SUV Cargo Area/Truck Bed
This is a great option if you’ve already got the space because it’s free. If you dont have a truck, van, or SUV, this one could get spendy — an F-150 costs quite a bit more than a bike rack.
Honestly, this is one of my preferred methods for a few reasons. The first being protection. When I had a full-size truck, I could load my bike into the bed in about 12 seconds. I’d lay it down on its side with the pedal, grip, and tires touching the bed. Most bikes fit fairly securely in a full-size truck bed with both wheels on. They dont move around much and have very little chance of getting damaged. If you have a shell or bed topper, you can get the bike out of the elements and out of the view of folks who like to take things that dont belong to them.
If you’re in an SUV, the same pros apply, except it takes a bit longer to load. You’ll usually have to fold down some seats and take off the front wheel. But once the bike is in there, it’s safe, covered, and out of view.
The only cons I find in this category are that you need a truck or SUV to make this work, and once you’ve loaded your bike, you’ll be very limited on cargo space. Oh, and you’ll only be able to carry one or two bikes this way.
Pro tip: If you have a full-size truck bed, go snag yourself a 2×10 and cut it to the width of your truck bed, screw some fork mounts down to it, and you’ve got a 3-4 bike carrier in your truck bed. Cheap, secure, and covered.
Option 2 – Tailgate Pad
Let’s go to the next easiest option. A tailgate pad is really easy to throw over your tailgate and can hold between 1-6 bikes. The biggest con is that it requires a tailgate. You’re a bit SOL if you dont have one of those things.
I like tailgate pads for the versatility and convenience. It’s one of the quickest and safest ways to load a bunch of bikes in one truck. You also keep your drive quality better without having a ton of weight hanging off your hitch. The weight goes in the bed where a truck is designed to carry it.
While a tailgate pad avoids catastrophic bike damage, they’re not great at preventing minor scuffs and scrapes. Pedals tend to clank into frames, and dust and mud wear down paint on downtubes. I’m not too worried about stuff like that, but if you are, maybe look elsewhere.
One of my favorite tailgate pads is the Fox Mission pad. It fits curved tailgates well and is pretty good at not blocking backup cameras.
Pro tip: Wipe off dirt and dust from the downtube where it will contact the pad. Take the tailgate pad off from time to time and wash the backside. Wash your truck too. Otherwise, the dirt and dust between them does a number on your truck paint.
Option 3 – Hitch Style Rack
This is probably the most versatile and common option. These aren’t cheap though, and for good reason. They keep bikes secure, typically only contact the tires, and for folks without a lot of cargo space, they allow you to transport a bike easily.
Let’s start with the good. These are probably the best overall way to carry a bike or six. Hitch racks are really convenient for daily use, good ones are stable, and for folks that dont want a muddy bike inside their car, these keep bikes outside.
There are two major kinds of hitch racks at the moment — tray racks and vertical racks. If you only need to carry 1-2 bikes, a tray rack is great. I prefer a vertical rack if I’m carrying more than 2 bikes. Here’s why – as you start adding more bikes to a tray rack, the rack has to get longer. Now imagine you have 4 50 lb ebikes hanging off a hinge that extends 4-5 feet beyond your hitch. That’s a lot of leverage on your rack, hitch, and rear suspension. In addition to the weight issue, the departure angle and ground clearance issue is pretty bad with 4-place tray racks. A vertical rack keeps the weight closer to your hitch and doesnt extend with every additional bike.
Hitch racks aren’t perfect though. We already discussed some of the weight issues, but beyond that they can block tailgates, trunks, license plates, and brake lights. Lower-quality ones can wobble quite a bit. Keep that in mind if you’re on rough roads and you have a glass window. I’ve seen handlebars punch through rear glass when a bike gets bounced hard.
They also put the bike right in the blast zone of road grime. I dont know how many times I’ve taken a bike to St. George for the winter just to have it covered in salt, ice, and muck from the road. That grime is awful for your brakes and spoke nipples.
I really like the Thule Revert for a vertical option. It’s damn sturdy, and the gas strut is helpful for loading and unloading, especially ebikes. For a tray rack style, the Kuat Piston series rack is probably my top choice at the moment. It’s low profile, very secure, and easier to use than others with arms that attach to both wheels.
Pro Tip: Use a hitch stabilizer in addition to the rack’s attachment method to take even more wobble out of the rack. Also pay attention to weight limits and e-bike ratings.
Option 4: Roof Rack
We won’t spend much time here. These seem to be phasing out, especially in the MTB world. I think it comes down to bikes getting heavier and folks not wanting to lift them on top of their car. A lot of SUVs and taller vehicles are too high to reach anyway without a stool or ladder. My basic rule of thumb is if you have a mountain bike or a car taller than a Subaru Outback, probably skip the roof rack.
If you have a smaller car and lighter bike, this can be a good option. You’ll need crossbars and the right towers or mounts for your specific vehicle.
Pro Tip: Don’t drive into your garage with a bike on the roof!
Option 5: Trunk Rack
I dont even want to go down this road. While these are cheap and easy, they aren’t super secure and typically contact your frame – which is something I try to avoid with all bike transport methods.
The best thing about them is that they’re cheap, dont require a hitch, and are fairly easy to use.
So my take is this: trunk racks are okay for occasional use, cheaper bikes, shorter drives, or emergency situations. But I wouldn’t make one my first choice for a nice mountain bike, and I definitely wouldn’t want one as my main setup if I’m driving long distances or riding every week
Option 6: Overland Style
And now we get to my current personal favorite way to transport a bike. Probably because I’ve been doing a ton of camping, driving, and exploring with my bike lately. There aren’t as many options here, but I have a Rig’d setup that’s sturdy AF. For a Bronco, Jeep, or anything with a rear swing door and spare tire, I’d argue this is better than a normal tray rack for daily use too, not just off-roading. A standard tray rack may be simpler on a normal SUV, but with a spare tire and rear door, clearance becomes the problem. The Ramble Rack sits where it needs to sit, clears the spare, works with the door, and doesn’t create the same awkward rear-access headache a lot of standard hitch racks do.
My Rig’d setup is a swing-out and rack, specifically the Ramble Swing and Ramble Rack. It’s about as sturdy as a swing-out and rack combo can get. I can open my Ramble Swing to 90° and stand at the very end without the swing-out sagging at the hinge. And I’m pretty sure I weigh more than any bike out there. It also stays pretty tucked into my rear bumper, keeping my departure angle and clearance good enough for off-road. I drove the entire White Rim road without ever scraping the rack.
It’s not perfect either. It’s a little less convenient than a standard tray-style hitch rack on a normal SUV. I have to swing the Ramble Swing out every time I need to get into my cargo area, even when there aren’t bikes on it. But on a Bronco, Jeep, or anything with a rear swing door and spare tire, a normal hitch rack usually starts needing compromises too. You’re dealing with spare tire clearance, door clearance, hitch extenders, added leverage, and a rack that may or may not play nicely with the vehicle. So yes, the Rig’d setup adds a step, but for this kind of vehicle, I think it solves the bigger problem. The other con is it weighs about the same as a black hole. But those are the things that make it capable and sturdy for off-road use.
The bottom line
This list isn’t comprehensive because there are a million weird vehicles, weird bikes, and weird people trying to make the two work together. But here’s where I land: if you ride often and have a hitch, a good tray-style hitch rack is probably the best place to start. If you have a truck and regularly carry multiple bikes, a tailgate pad is hard to beat. If you already have the cargo space and usually carry one bike, the truck bed or SUV cargo area works great. If you’re carrying three, four, five, or six mountain bikes, especially heavier bikes, vertical racks start making a lot of sense. Roof racks and trunk racks still have a place, but they’re more situational. And if you’re in a Bronco, Jeep, or overland-style setup with a rear door, spare tire, and camping gear in the mix, that’s where something like the Rig’d setup really starts to earn its keep.
Whatever you use, the goal is simple: keep the bike attached, keep it from eating itself on the way there, and make loading easy enough that you actually go ride.
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