Front bike storage on a teardrop

[paradoxbiker]

My wife andI are avid cyclists so transporting bicycles is a must for any teardrop outing. I solved the issue with our custom storage box on the front being at the right elevation to mount bikes with the front wheels removed and mounted to a fork rack on the top of the teardrop. The rear wheels are sitting on the box with bungee cord tiedowns. Works great if the geometry is correct. We can haul three road or mountain bike combinations this way. Check it out.

 

[Mike S-TNT]

My wife andI are avid cyclists so transporting bicycles is a must for any teardrop outing. I solved the issue with our custom storage box on the front being at the right elevation to mount bikes with the front wheels removed and mounted to a fork rack on the top of the teardrop. The rear wheels are sitting on the box with bungee cord tiedowns. Works great if the geometry is correct. We can haul three road or mountain bike combinations this way. Check it out.

I like it. The simplicity of the mount complements the simplicity of your tear drop. Is it hard to reach your fork mount to tighten it?

 

[matthewh]

Very interesting, paradoxbiker. Could you post some closer shots and talk about the parts you used? Thanks much.

 

[Shadow Catcher]

We have a tandem and I did not want to block access to the tongue box. The trailer is 6' wide so I could mount it cross wise with supports coming up from the tongue.

 

[paradoxbiker]

I designed my teardrop with AutoCad so I was able to determine the right clearances needed before I had the front box built. The geometry of the bikes is important so if you find yourself designing a similar setup, measure you're bike dimensions carefully and give yourself a bit more room than you think you'll need. Front fork clamps are available on line or at most bike shops for about $25 each. I bought aluminum channel at the local metal yard for the fork mounts to ride on. The bungee hold downs for the rear wheels are just through eye bolts into the box. I'm sure this does not help the aerodynamics of the trailer going down the road but for us it was a small trade off in order to have our ponys along.

 

[Teary eyed]

That is a great solution.. LIke you two, the wife and I can't imagine going somewhere without our bikes. I'm not sure we can take advantage of your slick solution..due to mtn bikes (weight), plastic (flimsy) tongue box, and thru axles (15mm and 20mm)...(she had to be different!) But I'm hoping going with the ultimate jack (http://theultimatejack.com/) may solve our problem (can pull it completely out of frame) with a wheel mounted rack on an adapter (http://tinyurl.com/pf96s8r) between our TV and our trailer.
Hope we see you guys on the road, rubber side down!

 

[hoppe]

I designed my teardrop with AutoCad so I was able to determine the right clearances needed before I had the front box built. The geometry of the bikes is important so if you find yourself designing a similar setup, measure you're bike dimensions carefully and give yourself a bit more room than you think you'll need. Front fork clamps are available on line or at most bike shops for about $25 each. I bought aluminum channel at the local metal yard for the fork mounts to ride on. The bungee hold downs for the rear wheels are just through eye bolts into the box. I'm sure this does not help the aerodynamics of the trailer going down the road but for us it was a small trade off in order to have our ponys along.

Question: Have you kept track of your mileage with and w/o the bikes on board?

The reason I ask is a friend of mine had a 'roof rack' for his car. Said he lost most of 10mpg with 2 bikes up (granted they were Mtn. bikes with dual suspension on both). I'm thinking of designing in a rear hitch receiver for the the trailer to hopefully avoid the loss of mileage. (Granted it is an old Turbo Audi, and he does not spare the ponies).

I already have a 2 bike rack (from Nashbar), that is a receiver mount, so there is no expense involved other than the receiver mount and of course the bikes being in the way of the rear door. My bike is an old Trek Fuel 9.8, so not too heavy even though it has dual suspension. I've used it extensively on the back of my PU truck and haven't noticed any differences at all.

I do like the higher front position that you've engineered. I have to bag the seat no matter which way I go.

 

[paradoxbiker]

We just took an 1900 mile trip with our teardrop and three bikes so I had a chance to test the mileage. We got just under 17 miles/ gallon. That's driving a Toyota Tacoma PreRunner with a 4 cylinder engine. There's always a price to pay for the adventure... posting.php?mode=reply&f=46&t=61022#

 

[The ugly duckling]

I'm an avid cyclist also, with multiple bikes. (way to many) When we go to locations where our daVinci Design tandem would be fun, we pull with our truck. The tandem and two road bikes fit in the truck bed nicely.

But,when we pull with our Ford Escape, We still want bikes to be able to putter around with. I picked up two Dahon P8 folding bikes that when folded,are 32" long and fit in the truck area of the Escape. One bike on each side with room in the middle for stuff. We leave the bikes in the SUV so if we're off exploring we can pull them out and go! Otherwise hidden away from prying eyes.

Obviously they're nothing like my Specilized Roubuix road bike, little more twitchty but they work surprisingly well for what they are and you get used to them easily. They are really "City" bikes with fat tires,so work well in the campground and/or puttering around town.

 

[Fenlason]

Another cyclist..

We have 3 tandems.. among a few other bikes.

I prefer to keep my bikes under cover. We have a converted cargo trailer instead of a teardrop. We did carry our bikes in that, but we recently purchased a Promaster Van for hauling our bikes.