The fondest of childhood memories that families like to look back on are things like their baby’s first steps, or the parents teaching their child how to ride a bike for the first time. But how can these memories be created without having the accessories to them – things for the child to hold on to and practice standing, a bike for the child to learn on and ride with friends. And even more, inconveniencing – how would you travel with these items when you go on vacation or move?
A boy’s best friend isn’t always a dog; sometimes it’s a bike, and you need to be able to have a place to store it and a way to safely transport it when needed. That’s why right here, right now, I’m going to tell you the best way to travel with your bike: by using a truck bike rack.
This won’t work, of course, for people that don’t have a truck, but there are plenty of other ways to travel with a bike in a car! The truck bed bike rack is just the hot topic of the day, and that means moving forward, I want to see all my truck driving, bike-loving friends getting all the information they need to set up a bike rack in the bed of their truck that will keep their bike safe and secure!
Your Bike Rack Options
Getting a bike rack might seem like a simple task, but there are a lot of options out there to choose from. It’s important to first consider the bike itself that you plan to transport – what size is it, what size are the wheels, are there any extra parts that extend out farther than the rest of the bike that could hinder a normal bike rack from being used? Once these things have been considered, you can start narrowing down your choices by style, safety rating, and other features that interest or concern you about the quality of the truck bed bike rack.
It’s important to mention here that reviews and ratings are your friends – they just mean that someone else did the hard work for you and already tried to use the bike rack and reported back what they found. For better or worse, I suggest taking a look at the reviews of any truck bed bike rack you consider, just to get a feel for how other people have used them and what views they have on the product. This could be the difference between getting a bike rack that works well for you and getting one that you have to return because it isn’t what you need.
The last thing to consider, if you’d like to do so, is the aesthetics of the bike racks. If you want to look cool while you travel, take style and color into consideration, but these should be the last things you look at after narrowing down your needs and comparing the experiences of others.
And of course, make sure it’s a bike rack that is made for or can fit in the back of a truck bed! If you can’t find one you like, remember there’s always the option to make your own!
Setting it Up
Now that you’ve got your bike rack, it’s time to get it set up in your truck. If you’re lucky, and you’ve done your research right and got a bike rack that is designed to be able to fit comfortably in a truck bed, all you have to do is follow the instructions that come with the bike rack! If that’s the case, you’ll be set up in no time and able to start on your journeys with the knowledge that your bike is safe and secure in the bed of your truck.
Build Your Own Bike Rack
But if you can’t find a ready-made bike rack for you, there are ways to make your own! You can use materials like PVC piping or metal to make your bike rack. This would be cheaper than just buying one and would have the benefit of you knowing how it works if anything goes wrong in the future. A basic PVC bike rack for a truck would simply be made of PVC measured to the size of your truck bed, with the pieces held together using elbows or other connectors.
The easiest way to describe it would be to put two pieces of PVC very close together – leave enough space for the bike wheel to fit, but without much room to move around. Connect these pieces and repeat for the number of bike spaces you want to have. Leave the appropriate space between each rack (the bigger the better to accommodate handlebar length).
There are various ways to build your own truck bed bike rack depending on the make of your truck and the size and dimensions you’re looking to fit onto your truck bed. The above is just one way of doing it. Use smaller pieces of PVC piping to prop up the rack at an angle.
Tips and Tricks
Here’s a little advice on what to do if things don’t go quite as planned. Most truck bed bike racks are designed to simply fit in the back of your truck and let you set your bike in it with minimal contact and leaving the most space for anything else you want to put in the bed of your truck. That might be how things work out for you, even with another kind of bike rack! You still have to be prepared for the fact that your bike rack may just take up too much space in your truck bed when you’re trying to haul other things along with your bike.
In that case, there is always the option of moving the bike rack out of your truck and storing it somewhere else when it isn’t in use in your truck bed! This way you can still have room for other things if you don’t necessarily need to take your bike with you. Otherwise, the truck bed bike rack would stay in the bed of your truck even for daily tasks like going into town for groceries! That is something to consider when buying or building a bike rack and would be especially easy if you built your own bike rack from PVC – it would be lightweight, easy to move and store!
Conclusion
Whether you buy a truck bed bike rack or build your own, follow the advice I’ve laid out for you and you’ll be cruising around town in your truck in style in no time!
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