Universal Truck Bed Fork Mount
 

So, the road bikes I have are 9mm quick release front axles and my mountain bike has the 15mm through axle. Adding to the confusion, everyone I ride with has every style from 9mm QR to 15mm through axle to 20mm through axle and I have up to three bikes in the bed of my Ford Ranger at one time. I'm getting tired of making a ratchet strap jungle gym to get to and from rides/trails (and don't like the "hang the fork over the tailgate" method for long distance trips) so I have been looking at making a mounting system for the bed of my truck.

My plan was to get a few of these: locking Delta bike hitch and fabricate some system to attach it to the bed. It locks and should be fairly inexpensive/easy but of course, the problem is, with all the different axles riding in my truck, I can't just get the one that works with the 9mm quick release.

I've been searching for the past few days everywhere (online, LBS, friends, etc) and found the Kuat Trio mount that has adapters to switch between all three systems and looks super trick but is $210, holds one bike and is only for roof rack style. I have heard from friends that basic, bolt to your truck bed version like the Delta I mentioned above but that works with all three axle types exists but I cannot find it anywhere and they don't remember a brand. All I'm getting is a "I swear I saw it at a race". Does anyone know where I can get this?!

And I know there are the Fork Up adapters but they're ~$40 each and since I would need 3 of the 15mm adapters and at least two of the 20mm, that adds up way too quickly.

Thule and Yakima both make adapters to mount through axle forks to standard 9mm fork mounts.

An alternative might be to make a rack out of wood (looks like an right triangle from the side with the hypotenuse toward the back of the truck) with slots that the front wheels would roll into and be retained with straps or bungies.

I use the same Delta fork mounts in my truck. I have a 2x8 that sits across the front of my truck bed.It's held down with a few bolts. At each fork mount location I attached a 4x4 to which the fork mount is bolted. This set up raises the front of the bike up a little and makes it easier to attach the bike. It's a very solid and inexpensive arrangement.

I also have a tandem so this arrangement lets me put my tandem in the truck bed crosswise and still keep my tailgate up. Best way to carry a tandem along with a single bike.

I saw those, but each one is $45 so when I go mountain biking and I'd need at least three of those (most likely more since sometimes I'd have two 20mm and a 15 and sometimes all 15mm). I'm thinking one part that works for all three out of the box and basically has sleeves like the Kuat Trio.

Yeah, I've seen that done. I'll either do that or I was thinking about making something that is a bar across the top of the bed with long posts that drop into the tie down holes in the bed rails (circled in red in the pic below). We did something like this in an F150 on my grandpa's farm to use as additional tie down points and a stop to keep the 4Wheeler from bouncing into the back window. Just 2x4s down the holes with a 2x4 across and with a long enough post going into the hole it will never fall out...

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=364942

I don't understand the problem ... 9 mm is a pretty universal size for QR front hub axles ..

Yakima sells a dummy fork with a slot in the end to put the wheel in.. for their roof racks .

but its a piece of 1/4" thick aluminum flat bar ,

you can buy that a a metals dealer, bend it twice, and make your own, for less.

My problem is, since I do the road and the MTB thing, at times I have three 20 mm thru axle bikes in my bed, sometimes three 15mm thru axle bikes, sometimes three 9mm QR bikes and sometimes a mix of all three. Buying the Delta QR mount and then adapters for the other axle sizes adds up quick. $20 for the Delta, $45 for each adapter and I'm at $330!!!

I finally managed to track down the block I was talking about initially that works on all three axles. It's the Origin8 Bike Block Fork Mount. A huge thanks to my LBS, Sierra Bicycle Werks, for going through tons of catalogs with me to track it down. Each of those is only $45 so I can carry any combination of all three bike axles in my bed for only $135.

Once I had the name I looked it up and all I find are good reviews. Here's a thread talking about it and you can see in the pic below how it has different adapters that come with it to convert between the different styles. Now I just need to find someone who has it in stock...

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=365110

Buy a minivan. Pile bikes inside. Done.