Peek the Geek

I'm trying to figure out a good way to haul my son's 16" wheel bike on camping trips. Inside our vehicle (Toyota 4Runner) is not an option, since we've got my wife, two kids, a dog, myself and some gear in there.

A hitch rack wouldn't be an ideal option, since we're towing a pop-up camper. I'd like to somehow use my existing Yakima roof system, but it looks like most of their racks are made for 20" bikes and up.

Thoughts?

sailor2

Can you lay it on a side and put it inside your pop-up camper?
Another option would be hitch mounted bike rack with the towing ball (like this one: https://www.hitch-racks.com/mm5/merch...egory_Code=hmt ).
Also - how much room you have on your trailer tongue? There are bike rack you can attach there (or maybe you could just lash the bike there)

Peek the Geek

When folded down there's not a whole lot of room for storage inside the camper, and I've got other gear in there that takes up most of the available space. No room on the tongue with the LP tank and battery there.

A setup like you linked to, allowing me to use my hitch for both towing and a rack, would work. I'm trying to avoid going that route, though, just so I don't have to buy an expensive hitch rack. If nothing else, that's probably what I'll end up doing, though. Although I don't know how much clearance that would leave me for opening my rear door and/or carrying a canoe on top of the pop-up.

It's funny how much space one needs for a family camping trip, even when you try to pack minimally.

cyclist2000

Wouldn't the roof rack work for fork mounted bikes? like the viper or copperhead?

masiman

Our Thule racks have fit our 16" bikes. If you can't get the rear tire tie down mechanism to sit right under the rear tire don't fret. It can have a little reach and still do a decent job of holding the bike in place. I have only mounted our 16" bikes to racks that require front wheel removal. I have not tried mounting them on the lockjaw style racks. It does not look like the lockjaws would work well on that small of a bike.

Peek the Geek

I could try the fork mount idea, but since there's no quick release on the kids bike, I'll have to keep a wrench handy.

masiman

You can switch the kids bike to quick release. It depends on the bike specifics as to how cheap it will be. If you only need a hollow axle, I think they are about $10. If you need cones with the axle it may be a little more. It is better if you size the axle to match your cones since you might have a hard time finding cones that fit your particular hub. If you have a skewer great, if not they can run from $5 - $40. Often a good bike shop will have a bin of skewers that they will sell cheap as you don't care about how zooty it is, just that it is reliable. IIRC, the kids spacing on the wheels is narrower than your typical adult bike.

I've switched two of our kids bikes this way but they were 20" bikes. I did not convert the 16".

Velo Dog

If I had to do it, i'd use a fork mount and let the rear tire ride on the roof, maybe with a piece of duct tape or something to protect the paint (I wouldn't bother with that, but my roof has had so many bikes dropped on it that it looks like Ringo Starr's been playing on it with a couple of ball peen hammers). Even without a QR, taking off a front wheel takes, what, 20 seconds?
My Yak rack just has little short offbrand trays for the rear wheels, so a kid's bike would fall short, but I'm pretty sure you can buy full-length trays that would work if you don't want to risk the paint. Or make one from, let's see...how about a piece of rain gutter? Cost about three bucks at Home Depot.

pwdeegan

+1. my fork mounted yak racks work with 16" without any problem.

and honestly, you ought to be carrying those wrenches anyway.