Found good bike mount option for Rivian R1T using Yakima Frontloader

[thoracle]

Hello! My first post, but I wanted to share this: I think I found a good solution for mounting bikes on the racks over the Rivian truck bed. I used a Yakima Frontloader (which I've had previously and is a very durable bike mount) and placed the front of the bike mount facing the cab. The Frontloader mounting mechanism is very close to the center of the front wheel, so it allows my 29'er bike to fit if the mounts are in the widest position on each side. I don't think this bike would fit in the middle. Smaller bikes, or maybe 26/27.5" bikes would fit in the middle if you wanted to load more than 2 bikes.

Some numbers: my bike has a 45.5" long wheels base (wheel center to center) and is 74" from the furthest from rubber to the back of the rear tire. There is about a 1-1.5" gap to the roof of the cab. I'm pretty excited that I found a solution- I was not looking forward to bikes on the roof or a hitch mount. Am I missing something?

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[Gshenderson]

Looks like a great setup. Glad it worked out.

 

[moosehead]

Nice. Thanks for the pics. I have the same Frontloaders on a 1/2 ton and love them. My L 29er is 75" front to back rubber and looks like it would fit no issues. Maybe put a bit of PPF clear on the rooftop rear spoiler to protect against bumps during loading/unloading.

 

[thoracle]

Nice. Thanks for the pics. I have the same Frontloaders on a 1/2 ton and love them. My L 29er is 75" front to back rubber and looks like it would fit no issues. Maybe put a bit of PPF clear on the rooftop rear spoiler to protect against bumps during loading/unloading.

The nice thing is the 29" wheel is consistent in the front and then length of the bike runs out the back so the only real limitation would be 29+ rubber. I have 2.3's on there, but how fat do you need to go on a 29" rim!?

 

[Dark-Fx]

Did you actually drive with it like that? I couldn't mount my front loader that far over because of the roundness of the bottom of the rack rail.

 

[thoracle]

Did you actually drive with it like that? I couldn't mount my front loader that far over because of the roundness of the bottom of the rack rail.

It's inboards slightly on the flatter part and then cranked down nice and tight. I haven't been on crazy-rough roads with it yet, but so far so good.

 

[CGM55082]

Why not just get a tailgate cover for transporting bikes and put the bike in the bed? I ask because that's my plan -- just want to make sure there aren't any issues doing that with the R1T.

 

[crashmtb]

Why not just get a tailgate cover for transporting bikes and put the bike in the bed? I ask because that's my plan -- just want to make sure there aren't any issues doing that with the R1T.

Tailgate pads still beat the crap out of the downtube/headtube junction over time, and the bike isn’t all that secure - can move around.

 

[Denver_Paulie]

let us know if you take your bike on a longer road trip. I am curious to see what the range impact is when you carry the bike like that since you are messing with the truck's aerodynamics.

I a planning to use a trailer hitch for my bikes just to minimize the range impact.

thank you in advance.

 

[thoracle]

Why not just get a tailgate cover for transporting bikes and put the bike in the bed? I ask because that's my plan -- just want to make sure there aren't any issues doing that with the R1T.

I have a Yakima tailgate pad as well for transporting more than 2 bikes. It fits on there OK, but the 2 side straps can't go underneath the tailgate as easily based on the tailgate hinge design. You can kind of make it work by threading on the edges of the hinge a bit more. The center strap threads through fine tho.

 

[thoracle]

let us know if you take your bike on a longer road trip. I am curious to see what the range impact is when you carry the bike like that since you are messing with the truck's aerodynamics.

I a planning to use a trailer hitch for my bikes just to minimize the range impact.

thank you in advance.

Will do. Not sure if the impact will be worse over the truck bed or hanging further off the back, but will keep tabs on my next long trip. Both are probably better than up on the roof though!

 

[Denver_Paulie]

Will do. Not sure if the impact will be worse over the truck bed or hanging further off the back, but will keep tabs on my next long trip. Both are probably better than up on the roof though!

I lost 30% of range with my road bike on top of my old Taycan. I lost 35% or range when I put my electric mountain bike on top of my new Taycan and drove to Vegas with it.

You pay a price if you mess with aerodynamics.

Looking forward to your feed back.

 

[thoracle]

I lost 30% of range with my road bike on top of my old Taycan. I lost 35% or range when I put my electric mountain bike on top of my new Taycan and drove to Vegas with it.

You pay a price if you mess with aerodynamics.

Looking forward to your feed back.

I did explore options for mounting the front fork (remove wheel) down on the bottom of the truck bed behind the cab which would help for long road trips, or taking the front wheel off and laying down sideways under the closed tonneau cover which would be the best but likely only 1 bike might fit like that. I'll post data when I get it.

 

[CGM55082]

I did explore options for mounting the front fork (remove wheel) down on the bottom of the truck bed behind the cab which would help for long road trips, or taking the front wheel off and laying down sideways under the closed tonneau cover which would be the best but likely only 1 bike might fit like that. I'll post data when I get it.

I was wondering about taking the front wheel off and putting the bike under the tonneau myself. I measured my mountain bike and even sticking it in the bed diagonally and removing the front wheel, I'm not sure it will fit. Might have to take off the back wheel as well. Would love to know if you're able to make it work and what size bike you have.

 

[RayzorBEV]

Hello! My first post, but I wanted to share this: I think I found a good solution for mounting bikes on the racks over the Rivian truck bed. I used a Yakima Frontloader (which I've had previously and is a very durable bike mount) and placed the front of the bike mount facing the cab. The Frontloader mounting mechanism is very close to the center of the front wheel, so it allows my 29'er bike to fit if the mounts are in the widest position on each side. I don't think this bike would fit in the middle. Smaller bikes, or maybe 26/27.5" bikes would fit in the middle if you wanted to load more than 2 bikes.

Some numbers: my bike has a 45.5" long wheels base (wheel center to center) and is 74" from the furthest from rubber to the back of the rear tire. There is about a 1-1.5" gap to the roof of the cab. I'm pretty excited that I found a solution- I was not looking forward to bikes on the roof or a hitch mount. Am I missing something?

Nice. I have the same set up. Really happy with it. Only down side is the height when compared to a hitch mounted system. Ivwish someone would come up with a adapter to mount the Yakima Frontloader onto a hitch.

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