Blue Collar Bike Rack
October 25th, 2005 by PatDisclaimer: We are trained professionals so don’t try to build this bike rack if you’re not trained in the use of the tools we used or if you are stupid.
So. You’ve got a sweet full suspension fat tire. You’ve got a pickup, and you live 40 miles from the trail. Whatcha gonna do?
Well you have a few options. You can chuck the mountain bike in the bed and watch it bounce around like a soccer ball as you navigate the washed out fire roads on your way to the trail head. Just don’t forget your tools, because you are going to need to tune your bike up before you start to ride. (Not recomended)
Another option is to drop into Wally World and pick up one of the super-duper one size fits none bike rack. These wonders of medival engineering look like the bastard offspring of an S.M. flick and an erector set. With more buckles and straps than an 80’s fashion show you are gonna need a Master’s Degree in mechanical engineering and a TIG welder to figure out a way to get it to “fit” on the tailgate of your tuck. (Not recomended)
Another option is one of the slick bike racks that you install into your tow hitch reciever. These are truly nifty. Of course if you don’t have a receiver you are going to have to install one of those first ($150+). Then you have to buy the rack ($100+). When it’s all said and done you’ll have a sweet rack that installs quick, and holds several bikes and you won’t be able to afford bread. (Not BlueCollar)
Another option is one of the bolt on bedside back racks. These are always on the truck and ready to go, and they are usually less than $25. As long as you are willing to spend 20 minutes using those fancy power tools your father-in-law keeps buying you for Christmas you can have a bike rack for under $30. What a great compromise right?
Well…. We at BlueCollar have got a great deal for you. What If I told you that you could make yourself a custom bed rack for less than $4? Well we did it, and it took less than an hour. For your DIY pleasure we give you: The BlueCollar Bike Rack!
If you want to make one of these marvels of engineering you are going to need a few tools and some spare parts. The only mandatory part is an old wheel (complete). Any wheel with a quick release skewer will work as long as the axle fits the fork of the bike you intend to secure with the rack. This (fubar) wheel was donated by our friends at Blackwater Bike Shop(Thanks Guys!).
The next thing you are going to need is a Spoke Adjuster. If you aren’t familiar with how to use this tool, check out Tim’s post on
trueing a wheel.
The only other tools you are going to need is a saw (hand / circular / chop-saw) and a wood chisel, or decent pocket knife. Of course, you need to make sure you have all the appropriate safety equipment (goggles, gloves, chastity belt….)
Ok, you need to start with trip to the scrap pile, or the hardware store (depending on the size of your scrap pile). You are going to need a piece of 2×2 pine (aka firring strip), and a hose clamp that is at least 3″ diameter.
Once you grab all your goodies, bolt the garage door and get ready to make some chips fly.
OK. Here’s the obligitory disclaimer:
Do not attempt any of these acts at home, the pictures and descriptions here are of paid professional stuntmen or morons. Any fool that would attempt these acts without proper safety equipment and a bullet proof cup deserves to be naturally selected out of the gene pool.
Ahhh… better
Now, grab the spoke adjuster and “adjust” the spokes until the hub is loose from the wheel.
Now measure the distance between the inside edges of the flanges on the hub. You need to cut a piece of the 2×2 pine so that it fits snugly between the flanges. Now, snug means snug. You should be able to force the wood in with your hands (not a fixer) and it shouldnt fall out.
(Notice the goggles… Really… we’re wearin ‘em)
The next step is to make a groove in the center of the wood block so the hub can seat down into the block. To do this, mark a line down the centerline of the block. Then clamp the wood to somthing secure. Then use a chisel to notch a V shaped notch the full length of the block. If you’ve never used a chisel before the best technique is to shave out a small groove and then continue to shave off slices widening the groove.
OK, now you should have a wood block that fits snugly between the hub flanges with a V notch for the center of the hub to seat into.
Now test the fit. You might discover that the hub gets wider near the flanges. If that is the case you might need to take additional wood off the ends of the block widening the groove near the edges. We used a special technique for this step, but WE ARE HIGHLY TRAINED PROFESSIONALS DON”T TRY THIS AT HOME!!! (note the safety equipment)
OK, now you need to drill some holes for the mounting bolts. (Did I mention you need a drill?… You are going to need a drill). First drill two holes that allow your mounting bolts (Did I mention you need mounting bolts? … You are going to need mounting bolts) to slide in and out, but not wobble around in the hole. We used 1/4 x 3 hex bolts (works for a Toyota Tacoma fyi), but you may need longer bolts depending on the bed rails of your truck.
Drill two holes in the block (just space them evenly). Then, using a bit that is larger than the hex portion of the bolt drill down into the holes so the bolt head will countersink into the block.
OK, you are in the home stretch now. Stick your bolts through the holes and make sure the heads a below the surface that the hub will seat against. Then seat the hub into the slot you cut into the wood. While holding the block and hub together wrap the hose clamp (Did I mention you were going to need a hose clamp?… You need a hose clamp) around the block and hub. You may need to completely loosen the clamp in order to get it around the hub.
Now just grab a nutdriver, screwdriver, or pliers (Yeah, you need one of those as well) and tighten the hoodaddy out of the hose clamp.
Wholla! You’ve just made a BlueCollar Mountain Bike Mountain Bike Rack ! (say that 5 times fast).
Now all you need to do is drill some holes in the bed rail of your truck and bolt the whole assembly down. It might not be quite as sexy (as a John Deer tractor) but it is functional, and at under $4 its a bargain.
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It’s a great idea but you guys are plain and simply NUTS! Some one’s going to lose a finger one of these days and if they do, don’t come crying to me! NUTS!
Uh…
Isn’t that drill a bit close to yer kibbles-n-bits..if ya know what i mean.
Mount the assembly to a 2×8 that is cut to fit snugly in the front of your pick up bed (so it doesnt slide around too much) and you have a removable bike rack. The 2×8 is going to put you back 5.00 unless you get it at the same woodpile where you found the 2×2… Now the girlfriend /wife doesn’t have to be dismayed at your rube goldberg wizardry every time you want to take her out on a night on the town, and you still aren’t out much moolah.
Those safety glasses were sooo clear and unobtrusive, that I don’t think I can even see them! Amazing! Ummm……you WERE wearing safety glasses, right?
Yeah, cool rack, by the way!
Or you can make one out of PVC pipe …
http://www.utahmountainbiking.com/bikerack/makerack.htm
it looks like a good rack, but does not fit my personal requirements, because i need to carry 3+ bikes on my bronco2 but there is not enough space on this rack. can you post another design that can carry 3 mtb and take heavy bumps too?
Chris - if you are serious about needing a rack for your Bronco II, I am designing and making a rack for your very needs. I’ll cut you a hella deal,(that means I’ll do it custom and at cost) stop by my website sometime.
By the way…..Great idea from the boys at BC on this one!!!
ooh, ooh, could you buy a normal car and just shove the bikes in the boot?..errrm, americans sorry, the trunk.
My friend and I built the PVC rack for under $20. We shrunk it down a bit to fit between the wheel wells of his Ford Ranger and it also fits in the back of my Minivan. Three bikes fit on the smaller version we made.
I have the same delima, pickup without a tow hitch and my bike bounces around in the bed while driving.
One thing I dislike about all the quick release skewer based racks is that they don’t work so well with disc brakes.
Anyone who’s ridden serious distance on disc brakes now that they can be a bit touchy when you release and remount the wheel - the tolerances are very tight. I commute to work every day on such a bike, and during the winter, when it’s dark with bad whether I often drive my truck to the trail head.
I remain very interested in a pickup bed rack solution that does not require releasing my wheel(s).
Ideas?
Thanks.
You guys are nuts!
Reminds me of this B&B episode:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=-e-B6Qxmb7A :-O
Nice idea.
I’d probably substitute some kind of hardwood for the pine though - that straight grained soft pine is likely to split nicely along the groove at some time in its life, particularly after it gets a bit of sun and if you drive the truck on rough roads/offroad.
Alternatively you could probably bend some aluminum into a mounting “V” for the hub and wrap the pipe clamp around that instead. Would look spiffier too.
http://curiouscat.com/management/opportunitycost.cfm
Opportunity Cost - an economic concept that looks at not the cost it terms of the outlay of money but in the lost chance to do something else instead of what is chosen.
One reason this concept is important is that most projects you choose to focus on for improvement should have a good result. The key to to select the projects that have the largest positive impact.
If you have an average of 3 hours a week to devote to some new project the cost of that (based on your time) would be that portion of your salary those hours represent. However the opportunity cost of you spending 3 hours on that new project is the lost opportunity to: work on some other new project, possible reading new ideas in the field, exercising, spending additional time coaching various employees, etc.
For an organization, often the opportunity costs of deciding to invest resources in a new product launch is not to launch the other 5 projects under consideration. The organization has enough resources to launch one and so one is selected from the potential launches and the others are not pursued.
I happen to find the definition used by many economist that the “value of the next highest valued alternative” use is less valuable than a less precise definition. For one, often those figures are unknown and unknowable (not everything is reducible to a $ figure. And secondly the cost can change over time. Perhaps when you made the decision the value of the next highest use was low but it turned out 6 months later that conditions changed in a way that made the cost of your decision extremely high because the value of the alternative you chose not to pursue increased dramatically. This is separate from the case where your estimate was just wrong: where you incorrectly estimated the value of an alternative at the time of your decision and the value of the alternative became more obvious over time.
Like many economic concepts it is more helpful in theory than when economist try to quantify it. I majored in Economics. I find economics often want to reduce things to $ when even when it does not make sense. I understand it makes the formulas they like to use work more easily but I think it is better to accept that not everything can be converted to a $ figure, even if that makes things less clear.
There is a rack that fits on a truck roof top for under a hundred bucks and it will fit on your other cars also. Tyterack.com check it out, it was built for you.
let us know what you think if you have the time.
Thank you