The Ridgeline Accessorizing, yet more.

[ITA97]

This third installment of Ridgeline accessorizing is the most important: a Rocky Mounts rail and fork mount system for hauling bikes in the bed. They're a company out of Colorado, and they happen to make the only such rail system for 2nd gen Ridgelines. I lucked out in buying what appears to be the very last rail available from any seller out there right now, with the manufacturer not expecting more stock until August-ish.

The rail replaces the upper front factory tie downs and uses the OEM torx bolts to mount. The detail of an eyelet on the rail mounts to double as a general tie down point in place or the factory ones is a nice touch. I went with two fork mounts, one that does QR and bolt on forks, and the other handles the various flavors of thru axle forks. There are two sets of inserts for 12 or 15mm thru axle, as needed.

So far I'm pretty impressed with the system. The hardware is high quality and seems well thought out. There's some adjustment to be done on mount positioning, but that's on my end of just figuring out what works best.

The mounts hold the bikes very securely by the fork, and the bikes mount easily. I had no worries about the bike getting beat up on either the 80mph interstate or the BLM road portions of the drive to the trailhead after work yesterday. The stashe has to be turned sideways a bit to close the tailgate with the short bed, but my other bikes shouldn't have that issue. As a trail hardtail on 29+ rubber, it is the big boy of my bike fleet.

There are key locks on the mounts, but I wouldn't trust them for much. I'm thinking paired with a cable lock through the frame and rear wheel it should be just enough security for a quick stop at a gas station for something and having a reasonable likelihood of the bike still being there three minutes later. I'd never leave any of my bikes unattended with any lock for a significant amount of time.

Most importantly, I carefully determined last night that the Ridgeline can be pulled in the garage with the mountain bike pulled in the garage.

This probably concludes the Ridgeline accessorizing for now. I had originally planned on a shell for it, but the combo of the rail system, the large trunk and what could fit in the back of the cab with the rear seats folded up made me rethink. This is also far, far cheaper than a shell, which is good because that money has been put down as a deposit on something else. Having built a shell into the budget on the Ridgeline acquisition, not doing a shell leaves some funds to played with.

[MUSASHI66]

@ita97 I hate having to pull out tools to remove wheels on these new bikes

I'm curios - now you have a pickup, why not just a nice tailgate bike blanket? A friend has one and they are super handy.

[e90m3]

@ita97 You're missing the ultimate Honda accessory, or should I say ulti///Mate.

Courtesy of @bluemazda2

[HFV]

@ita97 to me one of the reasons to get a pick up is to be able to load a bike without having to take the front wheel off. thats such a waste of time.
so why not just get a tailgate cover? 

[ITA97]

@musashi66 said in The Ridgeline Accessorizing, yet more.:

@ita97 I hate having to pull out tools to remove wheels on these new bikes

I'm curios - now you have a pickup, why not just a nice tailgate bike blanket? A friend has one and they are super handy.

The thru axles on my Stashe are toolless with permeant handles built in, but my road bike does require a hex key. I've always got one on the multi tool in the fanny pack, and I'll probably throw an extra 6mm T-handle in the truck for even easier wheel removal/installation.

I've considered the tailgate blanket, but in general they don't give me warm, fuzzy feelings driving on rough BLM tracks to get to certain trailheads. Even with the padding, I don't love the idea of expensive, carbon frames not actually being secured back there. Also, the Ridgeline is a shallower bed than most modern trucks. I'm not sure how well the blanket would actually work, although I might try it out with a beater bike sometime to find out.

[Sovande]

@ita97 that's a nice accessory. I have something similar in my El Camino. Basically an adjustable load separator with fork mounts bolted to it.

[Sovande]

@musashi66 I always thought it was odd to see bikes draped over the tailgate. Seems like an easy way to put dings in the gate?

[Shop-Teacher]

@ita97 Nice setup! I like it, and personally would pass on the camper shell.

I really like having a folding tonneau on my truck for when I need to keep big things dry. Granted it can't keep as big of things dry, but it was way cheaper, and I can put it on or take it off in two minutes by myself with no tools.

[MUSASHI66]

@ita97 For what it is worth, they are secured. The blanket attaches to the gate, and it has straps on top to tighten the frame to the blanket.

[MUSASHI66]

@sovande No, the blanket is thick and made for this purpose. If you get the right size, you are safe.

[ITA97]

@hfv As mentioned in another reply, tailgate blanket don't give me warm, fuzzy feelings about expensive carbon frames not actually secured by anything on rough dirt roads and two-tracks to certain trailheads. Also, the Ridgeline is a shallower bed than most trucks. I might give it a try with a beater bike to find out, but I suspect it doesn't work as well as a taller bed.

It takes five seconds to remove a front wheel, and maybe 15 to install, so I don't mind it at all. Back in the day that might have been a bigger deal when rim brakes were a thing, but that doesn't apply to any of my bikes.

[Highlander]

@ita97 This is a good point. I have rub marks on my bikes from sitting on a tail gate blanket from a long dirt road drives. I'm using a Kaut hitch rack on my ridgeline that has a 2 bike extension, so I can take 2 bikes or 4 bikes. I have a soft cover over the bed, so in bed installation for bikes is not desirable. The bed is so short anyway I'd have to drop the tail gate for them to fit even fork mounted.

[ITA97]

@highlander Kuat makes some very nice hitch-mounted racks. The biggest strike against them for me is that I'd either have to install/remove it everytime it was used, or completely rearrange my garage setup to pull the Ridgeline far enough forward to close the door with a rack on the back.

I think the bed is like 4" longer on the 2nd gen Ridgeline. However, your bikes are probably bigger than mine. At 5'7", I'm usually a medium/54cm sized rider.

[dejock]

@musashi66 blocks your backup camera!

[DasWauto]

@ita97 nice solution you’ve got there. Fork mounts are my preferred method as well - I’m currently making one for my Ranger. I made a pair of plates that bolt in behind the front load hooks and welded a piece of 1x1” tube in between. I just need to weld/bolt some fork mounts to the cross bar, hit it with some rattle cans and I’ll be all set. My trail bike should fit with the tailgate up but like yours will probably need to sit at a bit of an angle being a full sus XL frame 29er.

[dejock]

@ita97 that's a super slick bed-mount setup, i'm into it. i wonder if there would be any interference issues with a roll-up tonneau cover?

[ITA97]

@dejock As it is now, the mount on the left side for QR/bolt on forks sits up above the bed rails, but the thru axle mount doesn't. They make a variety of different fork mounts, and I suspect you could come up with something that wouldn't interfere with a roll up cover.

[spacekraken]

@ITA97 Coincidence? I just got rockymounts carriers on my car too!

[Highlander]

@ita97 all my bikes are extra large size as is my kids bike. They are very long. The Kaut rack does fold up but it still adds a foot to the overall length of the truck. I'm leaving it on all summer. Will for sure take it off in the winter. It's not to difficult to take it on and off but it is heavy AF so there is that.

[ITA97]

@spacekraken Nice!

[MUSASHI66]

@dejock Nope, they have a cutout if you get the proper size/model.

[dejock]

@musashi66 even if its just a single bike back there, the front wheel still blocks the camera, at least on my old frontier. I was really referring to HFV's picture above; even if the cover is opened, the bike is still going to obscure it a little bit. granted, it's really not much worse than a hitch rack would be, but still...

[MUSASHI66]

@dejock I have a license frame camera on my old Tundra, so I’d be fine. I’ve been just dumping the bike in the bed since I got it a few months ago.

[Wrong Wheel Drive]

@ita97 ooo being able to have the bike mounted and park in the garage, that is fancy! That's certainly the downside of the roof mount for me. Not that I have a garage at home but it's still inconvenient to have a height restriction for parking garages and drive thrus. Especially while driving a lowered car since youd think it would fit anywhere.

[SchaefZ28]

Man that is a nice Stache! I was looking pretty hard for a used one late '19-early '20, but I ended up with a Canyon Neuron instead. I still find the idea of 29+ very interesting though.
It's funny because one of your other 'accessorizing' posts prompted me head over to Honda's website to configure a Ridgeline, as it feels like it should be about the perfect truck for me.. It ended up at about 45k, which seems really high. Very cool truck though.