Within the mountain bike world, in case you personal a pickup truck, there’s a very good probability you additionally personal a tailgate pad as an alternative of a pickup bike rack. The thought is fairly easy – put a padded cowl in your tailgate which you could relaxation the downtube of the bike on, whereas the entrance wheel hangs over the again.
Nevertheless, the founders of Railias noticed extra potential than a easy mat after they checked out their truck earlier than a trip. They envisioned a complete ecosystem of equipment that had been easy so as to add or take away – each to your truck, your storage wall, or elsewhere.
What initially drew me to their Tailgate Rack System was the truth that the bike’s body and fork didn’t need to relaxation on the tailgate. Coupled with the potential of the entire system being simply transported in a checked bag, it appeared like an intriguing method to transport a motorbike on a driving journey: land on the vacation spot, hire a truck, throw on the Railias pickup bike rack, and go.
That’s precisely what I did, and it labored out nice, however there’s extra to the design which makes it much more fascinating. Admittedly, I’m not a truck man, however the concept of getting one thing able to off-roading whereas in Moab was tempting. My rental was additionally alleged to be a Toyota Tacoma, not the massive Ram I ended up with (which was sufficiently big to place the EVOC bike bag contained in the cab, however that’s one other story…).
Easy methods to set up
We’ll begin with the Tailgate Rack System which facilities across the Railias Sportrail. That is an aluminum plate that attaches to the tailgate with the Strap Pad. There are two straps constructed into the Sportrail, and as soon as they’re looped across the tailgate, a big cam lock tightens the entire system down. There’s additionally a shackle for a padlock if you wish to lock it in place.
The Sportrail has a sequence of holes on the facet of it that permit the Modular Fork Mount to snap into place. Relying on the bike and the truck mattress, the Sportrail provides about 12” of vertical adjustment for the positioning of the Fork Mount to place the bike within the truck mattress.
Rolling Out
One of many extra fascinating features of the Tailgate Rack System is how straightforward it’s to load and unload the bikes. To load, open the tailgate, mount the fork to the Fork Mount, after which place the bike within the truck mattress. Connect the Fork Mount to the Sportrail by pulling the spring-loaded latch aside, and the bike is now connected to the rack.
To push it again into the mattress, merely shut the tailgate. The bike rolls backward into place. Eradicating it’s simply as easy. Open the tailgate, and the bike rolls ahead to you. Pop off the Fork Mount, or simply take away the thru-axle from the mount and reinstall the entrance wheel and also you’re good to go.
There’s positively extra concerned than tossing a motorbike on a tailgate pad, however then once more you don’t have the raise the bike as excessive on the Railias system. The Railias additionally ensures your body and fork received’t see any harm throughout transport – you’ll have to determine one thing to do together with your entrance wheel although.
Over the course of testing on some pretty tough roads, the bike by no means moved round a lot aside from a little bit of wobble. The wobble appears to be associated to the slight play within the axle adapter and the Modular Fork Mount, and wasn’t sufficient to fret about. Within the Ram, the ribbed mattress floor appeared to maintain the rear tire in place fairly nicely, although it seems Railias is likely to be engaged on some further merchandise to behave as a rear wheel help.
The Tailgate Rack System is available in two sizes, Quick and Lengthy, to suit different-sized vans. I used to be despatched out the Quick since my rental was alleged to be a brand new Tacoma, which I assumed is likely to be an issue once I ended up with a 2022 Ram 1500. Happily, the Quick straps had been nonetheless lengthy sufficient to suit the truck although you must nonetheless go together with the sizing chart on the Railias website to your truck.
The Fork Mount additionally comes with inserts to suit 5 totally different fork sizes together with 9 x 100 QR, 12 x 100 TA, 15 x 100 TA, 15 x 110 Increase TA, and 20 x 110 Increase. The adapters are simply swapped out with the push of a button on the Fork Mount. The Tailgate Rack System consists of every thing wanted to mount the rack to your truck tailgate, plus two Bricks for storage at residence (or in different automobiles).
Pickup Bike Rack Tailgate Occasion
If that was the top of it, the Railias would nonetheless be a reasonably cool system – however there’s extra. In case you order the Professional Tailgate Rack System, it features a Parasol or a elaborate umbrella that mounts to the Sportrail for pre & post-ride hangs on the tailgate. Admittedly, the $325 (when offered individually) umbrella is an expensive choice, however in case you reside someplace with intense solar it might be price it.
Extra importantly, Railias has plans to supply a motorbike restore stand that may additionally mount to your Sportrail and make bike repairs a lot simpler. We’re informed that Railias is not sure when the restore stand shall be made accessible, however the photos on their web site make it look like it’s greater than an idea. Notably, as a result of size of the Sportrail it looks as if it will be doable to have the bike mount, parasol, and restore stand all mounted to the identical Sportrail.
Storage
Going additional, the Tailgate Rack System makes it from the truckbed to your storage (or bike storage space) with its further Bricks. Produced from the identical materials because the Sportrail, the bricks could be mounted wherever, which lets you mount your bike nearly wherever. Bricks could be put in on the wall, so you’d take away the Modular Fork Mount from the Sportrail on the truck after which snap the Modular Fork Mount to the Brick on the wall for storage till the subsequent trip.
Extra than simply vans: Nice for Vans, Parts & extra
Or, the Bricks might be used as an alternative of the Sportrail and completely mounted to locations like the within of a van. You continue to get a rapidly detachable fork mount and a secure method to carry your bike contained in the van. Railias sells the system because the Mounted Mount for $150 which incorporates an adapter to make use of with L-track for a no-drill set up. Alternatively, you can purchase this model of the system and mount the Bricks on absolutely anything to have a flexible bike mount system for the within of your Honda Component, minivan, on high of a camper, you identify it.
Closing Ideas
The $300 Tailgate system is an expensive pickup bike rack for a single bike, however the system does embrace two Bricks for storage in your storage. The System can also be extremely well-built, with high quality {hardware} and soft-touch supplies wherever it will contact the end of your truck. After per week in Moab, the Railias system didn’t depart a mark on the Ram regardless of some moist and muddy adventures. In case you’re the sort to child your truck as a lot as your bike, that is likely to be well worth the worth alone.
