Inside van bike mounts

Hi I was looking at Rockymount Droptop for the back of my old caravelle.  I was going to mount three on a board with some Unwin Rail.  This is for road bikes for a couple summer trips planned, but wanted mounts I can use for all bikes in the future.  They are quite expensive, any other thoughts?

RockyMounts DropTop

I have these, single axle size though. £15. I use them unattached to anything, to protect a suspension fork which has long protruding valve and adjuster sticking out of the lowers, not in a van.

https://www.pinkbike.com/buysell/2846569/

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/225050665671

I’ve got some of these rail mounted in the back of my Connect

https://www.blokpod.com/

Ancient, cheap, second-hand roof bar cycle carrier(s).

Middle cargo loops unbolted, builders’ heavy duty flat straps bolted across the van, cycle carriers bolted to the conveniently pre-drilled straps. £20 total

Undo 4 bolts and gone

I’ve got a Saris fork mount thing I’m selling. Comes with a few forks mounts and all the adapters for qr/boost/15mm/12mm forks.

Only after £50 for the lot. Can send pics if interested?

I made something like this to carry my kids bikes front wheel off in the back of my estate (just screwed the mounts onto a big sheet of chip board cut to the shape of the boot floor). I got these sort of mounts off Amazon:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bicycle-Aluminum-Transporting-Fitments-110%C3%9715mm/dp/B0C8JBF8LR/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?crid=20P8RGPGIJIMD&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.11n8QEluh_5EBe6SfXUGxfBDIYftDahN2pCp1yZCbMW0MUScRvldrrg5tdfL2A1OwAEDacpYB_qy18tbVor2FYnsrnVlt2Itq-sFNl6btju9iEW3nw0jsvhFt4Oh49uDUhtRBtHsJXMMhspXnLlxGUW_g88_8izdP42LynubD2BZWREk3_L5alhuvpF5aHQ3Kqr___dzUYJ0XMaevEfk8w.xz5oO0bK0PKr_VVeRoovAocGev1ODYD6RVFHok9eTxc&dib_tag=se&keywords=bike+fork+mount+thru+axle&qid=1713643762&sprefix=axle+mount%2Caps%2C95&sr=8-3

they come with a whole range of adaptors for different axle sizes

I use blokpod as well, arrived super fast, lots of options and nicely made..

sadly any bought solution will be expensive

I’ve used these, 2 for £18: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0C9GS6WLY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Edit – looks the same as @Mat’s link above.

Very quick, secure, lockable and can be adjusted left and right for the N+1 easily. The bike just plonks into cup, flip over lid and clamp. Lock if you really want to. No dancing, prancing or lifting heavy bike to line up axel with hole. One of my better buys, I just need the compressible DropTop inserts for 12/15mm , which I am finding very hard to find in the UK.

@ally and Mat, I’ve just purchased some of these too. How do you keep the adapters from being knocked out when mounting the bike into place?

I’m going to try studfit.

I got Zitto ones, came with adaptors for most axles. Bolt to a length of extrusion.

The plastic adapters have plastic pins which clip into the metal body. They are going no- where.

I’ve got the zitto ones same as in ally and mats link, think they were £12 each. I made a timber frame that fixes to the floor rails with a bolt, some big washers and a big plastic nut from the U fixings off an old roof box.

I’ve amended it slightly now so the bikes sit further back nearer the back door, which means I can have the back seats in use at the same time.

My mounts (above) have little push in adapters to suit the axle length. They only seem to be held in place by the friction of an internal o ring in the main body of the mount. Am I missing something? 🤔

Nope, mine are the same. They just don’t fall out, bit like the end caps on your wheels don’t come out when fitting into your fork. Just don’t be too ham fisted when dropping your fork onto them then tighten your axle or qr skewer.

Oh me of little faith!

Thanks ads678, I’ll give it a go 😁

I used the generic aluminium mounts too.
Mine are fixed to 500mm bits of wood though as I use a couple of different vehicles and also helps to be flexible to fit around other things that may get packed.
Bit easier to put the axle through too and can stand the bike outside too whilst sorting stuff.

I looked at those when I built my van drawer and decided not to use them due to the cost, I bought someone that had a little business going making mounts in his shed. They are excellent quality and different adapters were available…

Then I bought a new bike and he stopped making adapters, so I spent ages tracking down some adapters that would fit.

I wish I bought a pair of Rocky Mounts instead…

I used the generic aluminium mounts too.

Mine are fixed to 500mm bits of wood though as I use a couple of different vehicles and also helps to be flexible to fit around other things that may get packed.

Bit easier to put the axle through too and can stand the bike outside too whilst sorting stuff

Yeah, I’m thinking of just mounting the them to a wider piece of timber and not bolting them to the floor rails. Think if I turned the bikes round to have them facing forwards I could get them close to the side of the van and closer together if I set one higher to raise the bars so they don’t clash.

 I bought someone that had a little business going making mounts in his shed…He stopped making adapters

TBH I’m not surprised the guy knocked it on the head if you tried to buy him and keep him trapped in a shed.

🤣

oops. AFAIK he is still free and not enslaved to anyone.

Spotted this one on Instagram. Any thoughts on using a set up like this?

Appeals to me as I carry two bikes with different axle sizes so removes the need for specific mount for each bike. Any other pros / cons?

I’ve Unaka mounts in my van. Imported from the States.

I’ve had the type where you need to thread the axle through both the fork and the mount and found them a PITA.

The Unaka are much lower profile than the Rocky Mounts and cons with adapters to fit any size of fork (other than 9mm quick release).

I bought some of those cheap Amazon ones to make my own setup but in the end decided against the wooden “rail” thing and the guys at Forty Winks sold me one of their rails seperately which I bolted the Amazon mounts to (which so far as I can tell, look exactly the same as the ones Forty Winks themselves sell for over double the price). Only down side is that the little adapters for 20mm/15mm/QR/boost/non-boost sometimes fall out if you knock them so you’ve got to be half aware of loosing them but spot on. If you’re taking your front wheel off anyway it makes no odds whether you have to thread it through a mount whilst you’re at it vs just banging it back on and clamping it.

I like Mark88’s photo of hanging ones. a clear floor is much easier to clean, and they wont be in the way for everything else you ever need to put in there.

So the simplicity of attaching a bike to the unaka/rocky mount looks good but unless I’m misunderstanding how they work don’t they put some weird force through the forks? They aren’t actually braced against the fork dropouts and the through axle floats on one side so you’re only loading on one fork leg and then only through the axle threads.

normally you’re clamping both fork legs onto either a wheel or a mount to make a rigid unit.

Also, they only seem to be rated for 45lb = 20kg which is below the weight of nearly all e bikes.

I have a sender bike stand. The 2 bike edition, but they cater for more. Just roll the bike in and done. It’s not fixed to the follow but has straps if needed, although i haven’t yet. When you are parked up at campsite, you can take it out and use as bike stand.

Not sure what’s happened to uk site? Maybe not about anymore? Link to US site:

PLATFORM 600 with Rails – 2 BIKE VAN STAND