Road bike on North Shore Rack

Apologies if this topic has been discussed, didn't find much out there. Is anyone putting their gravel, road, cx, etc. on their North Shore Rack?

In the market for a vertical rack right now and the NSR is at the top of the list for a few reasons but this is problematic. I have tested it and my gravel bike doesn't fit but I'd be curious to know if somebody has thought of an ingenious solution.

Otherwise, suggestions on a 4+ bike rack that allows a tailgate to open fully without having to tilt it and that also doesn't take too much space when the rack is in storage in a tiny shed in winter? (this is where the folding ability of the NSR is great, and trays like velocirax suck)

* By tailgate, I mean specifically a Tacoma's. I know the NSR allows this.

Do you need four road/gravel/cx bikes on the rack?

I gerry-rigged a Thule front axle holder to the horizontal bar between the prongs so I could carry my road bike but I could never carry more than two road bikes using that configuration.

Front wheels has to be removed, of course...

I've also seen some people being able to mount dropbar bikes by putting the stem in the prongs but I think that seemed to be dependent on the stem length. It might work if your stem has a sizable positive rise but it didn't for me with a 0° rise stem...

it can't be that hard, I seen the shop van go all the way to vegas with  a spawn on the rack

NSR says road bikes don't fit, but an adapter is being developed. https://northshoreracks.com/products/road-bike-adapter/?v=3e8d115eb4b3

Thanks for the ideas. There are moments where I would like to have a mix of gravel + mtb on the rack, although rare. An axle holder to an interesting idea, I was thinking of bolting a couple of the the lolo handlebar mounts between the prongs but not sure how things would line up and interfere. 

Exciting news on the adapter, although by the sounds of that snippet, it will be an axle mount as well.

I wrap a beach towel around the main bar between the prong supports. Works fine but I'm only doing short journeys. Also I've a basic alu CX bike, can't imagine people would wanna do that with bling carbon road bikes.

The front wheel flops sideways but it's not possible for it to come off. A few extra bungies if you're worried.

Posted by: TheWasp

can't imagine people would wanna do that with bling carbon road bikes.

totally this. i wouldn't trust the odd angle stress placed on carbon being held by an NSR rack even with an adaptor.

OP mentions being able to open the tailgate.... build an upright mount for the truck and put your road/gravel bikes in the truck bed?

I have a canopy on the truck and like to use the bed for sleeping when camping. I currently have a tailgate pad but trying to steer away from that for ease of use on day to day (tailgate pad + canopy is a PITA) and for ability to travel with multiple bikes and sleep in the bed. I'm asking a lot!

The towel thing with a bunch of ski straps is what I was considering actually, I did try that the other day with a friend's rack. Not ideal but I'm not too concerned about damage. There would be very little leverage on the fork and the bike is not that heavy. I reckon you put much higher stress on that area when riding on rough FSRs with bikepacks.

If you’re open to other brands, VelociRAX works for road, gravel and mountain bikes. A friend of mine has one and it’s pretty sweet. We used it this past weekend to haul 6 bikes for an enduro one day, and the day after, 6 gravel bikes.

I carry road bikes on my NS rack all the time. Face them backwards and use 2 sets of hooks per bike and it works fine.