Best way to transport bike on back of a ute?

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Hi there. Since I live on top of a hill I figure there will be times when I want to drive somewhere flat to ride, mostly in case I can't get back up the hill LOL . Most likely vehicle is a flat-deck ute. What's the best way to carry a bike on that sort of vehicle? It has a towbar so I could get one of those tow-bar carriers, but the ute's so damn long I'm likely to forget the bike's there and reverse it into something. Is there some type of stand that would hold the bike upright on the deck or maybe against the back of the cab? The third option would be just to lie the bike down, but I'm worried about damaging it. TIA

I believe you're referring to a hitch mount? Some good highly reputed models from Thule and Yakima that you really can't go wrong with. The downsides to hitch mounts - your bike will be outside the vehicle and as you mentioned vulnerable to any accidents. There are even a couple of horror stories of bikes getting pavement treatments for miles before owners realized they were dragging.

IMHO, the biggest downside to a hitch rack or any external mounting system is the drop in gas mileage. Not a big deal if you're going down the block, but I was shocked to lose almost 6 mpg on a trip from Houston to Dallas thanks to my Yakima. After that I went to a custom fork mount like the one listed below I've had no complaints.

Hilldweller, do you know anyone that's good with a powersaw or tools? Ian & a friend made ours and am happy to give the instructions! Also, you'll need a couple of fork clip things to place your fork onto. (like this http://www.probikekit.com/display.php?code=A0039) When not in use ours folds up.

I'll post some pics as it'll make more sense

This is what I use as well, pretty easy, just a long 4x2 with vertical support with the fork mounts mentioned above bolted on, and it allows me to fit two bikes in the cargo area of my sport ute without any problems and no drop in mileage as well.

But for short trips, I still lay my bike down on its side, haven't had any problems, just make sure it's laying with the chain / deraileur facing up.