Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in Overland Journal’s Summer 2022 Issue.
Let’s face it; overlanders have a bit of a reputation as gear nerds. We appreciate a well-made piece of kit and enjoy the balance of form, function, and practicality that go into its production. But as much as we love our gear, I’ve come to realize there’s a confluence of cyclists and van builders who have taken things to a whole new level. They’ve managed to take something as simple as a bike mount and offer an endless array of options as ingenious and expensive as you’d like. You can buy exterior mounts for the rear doors, vertical options for the interior walls, ones that slide out with gear trays, and mounts that attach to the roof. There are even kits with bike wash stations. In reality, most of us don’t need a machined titanium slide tray with carbon-fiber wiffle-ma-who-zits. What we need is something light, affordable, durable, and, most importantly, straightforward. Enter the Böhm mount.
Pronounced “boom,” this clever little product was designed by an intern named Dillon Hollingsworth at Storyteller Overland. It’s a highly adjustable bike block, offering the flexibility to allow multiple cycles of varying shapes and sizes to fit into a relatively small space. The powder-coated metal baseplate secures to any L-Track tie-down system, making it ideal for a wide range of applications in an even wider variety of vehicles. It’s fitted with a universal front-fork mount that can be adjusted to various widths and axle diameters with included spacers. To make it easy to install or shift them around the track, plastic knobs are used instead of hex nuts. There is even a branded Voile strap to secure your front wheel to the bike.
The Böhm has multiple adjustable mounting channels running along its top and bottom lengths for optimal adaptability. The bottom channels enable you to slide the mount forward or back while also shifting it left or right at an angle, allowing the fork and bars to be skewed to either side to avoid contact with other bikes. The front portion of the mount has adjustment channels as well, enabling you to slide the front of the bike up or down. This adjustability lets you maneuver the handlebars above, below, or around each other in just the right orientation to squeeze multiple bicycles into whatever space you’re dealing with. Are you carrying road bikes for you and your significant other on Saturday? No problem. Going mountain biking with your buddies on Sunday? Swap L-Track mount positions and shift the angles with the quick-adjust knobs, and you’re set to go.
Of course, the Böhm isn’t perfect. It does allow for more side-to-side flex than I’d like to see, and $189 is still not cheap, especially when you have to buy multiples. Yet their compact size, adjustability, and lightweight design make it a surprisingly effective solution for anyone who needs to carry bikes in their 4×4 or van.
$189 | storytelleroverland.com
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