Sensus Bachelor Pad Review

Sensus Bachelor Pad

Words & Photos by Chili Dog

If you’ve been following the Sensus crew the past few years, you may have noticed that they’ve all been running a mysterious black tailgate pad. If you asked though, they weren’t shy to say they’ve been testing and working to create their dream pad. The process started over three years ago, but the work has finally paid off. The Bachelor Pad is here!

Several months ago, the Zink brothers gave us exclusive access to an early test pad for a review. We shared it with all of our Patreon readers a while back in an unboxing video, but have kept things secret until the official launch. Now that we can finally talk about it, I’ll go on the official record and say it straight up. This is the best tailgate pad on the market. Period.

The Lab

Sensus went back to the drawing board with this pad, attempting to re-think everything about the tailgate pad itself, and the way a user interacts with it. That isn’t to say they went and made it overly complicated. Instead, it’s the perfect balance of usable features, and simplicity for durability. Its 59” width provides ample coverage for modern full sized pickups, but still works on older trucks with skinny tailgates too.

The core of the pad is the ultra durable exterior fabric that can hold up to thousands of miles of shuttling. Inside is a foam pad that protects your truck and bikes from impact. The top of the pad has an ultra thick cushion, so worrying about dented down tubes is a thing of the past.

The portion of the pad that contacts your truck’s paint boasts a microfiber liner, which will keep your truck looking nice and shiny. Some of the other options on the market lack this important feature.

Sensus Bachelor Pad Review

Bikes are secured via 6 Velcro straps that go around the down tubes. If that isn’t your style, the Sensus magnetic koozies also work to secure your precious cargo, or keep bikes protected during transit. Those Sensus guys are some clever bastards.

Speaking of clever, let’s get into what really separates this pad from the pack. Inside the tailgate portion of the pad is a separate flap that is secured via Velcro and two hooks that attach to the stake pocket holes of your truck bed. Those straps on the side keep the pad from shifting when you get rowdy, and also support the back section of the pad, letting it stay in place as the tailgate is dropped. Inside, there’s three Velcro pockets for storing tools, keys, chain lube, or whatever else you want to stash in there. With the tailgate closed, the flap also serves as a storage pocket for beer, smelly gear, or whatever other large items you want to keep from flying out of your truck bed. Heck you can even fit a tire pump in there. It’s easily the most useful part of the tailgate pad. The flap also doubles as a chair back when the tailgate is down as demonstrated in the video above.

For easy access to the tailgate latch and backup camera, a triangular flap with a magnetic snap is built into the pad. Simply flip the flap, and you can reach the handle or have unobstructed back up camera views. It’s a far better alternative to the Velcro options on most other designs.

The final thing that makes this pad special is the attachment straps to the tailgate itself. The standard system has been some sort of strap that you have to bear hug your tailgate to painstakingly fish through the tiny gap between the bed and gate. If you’ve ever had a tailgate pad before, you’ll know the struggle all too well. Sensus threw that out the window, developing three small plastic clips with Velcro that snap onto the bottom of the tailgate. Then, the external pad straps simply Velcro to those tabs. Everything is external and easy to access. I’m OCD so I put a little painters tape between the paint of my truck and the plastic clip to prevent any scratches.

Sensus Bachelor Pad

The Dirt

We’ve had this pad for several months, so I’ve had the opportunity to try it on three different trucks, and with everything from one to six bikes. This pad is intended for modern, full sized trucks with air dams on the tailgate, but still works on older trucks with skinny tailgates. I used it on a 2006 Dodge Ram 2500, 1993 Dodge Ram D350 and a 1997 Ford F-350 without issues. The pad’s material has held up to muddy down tubes and tires, while still being easy to clean. From looking at the Sensus crew’s pad, mine has only just begin its life of service too.

I’ve never owned a pad that did anything but secure bikes, so having one with storage pockets and smart retention systems seems like one of those “why did no one else think of this” moments. It’s one of those things you never knew you needed, but is incredibly handy. Especially with a full truck of dudes, any extra space to store sweaty gear is appreciated.

The storage pocket is huge, fitting tools, gear, chain lube and pretty much all the other little things I use on rides and hate having to fish under my truck seat to get. Keeping the smelly pads out of the cab and wind in the truck bed is also a huge benefit. There’s no more chasing kneepads down the freeway because they blew out of my truck bed.

The clever strap system used to mount the pad on to the truck tailgate also saves time, and makes transferring the pad between vehicles incredibly easy. Gone are the days of fishing your hands through the bed, or smashing your fingers in the half closed tailgate.

The Wolf’s Last Word

This pad seriously has it all, checking off a long wish list of things we never knew we wanted or needed. It’s a bold claim to declare the Bachelor Pad as the best tailgate shuttle pad on the market, but it’s well warranted. After using similar products from Dakine, Fox, Thule, EVOC and countless others, nothing comes close to the versatility and practicality of the Sensus Bachelor Pad. While it may have taken three years to finally hit the market, those three years of hard work paid off. We’re so stoked on this pad. So stoked, we even asked the guys at Sensus to let us sell them in the Loam Wolf webstore so you guys can score a new pad AND get entries to win our custom giveaway bike so you have something sweet to hang on it!

Price: $220;
Website: Get yours here!

We Dig

Storage Pockets

Durable

Stays Put

Clean Looks

We Don’t

Nothing

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