bike carriers vs bikes in cars

[SouthernBelle]

I bought an XPORT Universal Bike mount at Performance Bike and mounted it on a board. I lock the front fork to it and then I hold the bike upright using a strap around the handle bars, secured to the loops in the storage area. We used this setup for the first time this weekend and it worked great.

I have a similar setup in the back of my pickup truck. I use bungee cords with plastic (non-scratching) hooks hooked to the bars to keep the top of the bike stable. Unfortunately, there is nothing in the back or bed of my truck to hook or attach this setup to.

[mimitabby]

my husband made a very simple wooden structure for the bed of our pickup truck. It's a piece of plywood with bike mounting gizmos on it.
S you can just clip the bikes in (take front wheels off) and stand 3 bikes up in a row inthere (4? can't remember) he's a complete bone head when it comes to
building stuff and mechanics, so if he can do it, anyone can.

having said that; we get better gas mileage with our buick regal so we usually don't use the truck anymore, we have racks on the top of our car. It's pretty yucky if it rains though.
and when it's just me, i put my bike inside my honda civic, there's not much
room for it to slide around in there

[caligurl]

we used to carry our bikes on a hitch rack with our truck.... that is until someone tried to steal my ruby when we stopped to pick up some groceries on the way home from a ride... now they are carried safely and securely INSIDE an suv (with tinted windows so they can't see in!) we use the saris "traps" system... holds the bike by it's fork and holds the tire... nice and neat!

[SadieKate]

Very easy to build your own inside bike rack with fork mounts.

[mimitabby]

yes, yes! that's what DH did!!

[caligurl]

hubby was going to do either the piece of wood thing... or just attach the fork holders to the "floor" of the "X"... but then you are stuck with a set spot for the bikes (or with the wood... you have to unscrew it and more it to new holes if you need to move the bikes)

with the traps... the black base piece (which matches my black interior ) is attached to the floor... but the other pieces can be moved along the track if needed (i.e. they need to be moved in for the mountain bike... but can go back out for the road bikes!) we can also remove any of the pieces (i.e. when we brought brie along when i did the grand tour.... we took out the wheel holder on her side in case of an accident, god forbid, and just left the othe pieces for my bike!

it all boils down to asthetics (spelling?).... i had a brand new car! i wasn't letting hubby put a bare piece of wood in there! lol!

[solveig]

Thanks for all the input and especially the photos! I think I'm leaning toward an inside-vehicle arrangement, and I think we could rig up some kind of bike stand pretty easily. DP is pretty handy with construction - although he's been into welding lately, so said bike stand will probably be made of old cattle stanchions and weigh a hundred pounds!


solveig

[Pedal Wench]

After hearing numerous stories of bikes falling off racks, cars being rear-ended with bikes on the back, or garage-door mishaps with roof-racks, my bikes only go inside of vehicles. I can fit one bike easily in my hatchback - just remove front wheel and lay the bike down with the rear seats folded down. I can also get one upright behind the the seats - again, remove front wheel, fork rests on the folded rear seat and it slides right in. This is in a pretty small (old!) Acura Integra - a small sporty car.

I'm in search of the ultimate vehicle to replace this car. It's gotta be comfy, get good mileage, fit two bikes inside, be able to do some off-roading to get to some hiking trailheads, and be cute!