Bike transportation

[bvibert]

How do you transport your bike to your riding spot? Those of you that are lucky enough to ride right from home need not reply.

I use a roof mounted system, where I don't have to take the front wheel off.. Works fine for me as long as I remember not to drive into any more low overhangs.

 

[o3jeff]

I either throw it in the back of the Pacifica wagon(no rack required) or I got a Thule T2 for the back of the Jeep. It is a really nice rack, don't have to remove the tires and have had 20" bmx bikes on it with no problems.

 

[bvibert]

Sometimes I also take the wheels off and put the bike in the back of my car.

When I had a pickup I had a fork mount in the bed, taking the wheel on and off every time was a pain though.

 

[RootDKJ]

I keep the rear seats of my Escape folded down 90% of the year. I take off the front tire and throw the bike in the back (chain side up).

My friend told me he has a 2-point hitch I can have so I've been thinking about getting a bike mount for it. I'd never tow anything with the Escape, so it seems like a good idea. Just a matter of meeting up getting it from him.

 

[severine]

When I transport my bike, it's in the same type of rack that Brian has. Except I have to use a milk crate to reach it. I can put it in the back of the Blazer if I remove the front wheel, but it only just barely fits (can't put the seats down with the kids' carseats installed in there--too time consuming to keep taking them out and putting them back in again).

 

[andyzee]

I've used numerous systems. Presently I use a hitch with the hang type rack for my hybrids. However, for my road bike I presently put it in the car. Reason being, it's carbon fiber and you should not use any thing that will put pressure on the frame with these.

 

[sLoPeS]

i use this...

only thing ive found that i dont like is how it doesnt work with all bikes. that clamp on the rack doesnt fit every bike, but it works for my HT so whatever. also, because of the clamp/pivot piece, that part that hooks to the bars is kinda wide. i wanted to move my bike racks to the outside so that i could have my box in the middle but that doesnt work. if i had a fork mounted tray i could do that, but then id have to throw the wheel inside. pluses and minuses to them both.

 

[mondeo]

When I do have to transport my bike, it goes in the car. Only 3-4 times a year, not a big deal.

When I get a MTB, I'll get a rack.

 

[bvibert]

i use this...

only thing ive found that i dont like is how it doesnt work with all bikes. that clamp on the rack doesnt fit every bike, but it works for my HT so whatever. also, because of the clamp/pivot piece, that part that hooks to the bars is kinda wide. i wanted to move my bike racks to the outside so that i could have my box in the middle but that doesnt work. if i had a fork mounted tray i could do that, but then id have to throw the wheel inside. pluses and minuses to them both.

That's what I use too. The older version of that rack had a metal plate in the rear, so that the mount to the bar was off to the side. With that configuration you were able to straddle the tower with the front mount so that you could put the rack further outboard.

 

[gmcunni]

depends which car i'm driving. I have a hitch attached bike rack that holds 4 bikes that i use on our CRV. I have a trunk "strap on" that i use when i take my car. I've had up to 4 bikes on the trunk mount but i try to keep it to 2 bikes for fear of denting the trunk with all the weight.

 

[Trekchick]

If I go alone, I'll just throw the bike in the back of the Yukon. No need to take the tire off like in my Jeep.
If I go with anyone else, I use the Hitch mount 4 place bike rack. Its a cheapo rack but I liked how the bikes fit on it better than the Yakima.
If I have to buy a new one in the future, I'll get a Thule.

 

[deadheadskier]

BITD I had a trunk rack for transporting the bike. I really can't understand how anyone under 6 feet would choose a roof rack for a car or anyone under 6'4 for a truck or SUV.

I like the design of the racks that mount on trailer hitches.

 

[severine]

BITD I had a trunk rack for transporting the bike. I really can't understand how anyone under 6 feet would choose a roof rack for a car or anyone under 6'4 for a truck or SUV.

I like the design of the racks that mount on trailer hitches.

Hence my milk crate. :lol:

I don't have a hitch on my Blazer and I couldn't find a rack that was approved to work with the hatch. There might be something out there I didn't find but I'm not looking to spend more money when I have something that works. Not really much choice then, KWIM?

 

[wa-loaf]

Got a hitchmount that carries 4 bikes. I wouldn't mind picking up one roof tray for when it's just me. Can't fold seats right now cause of kids seats.

 

[bvibert]

BITD I had a trunk rack for transporting the bike. I really can't understand how anyone under 6 feet would choose a roof rack for a car or anyone under 6'4 for a truck or SUV.

I like the design of the racks that mount on trailer hitches.

Hence my milk crate. :lol:

I don't have a hitch on my Blazer and I couldn't find a rack that was approved to work with the hatch. There might be something out there I didn't find but I'm not looking to spend more money when I have something that works. Not really much choice then, KWIM?

That, and I am 6'4". The assumption when we got the roof rack was that I would be there most of the time to load and remove the bikes. Plus we already had the roof rack system for other stuff so all we had to buy was a ~$100 carrier for the roof, my dad 'lent' me the second one. It would have cost ~$300+ to get a decent hitch mount rack (that would have still allowed us access to the rear hatch), plus the cost of getting a hitch.

 

[bvibert]

Got a hitchmount that carries 4 bikes. I wouldn't mind picking up one roof tray for when it's just me. Can't fold seats right now cause of kids seats.

That's our issue too, I'd probably throw the bike in the car (wagon) more often if I didn't have to remove the kids seats to fold down my rear seats. Luckily our daughter is big enough now that she can use a booster seat, which doesn't need to be installed, so I can fold down part of the rear seat.

 

[o3jeff]

Got a hitchmount that carries 4 bikes. I wouldn't mind picking up one roof tray for when it's just me. Can't fold seats right now cause of kids seats.

That's our issue too, I'd probably throw the bike in the car (wagon) more often if I didn't have to remove the kids seats to fold down my rear seats. Luckily our daughter is big enough now that she can use a booster seat, which doesn't need to be installed, so I can fold down part of the rear seat.

Throwing it in the back with the seats folded down makes a big mess of the car especially on muddy rides.

 

[bvibert]

Throwing it in the back with the seats folded down makes a big mess of the car especially on muddy rides.

I'm not all that concerned with the inside of my car these days, but on muddy days I could always resort to throwing it on the roof post ride if it was too dirty.

 

[dmc]

Fits in my VW Tiguan but I do have racks too...

But usually I just ride my bike to where I'm going to ride...

 

[wa-loaf]

Throwing it in the back with the seats folded down makes a big mess of the car especially on muddy rides.

Got a rubber tray in the back.