Posts
9
Joined
2/4/2022
Location
GB
Currently have a land rover defender can get two bikes in the back very easily with lots of storage for bags if I'm going away for a weekend with the bikes.
Having to part with it soon and cant face going back to roof bars and bike racks, I like the extra security of it being locked inside something too with the increase of bike thefts in the UK
So my question, whats the next car to get that can fit two bikes in with only taking the front wheels off and still have storage for luggage. Was looking at Subaru forrester STI's but hear it may be too tight for bikes.
Let me know what you have and any pictures too would be greatly appreciated!
Having to part with it soon and cant face going back to roof bars and bike racks, I like the extra security of it being locked inside something too with the increase of bike thefts in the UK
So my question, whats the next car to get that can fit two bikes in with only taking the front wheels off and still have storage for luggage. Was looking at Subaru forrester STI's but hear it may be too tight for bikes.
Let me know what you have and any pictures too would be greatly appreciated!
Pros:
Rear seats fold down in a 2/3 fashion. So you can have it as a people carrier for 5 people, or in 30 seconds convert it to a van, with 1 rear seat up you can have 3 people, with either 2 bikes fully assembled or 3+ bikes with wheels off. I have gone to races and confortably slept in the back of the car with the bike next to me (passenger seat folds down to give very long flat surface.)
Cons: bikes are quite visible and relatively accessible via a broken window... I have dark tinted windows which helps a lot. And obviously, it is not a cool car by any stretch of the imagination.
People break into any van or truck just to see if something of value is inside and have tools to defeat most reasonable security devices. A high quality cable lock thru a factory roof rack or your cars frame is probably an equally solid discentive to anyone who isn’t committed to stealing your bike. I’d buy the vehicle that makes sense for you and worry about bike safety second.
Again the pickup is a good option but staying away over night always concerns me being out in the open, also in Scotland we get a lot of grit salt on the roads for 6 months of the year and bolts and components have started to rust in the past for me.
Been looking into old estate cars like volvos and subarus just want to know if the bikes will fit in before I buy it, would be a bit weird turning up to view a car with a bike and trying to put it in the back with the owner watching me try before I buy
Edit: just to be clear, I'm talking about fitting bikes without removing the front wheel. If you take the front wheel off, a forester will certainly fit two bikes
If you need offroad, then look for Toyota Land Cruiser LC100
You are spoiled with a sprinter I have to say
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4a6EW2RR8Po
You can also put ATV wheels/tracks on them if you're into that sort of thing
That will be the case with all estates, the height is not there. To go through with front off, you need one of the Kangoo style cars (Berlingo, Partner, etc.), when talking about more than one bike (I've seen a single DH bike fit into the back of a Kangoo with the seats folded). To fit more than one fully assembled bike, you're stuck with a van.
A pickup in Europe is, in my opinion, a bad idea - the ones available are relatively small (no F-150s and the like, and they don't fit our infrastructure anyway) and you either have the cover with not that much height again, or the open bed, where it's all open to the elements, so even storing gear is an issue - not much space inside the cabin. How do you people in NorAm deal with that? Where do you put clothes, helmet and the like with a car full of people?
If you can deal with driving it, a van will be the most practical. I hate the way you sit in one though, I want a normal car for driving around. So I'm dealing with roof and hitch carriers...
conclusion: maybe it is a good idea to do a proper fit test before purchase. +1 for a wagon.
let us know what you get and how you like it.
I think I made a mistake with saying both wheels off - memories of the olden days when I had a small hatchback, since going the wagon way I've also gone the roof rack way and only once put the bike in the car, when I picked it up at a friends without the roofracks on the car. I think I just pulled the front off and did it just to be sure it will fit.
But still, I avoid putting the bike inside the car like the plague, even if I'm going somewhere alone.
Next up is a Subaru Crosstrek. Great little compact SUV designed around an active lifestyle. It is low enough to the ground so putting bikes on the roof isn't too hard. Adding a hitch and a 2 bike hitch rack allowed for a more versatile setup if we were going on two sport adventures. Overall rating 7.5/10 Not much interior space, and underpowered when fully loaded.
Finally, the classic Toyota Tacoma. I have a 2014 TRD sport and would not change a thing. (Maybe some knobbier all terrain tires instead of the all weathers but thats nit picking). Since I used to drive across the north east in the fall for NICA races, I decided to go a different route than the usual tail gate pad or north shore rack. A tonneau cover was installed over the bed to keep contents dry and to free up space in the cab. I then built a "Custom" over-bed rack system with a combination of Thule and Rocky Mounts fixtures. Camper shell tracks are mountain along the bed sides, and long cross bars are used to span the width of the bed. There is space for 5 bikes over top the bed, with the hitch being open to as big of a rack as one could want. Ive fit 9 bikes on the truck driving to a collegiate MTB race, but think I could easily add a few more. Overall rating 9/10. Looses points for lack of place to easily change, but gains back points for flexibility and aftermarket add ons.
Post a reply to: Best vehicle for mountain bikes