Bike bags?

hunta

At times I need to be able to transport me and the bike without me necessarily *on* the bike Unfortunately my car won't take either a roof rack, tow bar or a boot rack. However it does have a half decent-sized back seat, so I was wondering about a bike bag.

It needs to be big enough to take a full suspension bike and wheels, with as little breaking down as possible. Padding would be nice, but as I'm not intending to throw it in the hold of a plane or anything I'll happily improvise with old towels etc. if I need to.

Does anyone have any suggestions? Everything I've seen to date seems quite small...

delcol

call me stupid here but i thought any car could have a tow bar fitted....

what car do you drive cause in my experience bike bags are big and wouldnt fit on the back seat of a car with a bike in....

i have a a ultra sports bike bag and a evoc one the evoc one is a lot better and is double the price but well worth it as it require less dismantling of your bike....

you have to remove wheels bars pedals to fit the bike in a bike bag.....

my ultra sports bike bag fits my spesh demo downhill bike in easily. but require some dismantling.
now this is for airplane travel to canada.
wheels discs bar shifters brake levers pedals rear mech chain .
my evoc bag would easily fit a downhill bike.. i use it for my santacruz butcher this fits with ease...
again wheels bars pedals required to fit in for airplane transport i remove the rear mechchain and for ease of packing the shifters and brake levers....
i know you said not for airplane i was just using this as my example as it's what i use my bags for....

hunta

Thanks for the response.

It's a sports coupé, and the rear undertray means no tow bar... not the most practical, but I can't justify a second car and don't really want to let it go either. Just trying to have my cake and eat it like everyone else!

There's not a huge amount of legroom in the back but I know it would be possible to get a frame on there. Wheels could be packed separately maybe and sat alongside or behind the front seats.

Maybe what I'm after is more a zip-up cover which would protect the inside of the car from mud etc. rather than a full bike bag. I'm hoping I could pack it with pillows and belt it in and I'd be good to go. The options you mention sound much more sturdy and bulky, as you say.

bails87

I've got a Focus, and I took the wheels off my 18" 456 and got that one the back seats along with the wheels and the frame and wheels of my road bike. The car was only just wide enough though. I wrapped the bike up in old sheets, it actually worked quite well, with a bungee cord through the frame going round the headrests to keep everything secure, it meant I had the whole boot free for luggage.


So there's a fairly good chance it'll fit just fine. And a bike bag should take an MTB, they'll take a road bike after all. You'll have to remove (at a guess) the wheels and seatpost though. Maybe a pedal or two, and turn the bars or remove them from the stem.

delcol

this is the problem i had 4 years ago my crx wouldnt take a rack and there was no way i was fitting a tow bar..

by brothers teggy wouldnt fit a rack and to bar a no no on a sports car....

we went halfs and got a van a pug partner.... but with things going the way they have it was getting hard to run two cars. so i sold my beloved crx and kept the pug.... :?

i seen a guy getting a mtb out of a nissan 350z with borth wheels removed....
i also seen a guy and a woman take 2 bike out of a toyota celica again both wheels removed....

so i'm sure there is hope for you....

StumpyPaul

Are the Evoc bags worth the money/good? Looking at bike bags myself and fancy a Evoc, will be using it on the plane.

hunta

delcol wrote:

this is the problem i had 4 years ago my crx wouldnt take a rack and there was no way i was fitting a tow bar..

by brothers teggy wouldnt fit a rack and to bar a no no on a sports car....

we went halfs and got a van a pug partner.... but with things going the way they have it was getting hard to run two cars. so i sold my beloved crx and kept the pug.... :?

i seen a guy getting a mtb out of a nissan 350z with borth wheels removed....
i also seen a guy and a woman take 2 bike out of a toyota celica again both wheels removed....

so i'm sure there is hope for you....

Thanks for the words of encouragement! I've considered buying a second car too, but like you I know what'll happen, and it'll be the 'senisble' thing so I'm trying to avoid going there!

delcol

running 2 cars in this day and age is very hard unless you on mega money. between me and my brother we were ok, until i got hit with the threat of redundency i knew i would not be able to afford both cars. so as it was coming into summer, i knew my black beauty would sell, so i commited the ultimate sin and sold the crx....
but at least it meant we could still go biking. and i had a sensable car for family duties to.....

stumpy paul.
trust me on this i been very lucky for the last 4 years to travel to vancouver (whistler) twice a year for the opening and closing weeks of the bike park.... (so 8 trips)

anyone who has traveled with bike will tell you. a standard bike box from a shop is fine but offer no protection and if it's raining when your bike is in the baggagehandlers hands pray... you may find parts missing when you get there.....
bags like my ultra sport bike bag are fine but very awkward to manouver due to their narrow footprint. they dont stand up and fall over making checking in a task. of course you can get a trolly but you will find most airports use those metal poles with retractable straps to form a que. navigating these with a trolly and a bike or 2 bikes aint easy and adds to ther stress, as you hang up everytimeyou have to turn the corner...

the evoc bike bag is amazing and in my opinion well worth the money. you can tell straight away it was designed by someone who has traveled with bikes. they free stand they are manouverable you dont have to get a trolly. just pick it up and wheel it off...
you dont have to dismantle the bike as much.
the bike fits in a lot better.
the only downside is if you have a big bike then weight as the bike bag is around 7.5 kg before anything goes init...
sometimes you get the jobsworth who pulls you on weight......