Inside car bike storage?

CantGetNoSleep

Inspired by the other thread, I'm planning a spring or early summer trip. I'd like to drive, location still tbh but it will be 6-7 hours of motorway driving.

I'm not a big fan of roof racks or towbar mounted carriers, so I am looking for a way to carry bikes inside the car. With just one bike it's no problem but I'd worry that two bikes would risk damage if you were just throwing them into the back of the boot. It will be two thru-axle road bikes, along with some luggage and maybe a spare wheelset etc. Back seats down, just driver and front passenger. I've come across some options online that allow you to remove the front wheel and attach the axle to something - but not sure if my car is big enough for this (it's a VW Golf) - see an example below that I found online?

Has anyone done this? Is a VW Golf big enough to transport two bikes in this way?

Anything you would recommend buying? Either full rack pre-made, or DIY job? I've looked around online and see some brands like Honda or Skoda have these made to fit some models, but haven't found anything for a Golf.

cletus

I'd be very surprised if there was room in the back of a golf for that to work. The picture you posted is of some sort of people carrier, the rear seats fold completely flat, and there's no lip on the boot

CantGetNoSleep

Thanks - you might be right. I'll give it a try tomorrow without any sort of rack. I've seen a couple of photos online with smaller looking cars too. E.g. Saris do something called the Traps Triple Track

Mr. Cats

Have often driven with back seats down and two bikes in back. Usually just lie one bike on top of the other with some blankets or an old duvet in between to stop them rubbing against each other. Can use luggage as a support for upper bike. Bit rough and ready compared to solutions above but never had an issue.

You can get bike holders for the wall in IKEA or on Wiggle.

CramCycle

When you put the rear seats down, use the creases between the seats to pinch the forks. In a big car you can use where they fold down and in a smaller car, turn the fork and either between the seats when flat or if you are not tall, pull your seat forward and use the headrest. My daughter drives a polo which is smaller again and its certainly possible, might need to either lower seatpost or take off both wheels and turn upside down (I then use a bungee cord to hold the frame against the handle above the rear doors, so it won't fall.

Raam

I prefer not to have the rear-view mirror blocked so I put them flat with a blanket or cardboard to separate. Works fine.

Plastik

Unless you are very short you don't have a hope of getting bikes, upright like in the pictures, into something like a golf without additional messing around with taking out/dropping seat posts, and possibly removing both wheels. In that scenario, and with only two front passengers in the car, I would just take the wheels off, put down the rear seats, and lay the frames on top of each other with appropriate padding between them. Wheels in wheel bags are very good for this.

TheW1zard

Could you remove the rear bench and fit them in the back cabin?

https://www.autoinstruct.com.au/manufacturer/volkswagen/mk7-golf/mk7-golf-rear-seat-base-removal/

Macy0161

I made myself something similar to your first picture. The big caveat is that I drive a combi van, so normally I can just put the bike in behind the front seast, but I did use it when we're going to France, or if the combi is in camper mode (eg to the Lakelander). Front wheel off will just about fit my bike width wise*

I got the fork holder/ mount on ali or amazon. I used it on my Thru Axle gravel bike going to France, no issues, albeit with the quick release rather than through the thru axel (bolt on the bike wouldn't fit).

*It's on my list to see if I can work out doing similar for the rear (so both wheels off), but it's way down the list and for limited benefit really.

brownian

One small point - removing the pedals makes getting two bikes lying-down into a car much easier. And once you've dealt with the 'locked on forever because I never remove them' issue, taking pedals on and off is a one-minute job.

MojoMaker

If you don't need to use the back seats I currently get two medium road bikes width-wise across the back seat by removing just the two front wheels.

That's in a Renault Zoe too.

07Lapierre

I don't like most roof racks either but my car is too small to fit even a single bike inside. So I use a Seasucker Talon. it wont mark your car and you put it on/off in seconds.

https://www.seasucker.com/collections/bike/products/talon

positron

Cheaper clones of the above, like the three bike version from Rockbros from Aliexpress also works (did 200k+ with two bikes on the roof, just once though).

The only downside is that you can't just park up somewhere and walk away for a while - there's no way to lock the bikes.

AndrewJRenko

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119930913#Comment_119930913

Must be hard to drive the car with no front wheels though?

07Lapierre

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119944816#Comment_119944816

Depends on your car but i use a cable/combination lock and i can lock my bike to the car.