Best Vehicle for Transporting Bikes?
A van to wheel them in or an estate car to put them on top?
I've got a BMW 3 series estate and pop them in the back. Roof racks / my back don't suit a 40lbs XXL DH bike.
A van, always. Don't get covered in crap from the roads in winter, can leave them tucked away when going for post-ride food, room to get yourself changed in the dry after riding, no nice upholstery to get muddy/damaged, bike can be washed before heading home and dry by the time you get there, no taking wheels off, takes seconds to load and go and I could probably go on
Van, obviously! Estate car or anything else like a pickup not even in the running!
Van
pickup is a lot less hassle for carrying multiple bikes than a van as they're held fairly securely without the need to use tie-downs etc. probably gets my vote
Is a pick up a possiblity? How do you stop them bouncing out?
Towbar rack not an option?
Far better than a roof-rack IMO.
Easier to put bikes on, easier to lock/secure, doesn't affect your mpg as much.
Van, like a pick up, but far more secure.
Middle ground, Berlingo/Partner car, seats out and rubber lining in the back. MTB fits in with wheels on.
Not much street cred though.
There is absolutely no substitute for wheeling a muddy bike straight into the back of a van and just driving away. Locked up and out of sight. Extra levels of faff can and will be introduced depending how precious you are but it's always the best option. I find a van that is worth less than my bike works best for maximum dilligaf.
I have a van with a towbar mounted bike rack. Sometimes the bikes go in the van, sometimes on the back. Depends how much other stuff I am transporting. I don't miss putting them on the roof of the car.
Van. Or a Berlingo. We have both and the Berlingo is only slightly more awkward to wheel a bike in as you can’t stand up in it as easily as the van.
Towbar rack not an option?
Far better than a roof-rack IMO.
Easier to put bikes on, easier to lock/secure, doesn’t affect your mpg as much.
Drawbacks of rear mounted:
Wiring for light-board.
Bikes subjected to more road grime.
Car won't fit in a parking space.
Weight hanging of the rear can be more noticeable.
Depends how many you travel with.
I've got a passat estate and can put my bike in whole with wheels on with seats down. So can fit 2 people in front and two whole bikes in the back.
With kids bikes I can leave one of the split rear seats up and fit 3 people and 3 bikes, with taking adult bike front wheel off and seat post out.
I dont want to drive a van / worse fuel economy etc.
What vehicle is best for carrying stuff....
A van.
However its compromised on comfort mpg etc
For light bikes a roof rack is the best solution outside of a van, imo. Can stay on there all the time, just lift bikes on and off you go. No faff mounting carriers, light boards, taking wheels off, dirtying interiors.
Not suitable for heavy bikes though.
Oh yeah easy access to boot also
I don’t like driving vans so for me estate car. Seats down and thick rubber mats. Lob bikes in back with an old blanket in between them, job jobbed.
A van like car. We have a zafira B. In no way exciting as a car, but for the two of us, two bikes, loads of kit and the dog, it's perfect. Doesn't take much to turn it back into a car and because of all the windows, the wife is happier driving it than she would be a panel van.
Depends on your situation but for me it's a van, no question and I don't even own one at the mo.
Having also owned pickups/estates etc, trucks are easy to load, great for shuttling but zero security, advertises your bike to scum plus all the disadvantages of van (size/speed etc). Estates can fit a bike with just front wheel off but as soon as you add child seats it becomes a pain plus dirty bike in a car isn't fun even with sheets etc.
If you do any decent amount of riding, with trips away, then a van makes life so much easier.
A van like car
Or a car like van! My wee Merc Citan (basically a Kangoo!) has 5 seats, back 3 are magic seats, fold flat, swallows any bike with wheels on, returns 53mpg (they claim 60mpg)
"best" bike vehicle - van. No question.
Best vehicle if you also commute to work in it, need a certain type of vehicle for work use, have family to transport around, do other non-bike related long journeys (fuel consumption, motorway speed).. it gets a lot more complicated.
Personally, large hatchback/small estate, with the ability to carry on the roof or in the boot.
Shortish trip and its muddy, on the roof. Long journey, security if you stop at a motorway services, in the back.
Drives better than any van, even the car like ones; better mpg and lower tax.
@mattbee Can you get a couple of modern long enduro bikes in the berlingo with wheels on? Same question to @Nobeerinthefridge with the Citan?
Was this question designed to split STW opinion?!
@Jordan, it's XLWB Citan, my XL V2 Bronson wheels straight in, has 2/3 split magic seats that fold flat, one folded flat is enough room for one bike.
do other non-bike related long journeys (fuel consumption, motorway speed)
Motorway limit is 70 for vans. It’s A roads you have to be careful with
Also, I actually found long journeys in our Transporter (sadly gone) more comfy than a car. Twin captains chairs up front were good and you could actually change the way you were sitting way more than in a car. It was great (tested over 2,500 mile round trips to the alps)
Audi A6 Allroad . Looks like an estate but is really a van.
@Nobeerinthefridge Thanks for the info, looks spot on. Currently drive an old passat estate, XL HB130 goes in back with wheel off if just me or Thule backpack on back if two of us. It's getting tired now and was thinking of an MPV type vehicle next, mainly for bike carrying ability.
Jordan, gimme a PM if ye want some pics.
Van: chuck bikes in, security for precious bikes, baws oot changing room, no faff.
Drives nice enough for me. I know when the time comes for me to go from 2 to 1 vehicles it won't be the van that gets sold, despite being a committed petrolhead. I could live without a fun car, but I can't live without my van. And my van does twice the mpg of my admittedly stupid car so will be cheaper to run...
fasthaggis
MemberAudi A6 Allroad . Looks like an estate but is really a van.
Really just an estate with slightly more ground clearance?
I suspect this won't paste well, but if you're interested in the usable space in a bunch of cars, this is my research. you really want something 1m tall and 2+m long to wheel a bike in, which limits you to a few of the things at the bottom..
edit: yeah pastes horribly due to a lack of control of fonts. copy-paste this into excel and it should work again.
car 2 seat length 5 seat length height width 2 seat liters 5 seat liters
signum 1900 960 750 900 1283 648
optima 1885 1090 650 1001 1226 709
old i30 1760 910 768 1058 1430 739
ceed 1855 1085 694 1025 1320 772
insignia 1880 1076 696 1055 1380 790
i40 1967 1132 718 998 1409 811
leon 1780 1040 772 1039 1428 834
carens 1812 1048 788 1026 1465 847
new insignia 1985 1174 707 1030 1445 855
mondeo 1931 1112 708 1105 1511 870
logan 1865 1105 800 1000 1492 884
kodiaq 1950 1125 726 1085 1536 886
Vectra 2001 1110 760 1056 1606 891
v70 1885 1095 726 1135 1553 902
octavia (2017) 1911 1089 826 1004 1585 903
mazda 6 1968 1091 747 1113 1636 907
v90 1935 1142 704 1135 1546 913
superb 2061 1110 822 1033 1750 943
touran 1660 1020 894 1036 1537 945
passat 1970 1155 800 1025 1615 947
mk3 mondeo 1979 1101 772 1127 1722 958
2011 e class 2010 1165 765 1100 1691 980
zafira 1800 1166 824 1059 1571 1017
c4 1864 1099 836 1159 1806 1065
smax 1975 1209 794 1130 1772 1085
tourneo 1450 910 1001 1195 1734 1089
old berlingo 1356 931 1006 1197 1633 1121
disco 1906 1110 950 1117 2023 1178
new m berlingo 1755 990 1000 1198 2102 1186
galaxy 2040 1236 900 1142 2097 1270
sharan 2005 1240 976 1090 2133 1319
t6 2565 1075 1264 1215 3939 1651
xl berlingo 1930 1265 1117 1196 2578 1690
grand tourneo 2175 1271 1140 1195 2963 1731
If you carry around a little folding step stool to give you a foot up you can also get bikes on the top of a Berlingo when you're using the inside for carrying humans, a bed, or whatever. If it makes any difference to your needs, I found that the Berlingos came with 3 individual seats for the back, rather than a pair and a single like Peugot Partners and other similar ones.
I've been considering a Hyundai i800 as my next car as it seems to cover moving the family and assorted gubbins around alongside working as a bike van at weekends.
Anyone have any experience of them? I've been looking at 2019 versions if that makes any difference to the go for it/run for your life type of response.
Van every time. I had a little Transit Connect which was ace. Now have a Vivaro which is even better. I find it's a really comfortable drive as well.
The ease of throwing a bike or three in the back of a van never gets old.
Aye mashr, was joking a bit ,but the room in the back with the seats down is cavernous. Mate has one with a tow bar rack.We usually end up not bothering with the rack and sticking both bikes inside.Old curtains for the win 😉
A train, because you can drink beer on the way home and look out of the window or have a kip after your beer.
The most appropriate answer is a car that is the smallest size and msot environmentally friendly you can get away with for the bulk of your driving (which for most people is a Golf size thing) and then put the bike on the roof/towbar for the 10% of the time you need it to transport a bike. Driving a van instead of a smaller, more economical car 15,000 miles a year because for 1,500 of those miles you want to put a bike in the back of it is socially irresponsible.
^ yes, a train as it's environmentally sound too, not just because of Train Beers. Of course.
Good to see Buzz Killington arrive on the scene
My van is more economical than the car I traded it in for. I was a bit nervous on the day; having only ever driven hire vans before; but I'm sold. I've done more biking in the few months I've had it than in the year before.
I wouldn't go back.
Our Peugoet Partner works well. A van would be better. I take both wheels off but leave the seats in folded. I think my bike would go in wheels on with seats out. It's been a really versatile and useful vehicle. It has better fuel economy that the car it replaced
Best Vehicle for Transporting Bikes?
A train.
Mine is a Volvo XC70 - will go anywhere, easy to get the bikes on top and if I'm on my oen or only 2 of us, seats down and straight in the back - it's a beast of a motor and still a bit of luxury for family and work related travel.....
If it wasn't for the work and family bit though, I'd choose a van!
A Nissan Prairie of course!
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Van with a Mobi.
Is “train” the “full STW points” answer du jour?
Is that a tea urn in the Prairie?
S76c++
Rusty Nissan Prairie 👏👏👏😂
We have in the past had the option of all of these and our preferences were: a Double cab pick up if you want to do uplifts, a car is ok if two bikes and not too heavy, (we have a car with permanent bike racks on top) but a van with stands out if you just want to load up with whole bikes get to location and ride. Vans with tailgate doors excellent to get out of the rain, get changed under. Vans protect (hide) the bikes best, carry all the other kit. Vans best if racing by a long way.
a11y
Subscriber
@RustyNissanPrairie, that’s the ultimate in £bike > £car. Well played.Posted 2 hours ago
In that pic were my mates #1 of 13 Brooklyn Machine Works FQ and my Brooklyn Racelink plus my brothers DH bike crammed in the 'Pussy Wagon' so yeah the bike to car value ratio was well towards £bike!
stgeorge
Member
Is that a tea urn in the Prairie?Posted 45 minutes ago
REPLY | REPORT
Obviously it was a chrome pedal bin for keeping what was left of the interior clean and tidy, doesn't every car have one?
I've had all sorts of supposedly large, load carrying vehicles (estates, land rovers, jeeps, etc.) and by FAR the most useful for carrying bikes was an old isuzu pickup, we could just launch the bikes into the rear tub, they were secure enough. Never had to worry about messing up the interior of a van with sticky Welsh clag . Also never had to worry about the bikes getting nicked overnight, etc though, so probably not the best choice these days.
Purely for transporting, a van or equivalent. And obviously also great for climbing in the back to get changed, or squeezing in 5 bikes and 3 people and a week's kit and going to France, or similar.
For transporting and also being nice to drive and all that jazz, I loved my mk3 mondeo. Enormous in the back and the space was really well thought out- could throw a dh bike or big long travel 29er right in without even a wheel off- but also really a nice place to be, comfy and covered distance like nobody's business. Ironically, for 1 bike it was better than a van because you don't have to think about securing it inside.
If you're looking at an estate car and thinking "bikes will go on the roof" I think probably you're on the wrong track tbh
We've:
Mondeo with roof rack and bike mounts.
Tow bar with bike rack.
We've also a Berlingo.
The Berlingo wins.
Can wheel two bikes in without fuss. I've had three men and three bikes in with front wheels removed.
Berlingo/partner is what I'd go for.
Currently got a little Vauxhall diesel combi van, had if five years or so. Only wanted it for moving bikes so went cheap. Noisy, no air con and only one window opens now, 85k on it but bits of rust on the doors. Excellent for transporting two bikes, been down to morzine in it which was a tad challenging. I’ve always liked vans, had one when when young then used to drive them a lot at work. If I’d been more exuberant we would’ve got a Toyota hiace
Before that was Toyota verso which I never really got on with but was ok and before that the mighty Honda shuttle. A 2.3 auto, seats seven but rear seats folded flat and middle seats came out. Possibly one of my favourite cars, frequent trips across to Ireland with bikes in, lots of tt’s and Duo Normand a couple of times. We don’t spend much on cars, never more than 3k as we don’t commute in them so they’re not a high priority. Before the van the primary factor in car choice was ability to transport bikes. Vans are also useful if you’re transporting bikes in bike bags, airport runs etc, roof rack isn’t much use then.
Transit. 🙂
Ive had over 400 on this mainly bound of warehouses,its a bitch to park in Ambleside like
Berlingo here. Fantastic vehicle. Seats out and rubber mat in back. Can only fit one bike with both wheels in however. Front wheel off the other one. Loads of room for additional kit. Going on hols with in-laws in a couple of weeks and will take 2 of the rear seats to transport them around in when need be. Very versatile. Looks and handles shocking, but quite a relaxed drive once used to it. Tried the panel van thing but much less versatile IMHO.
If I could chose: Something like a peugeot partner but fully electric
A train sounds brilliant.
What stop for pitfichie/scolty/ballater/glen livet.
Hard to see past a Berlingo for family car. Small enough it fits on a small drive. Big enough it seats 5 or takes various combos of people and bikes.
As above. I'd have bought an electric one if it existed. Hope my next car is
Hard to see past a Berlingo for family car. Small enough it fits on a small drive. Big enough it seats 5 or takes various combos of people and bikes.
As above. I’d have bought an electric one if it existed. Hope my next car is
Can't see why there wouldn't be one out soon, there's already a van version.
As above for trains, all well and good if you can get it booked on (provided nothing happens and you need to cycle the length of a bus replacement service because they don't allow bikes) but I'm not sure everyone would appreciate my sweaty muddy arse sitting next to them all the way home. It would be nice if it was actually practical but since it isn't you may as well suggest a pedicopter.
Having something you can secure your bikes inside just seems sensible. No, there's no real hardship in taking wheels off so you can settle for something smaller but I'm pushing the limits of width just getting a 26" full sus in the back of my bus with wheels off, I'm also not keen on having stuff in the passenger area given what could happen in a crash.
Panda 4x4, the vehicle that keeps teh alps moving! Good choice
As a van owner, i would say something substantially smaller than whatever your riding buddies have, that way you will rarely end up as the default vehicle for trips.
As a van owner, i would say something substantially smaller than whatever your riding buddies have, that way you will rarely end up as the default vehicle for trips.
That and picking up bulky eBay purchases or helping people move etc etc
Smart car...natch.
Can’t see why there wouldn’t be one out soon, there’s already a van version.
Indeed but we have 7 years of the current model till it has expired.
I’ve a Yeti - 2 bikes in the back with seats down (or out) and 2 adults is comfortable. It’s also helpful when on camping hols with the kids to be able to leave all the bikes locked inside when we’re off doing other stuff.
sMax works well for me. I can get 3 bikes in the boot wheels off without effort, it's super comfy on long haul trips, it has a 90kg tow bar nose weight limit so can take a full load and a tow bar rack with four mountain bikes. It tows well and it does about the same mpg as our petrol Focus on a run.
