Tandem Cycling - Source for Tandem Bike Bag

Bikeforums.net is a forum about nothing but bikes. Our community can help you find information about hard-to-find and localized information like bicycle tours, specialties like where in your area to have your recumbent bike serviced, or what are the best bicycle tires and seats for the activities you use your bike for.
I'm after a soft Tandem bike bag to so i can keep my bike in my bedroom so as not to get dirt/mud everywhere.
It doesnt have to be superstrong as i wont be using it to transport my bike just carry it up stairs to my room. It does have to be big enough to fit my whole bike in without having to take the wheels off.
My bike is actually a recumbent but it wouldnt fit inside a regular size bike bag as the boom sticks out so i thought a tandem one would fit.
Would prefer a UK source but am prepared to import from the US
TandemGeek
11-01-08, 07:31 AM
I've only ever seen two of these and they were made by the same person from Massachusetts (USA). However, from what I recall, I want to say that they may have been made by a sail maker (e.g., North Sails) using a pattern / design provided by the tandem owner and it wasn't overly complex...
The primary purpose was to prevent other things in their mini-van from rubbing up against the greasy drive train or paint finish.
You might want to shoot an Email to the company at this link and see what products / leads they have to offer as they seem to carry several different types of single bike storage bags. They would most likely know if their suppliers also offer larger versions for tandems: http://www.cdisports.com/index.php?main_page=contact_us
Regardless, if you don't find a lead on a commercially available bag, you might want to call a sail maker or some other business like an auto upholstery shop or canvas tent / canopy maker to see if they would be able to make you an oversized storage bag out of some ballistic nylon or other lightweight but tear-resistant and breathable fabric. I would think that you could simply build a pattern for your bike by laying it out on butcher paper for the profile and then add the needed girth dimensions for the width + 10% or so all around and have a fairly custom bag.
Anyway, just my .02 as that's what I would likely do if I wanted something like that.
Just to answer my own question and help out anyone else that is after the same thing i came across this. The smallest scooter size one might do the job
http://www.coversformotorcycles.co.uk/bikebag.htm (http://www.coversformotorcycles.co.uk/bikebagprices.htm)
(if you click onto "motorcycle covers" in the list on the left there's a piccy)
Actually having looked around their site. It seems they'll make a bag to my exact requirement
WebsterBikeMan
11-04-08, 07:24 AM
I seem to remember having read somewhere that someone made one themselves out of Tyvek (tm) HouseWrap. Great for lightweight groundsheets too.
regomatic
11-04-08, 05:46 PM
You might want to also check out your local home improvement store and compare the overall dimensions of your bike to what they have in stock for BBQ grill covers. I've seen some single bikes using covers made for medium/large grills. I wouldn't be too surprised to find that a cover made for some of the newly popular super-size grills wouldn't also fit some tandem sizes / styles.
zonatandem
11-11-08, 05:45 PM
Co-Motion sells a tandem cover meant for outside storage; would work inside also.
Or be cheap and just throw a vinyl painters plastic over it or an old kingsize blanket or sheet.