Utility Cycling - Bike rack for a bike

Had a crazy idea today, I was going to take one of my bikes to the co-op to work on it. I don't own a bike rack for the car, so I stuff it into the hatch, and would rather have rode there. Has anyone seen a way to transport a bike with a bike, a bike rack for a bike? I'm sure someone has done it...

Long tail cargo bike

In the Utility cycling bike haul/bike move thread: http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php/333099-The-post-your-bike-move-bike-haul-thread , there were a variety of ways bikes were moved. The long tail cargo bike was one way or a large trailer was another. The way I saw one of the long tail bikes doing it though could be replicated easily enough. Basically the back of the long tail bike had a hitch where the front fork of the bike to be hauled attached after its front wheel was removed. The front fork attached to the hitch instead of its wheel. If you could get or make a hitch like that all you'd have to do is secure the front wheel somewhere.

You could use one of these:

277075

All you need is a 2 inch square tube for it to plug into, a competent welder can fab up something that clamps to your bikes frame and is easily removeable. If you're going to use one of the big 4 bike jobs I'd recommend adding a wheel or caster to the bottom for support. Hell, it's probably a good idea for the 3 bike rack too. You don't want to lift the front of your bike off the ground.

I've disassembled bikes and put them in my kiddie trailer. I've towed two bikes this way. It's awkward and wobbly, but I've survived.

I bet you could get a long trailer, like a Surly or a Bikes at work one, and bolt a rack onto the front to put the bikes' front wheels in. Then use nylon webbing tie downs to keep them upright.

Had a crazy idea today, I was going to take one of my bikes to the co-op to work on it. I don't own a bike rack for the car, so I stuff it into the hatch, and would rather have rode there. Has anyone seen a way to transport a bike with a bike, a bike rack for a bike? I'm sure someone has done it...

I've been thinking about this as well. What I'm thinking is mount a truck bed mount into my Yakima and some sort of tray for the bike mounted to or alongside of the fender. Or mounting a receiver type bike rack into it to carry a bike.

A bike rack for a bike, reminds me of Xzibit...
I've seen bike racks on bike trailers, but not on bikes.

I found the one I was thinking of: using an XtraCycle (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php/333099-The-post-your-bike-move-bike-haul-thread?p=9663721&viewfull=1#post9663721) to tow another bike. That could be replicated on any bike with some custom welding to add the framing and an axle for the towed bike to attach to, or just weld and axle onto a sturdy rack perhaps. Here are some more from the same thread I referred to above using various trailers: a BAW trailer (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php/333099-The-post-your-bike-move-bike-haul-thread?p=6192639&viewfull=1#post6192639) and a Burley trailer. (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php/333099-The-post-your-bike-move-bike-haul-thread?p=7695730&viewfull=1#post7695730)

Longtails with wideloader type bars seem to me to be the simplest/easiest way to haul another bike. I do it regularly with my Yuba Mundo. The front tire of the bike to be hauled is secured between the bike frame and the wideloader bar and the headtube or some other part of the towed bike is bungeed to the longtail.

I use an old tube tied between the wideloader and the frame and slide it back or forth as needed to support the tire of the towed bike. A 700C wheel fits like it was made for the Mundo wideloader, but a smaller wheel needs the old tire tube to keep it from falling down to far.

Old Little Tikes kiddie trailer...I just posted this picture in the how much can you haul section, but I'll post it here too.

I sell bikes and provide local delivery. Most often I'd ride the bike I was selling (usually uncomfortably) to the customer hauling my other kiddie trailer. In my kiddie trailer I'd haul my Chopper bike...it's a small 20" 3-speed that rides well and it makes me look cool. Oh yeah, also because it fit in the trailer AND it could haul the trailer on the return trip if the customer purchased the bike. Here is that combo...you can see the bike is small enough to fit in the trailer and if only going across town it doesn't ruin you.

http://www.butchthecat.com/butch/b13.jpg

I now haul the customer's bike on a trailer...I got tired of riding bikes not made for me. I can go much faster too. Here I've serviced these two bikes to return to the customer. One thing this trailer needs is a longer tongue, but it can be done. One of these bikes is a 24", the other a 26".
http://www.butchthecat.com/butch/b12.jpg

Clever idea, Turbo231, to ride your customer's bike back and carry your chopper in the trailer. But I can see how it would be annoying if the bike didn't fit you well. Must have been especially difficult on small kid's bikes--but I guess you carried those in your trailer instead.

As Reynolds and Tim199 suggested, one of the simplest ways is to mount a fork-mount rack on the back of a pannier rack and fit the fork of the bike to be carried in the mount. The main limitation is you need some way to carry the front wheel (e.g. a wideloader or side rack on a longtail) or else you have to carry it in your hand.

If you have a trailer, the best way to carry a bike depends partly on how valuable it is to you. We've built trailers for several community groups that collect old bikes and fix them up to sell/lend/give away. They usually just stack the donated bikes in a pile on the trailer :). More valuable bikes are often carried using a fork-mount rack like Kookaburra1701 said. We also make a side-mount rack that allows people to carry one or two bikes vertically on the trailer without removing the front wheel:

http://www.bikesatwork.com/store/product/side-mount-bicycle-rack

You need to be a little cautious carrying just one bike this way, however, since the load is so unbalanced. Some compensating ballast (a toolbox, for example) on the other side of the trailer is probably warranted.

-Jim G.
Bikes At Work

283708

My boyfriend and I filed this one under "Things you can do with a Long Haul Trucker." Back rack is a Tubus Logo Evo. I had a Nishiki Century that I wanted a new wheelset on, but didn't want to use my car for the short trip to the LBS. So, we folded down the handlebars and stem of our folding bike (Citizen Gotham 2) and bungee-lashed it to the Tubus on the LHT. I rode the Nishiki to the LBS with my boyfriend merrily toting the Citizen behind his LHT. It worked beautifully, very stable. We used precisely 2 bungee nets to attach it, no need to remove wheels. Rode over city streets: poorly patched roads and through a construction zone with uneven scored pavement with flying colors. I wouldn't recommend it for extended hauling but for a short couple of blocks it's pretty great, and I rode the Citizen home after dropping off the Nishiki. :)