mr,grumpy 

I find myself in a predicament. I want to transport a bike, INSIDE of my car to ride at a rail trail close to work, but far from home. I have THREE to choose from but none will fit the bill! One is sit-bolt-upright on a fat seat. That won't be good for the twenty miles I'm hoping for. I have a MTB with real dirt tires on it. Not appropriate. I also have my Tricross and that is. of course, perfect except that it has fenders and stuff and I'm afraid that I'll dicomboalate every thing if I the the wheel off to stuff it in the car. Woe! What to do, what to do!?

no motor?

Getting a bigger transport vehicle sounds like the only choice.

mr,grumpy 

"One More Car" I LOVE that for a bumper sticker!

treadtread

Take off just the front fender, that's easy. I've transported my bike by removing the front wheel but keeping the fender on, and that worked too. Fender stay just needed some minor straightening.

Cougrrcj

Ummmm,.... How far is 'too far' to ride the bike to the rail-trail? Is it a time or distance issue? Would putting 'city tires' or slicks on the MTB be out of the question?

I've often ridden my bike 10-15 miles to the start of a Century, which of course meant that I also had to ride 10-15 miles home afterwards. That makes it a double-metric century! Bonus!!!

mr,grumpy 

Thirty Seven Miles. I'm all jazzed up about riding 15-20 miles on flat MUP. You think I'm banging out 37 road miles out and back too? Someday.Maybe.

Cougrrcj

I finally finished the detailed overhaul/refitting of the Univega I picked up last year. There are a couple of paved rail-trails that I'm dying to try out - and it will be ~40 miles each way plus the seven miles to get to the start of the trail. Well, actually there is a five mile gap in the middle of the rail-trail so that section will be on roads... So I'm looking at this as both my birthday ride (turned 56 a week ago) and my first Century in a couple of years. Yeah, I'll have to add on a couple of miles to make it a C-ride... Of course it helps that I have all day now that I'm retired...

mrodgers

He said he wants to ride near work which is far from home. Means he drives to work and carries the bike in the car to work with him. That is what I do. My bike is pretty much a permanent fixture inside my car which if I ride at home, I take it from the car when I get home and put it back for if I want to ride the trails after work the next day.

In my case, I don't want to be riding a century. I am just looking for an hour or so of exercise after work. Whether I ride on the hills on the road or on the flat bike trail, that is decided before leaving work. I could ride to the trail, but then that would be my ride on constant hills. I have a trail at a 5 minute drive from work with a huge narrow windy hill and a lot of traffic that I wouldn't dare ride on a bike to get to it, or I have a trail that is about 8 miles from home. 8 miles on the roads is an hour for me, so that is 2 hours of riding, or twice what I want to do or have time to do for exercise. If I was to do that, then I would just ride on the roads, takes me almost 2 hours to do my 16 mile loop behind my house, or over an hour to do the short 11 mile loop (9mph average on the road.)

For the OP, sounds like you need a bike rack. That's what I did last year, my bike was on the back of my car every day. But I don't have a hitch so it was a trunk mount and it was a Walmart bike so I didn't really care, but I don't leave my Giant on the car because it would be unsecured being a trunk mount rack. So, I take the front wheel off and it lives in the trunk with the back seat folded down. I don't have fenders to worry about though.

mr,grumpy 

You pretty much nailed it. I like my fenders. It makes the bike look less….racy. That is good for me because I am NOT racy. 98% of the time I don't pay them any attention at all and 1% of the time I love them (like yesterday when I got caught out in the rain). Very rarely are they a nuisance. I DO have a hitch-mounted bike rack but I don't want to install it just yet since It makes getting stuff in and out of the Way-back slightly troublesome and I have some projects for later this week. In the end I 'm skipping the work trail this go-around and will just ride my regular loop when I get home. The problem arrises that after an hour drive home I'm rarely raring to go and often times the riding gets pushed aside. THis my desire to ride that rail trail BEFORE the hour drive home.

Cougrrcj

My bikes fit inside the car - even the one with fenders - of course it helps that I have a big car, too. I'd just take whichever one fits inside your car, even if it is the MTB with knobbies. Of course fitting the MTB with narrower slicks would be better.

The rack would be ideal, but I sense that it is a security issue that makes the OP want it INside his car. Is there a place to store a complete bike where you work? Say the utility room? Security office? Supply room? Warehouse area? Vacant office? It never hurts to ask.

mrodgers

I hear you there. My drive isn't as long, but after 10 hours of working physical and then sitting in the car for half an hour, I'm practically falling asleep. You have to know though, as soon as you get a few pedal strokes in, it wakes you right up. This is how it was yesterday. I was really tired. I went to the trail anyways. By the time I got out of the fence area (about half a mile) I was kicking it up full of energy. When I got back home, I was so much happier after having rode and was full of energy to go out and finish up some gardening vs. climbing out of the car from driving home exhausted and plunking down on the couch.

BlazingPedals

If I'm reading the original question right, there's only one possible answer: N+1

mr,grumpy 

Comprehension: E+

rebel1916

Get a rack.

Drew Eckhardt 

Taking a wheel or two off will work fine as long as you don't rest the frame on the derailleur.

Roof racks work fine but can let air leak in (not silent) on gutterless (modern) vehicles without factory roof racks and can be a hassle on tall vehicles. The rack on my Land Cruiser FJ40 started seven feet off the ground so getting bikes, skiis, snowboards, and sail boards up there meant one foot on a tire and one on a running board.

Trunk racks work too but preclude opening the trunk.

Trailer hitch racks avoid those drawbacks and seem to have become common, even on sporty cars.

rumrunn6

did not see a reason against this ...