We'll be on a multi-day supported ride where we camp along the way and they haul a limited amount of luggage. But we are on our own for the trip back to the starting point, and would prefer not to do a round-trip car drop before the start of the event. Thought we'd just rent a minivan and haul our tandem back that way, but the destination rental car agencies only have sedans.

I have S&S couplers but can't send the boxes ahead so easily. I guess I could just partially disassemble and fit into back seat or something. But that will make it inconvenient and prevent others from riding back with us.

SO...what I really want to know is if any of you have bright ideas for a roof or trunk mount system that: (a) is lightweight and collapsible enough to be stuffed into one duffle bag for the supported ride up; (b) can be installed on a rental car roof or trunk without damaging the car; (c) can hold a tandem without damaging the bike. Security against theft is not a concern as we won't be leaving the bike on the car unattended.

Ideas? The Malone HandiRack (https://www.maloneautoracks.com/handirack.php ) is intriguing but doesn't hold bikes/tandems (at least directly).

We recently did a self supported ride from San Francisco along the Pacific Coast Highway and back thru the wine country of San Luis Obispo and Paso Robles, ending the the Gray Whale 200k in Santa Cruz on New Years Day.

We rented an economy car from Palo Alto since the San Francisco Airport levied numerous additional taxes and fees. Once at the rental car location, we kindly explained we wanted something bigger but at an economy price, and that we were renting for 12 days. The kind agent upgraded us to a Chevy HRR for only $8 more than the economy rental. It has split rear seats and we put the passenger driver's seat and the rear right passenger seat down. The tandem laid on its side on the right of the vehicle (over our luggage) and I sat in the rear left passenger seat behind the driver (in a familiar captain / stoker configuration). We only had to remove the front wheel. We had quite a bit of room to spare and I've been told that we could have done this in something as small as a Honda Fit (probably would have needed to remove Captain's seat post).

A few years ago we bicycled the Natchez Trace Parkway, and there are no rental car companies in Natchez, MS. There were several moving van / truck companies. We did a one way rental of the smallest moving van and the tandem rode back to Jackson, MS comfortably resting on numerous packing blankets. The charges were very reasonable (but you do get charged for miles so it's best to do this for a shorter trip).

Hope these ideas help. I'd be interested in a portable roof or truck mount system, too. My Saris Bones wrack is fairly light weight and portable, but I would not want to use it even briefly with the tandem because the bike would stick out so far on either side.

"Rentabikenow" set us up with a nice Cannondale Tandem and it appeared a "given" that we'd need a rack. It was the inexpensive folding kind that you strap/clip onto the trunk lid and somewhere else. I'm used to racking the bike accross the stern and it's not that scarey. We'd packed a similar rack into the big suitcase for other trips involving rental bikes. Just pad places where it could scratch the car or bike, and tie 'er tite.

If you can be sure that you will be renting a car with a conventional trunk, not a hatch, I would go with a trunk rack. I use a Rhode Gear Shuttle, and remove both wheels. This is no wider a load than a single with the wheels mounted. It is so convenient, that I retired my old Thule roof rack! Another bonus is that now we can bring the tandem along on our convertible!

1) Take the bike apart (that's why you got the S&S couplers, no?) and put in the trunk. Shouldn't take too much time, as you don't have to completely disassemble like for packing.
2) Buy a cheap trunk rack at destination (Wal-Mart, etc.) and put on rental car.
3) Get some high-density foam blocks, like are used for kayak/canoe transport and use them and webbing straps to strap to roof.
4) Buy/borrow S&S backpack cases, as they pack down easily. I once took along the backpack case for my S&S single bike on a short tour so I could easily get home at the end (bummer to carry the extra 8 pounds in my pannier, though!).

I'd put it in the trunk/hatchback, myself.

I'd also be surprised if they only have sedans with trunks. Very likely you'll find some sort of hatchback for rent or something like the Chevy HHR mentioned above.

What event are you doing?

I think a trunk rack would work. Just remove wheels.

Some great ideas there, including several I hadn't thought of. Thanks!
Never even thought of the just buying a cheap rack there! Brilliant! I wondered about the roof idea and even was doing with getting one of those collapsible roof boxes to strap up there and put our other luggage in it, then lay the bike on top and strap it down.
I have an Accord and the tandem doesn't fit well with the seat down, so I hadn't thought of the idea of a hatchback, but that might work too. This would preclude carrying other riders, but we may not coordinate with others anyway. I had just thought it might be possible to share cost by sharing the ride back to the start. Probably only doable with a roof solution.
The ride I'm thinking about is the Michigan Shoreline West Bicycle Tour.

If you don't have to carry passengers in the rear seat, you have a lot more options. Most sedans nowadays have fold-down rear seats, allowing you to easily fit a single bike in, or a decoupled S&S tandem.

Were I in your position, I'd break up the bike, and then locally (at the destination) find what little I really need to protect it while putting it in the trunk. I'd only break it as far as necessary, and what I'd be looking for would include mostly plastic bags to keep grease/dirt off the padding. For padding you ought to be able to find clothing and such in the luggage that is being transported for you - hence the need to keep your padding clean.

My wife and I transport our tandem in a rental car every summer. I always try to get a mid sized SUV like a Santa Fe, but sometime we have used sedans. As metioned already, you paid for the S&S couplers so use them. With the bike split, and wheels removed, it will easily fit in almost any car trunk with a couple of cheep beach towels to prevent scratching. Why spend more bucks for a one time use bike rack!

Enjoy your trip!