Bag for Transporting Bike (wheels off, in car)
 

A couple times a year I want to bring my bike somewhere and there is limited space in my vehicle (packed with other stuff for family getaways). If I could put it in a bag, with the wheels off, that would reduce the space. I could also lower or remove the seatpost. Any bags that are somewhat durable and perhaps for another purpose that may work? I was thinking of a hockey bag or massage table bag, but need to take some measurements of my bike with wheels removed to see. It’s a drop bar road style bike with no racks. Thanks!

Pick up a cheap plastic tarp to wrap it.

Rinko bike bags (google it) usually involve fork removal which I suspect you do not want to do.

Or get a cheap bike bag from Nashbar or Performance.

That plus some bungee cords may be the ticket

The Transit one from them has worked well for me. I have used it to fly to a number of tours checking it as a checked bag. I managed to get all my UL gear in with the bike and still stay within the 50# limit, It rode in the car fine and flew safely with some cardboard added to protect the bike. They are pretty inxpensive to start with and go on sale often.

If you need more stuff a second checked or a carry on bag may be required for flying to a tour. Not an issue for just carrying the bike in the car, but for that I have never bothered with any bag. I guess I beat up my cars pretty bad. It does perpetually have a tarp in the back on the seat where my muddy dog tends to jump in and out.

You should be able to purchase wheel bags, at least for certain tire/wheel sizes. I've seen them for racers that may have "race day wheels".

:foo: for the rest of the bike? I've found bags for folders.

I don't do a lot of sewing, but I'd probably take the measurements, get some waterproof ripstop nylon, perhaps a zipper, and sew up a custom bag. It doesn't have to be perfect as it would conform to the bike.

A front fork without a wheel might puncture a tarp. When a bike is shipped from a manufacturer to a bike shop in a box, the front fork has a sacrificial plastic piece to prevent that. You might want to see if any local bike shops have any in their recycle bin that have not yet been discarded.

And you probably should pull the pedals off, I assume you know how to do that. If you have not done that, one side is left hand thread. A pedal wrench can be useful for that as most conventional wrenches do not fit on pedals which usually take a narrower wrench or a long armed allen wrench.

You are less likely to mess up your gearing if you load it in the car with the drive side up, assuming the bike is on top. That way nothing would bend the rear derailleur hanger.