Bus fulltimers, where do you store your bicycles?!

Scott & Heather · September 02, 2012, 08:18:12 PM

A flop. I thought I could merely remove the front wheel via the quick release lever, and back the bike into a luggage bay, then slide the front fork into a mounted quick release skewer that's mounted to the floor of the luggage bay. Cool idea until I realized that the back tire hits the utility chase hump before the front fork and handlebars clear the baggage door opening. Grr. So back to the drawing board. The goal for us is to have a dry, secure way of storing them neatly. Not crammed flat into a luggage bay. We have expensive Trek bikes and I intend to take care of them. I recently traded in my old Trek which at the time I purchased it cost more than my car. Now I'm considering a hitch rack with a locking feature. Then maybe I could get a prefabbed slip cover out of heavy canvas....

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RJ · September 03, 2012, 09:39:46 AM

Scott -

I think you're on to the right idea, just needs a little tweaking. Some thoughts:

1. Same idea, just turn the bikes around, putting the forks under the utility chase? Would they fit that way?

2. Turn the bikes 90^o, one facing forward, one facing backwards? (This is the way I used to carry my Peugeot bike when on long, multi-day charters. Held w/ a bungee and/or my suitcase to keep it from toppling over.)

3. Back to the original idea, but pull the rear wheel, too. Hang the wheels from small hooks in the roof of the bay. May take a little longer to prep for riding, but a possible compromise?

FWIW & HTH. . .

robertglines1 · September 03, 2012, 09:50:15 AM

pedals and handle bars two big sticking points. build horizontal shelf in bay with slot for pedal and slot for handle bar/cables with just enough clearance to clear tunnel.(might have to remove pedal on one side. use storage below for regular stuff. and or fold up pedals and turn handle bars 90 deg. I did shelf thing for smaller bikes. Bob

Iceni John · September 03, 2012, 12:18:43 PM

If you use folding pedals such as found on some folding bikes, and if you can swivel the handlebar/stem around, you can save space. Folding pedals aren't the highest quality (they're not SPD-compatible!), but they can be useful, especially if they accept toeclips and straps. Current threadless stem/headset systems make it easy to temporarily rotate stems around, but you may need to slightly lengthen the brake and derailleur cables to prevent kinking them. Quick-release seatpost binders allow you to remove seatposts to save vertical space, but mark the seatpost so you know exactly where to reinstall it. As long as you don't have full fenders and pannier racks (which some of my bikes have), it's usually not difficult to make most bikes fit in quite small spaces.

Good luck, John

jjrbus · September 03, 2012, 01:17:32 PM

How tall is the bay on your bus (inches)? JIm

Scott & Heather · September 03, 2012, 01:21:49 PM

The handlebars are too high to clear the hump...so forward doesn't work either. Neither does sliding the bikes in sideways as in one faces the front of the bus and one faces the rear since they are too long for the width of the luggage bay. I'm thinking of cutting a slot into the floor of the bay...for the tire....going to look at this again...and post some photos... Jim, I'll measure and let you know..

Scott & Heather · September 03, 2012, 01:33:07 PM

33 inch height luggage bay

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Scott & Heather · September 03, 2012, 01:52:48 PM

Ok, so here are pics of my frustrating attempts to make this work in a civilized fashion. The bike looks like it fits sideways but it's jammed in there. Not something I want to do with two bikes every day after we ride.

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Len Silva · September 03, 2012, 01:56:31 PM

Could you build shelves so you can lay them down in that bay?

Scott & Heather · September 03, 2012, 01:58:05 PM

RJ, I might have to remove both wheels...not a super time consuming process, but a pain...since the rear has the cog/derailleurs. The bike has to be shifted to high gear to move the chain to the outermost cog, then the direct pull brake has to be released...and then the quick release lever loosened. Then the tire comes out with a pit of finesse since the chain is wrapped around it. Also, ends up greasing me up way too much. Then I have to have a way to suspend the frame since it will damage the derailleurs to rest the frame on them. $:-\$

Scott & Heather · September 03, 2012, 01:59:30 PM

Laying down it would still have to be jammed in there sideways...unless I layed them down widthwise like the first photo but laying down...that's a possibility...may have to do that...was hoping for something cleaner....but I may have to Len....

luvrbus · September 03, 2012, 01:59:48 PM

Scott, buy yourself a recumbent trike and tow 3 down with a tow bar lol

PP · September 03, 2012, 03:59:14 PM

To me it looks like it fit in the last picture with just the front wheel off. Fortunately, I don't have to deal with that tunnel in my bays.

Lin · September 03, 2012, 04:11:06 PM

As PP said, it looks like it fits in your last picture. If you need a tad more clearance, you could deflate the rear tire a bit. A shelf could also work with cutouts for the limps as Bob mentioned. If you put the shelf on slides, it would be easy to load/unload.

Tenor · September 03, 2012, 05:25:38 PM

Measure the height from the bottom of your fork to the top of your headset. It looks just short enough to slide under the mechanical tunnel. If it is, carry an Allen Wrench for the handlebar stem (gooseneck). Pull it out and let it hang by the cables. Or, just spin the handlebars 90 degrees and leave them on. Nothing is going to be easier or cheaper. It takes only a minute to do this, and you only need to do it when you leave with the bus and when you arrive with the bus. There are lock holes on your baggage bay doors to attach a bike lock when you are away from the bikes. Assuming you have an awning, that also keeps the bikes dry.

Good luck!

Glenn