custom interior bike rack

[primeral]

Hey folks, I'm relatively new here. The last time I was having to deal with the rear airbag suspension, days after buying my E70. Blah.

I am an avid cyclist. I have the hitch and a hitch-mounted bike rack. I also have a trunk / hatch bike rack. I still have Thule roof rack parts left over from my E39 M5. None of these options really appealed to me. Having it inside the cabin would protect a really expensive bike from weather, damage, and theft.

Parts:

- one or more Yakima Blockhead fork mounts, $25 ea (definitely some cheaper alternatives out there)
- 40" plank of wood
- miscellaneous hardware to fasten fork mounts to wood, $5
- quick release seatpost clamp, $10

Bolt holes were countersunk so bolt heads would not protrude and mar the carpet underneath. I used the aluminum rails to keep the plank from shifting fore and aft. You can use bungees or ties to bridge the loops on the rails to further secure the planks, but it really isn't going anywhere.

There are some considerations. My bike frame is a 54cm and I had to loosen the seatpost clamp to lower my saddle all the way down to provide headliner clearance. For much bigger frames, you may need to remove the saddle / seatpost altogether. The $20 solution is to get a quick release seat clamp. Side benefit, I shaved a few grams swapping the "carbon fiber" clamp to an aluminum QR clamp. YMMV. Now my bike won't get wet, get stolen, or smashed into an awning at the McDonald's drive-thru .....

Estimated cost of this project ~ $65

[conedoctor]

What stops it from swinging during corners?

[primeral]

Friction from the tires and the weight of the bike. It would be easy to make another piece that straps the rear wheel down, but after beta testing this for a week and having the bike in my car for my work commutes, even driving aggressively the bike didn't shift. In an accident, probably a different story. Maybe it would be best to bungee the plank to the D-rings.

[Suge206]

That looks good. I put my mtb in the back all the time and its a pain in the ass. My road bike wouldnt fit with your set up. Its 58 cm. I lay them down with both seats down. Would love to even have the hitch but have been hesitant to cut the bumper. And like you said having thief bait external of the car is nerve racking enough. at least with this you can run in a store or something and feel relatively safe.

[primeral]

Suge, with the saddle and seatpost removed, I bet your bike will fit.

The hitch is expensive, but trimming the bumper is not a big problem. With the aero kit ($189 on eBay!) trimmed with a Dremel and hand-filed perfectly it looks great.

I promise to take a better picture in the daytime.

[JCL]

Looks great!

Won't work for our bikes, my wife rides a 54 but mine is a 61, and with a tall seat post. We lay ours down in the X3 with front wheels off, using old furniture moving blankets between them and over them. They go on the roof on a Thule fork mount rack if we need the space inside. With ours, the value of the two Cervelos plus the carbon fibre wheels means they don't get left outside on the roof for very long.

There is an ongoing cycling thread running here, with photos:

http://www.xoutpost.com/off-topic/lo...cycling-4.html

What are those wheels? Wondering how you like the yellow pads. Swiss Stop? I have Zipp 303 Firecrests on the R5, and have just changed from the yellow to the Black Prince. Less visible discoloration, but they seem soft so I don't expect them to last long.

Jeff

[primeral]

These are the daytime pictures I promised. I'm extremely pleased, not because my X5 is hot, but because I managed to not f- the aero kit up while trimming it for the receiver tube.

This weekend I'm taking the family camping, so was considering using the hitch rack for bikes instead. If my bikes can travel on my brother-in-law's rack, I will use a hitch carrier so I can carry a large cooler and fishing gear. Even better is we finally get to use the 3rd row for my 12 yo and 4 yo kids.

Jeff, those SwissStops were the only thing that would work on my carbon clinchers. The frame, fork, and wheelset are all unbranded generic parts from Taiwan. The groupset is complete SRAM Red Black Edition. I had a Pinarello but that got stolen, so I decided to build a non-flashy bike.

[gregg3gs]

Awesome job.

I've been wanting to get back into riding and this removes any excuses of paint scratching (on either of my cars), or bike being too high up.

Thanks, I will test fit in few days.

[primeral]

Glad to have motivated you, gregg3gs

[KnudsonsM3]

I like the idea but then what do I do with multiple bikes and people. Not to mention I Mtn bike and my bike gets muddy


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