Fitting a mountain bike upright in the back of a Model 3

[dblspeed]

Curious question: Why load it upright?

I load my mtb on my car all year long, an average of 10 times per month, also travel long distances.

Do this for a number of years, both ways, upright and on the side, and you will find out that:

It's much easier to get in and out of the vehicle
It will wear and\or damage your vehicle interior and bike much less
You can secure your bike in place without it sliding while driving and potentially hitting you or braking soething inside your vehicle
You have a lot more cargo space
Last but not least, if you own a modern mtb bikes, with modern components, ie hydraulic disc brakes and hydraulic dropper seatpost, they will need much less maintenance, bleeding and or piston resets for lazy piston action etc
Less instances of bent derailer hanger
Etc

This might not apply to you if you use a road bike or carry your bike only once in a while

 

[JssonB]

I load my mtb on my car all year long, an average of 10 times per month, also travel long distances.

Do this for a number of years, both ways, upright and on the side, and you will find out that:

It's much easier to get in and out of the vehicle
It will wear and\or damage your vehicle interior and bike much less
You can secure your bike in place without it sliding while driving and potentially hitting you or braking soething inside your vehicle
You have a lot more cargo space
Last but not least, if you own a modern mtb bikes, with modern components, ie hydraulic disc brakes and hydraulic dropper seatpost, they will need much less maintenance, bleeding and or piston resets for lazy piston action etc
Less instances of bent derailer hanger
Etc

This might not apply to you if you use a road bike or carry your bike only once in a while

I was laying mine down for about a year and had to damage to bike or car. Derailleur side up and it's actually beneficial for the dropper, forks and shock to be lay'ed over to have the seal rings keep wet. If you have a leak from laying it down, then you need to have it repaired. I never had brake issues, but if your brakes need to be bleed, you could initially have some air trapped calipers, but a minute of pumping the brakes after standing it up will get it back to normal.
I packed my gear under and around the forks to have it secure the bike from moving around. After a while, I bought the roof rails and installed the roof mount. It's been great and I've driven 6 hours with it up top and no issues. The roof mount has a lock on the fork and rear wheel and I've felt confident it was safe enough for theft.

if you park in a garage and have the bike on top, have some kind of system so that you don't try to drive back in without removing the bike first. Maybe a red cone in front of the garage door.

I remove my garage door opener and leave it at home so I have to get out of the car to open the garage when I get home.

 

[dblspeed]

I was laying mine down for about a year and had to damage to bike or car. Derailleur side up and it's actually beneficial for the dropper, forks and shock to be lay'ed over to have the seal rings keep wet. If you have a leak from laying it down, then you need to have it repaired. I never had brake issues, but if your brakes need to be bleed, you could initially have some air trapped calipers, but a minute of pumping the brakes after standing it up will get it back to normal.
I packed my gear under and around the forks to have it secure the bike from moving around. After a while, I bought the roof rails and installed the roof mount. It's been great and I've driven 6 hours with it up top and no issues. The roof mount has a lock on the fork and rear wheel and I've felt confident it was safe enough for theft.

Glad it worked for you, just not my experience and use case.

Not all droppers and brakes are created equal and some are just not designed to be kept upside down or layed down for extended periods of time without consequence.

Leakage is different from a bit of air which is normal and is different from a lot of air in the lines\post that requires shorter than normal bleeding intervals.

Lazy pistons with 4 pots are a b@tch to fix.

Derailer up is surely a good thing but not always possible due to space limitations.

Racks of any sort fix certain problems but create others, worse mileage, damage from the elements, potential damage due to distractions\accidents etc

 

[Curtis N]

Glad it worked for you, just not my experience and use case.

Not all droppers and brakes are created equal and some are just not designed to be kept upside down or layed down for extended periods of time without consequence.

Leakage is different from a bit of air which is normal and is different from a lot of air in the lines\post that requires shorter than normal bleeding intervals.

Lazy pistons with 4 pots are a b@tch to fix.

Derailer up is surely a good thing but not always possible due to space limitations.

Racks of any sort fix certain problems but create others, worse mileage, damage from the elements, potential damage due to distractions\accidents etc

Thanks for the response. I don’t want to come out and say that you are wrong, but maybe you unique use case had other factors than the components were designed for.

Most common suspension and brake components work the same and have for years. As mentioned by the commenter above, suspension manufacturers will even recommend storing your bike upside down occasionally. The brake fluid can flip the air pocket in the lever, but three or four squeezes will settle the pocket back away from the caliper. Any bike should be able to hold any position. Exceptions would be from improper or lack of maintenance.

This being said, I usually use a hitch mounted rack as I don’t like to risk banging up the interior. We usually haul large DH, enduro, or eMTBs, so mud is also a huge factor. I will flat load in a pinch. I bought the MY because it has a great tow hitch for bikes.

Good luck and hope you find a good solution.