Fitting bikes inside the car

[indy360]

Exactly what I'm hoping to do! Nice!

It looks like it might fit a bit further back. Could you not mount a fork mount on the cargo cover? Or would that put the shifters into the rear hatch glass?

It's not looking promising for my size bike but highly likely it will with my wife's and a few of my friends who ride bikes shorter than 54's.

Nice setup you've got there. Looks like a ti frame. Moots? Nice Roval carbon wheels too.

Yup, Moots. Love it and a keeper for life.

 

[goneskiian]

Thanks for the pictures.
I have to fit either a 61 cm Sworks Roubaix, Sworks Epic or a Canyon.
I do have a bike rack and getting the towing option.
But it is easier to put the bike in the car.

Um yeah, you'll be laying those down in the back with the front wheel off if you want them inside.

Edit: Er, maybe not! Crossposting with indy360. Nice maybe I will be able to get my 58 inside. That would be a huge bonus!

 

[Refie]

No problem to take the front wheel off. Its better to use the quickrelease for taking the wheel off, than for a flat tire. depending on the ride, I pick 1 bike.

 

[Porfiry]

No, if I pulled the bike so that the fork reached the cargo cover, then the front chain ring will have to be on top of the folded down 3rd row seats, which would then make the seat go through the roof. Won't work that way unfortunately.

First, thanks for the posting the photos! Very helpful. Alas, I'm a mountain biker so I have a poor sense of road bike sizing. Could you perhaps measure the length of the floor space between the console and the 3rd row seats, so we can know how tight the chain ring clearance would be? Did you just slide the bike straight in back through the trunk or did you have to do some wiggling/tilting to get the handlebars underneath the roof?

My dream is to fit a fat bike inside a Tesla - I'm cautiously optimistic but realistic about the chances (pretty marginal).

Maybe you can mount the fork mount to a piece of plywood or a 2x4 just wide enough to fit back there and not slide around. Not very elegant but better than having the bike flopping around.

That's exactly what I've done, I just attached my fork mount to a scrap piece of wood (1x8?). Very stable. If you need something more elegant you can pay $90 for this.

 

[goneskiian]

First, thanks for the posting the photos! Very helpful. Alas, I'm a mountain biker so I have a poor sense of road bike sizing. Could you perhaps measure the length of the floor space between the console and the 3rd row seats, so we can know how tight the chain ring clearance would be? Did you just slide the bike straight in back through the trunk or did you have to do some wiggling/tilting to get the handlebars underneath the roof?

My dream is to fit a fat bike inside a Tesla - I'm cautiously optimistic but realistic about the chances (pretty marginal).

That's exactly what I've done, I just attached my fork mount to a scrap piece of wood (1x8?). Very stable. If you need something more elegant you can pay $90 for this.

Maybe a REALLY small fat bike would fit.

I'm a mountain biker too and I can't wait to get my 1up rack on the hitch so I don't have to take the front wheel off any more. Just throw it up on the rack. Of course it's always much dirtier than my road bikes so I'm OK with it living outside the vehicle.

Thanks for that link to the Saris rail. Yeah, $90 is a bit steep, plus you've got to get the mount(s). It looks nice and it's nice and low profile with easy mounting for the fork mount.

Glad to see so many bike riders here!

 

[indy360]

First, thanks for the posting the photos! Very helpful. Alas, I'm a mountain biker so I have a poor sense of road bike sizing. Could you perhaps measure the length of the floor space between the console and the 3rd row seats, so we can know how tight the chain ring clearance would be? Did you just slide the bike straight in back through the trunk or did you have to do some wiggling/tilting to get the handlebars underneath the roof?

My dream is to fit a fat bike inside a Tesla - I'm cautiously optimistic but realistic about the chances (pretty marginal).



That's exactly what I've done, I just attached my fork mount to a scrap piece of wood (1x8?). Very stable. If you need something more elegant you can pay $90 for this.

Let me see about the measurements tonight. My wife has the car right now.

I slid the bike in through the back and didn't have to adjust the 2nd row seats, which was all the way back. Now having thought about it, I would always put the 2nd row seats in the forward tilted position when putting the bike in. It'll be a much easier process and avoid having the chain ring grind up the leather seats or potentially scraping the plastic seat back.

With a mountain bike, I think you should not have a problem since many have QR for the seat post, which will make putting it in easier. The biggest problem I see is that if you have a DH bike then the long fork might make the handlebar hit the roof.

 

[goneskiian]

Let me see about the measurements tonight. My wife has the car right now.

I slid the bike in through the back and didn't have to adjust the 2nd row seats, which was all the way back. Now having thought about it, I would always put the 2nd row seats in the forward tilted position when putting the bike in. It'll be a much easier process and avoid having the chain ring grind up the leather seats or potentially scraping the plastic seat back.

With a mountain bike, I think you should not have a problem since many have QR for the seat post, which will make putting it in easier. The biggest problem I see is that if you have a DH bike then the long fork might make the handlebar hit the roof.

Oh yeah, and having a dropper post should help here too.

 

[Porfiry]

The biggest problem I see is that if you have a DH bike then the long fork might make the handlebar hit the roof.

That's one reason I really hope Tesla will eventually produce a 4 seater version without the 3rd row. I personally don't need those seats and even when collapsed they take up valuable vertical space. It's so tight that every inch counts when trying to fit longer forks in. Taking away the 3rd row seats might also solve the chainring issue if the chainring is tall enough to clear whatever bump remains.

 

[vandacca]

That's one reason I really hope Tesla will eventually produce a 4 seater version without the 3rd row. I personally don't need those seats and even when collapsed they take up valuable vertical space. It's so tight that every inch counts when trying to fit longer forks in. Taking away the 3rd row seats might also solve the chainring issue if the chainring is tall enough to clear whatever bump remains.

Or, they could just release a new folding 2nd-row seat that would solve all these problems.

 

[BigMskiman]

@BigMskiman - did you try to take the front wheel off and put the bike in backwards? Without playing with the car, it seems like that would work better, but I could easily be wrong....

I did the front wheel removal this time, and it's a slam dunk, easy to load in/out. Then after my ride, I reversed it so driver seat did not need to be pushed forward. So probably any 29er will fit no problem.

 

[goneskiian]

Nice! How does it fit, or have you tried, flipped 180 degrees so the fork is toward the back?

I find it's easier to load that way. I just grab the bars with my right hand and the downtube with my left, leveraging the fork against my left forearm. That way it goes in chainside up.

I am SO getting those seat backs wrapped! Or one of the rear cargo area covers linked in another thread that are long enough to hang on the second row headrests even when pushed all the way forward.

Edit: Here's the thread about cargo liners...

Cargo Liner

And here's the liner I will probably go with...

Amazon.com : SUV Cargo Liner - Unconditional Lifetime Warranty - (Black Extra Large) : Pet Supplies

 

[BigMskiman]

Nice! How does it fit, or have you tried, flipped 180 degrees so the fork is toward the back?

I find it's easier to load that way. I just grab the bars with my right hand and the downtube with my left, leveraging the fork against my left forearm. That way it goes in chainside up.

I am SO getting those seat backs wrapped! Or one of the rear cargo area covers linked in another thread that are long enough to hang on the second row headrests even when pushed all the way forward.

Edit: Here's the thread about cargo liners...

Cargo Liner

And here's the liner I will probably go with...

Amazon.com : SUV Cargo Liner - Unconditional Lifetime Warranty - (Black Extra Large) : Pet Supplies

I'm also chain-side up in this config, but not when I flip to make more driver space. So thanks, I'm going to go toward the full cargo cover with you guys.

 

[MiddKid]

Last weekend the wife had the SUV and my 5 year old daughter was asking to go mountain biking. Not only did I get her 20in MTB into the back of my Model S, but was also able to get my mountain bike in (hers was carefully laid on top of mine) AND she still sat in the single seat left up in the second row!

I still shake my head how Tesla sells a sedan that can do this yet their SUV has all sorts of space issues due to the non-folding second row seats.

 

[goneskiian]

Last weekend the wife had the SUV and my 5 year old daughter was asking to go mountain biking. Not only did I get her 20in MTB into the back of my Model S, but was also able to get my mountain bike in (hers was carefully laid on top of mine) AND she still sat in the single seat left up in the second row!

I still shake my head how Tesla sells a sedan that can do this yet their SUV has all sorts of space issues due to the non-folding second row seats.

Yup. The S is undoubtedly more utilitarian than the X due to seats that fold.

 

[EV-lutioin]

Nice! How does it fit, or have you tried, flipped 180 degrees so the fork is toward the back?

I find it's easier to load that way. I just grab the bars with my right hand and the downtube with my left, leveraging the fork against my left forearm. That way it goes in chainside up.

I am SO getting those seat backs wrapped! Or one of the rear cargo area covers linked in another thread that are long enough to hang on the second row headrests even when pushed all the way forward.

Edit: Here's the thread about cargo liners...

Cargo Liner

And here's the liner I will probably go with...

Amazon.com : SUV Cargo Liner - Unconditional Lifetime Warranty - (Black Extra Large) : Pet Supplies

Nice liner, I like how it covers the back of the seats. If you get one, can you post a picture of it in your MX?

 

[BornToFly]

Now that we can move the seats up from the big screen, I compared the 7 seat Model X with our S. I can fit the road bike into the X if I put the front in first, and use the back of the seats to turn the front wheel. If I go rear wheel first, it doesn't fit in the X with the front wheel on, but fits very easily in the S. (I love everything about the X, including the FWD, except for the second row. I've always wanted a second row that folds, and I'm still sore that Elon took that away after having a folding second row in the prototype 3 years ago) .

 

[goneskiian]

Thanks for the pictures @rdalcanto! I can't say I know anyone that has a Delta7 bike! Very cool!

For size references, what size bike is that? Would it fit in the back with the front wheel off? I'm used to taking my front wheel off anyway so I hope it at least fits that way.

Cheers!

 

[BornToFly]

Thanks for the pictures @rdalcanto! I can't say I know anyone that has a Delta7 bike! Very cool!

For size references, what size bike is that? Would it fit in the back with the front wheel off? I'm used to taking my front wheel off anyway so I hope it at least fits that way.

Cheers!

56cm frame. It will fit easily with the front wheel off.

 

[ohmman]

Nice liner, I like how it covers the back of the seats. If you get one, can you post a picture of it in your MX?

If you click the thread link that @goneskiian posted, you'll see photos of the liner in my X. I use it often. Definitely satisfied.