Mountain bike inside Prius

Yup, you can fit two bikes back there if you have the seats down. The less you like the paint job on the bikes, the easier it is.

As for black... nothing wrong with the color, just something wrong with you for liking it. I'd just hate to keep it clean, and I wouldn't be able to touch the car during daylight hours for about five months out of the year. Silver or white for me every time.

 

welcome!

we've put 2 trail bikes in the back, seats down and blanket to keep the mud from getting on the interior

i think black is a fantastic color!! just prepare to spend an inordinate amount of time keeping it clean.

 

Black is great! It does have all of the usual drawbacks of black: shows dirt and scratches, dust, finger prints, microscopic spores, and larger viruses. This is my first black car, and I have washed it more than any other that I've owned, but the Prius looks fantastic in black. It really sets off the lights and chrome.

You see more Prius in silver because Toyota built more Prius in silver. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy: marketing found that silver was the most popular car color, so Toyota made more silver Prius than any other color, and since they all sell, we have more silver Prius on the road, which proves it's the most popular color. The Prius was so hard to get, people took whatever color they could.

Tom

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(qbee42 @ Jan 15 2007, 06:55 AM) [snapback]375777[/snapback]</div>

We bought an 07 Barcelona Red because it was the only one on the lot at the time, but my wife's favorite color is also red. And I was thinking to paint my 1991 Civic Wagon red too, so red was cool with us. We would have preferred silver, but there are just so many silver Prii on the road, I'm glad we got red. Plus it's nice to have a red car here in the dark and gloomy Pacific Northwest!

 

One of my criteria before purchasing the Prius was that I had to be able to fit my mountain bike inside -- it's a size small Cannondale F400 and when I fold down the back seats and throw down a drop cloth to protect the interior, all I have to do is release the quick-release on the front wheel and it's in there with room to spare. I'm quite sure you could get larger sizes in there without a dirty bike ever touching the insides of the doors or hatch sides. I haven't tried putting two bikes in yet, but I'm sure it would work; in my case, I'd probably chose to throw down a second drop cloth on top of the first bike to minimize the rubbing of one frame against another.

The best part is blasting down the highway en route to the trailhead without having to worry anymore about whether a trunk-mounted rack was going to "eject" my bike off the back *and* also knowing that with everything inside the car, I'm not cutting down on my gas mileage at all.

 

I prefer to ride the bike and leave the car home, but yes, two will fit inside nicely. First I lay down a big plastic tarp on the bottom, and load the first bike, sans front wheel. Then I put in a layer of cardboard, but strategically placed soft luggage, or even carpet remnants, also works to keep the bikes from rubbing. The second bike goes on top very carefully, checking to make sure nothing's going to scrape or slide or scratch. Whatever you do, do NOT leave the front wheels on the curb! :blink:

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(mookieconster @ Jan 14 2007, 09:39 PM) [snapback]375733[/snapback]</div>

When I went to the dealer for service, I put one mountain bike in the back. I put the seat down with a blanket on the bottom. With one bike I didn't even have to take off any of the wheels.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(mookieconster @ Jan 14 2007, 10:39 PM) [snapback]375733[/snapback]</div>

Two MTB bikes with front wheels off, easy. There is a "towing hitch" which I'm planning on getting for bike rack only.

Black will be extremely hot in the summer and you may find yourself using A/C more.

Try to get the car in the color of your local dirt, then you need not wash it as much

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hyo silver @ Jan 15 2007, 05:47 PM) [snapback]376124[/snapback]</div>

Well said! And excellent point. I too ride primarily to avoid vehicle miles whenever possible. But that's typically my road bike. The mountain bike is purely for fun. And while I don't usually drive it somewhere just to ride, I do take it with me in the car when I'm visiting somewhere good to ride. And in those cases, it can't go inside the car, as I have the family and our gear. So up on top it goes, or on the hitch-mounted rack. Need to get some pictures of that eventually....

 

For any roadies out there, one big-wheel road bike fits fine with the front wheel off, too. Roadbike wheels tend to make small-car stuffing much harder so I figured I'd add my slightly off-topic two cents. I'm sure blanket-bike-blanket-bike would work with these bikes, also. It really is amazing how much room is in that little car!

Black looks great. It's too hot it's hard to clean blah blah blah who cares? My experience is if you don't get the color you want, you always regret it. Have you looked at Silver Pine Mica? Oh, sorry, that's the color I wanted!

 

I regularly carry a 52 cm frame, carbon fiber Trek road bike in the rear of the Prius. Rear seat folds down and bicycle carries very nice. Front wheel stays on bike. Room to spare for helmet, shoes, air pump and clothing.

 

This thread needs pictures!

Went on a FANTASTIC ride with a buddy yesterday (a rare one where I actually drive my bike somewhere specifically to ride). And remembered to take pictures! The only bad news is that my pretty bike is on the bottom onder a towel, while his ugly bike is on top.

Two 19" fat-tire bikes, front wheels removed (and not left at the curb!). A third bike would very easily fit in here. The two bikes used about half the eight of the cargo area. The front seats are all the way back on the rails as well. Tons of room.

 

Dude;
buy a hitch and get a good bike rack that grips the tires and locks in from the top. Kinda of like the ones on the front of busses. Your interior and bikes will thank you.

http://www.performancebike.com/shop/profil...ategory_ID=4411

I got my hitch from U-Haul. I had to adjust the exhaust pipe because the hitch rediredicted the exhaust onto some bodywork but it's all goiod now. Also the U-haul hitch doesn't seem to have the flex problem that has been described for the Coastal tech hitch, and I have twoed a trailer with two full size sport bikes from SoCal to Vegas and back.