How to fit a bicycle in my Civic?

June 9, 2009 12:09 PM

Is it possible to fit an ordinary, adult-sized street bicycle into a 2007 Honda Civic? If so, how?
posted by ninotchka to Grab Bag (13 answers total)

Best answer: Take the wheels off. Stuff it in the back seat. Beware of grease stains.
posted by torquemaniac at 12:11 PM on June 9, 2009

Because of your last tag, I'm guessing it's a 4-door Civic sedan?
posted by box at 12:17 PM on June 9, 2009

Response by poster: That it is!
posted by ninotchka at 12:19 PM on June 9, 2009

Best answer: Take wheels off, lower rear seats, place wheels in through trunk, place bike on top of wheels, chain side up. Nothing to it. My wife has had to pick me up from multiple-puncture rides in her Civic many a time.
posted by notsnot at 12:28 PM on June 9, 2009

Best answer: If your rear seats fold down, you might even be able to get away with just taking the front wheel off.
posted by box at 12:29 PM on June 9, 2009

Response by poster: Fantastic - thanks all!
posted by ninotchka at 12:30 PM on June 9, 2009

Before I had a roof rack, I also kept an old beach towel in there for keeping grease stains off the car's interior. So get one of those in there as well, and follow everyone else's advice re:placement.
posted by MonsieurBon at 12:36 PM on June 9, 2009 [1 favorite]

The rear seat should fold down in the 2007 Civic (there's a release in the trunk, and then you can just push it down) - you can push the bike straight through the trunk into the back seat then, which should help.
posted by pemberkins at 12:43 PM on June 9, 2009

I have a 2006 Civic EX coupe, 2-door, and my bike fits in the trunk as long as the front wheel is removed. That trunk's a lot bigger than you think, it's like the TARDIS in there. I don't think I even had to fold down the seats.
posted by stennieville at 1:33 PM on June 9, 2009

I can get my 1997 vintage Huffy 'mountain' bike in the back of my 2008 civic by folding down the rear seats, loosening the handlebar-to-fork attachment (so that the handlebars can be made non-perpendicular to the rest of the bike), and putting it in there diagonally.
posted by ArgentCorvid at 2:03 PM on June 9, 2009

loosening the handlebar-to-fork attachment

Be very careful with the tightness of this. If that joint isn't tight enough you will most likely go flying over your handlebars when the wheel turns sideways. Due to the critical nature of this joint, i'd recommend against messing with it on a regular basis unless you really know what you are doing.
posted by Antidisestablishmentarianist at 2:59 PM on June 9, 2009

i've got a Civic hybrid, so the back seat doesn't fold down, meaning the trunk is not an option. I guess I could take off both wheels, but I worry about disconnecting the chain and such-like. If I jsut take the front wheel off though, I can fit it in my back seat. Just slide it in straight on and turn the handlebars sideways (easy to do by opening the window). If you do this, though, you should probably be smarter than me and put down some sort of a towel to keep the grease off the seats.
posted by hatsforbats at 7:05 PM on June 9, 2009

I guess I could take off both wheels, but I worry about disconnecting the chain and such-like.

It's actually pretty easy to take off the back wheel on most bikes; the rear cassette (with all the sprockets) is the only part attached to the wheel, and it just "drops out" of the chain. The chain is left hanging loose, and you just have to put the gear teeth back into it when you put the rear wheel back on.

That said, I've always gotten by with just taking off the front wheel as well.
posted by musicinmybrain at 10:28 PM on June 9, 2009 [1 favorite]