Soft Bike Case for in car transport recommendation

[PaulE]

I'm looking for recommendations for a soft bike case for tranporting my bike in the back seat of my car, which doesn't have a fold down rear seat, and the trunk can't take the bike with both wheels off either. I won't put the wheels in the case, but I would like to not have to remove the seatpost, stem, handlebars or pedals. The bike fits fine on the back seat this way. If the seat or bars have to stick out of the top of the bag, that would be ok, but my first preference would be a bag that will take the bike with just the wheels off and close with no other removals. I ride a 60 cm frame and the distance from the bottom bracket center to saddle top is 81 cm. This is more for making it easier to keep my back seat clean when I don't want to bother with a roof rack.

Thanks for any recommendations.

[rice rocket]

How about this?

http://www.coveryourcranks.com/wp-content/themes/crankcase/images/get-it-now-slide.jpg

$40, and just keep your bike clean so the tubes don't transfer dirt to your seats? Wrapping/unwrapping your entire bike every time you go somewhere sounds like a giant pain in the ass.

[Louis]

How about a painter's drop cloth draped over the back? Trim to fit if you want to get fancy.

[carpediemracing]

I could see how having the drop cloth "attached" to the bike would make sense. I'm imagining a Porsche 911 - I knew a racer who would put his bike in the back of one. It was tricky, required a lot of bike contortions, and it would be difficult to keep a drop cloth in place while packing the car.

My first thought was the kind of bag a Euro pro uses, basically a large narrow/tall duffel bag designed for holding a bike.

I googled and found this one as an example, no idea who they are, but that's what first popped into my mind:
http://www.arkel-od.com/us/bike-carry-bag.html

This way you'd have the drop cloth attached to the bike.

This thought brought me to my second idea. You could conceivably lay your bike on a smaller tarp (smallest readily available around here are like 6x8' or so), fold it over your bike, and use clips of some sort to hold the tarp in place.

You can get a kit to install grommets (it's a bit of a pain but it works - I have one) - at that point you could "custom fit" (i.e. cut with scissors) and put grommets in such a way that the tarp now fits your bike (maybe outline your bike and have a grommet or two centered inside your frame?).

It would cost a lot less than that bag up there, even with the kit and everything.

good luck with your quest
cdr

[Louis]

Assuming this is primarily to drive the bike to the start of a ride, the simplest solution is a roof rack or a receiver hitch rack. If you need to drive super-long distances then racks don't work as well.

I put a receiver on my hatchback, and have a 2-bike rack, but most of the time I just remove the front wheel and toss the bike in back. Takes about 15 seconds, and I don't have to remove the rear wheel.

[Vientomas]

Moving blanket/pad: http://www.uhaul.com/MovingSupplies/Protective-stuff/Quilted-Pads?id=3053