THanks for rent car feedback

[Pam Wright]

Hi all and thanks for the great feedback!!  Of course, my own laziness is looking for something letting us leave rear wheels on, but I feel comfortable now reserving a smaller unit (whew!).    For those curious...the Honda Fit seemed to be a pretty clear favorite.  I didn't find any for rent, but it's in the back of my pea brain for future.    Thanks again for all the great insight and reasons - big help!! Pam Wright

[pamela blalock]

ZipCar has lots of Fits, but they don’t appear to be in TX yet. Sorry.  One of the reasons I like being able to get the bikes in upright, with just the front wheel removed, is it makes for less hassle with worrying about greasy chains on rental car upholstery and less chance of scratching fancy paint on bikes. It also makes it easier to get lots of other stuff in the car, around the bikes.

 

But as Jake suggested, with care, and blankets, one can just remove a front wheel on each bike, lay the bike on its side, pile some blankets or padding, and another bike on top. And dare I suggest it, but one can also put a trunk rack on a rental car – we did this lots for carrying multiple single bikes, and more than 2 people in little rentals.

 

As I admitted on the web page, after renting Fits lots here, we did finally buy one. We only use it to get to and from rides and races (100 or so miles away), and still qualify for the low-mileage discount on our insurance.

 

Pam, one other possibility is to look at the PT Cruiser. Lots of the big rental car companies have lots of these. I travel a bit for work. It’s all we can ever get from Fox in CA, and I recently ended up with one from Dollar in NC. They also have a very versatile setup, and Chrysler does seem to have done volume discounting on them to rental fleets.

 

Pamela Blalock

[Donald Perley]

Couple of random notes on bikes in cars (Caravans in particular)
 A Trico Ironcase fits behind the 3rd seat.

With the 3rd seat removed, my large bike (62 cm) rolls in upright with the front wheel off.   A smaller frame might fit with both wheels on.  Remove 2nd seat for more bikes.  On newer ones the seats fold into the floor... haven't tried those.

3rd seat shoulder belt wrapped around the handlebars helps hold it up.

For more stability and to protect the carpet I mounted some fork locks (as you see on some roof racks) on a 2x4 that sits on the floor.

[wabeck]

One more note on the Honda Fit. It's a nice little car. But be sure to
try your own bike in it before buying. I was all excited about getting
one, especially after the glowing reviews from Pamela and others.
(Pamela even fit a tandem in the thing.) But it turns out that my 62cm
Trek Madone doesn't fit in the Fit. The bike is too tall to fit in
upright with the front wheel off unless I lower the saddle. And it
wouldn't lay flat (with the front wheel on) either. We ended up
getting a Honda Civic, and the bike does fit in that with the rear
seats down and the front wheel off. So try before you buy!

Bill Beck

> > *From:* ran...@googlegroups.com [mailto:ran...@googlegroups.com] *On
> > Behalf Of *Pam Wright
> > *Sent:* Tuesday, August 04, 2009 5:04 PM
> > *To:* Lone * Star * Randonneurs; randon; FWBA
> > *Subject:* [Randon] THanks for rent car feedback

>
> > Hi all and thanks for the great feedback!!  Of course, my own laziness is
> > looking for something letting us leave rear wheels on, but I feel
> > comfortable now reserving a smaller unit (whew!).
>
> > For those curious...the Honda Fit seemed to be a pretty clear favorite.  I
> > didn't find any for rent, but it's in the back of my pea brain for future.
>
> > Thanks again for all the great insight and reasons - big help!!
>

> > *Pam Wright*- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -