Hey everyone,

First post in here!

Brought myself a VRS Estate to replace my Caddy van, went for the estate so I could fit my bike/bikes in the boot.

Who else has put a bike in the boot? How easy is the fit? Front wheel off, or both wheels off?

Thanks for any answers, trying to decide on boot liners so I don't trash my boot with mud, water, oil etc!

Andy

In my mkII I can get my 29er in the boot with the back seats down without having to remove the wheels.

With the back seats down my bikes just lift straight in. No need to remove wheels.

I suspect they go in without wheels if the seats were up but not tried yet.

29er with wheels on? Impressive! Was hoping to avoid putting the seats down though.

How do you guys avoid damage and muck on the backs of the seats?

Edited 7 December, 201411 yr by Andyc122

29er with wheels on? Impressive! Was hoping to avoid putting the seats down though.

How do you guys avoid damage and muck on the backs of the seats?

 

I've got two young children, not much point in worrying about muck.  I had footprints on the headliner in my old car...

 

Pretty sure I got my old bike in the boot with just the front wheel off and the back seats up.  26" wheels on the old bike.

Footprints on the headliner? Brilliant! I'm not quite there yet, was hoping to keep it cleanish (for a while anyway).

29er in the boot without seets down? 

I want that pot

With seats down I managed to put in 2 bikes (29 and 26), both with front wheel off and luggage for 2 weeks holiday for 2 persons. Plenty of room left and i have variable boot floor also. If you remove both wheels it should fit in a boot even with seats up I think (not tried that since it's much easier to flat the seats). 

It will depend on the size of the bike and suspension travel/characteristics but I think you may struggle to get a large frame in even with both wheels off, without lowering one or both seat backs.

I have easily managed 3 bikes and 3 people in Octavia 2 and 3 wagon, with only front wheels removed but they were either only medium sized road/x-country or 26in hard tails and one back seat rear lowered.

Tarps and old towels for mud protection where necessary, but I'm too old for riding in rain happily these days.

29er with wheels on? Impressive! Was hoping to avoid putting the seats down though.

How do you guys avoid damage and muck on the backs of the seats?

Cheap picnic blanket in first.

On a slighly different note re boot space,i bought an estate mk3 to replace my mk 2hatch, as I move bonnets and tailgates/bootlids for the various classic fords resto projects that i own,soon after realising that the hatch is bettef for akward shape objects as the apperture of the tailgate is bigger,although the estate comes into its own with long square payloads,il be saving myself 800quid next year,going back to a hatch

I'm only short so my bikes are all small/medium!

So general consensus is just put the seats down because it's easier than taking wheels off, makes sense. Need to find a cover for the backs of the back seats then.

Maybe a Mobi pressure washer is in order, as it Christmas and all...

Like you I bought the estate because I do biking. I've got one of these covers which is expensive but great for bikes as it covers everything including separate flaps for the split seats. http://www.titancovers.co.uk/products/Skoda-Boot-Liners.html

 

As others have said, no problem getting a bike in whole if both seats folded down, or 3 bikes and 3 people with one seat folded down and front wheel off each. In my mk1 octavia I did once have 4 people and 4 bikes but I wouldn't do it again it was more trouble than it was worth.

 

I tend to find that taking the back wheel off doesn't really save any space, and I don't think you can get the frame in with both seats up.

I have the genuine Skoda boot mat - found its perfect for the job at hand; and when you lift it up the carpet looks untouched. 

 

I haven't put a bike in mine but I have put a Skoda Favorit bonnet in...

 

Like you I bought the estate because I do biking. I've got one of these covers which is expensive but great for bikes as it covers everything including separate flaps for the split seats. http://www.titancovers.co.uk/products/Skoda-Boot-Liners.html

 

As others have said, no problem getting a bike in whole if both seats folded down, or 3 bikes and 3 people with one seat folded down and front wheel off each. In my mk1 octavia I did once have 4 people and 4 bikes but I wouldn't do it again it was more trouble than it was worth.

 

I tend to find that taking the back wheel off doesn't really save any space, and I don't think you can get the frame in with both seats up.

That Titan cover looks like a nicer alternative to the Hatchbag, looks like a more Matt material? Any pictures of it in?

Not sure about matt but it's sort of canvasy, and as a bonus it seems to be waterproof I found this out when I spilt a load of oil on it and it didn't go through. I don't have a pic but if you can wait till Saturday when it's daylight I can take one for you. Mine is red and by the way they are a bit cheaper when bought on ebay.

On a slightly different note, the Octy estate is one of the only cars (apart from an E class) that I can fit our camping gear into. Any campers out there will know how big the pack sizes are on these modern air tents - like loading a dead body into your boot plus the rest of the gear/food/beer!!

All that space and yet it looks great, goes quickly and is good value. Best estate on the market imho.

The foldable two sided (one side fabric, other side rubber) boot mat might be the perfect fit for transporting bikes. It's a bit on the expensive side (150€ here in Finland at least) but should do the trick.

 

EDIT: After reading up on these, I started thinking that I might want to switch the rubber mat I ordered with mine to one of these myself...hmm.

Edited 9 December, 201411 yr by kallekilponen

Quick thread resurrection, has anyone fitted a road bike in the boot with the rear seats up by taking the wheels off? Save me trying tonight

 

Steve

I was looking at the hatch with seats down yesterday in the showroom. I recon I could get my 26" wheel mountain bike in without taking front wheel off, anyone else tried this with a hatch? seems like it's a no brainer with the Estate!

I can fit a Hybrid Specialized Sirrus in the boot by taking wheels and saddle off.

Seats left up.

With seats up, I can get my mountain bike in with both wheels off; but it's extremely tight and only goes in at an awkward comedy angle which means you can't get much else in afterwards!

Meanwhile with seats down I can and regularly do fit the bike in whole without taking any wheels off at all.

• Can fit 2 adults MTBs, or 2 cyclocross/roadbikes in without removing wheels or pedals, and that is in a hatchback. By far the roomiest boot in a car that size. make sure you put a blanket in between the bikes to avoid scratches.

At a recent sportive, everyone just looked aghast as we pulled 2 bikes straight out as everyone else was refitting their wheels

Edited 21 May, 201511 yr by carrock

In my old V70 volvo you could remove the rear seat bases so the back seats actually folded flat down, pity the vRS doesn`t do that. At the moment I`ve a **** load of camping gear and 2 mtbs in the back tho so can`t complain about room :)

Panic over as my roof bars arrived yesterday so the bike can go on the roof.

 

Steve