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Bicycle on Sailboat

15K views 38 replies 23 participants last post by  Alex W 
#1 · (Edited)
Hey, I usually do shopping by bicycle,
so likely will have to have a bicycle on board.

Am wondering if anyone here also keeps or has kept bicycle on board, what kind is it and any other suggestions.
Also how and where do you store your bicycle(s)?
I read on another forum that aluminum alloy folding bicycles are best.


Though I'd really like to have 26 inch wheels, if at all possible,
has anyone managed to keep a full size bike?
 
#3 ·
if you can remove the wheels.. bicycles do not take up much space. I would consider a padded bag if you want to keep it from getting banged up
 
#5 · (Edited)
My wife and I are avid mountain bikers and I am devising a way to bring our bikes with us when we go cruising. I will design and sew a protective bag for storage and transport to shore. We have a couple of spaces where they can be stored below.

If you just want a commuter bike then a folding model will serve you well.
 
#7 ·
I will be taking my mountain bike with me when I go to florida this winter. Frame is CF, so no worries about weight or corrosion there. Just need to keep the rest well lubed
 
#11 ·
far too much Ti for any sane man to justify. I was once really into shaving weight off of the bike until I realized it was easier to shave it off of me
 
#9 ·
We have 20" folders. They do OK.

In restrospect, I wish I'd have looked into buying a 26" mountain bike and figured a way to quickly pop off the handle bars for storage. They can't be easily slid off the stem with all the brake & shifter cables. The stem would have to have a quick release of some sort. Then add folding pedals and the bike becomes slim to make it easier to store. Put it in a sunbrella bag and store it on the rail if there's no room below.
 
#10 ·
I had S&S couplers put into my road/cross bike so it could fit into a suitcase (26"x26"x10") it takes about 20 minutes to fold up completely but you can split it very easily w/o putting it in a suitcase. Kind of expensive but worth it if you ever take the bike on a plane. I guess I can't post a link but if you google sandsmachine and look on youtube you can see what I am talking about.
 
#12 ·
Storage space is at a premium on a "small" 28' sail boat. With survival suits and sails being a couple of the bulkiest. We decided to purposefully devote the quarter birth to storage. It allows a "disassembled" for transport full sized bike to easily fit along the hull. A bag contains it but I may buy a rigid commercial bicycle transport carrier sold for air travel. It would be nice to take my RB-1 or my XO-1 with me when I visit the kids, too. Riding something else is another compromise I don't need to make anymore. Ha!

Down
 
#14 ·
My wife and I are avid cyclists - usually on a tandem. Thought long and hard about what type of bikes and whether or not a tandem would work. Ended up borrowing, then buying 2 single Bike Fridays. Fold fast and easy. Fit into both the V berth and the dinghy. Light enough for us to hand down into the dinghy. And ride well enough to be viable for some long rides. Add a set of panniers on each and we have some hauling capacity.
 
#16 ·
The Admiral and I purchased two 6 spd folding road bikes from Camping World which have served us well for the past few years. They fold and fit into their own storage bags and are kept in our cockpit locker. A periodic WD40 spray keeps everything working just fine.
 
#18 ·
We started off with the 20" folding bike from West Marine but had problems with them and due to trading up ended up with the 26" x50 folding bike. A little bulkier then the 20" bike but I'm ridding to work everyday and the park we anchor at in North Miami has mountain bike trails. I think all the biking is what is keeping me in great shape.
 
#19 ·
#20 ·
Although easier to store, the push scooters would be problematic and accident prone if the area does not have decent roads or sidewalks. Carrying provisions may also be difficult as they offer no place to mount a rack.

I remember trying my kids Razor scooter. Hitting the smallest rock or crack would toss you over the handlebars. A broken wrist or arm could be devastating.
 
#23 ·
These scooters have much larger wheels than the kids' version, so cracks etc are less of an issue. You raise a valid point with carrying capacity; we found that although we could put bags on the handlebars, it affected stability, and we were better off putting our groceries in our backpacks. Admittedly, I'd love bicycles if we could fit them, which is just not possible in our situation. The scooters were the best compromise we could find, and they had a unique bit of fun all their own. Started a *lot* of fun conversations with other cruisers as well.
 
#25 ·
I have done a bit of research on the folding bikes; they look pretty feasible; I would assume that the most difficult challenge besides storage is just getting them out of the boat and in to the dingy for transport to shore depending on how the transom is laid out and how much freeboard you have... I wonder if anyone has tried modifying a bike rack from a car to mount on their boat? That might eliminate a few of these issues all at once as long as it could stay relatively dry somehow. I guess it depends on how much use you get out of them.
 
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