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We are hoping to take a self guided trip in Wisconsin. We would like to rent bikes there, but can't find a rental car with a bike rack available. Any ideas?

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See if the bike rental place also rents bike racks. – freiheit♦ Feb 25 at 21:23
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Freiheit probably has the right idea but if the bike rental place doesn't have racks there are decent, cheap trunk mounted 2 and 3 bike racks available for < $100 dollars. You could always just buy one at a LBS in Wisconsin and discard it at the end of the trip. – Glenn Stevens Feb 26 at 5:43
Economy hatchback vehicles work well to transport bikes. You may need to remove the front and/or rear wheels. – Benzo Feb 26 at 12:33
I rolled back an edit by another user because the edit changed the meaning of the question. While looking for other ways to transport bikes is a good idea, it's not what the OP asked. – Neil Fein Mar 3 at 6:26
Down voted because a probably empty list of rental companies is not going to be useful for other readers in the future. – amcnabb Mar 4 at 3:53

4 Answers

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I would have thought with a few rachet packing straps you could place the bikes upside down on the roof, secure the handle bars to the frame (so they won't turn) then secure the bikes through the rear door or window (front window as a last resort).

As a disclaimer I have never seen this done but secured right it should work just like a roof rack and not damage the paint (but hey I reckon the rental company wouldn't check the roof). If the car has basic roof racks you could rig something pretty good up.

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Some places rent folding bikes, which would remove the need for an external rack.

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Information on this forum is old, but one guy says that Enterprise has bike racks. I recommend giving them a call. From their website it says they have ski racks, but doesn't mention bike racks. Might be worth giving them a try.

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If you could rent a van or SUV you may be able to load the bikes inside the vehicle.

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