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I just got a Madsen bike for my wife, and now I am looking at how best to transport it. I have a Suburban with a roof rack. The bike is 88" long with the handlebars turned, and I don't know if I should try to find a hitch-mounted carrier or a roof-mounted. Anyone tackled this?

The Madsen Bike is a cargo bike with a large bucket over the rear wheel.

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  • As Madsen Bike might be not that well-known you maybe should give us some more information about it. Maybe at least a link or a photo – something to give us an idea of the bike and its possible problems concerning transporting it. At least 88" (or 2.23 meters) seems pretty long for me and might be well to wide to have it crosswise on the back of your car.
    – Benedikt Bauer
    Commented Oct 15, 2013 at 16:13
  • @BenediktBauer I edited the question as per your recommendation. Thanks.
    – Nathan DeWitt
    Commented Oct 15, 2013 at 16:20
  • As pointed out by Mike P. in his answer, the problem is quite similar to transporting a tandem. Therefore the answers on bicycles.stackexchange.com/q/16794/5271 could give some hints.
    – Benedikt Bauer
    Commented Oct 15, 2013 at 16:24
  • According to wikipedia, a Suburban is 79 inches wide, which is 9 inches less than the bike. If you could perfectly center the bike on the rear rack, it would only stick out 4.5 inches on either side, which is no more than the mirrors. Also, you could remove the wheels for some extra clearance, and they would fit easily in the back of the truck. The only concern is for me is whether the bike can be easily centered on a hitch rack. It would be much easier than climbing on top of the truck to get it on a roof rack.
    – Kibbee
    Commented Oct 15, 2013 at 16:59
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    I think I'd either put that on a trailer or a roof rack. There are roof racks that can handle tandems and bents, so there should be something that can handle this bike, especially on a Suburban. If you already have a cartop rack it may take a little creativity -- let one wheel overhang the rack and strap it down, eg.
    – Daniel R Hicks
    Commented Oct 15, 2013 at 21:29

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I doubt it is going to work on any rear rack. You may be able to install two roof racks end to end or buy an extra long one for tandems. http://www.rackattack.com/product-pages/thule-558p-tandem-carrier.asp?utm_source=google&utm_medium=product-feed&utm_campaign=google-products&utm_term=100558P&gclid=CKf7rrWemboCFdAWMgodllgADg

Additionally, it should fit inside the Suburban. Another idea would be to stand it up on top the truck after installing some sort of board. The huge kickstand should hold it up and just stabilize it with straps. Headroom will likely be a problem so it might also work to set a blanket down and just lay the bike on its side and strap it down that way.

I have a front load cargo bike and don't drive it often but when I do need to I just throw it inside my station wagon.

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