Cooper S + Mountain Bike = ?????

[killinginblack]

Possible? Impossible?

Either inside or strapped to a rear mounted carrier.

Anyone had any experience carrying big bikes on/in a cooper s?

Cheers

[MINIrocket]

Umm.. how about 1 Mountain Bike, 1 minimoto, plus all camping gear for a week in Lemans!!!

You'll be fine to fit a normal mountain bike in if you take the wheels off and put the seats down... as in most other cars.

[kmpowell]

A 'SARIS Bones' is what you require.

[sad61t]

It should fit inside OK if you drop the seats forward - if it's just one bike than you can move the front passenger seat far forward and fold it onto the dashboard. It should (from measurement cf my Panda) give a long enough load bay to fit the bike in with only the front wheel removed, otherwise it's both wheels off. A quick-release on the seat post helps too. Would suggest carrying a tarp to throw over the seats and rear bumper while loading to protect the upholstery from mud/oily bits and avoid scratching the paintwork.

Otherwise Mini do an official rear mount rack that looks quite substantial, but not for cars with aero kit, JCW tuning or a trailer tow hitch. That said, if you have the latter then there are plenty of towbar mounting cycle racks available. This rack can be found on accessories.mini.com and selecting:
Mini Cooper S
from 11/06
Luggage & leisure
Bicycle holders
Click Go & it's the second on the list, and the picture is on a Cooper S. I've seen a Mini locally with this & it looked a good deal more solid than Halford's kit. I've also known third-party racks to take chunks out of paintwork or fall off mid-journey (nothing worse than seeing your bike bouncing down the road behind you...), so am happy to pay the OEM premium.

[mjadams_uk]

I regularly put 2 full-suspension mountain bikes in the back of my Cooper, wheels off, no problem.