Hey guys,
I'm an avid road cyclist in addition to an A3 owner. I want to be able to load my race bike in the back (removing only the front wheel and the seat/seatpost) and have it stand upright in the back to leave room for other gear I need with me at races. I have a 2x4 with a fork clamp that I secure the bike fork to in order to keep it from tipping over. This has worked very well for me with the SUV's and larger wagons my team mates drive. However, there isn't enough clearance for the bike to fit like this. One of the problems is that the rear seats don't fold down flat because the bench portion gets in the way.
Does anyone know how to remove the bench portion? Is it a hassle to do (I race a lot and do training rides with team mates from other areas and need to transport my bike often...1-2x a week)? How much extra clearance do you think I would gain removing the bench and then folding the seats down?

Any thoughts are appreciated. I'm getting really sick of taking my bike completly apart and loading pieces so that I can fit all my gear in.

Also I would like to stick with in the car options. I don't like transporting my $5k bike on the roof where it will get hit by flying stones, bugs, and suffer water seepage into the bearings when it rains at highway speeds.

Thanks!

 

It's easy. Pull straight up on thefront (2 or 3 posts across thefront)and then you will be able to see the "hook" on each side. You will simply need to push the bench portion rearward to release the "hook".

Make sure you remove the plastic aound the base of each seat belt. You will be suprised at how much room is back there when the seats are folded flat. I don't know about being able to fit a bike back there though.

 

Please let us know how it works and post some pics of your setup.
Thanks!

 

x2

I'd like to be able to use the 2x4 method to transport my $4k (not as expensive as yours, but still my baby) bike too.

Please post the results.

 

i'd be interested too! even cheaper bike 1.5k!

 

1.5k bike + Mods = 4k bike

Funny thing how no matter how much I mod my bike the "horsepower" remains virtually unaffected. Not so with the A3!

 

Hey,
Thanks for the advice, worked like a charm! Had to get over the fear that I was going to break something though. The clips that hold the front egde of the bench down are pretty tight. Wiggle your hands under the front lip on either side of the clip and pull straight upwards. I'm not gonna kid you, I had to put more force into it than I felt comefortable with, but once you've done it you'll get the feel. There is one in about the middle of each side passenger seat, and there are 2 clips (one on each side) that hold the back down. Once you pop it up it just slides forward. Remember to bring it inside though, don't want to get dirt and grease on the leather!

There are also little plastic retainer clips that surround the child seat anchors. Take those off (the just slide off) and remove the right and left headrests before dropping the seats down. I couldn't get the center headrest to come off (help me out if you have a trick), but it's profile is low enough that it doesn't get in the way too much.

With the bench out, I got about 6inches of extra clearance where the folded back used to be highest and overall added a huge amount of cargo space. I would guess about 8-10 cubic feet extra. I have a larger bike frame (58cm) and now with the front wheel off there is plenty of clearance for the handlebars and the seat collar (I still have to remove the seatpost to get it to fit though). With this setup I could easly fit 2 bikes and all the gear that 2 people would need at a race without fear of scratches or other damage to my bike. If just bikes I forsee fitting 3 if the one in the middle were a bit smaller. I don't really transport people in my backseat much anyway, so i'm considering just leaving it like that and putting the seat in just when i need it.

I'll post pictures when I get home.

 

that's a brilliant solution. thanks for sharing.

 

Hey all... sorry for the delay with the pictures. I didn't transport my bike anywhere for a while. But I'm headed to Boston tomorrow so here are the interior shots you all requested...

There is about 2 inches of clearance between the top of the seat collar and the headliner. I have to tilt the bike on its side to load it, but it can be stood up once it is fully inside. The shot of the 60/40 split is to show how much extra room you get with the bench portion removed.

Hope this helps.

 

Sorry haven't posted pictures on this forum before...

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