When planning a long-distance trip, it's also a good idea to consider "how to retrieve your bicycle."

With a road bike, it's possible to ride 100km or 200km.

Some people even tour Kyushu or Hokkaido overnight.

Usually, if there's a problem with the bike, you'd make temporary repairs with your hand tools and then have it properly fixed at a local bike shop.

However, in cases of sudden illness or injury, you might have to park your bike and go to the hospital.

Hopefully, you can ride the bike again later, but if it's difficult, you might need to retrieve it by car.

While this is an extreme example, there are surprisingly many situations where it's convenient to be able to retrieve your bicycle by car. So, I'll explain whether it's possible to load a road bike into a car and how to do it.

▲ICAN Aero Road Bike A9

■ Bicycle Sizes are Standardized by JIS

Most bicycles sold in Japan conform to JIS (Japanese Industrial Standards) regulations. (e.g., JIS D 9301)

Additionally, road bikes have international standards of within 185cm in length and within 50cm in width.

For now, you can consider these sizes.

■ Handlebar Width

It's safe to assume that the handlebars are the widest part of a bicycle.

Most fall within the aforementioned standards, but some mountain bikes are designed to match a person's shoulder width and may exceed 50cm.

While the handlebars can be turned sideways, the front wheel also turns with them, so the space doesn't change much.

In that sense, the "quick-release lever" type, which allows easy removal of the front wheel, is convenient.

▲ICAN Road Bike A22

Bicycle Length

The overall length of a bicycle is about 185cm.

The longer the overall length, the more stable it is, so I think a longer bike is advantageous for beginners.

However, when loading it into a car, even a hatchback type car only has a width of about 150cm.

Even with the front wheel removed, a road bike with an overall length of 185cm will only shorten to about 170cm.

By also removing the rear wheel, it can be shortened to about 140cm.

By the way, to remove the rear wheel, it's easier to flip the bicycle upside down and then remove both the front and rear wheels.

To load into a car trunk

• 　Sheet

When loading a bicycle into a car, you'll need to prepare a sheet.

If you load it as is, the car interior will get dirty.

You can find good ones by searching for "waterproof cover" or "waterproof sheet."

They're not very expensive, so if you're planning to transport your bike by car, definitely get one.

If you have an old blanket that you no longer use, that would work too.

• Tools for removing wheels

You will need a spanner or wrench to remove the wheels.

The size is 15mm, and you'll need two of them.

Personally, I think it's convenient to have one wrench and one spanner for other tasks as well.

Loosen the nuts by holding one side and turning with the other.

For the "quick-release lever" system, it's convenient because you can remove the wheel just by pulling the lever.

It's easy to use as no tools are required.

What needs attention are the chain and sprocket.

When loading into a car, the side with the derailleur (the side with the sprocket) should face upwards.

Otherwise, you will stain the interior of the car.

Grease stains are difficult to remove afterwards, so it's best not to get them dirty in the first place.

For sedan types, since the trunk volume is small, you'll need to prepare a roof-mount or rear-mount bicycle rack.

It seems easier to find them by searching for names like "car bicycle carrier" or "car bicycle rack."

Once you can properly load your bike onto your car, you can drive to your destination and then ride your bike from there, greatly expanding your range of activity.

If you love to travel, it's a good idea to have a set ready.

If you're not going too far on your trip, there are also mini-velo type road bikes, so it might be fun to buy one for travel.

They fold up quite small, so you can easily load them into your car without needing special equipment.

▲ICAN Gravel Road Bike X-GRAVEL

■ What size does it end up being?

Here I'd like to summarize the size of a road bike.

In its normal (rideable) state, the total length is 185cm and the width is 50cm.

The widest part is the handlebars.

If you have an SUV-type car that can accommodate it in this state, it's easier to load it as is, but be careful when loading as the pedals and handlebars can get caught on things.

With the front wheel removed, the total length is 170cm and the width is 50cm.

It only gets smaller by the radius of the wheel, so it doesn't dramatically shrink.

With the rear wheel also removed, the total length is about 140cm and the width is about 50cm.

At this size, it should be possible to load it into a hatchback-type car.