Taking my bike on a plane

round-the-bend

I'm thinking of taking my carbon Izoard bike to Italy. Is it best to hire a bag from the LBS for £40.00 and is hard better than soft? Can you get a hard case in a Renault Clio size hire car with one person also in the back? Any other tips for flying with a bike I need to know like deflating the tyres? It's Ryan air and I know I have to pay extra. thanks

andrewgturnbull

Hi there.

I always take a hard case - have you ever watched the baggage handlers chuck stuff around.

But, no it won't fit in the back of a clio unless you folded all of the back seat down...

Cheers, Andy

mrushton

If you use a soft bag, plenty of padding eg bubble wrap. use those plastic axle things in the drop outs. If you use a case - plenty of bubble wrap

Stuck on a Giant

An in-between solution can be to get an old cardboard bike box from your LBS, they should give you one for free. Plenty of padding, but you'll struggle with getting it in a Clio. You could fold up the box, take the bike apart, and build up the box and put bike in it at the airport? Or do the reverse, if it's for the other end of the journey.

Tempestas

I would only ever use a bikebox for a plane trip, imagine arriving at your destination to find your bike has been damaged and cannot be used for the duration of your holiday. Its then that you realise that small saving was not such a great idea, you may also not be able to claim for any damages if you 'do not package the bike suitably'.

Worth checking with your insurance and weighing up the options.

huggy

Deflate the tyres - a lot of airlines say this, but supposedly they go under extreme pressure and explode, knackering tubes (or tubs) but also causing an emergency landing...

andyp

huggy wrote:

Deflate the tyres - a lot of airlines say this, but supposedly they go under extreme pressure and explode, knackering tubes (or tubs) but also causing an emergency landing...

That's an urban myth. The luggage hold of an airliner maintains a similar pressure to that of the passenger cabin, i.e. the same pressure as that found at approx 2500 metres above sea level.

Back on topic, I always use a hard shell case when travelling by air with my bike.

celbianchi

andyp wrote:

huggy wrote:

Deflate the tyres - a lot of airlines say this, but supposedly they go under extreme pressure and explode, knackering tubes (or tubs) but also causing an emergency landing...

That's an urban myth. The luggage hold of an airliner maintains a similar pressure to that of the passenger cabin, i.e. the same pressure as that found at approx 2500 metres above sea level.

Back on topic, I always use a hard shell case when travelling by air with my bike.

Agree - I don't deflate mine and have not suffered any problems.

round-the-bend

andrewgturnbull wrote:

Hi there.

I always take a hard case - have you ever watched the baggage handlers chuck stuff around.

But, no it won't fit in the back of a clio unless you folded all of the back seat down...

Cheers, Andy

Thanks. I have been to the LBS and measured the Sicom case which is 950 mm high x 1150 mm long. I was thinking with one rear seat folded down it would go in upright providing the hatch back is high enough. The car hire places say Clio or equivalent so its hard to know for sure.

schlepcycling

I use one of these

http://www.gbcycles.co.uk/eshop.asp?wci=product&wce=CBSC50301&desc=SCI-CON+ANTI-SHOCK+FRAME+SUPPORT

inside my bike bag, I also wrap all the tubes in pipe lagging, turn the bars rounds and I've never had any problems.

richa

round-the-bend wrote:

I have been to the LBS and measured the Sicom case which is 950 mm high x 1150 mm long. I was thinking with one rear seat folded down it would go in upright providing the hatch back is high enough. The car hire places say Clio or equivalent so its hard to know for sure.

I very much doubt it will be big enough, unless you go for an MPV.

huggy

Even if it's a myth people like easyjet say to deflate them

wakemalcolm

I damaged a softbag when I left my tyres fully inflated - I think they didn't yield enough when the bag was either being dragged along the ground or vibrating in the hold. I normally leave anough pressure in to be able to ride for a short distance just in case there's no decent inflation options at the far end.

andyp

huggy wrote:

Even if it's a myth people like easyjet say to deflate them

They also tell you about how to evacuate the plane in the unlikely event of it landing on water - a commercial airliner has never successfully 'landed' on water.

Trust me, if your bike is packed up in a case and you tell them you have deflated the tyres they don't check. I never do as the air in the tube protects the rim from damage should the box be dropped or hit by something.

spennyj

Stuck on a Giant wrote:

An in-between solution can be to get an old cardboard bike box from your LBS.

For what it's worth, I second this as a solution. I've brought carbon bikes over from Australia (and taken them around Europe) in cardboard boxes and never had a problem. Admittedly it still makes me nervous but even Easyjet has got everything to arrivals in one piece.

ju5t1n

andyp wrote:

a commercial airliner has never successfully 'landed' on water.

Yes, but lots have unsucessfully landed in water, all with survivors