Ryanair: taking bike - weight limit?

kaiserpc

Hi,

I'm off to France next week with my bike (going up Mt Ventoux), I'm flying with Ryanair (from Edinburgh to Marseille). I can't find anything on Ryanair's website about weight limits for sporting equipment (I've already paid the £30 each way for them to carry my bike).

Does anyone know if they have a weight limit on bike bags? They state that checked baggage i.e. a suit case has a limit of 15kg (and then they charge £14 extra per kilo!!!), but there is no mention of a limit on sports equipment.

I don't want to get to the airport and they charge me an extra fortune on weight limit grounds. I'm not taking any other hold luggage with me (as they chrage £20 per bag) - so I'm hoping to stuff some of my stuff in the bike bag, and carry the rest as hand luggage.

getting nervous now that they will charge me, thanks in advance

APIII

No weight limit as such. On the way back, at the check in desk there was some discussion between the girl and her supervisor, but she was told no limit applies. Mine was only 21kg all in anyway. I think airlines as a more general rule have a 32kg limit on a single item, so you should be ok.

Floodcp

I had about 24kgs in my bike box when flying with Ryanair and all was ok. They did weigh it at Stansted but I think this was more to do with the upper limit of 32kg as previously stated. Saw some heavy item stickers being put on other large packages.

Hope you have a good time on Ventoux

kaiserpc

thanks for the replies guys - just the answers I was looking for

Philip S

I'm thinking of taking my bike with me on Ryanair, Edinburgh to France, in a couple of months time. It would be great to hear how you got on with them. I've never taken a bike on a plane before, so need some reassurance!

Cheers,
Philip

Bodhbh

IWhen I used them they asked me at the desk how much the bike weighed, but did not check. Guessing wildly I told em 20kg and they didn't seem bothered. I don't think you're supposed to stuff the bikebag with luggage, but I wouldn't like to say the likelyhood of them pulling you up on it. I was mildy cheeky, bungeeing a rusksack with the tools in and the front panniers with some bits in to the bike. Though I could at least argue this was part of the bike if it came to it (well, sort of). Not sure I'd want to risk stuffign the bag with bottles of wine etc .

kaiserpc

Philip S wrote:

I'm thinking of taking my bike with me on Ryanair, Edinburgh to France, in a couple of months time. It would be great to hear how you got on with them. I've never taken a bike on a plane before, so need some reassurance!

Cheers,
Philip

Just back - great trip, Ventoux is the toughest Mountain I've done in France - worse than the Galibier, and Alp D'Huez.

Anyway, I can't fault Ryan Air - When you get to Edinburgh airport just join the Ryan Air queue (check-in 27-30). I was asked what weight my bag was - I said 25kg (I packed my toiletry bag, helmet, shoes, most of my clothes etc in my bike bag as well) - they didn't bother weighing it and just put a "heavy" sticker on it. I then took my bike to the oversize luggage check-in at the far left hand side. I managed to get the emergency exit seats both ways :-) and my bike was in perfect condition in France, and back in Scotland :-)

Note: I did pack the bike pretty well though - I had a large soft fabric DHB bike bag, took off the pedals, took off the wheels and cable tied them to the frame, turned the handlebars and put one side through a wheel, covered all the tubing in pipe lagging, put the chain on the biggest chain ring to protect the chain ring, covered the entire cassette, chain, chain ring in 5 metres of bubble wrap (rolled around it) and then put cardboard inserts on either side of the bike and below it.

I would certainly travel with them again

disgruntledgoat

No problems with Ryan Air for me either... Took it on without a 2nd glance, arrived in one piece at both ends.

Now BMI on the other hand... (See other thread)

Philip S

Thanks guys. Ryanair's looking like a good bet. If this goes without a hitch, I could see a few cheeky Carcassone flights being taken next year... Then perhaps even a May/June Chambery trip...

Marcw

Any one taken a bike with Easyjet? (Bristol)

I'm off to Italy to cycle Blockhaus/Passo Lanciano in the August heat. Probably wasted my money buying a return ticket...

Any recommendations re Bike bags/cases? I can't afford a £350 bike box (cool though they may be) but need to know best alternatives.

Alternatively, anyone know about hiring bike boxes in the South West of England?

all advice gratefully received,
cheers,
Marc

bompington

That'll be £3.99 for the bike*




* plus £99 per wheel

sampras38

Anybody taken a bike box on a BA flight?

How did you get on checking in...any weight restriction problems?

I'm off to France on Monday for the first time.

andymiller

Marcw wrote:

Any one taken a bike with Easyjet? (Bristol)
Any recommendations re Bike bags/cases? I can't afford a £350 bike box (cool though they may be) but need to know best alternatives.

£350?????

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/dhb_E ... 360026102/

I don't own one (Tardis Ground Effect for me). But I've seen them in action and they seem good. A b*stard to lift on top of a van let me tell you.

sampras38

andymiller wrote:

Marcw wrote:

Any one taken a bike with Easyjet? (Bristol)
Any recommendations re Bike bags/cases? I can't afford a £350 bike box (cool though they may be) but need to know best alternatives.

£350?????

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/dhb_E ... 360026102/

I don't own one (Tardis Ground Effect for me). But I've seen them in action and they seem good. A b*stard to lift on top of a van let me tell you.

0/..

That's the box I'm using to take my Scott to France on Monday.

Marcw

£350? see below:

http://www.bikeboxalan.co.uk

Anyone know how likely a bike is to make it through unscathed in a bike bag?
Obviously in the above thread people seem to have been ok. Any horror stories out there?
cheers,
Marc

Marcw

whoops didn't do that link right, sorry.
http://www.bikeboxalan.co.uk
hope that's better
marc

andymiller

I believe you. Th point I was making was that you don't have to pay £350.

Gotte

Marcw wrote:

Any one taken a bike with Easyjet? (Bristol)

I'm off to Italy to cycle Blockhaus/Passo Lanciano in the August heat. Probably wasted my money buying a return ticket...

Any recommendations re Bike bags/cases? I can't afford a £350 bike box (cool though they may be) but need to know best alternatives.

Alternatively, anyone know about hiring bike boxes in the South West of England?

all advice gratefully received,
cheers,
Marc

I went Easyjet from Liverpool to Berlin, and they were fine. No problems at all, except for the usual waiting, cueing, waiting, cueing, waiting, cueing......

alfablue

Marcw wrote:

Any one taken a bike with Easyjet? (Bristol)

I'm off to Italy to cycle Blockhaus/Passo Lanciano in the August heat. Probably wasted my money buying a return ticket...

Any recommendations re Bike bags/cases? I can't afford a £350 bike box (cool though they may be) but need to know best alternatives.

Alternatively, anyone know about hiring bike boxes in the South West of England?

all advice gratefully received,
cheers,
Marc

I used the CTC plastic bag method for 2 bikes, Easyjet Bristol to Pisa. The handlers (I saw them) did indeed treat them with respect, standing them up on the luggage trolley, and personally carrying them out to us at the baggage collection place. I wouldn't take my carbon bike this way, but was very pleased and happy with the treatment my cherished steel audax bike got and my g/f's aluminium road bike. No damage whatsoever, plus the CTC bags are easily carried on tour, which was a big issue as we had nowhere to leave more cumbersome packaging/bags. It was also a simple 10 minute process to pack/unpack at the airports, just turning bars, removing pedals and fastening the bags with a zip tie and a bit of duck tape to secure the excess flappy bit. Testament to the success of this approach, the bags remain in perfect condition after 4 flights.

Gotte

I'm going to go with the clear plastic bag method when I go away in September. I've been away twice before, and packed 2 bikes up in stronger bike bags. I've prettywell disassembled the entire bike, wrapped it in pipe lagging, cardboard, the works, and been faced with a major reassembly at the other end, then a dissassembly when returning, and of course a reassambly when home. It's just not worth it. Much as I like tinkering with my bike, it's too much.
So plastic bags for me this time.

disgruntledgoat

Gotte wrote:

I'm going to go with the clear plastic bag method when I go away in September. I've been away twice before, and packed 2 bikes up in stronger bike bags. I've prettywell disassembled the entire bike, wrapped it in pipe lagging, cardboard, the works, and been faced with a major reassembly at the other end, then a dissassembly when returning, and of course a reassambly when home. It's just not worth it. Much as I like tinkering with my bike, it's too much.
So plastic bags for me this time.

To be fair, and maybe i'm just lucky, I've never been one for the total dismantle and have never had a bike damaged yet (10 years of trying!). I generally just take off pedals, bars, seatpost and rear mech (wrap in bubble wrap) and use the spacers you get with the frame for the front and rear drop outs. Then wrap it in an old thick table cloth and chuck it in a bike bag.

My mate, on the other hand, spends about 3 hours packing his.

Marcw

That sounds pretty much like a total dismantle to me - what else can you remove other than the wheels (which are the easiest bit!)?

Marc

bigjim

I bought that bike bag off wiggle for £99 12 months ago. Stll not used it though.
My mates bike [carbon scott] in a soft bag was chucked off the carousel at Palma by the shagaluff crowd who thought it was good fun.
Took a bike to Large item scanner at Manchester and security told another guard he was training, to always check bike bags on the scanner in case people were trying to carry unrelated articles in the bikebag. Might just have been a jobsworth but......

storck

Hi im just back from Ventoux was over with Veloventoux for Tour,flew Ryanair from Edin to Marseille no probs with bike case they dont weigh them you just take along to over sized luggage area put on belt and off it goes,good luck with Ventoux been up Bedoin side 3 times now and that bloody forrest section still goes on and on.

priory

I think the more it looks like a bike the more respect it gets, but you cannot rely on it.

But I do not take valuable bikes (except my folder in a suitcase with padding), because I have had damage and at least evidence of rough treatment in the past. I saw a bike in a case fall from the hold to the concrete a couple of years ago. I cannot believe it was ok.

There is a choice between wrapping it well so it might survive a kicking, or leaving it looking vulnerable so they are careful with it.

disgruntledgoat

Marcw wrote:

That sounds pretty much like a total dismantle to me - what else can you remove other than the wheels (which are the easiest bit!)?

Marc

Fair point... I do remove the wheels.

However, said friend has to put the chain back on and recable, plus undo about 30 layers of cardboard and pipelagging. Not how i want ot spend my holiday, but there you are.

Brian B

kaiserpc wrote:

Hi,

I'm off to France next week with my bike (going up Mt Ventoux), I'm flying with Ryanair (from Edinburgh to Marseille). I can't find anything on Ryanair's website about weight limits for sporting equipment (I've already paid the £30 each way for them to carry my bike).

Does anyone know if they have a weight limit on bike bags? They state that checked baggage i.e. a suit case has a limit of 15kg (and then they charge £14 extra per kilo!!!), but there is no mention of a limit on sports equipment.

I don't want to get to the airport and they charge me an extra fortune on weight limit grounds. I'm not taking any other hold luggage with me (as they chrage £20 per bag) - so I'm hoping to stuff some of my stuff in the bike bag, and carry the rest as hand luggage.

getting nervous now that they will charge me, thanks in advance

I am just back from Ventoux and flew from edinburh to marseille with ryan air. The only question they ask is how much it weighs. Tell them apporx 25kgs and you are sorted. They never ask any more than that.