Airline travel with a bike box (BikeBoxAlan)

ChrisPrice
ChrisPrice Posts: 5
edited October 2009 in Tour & expedition
My wife and I have used folding Birdys in the past when we go to the US . However after years of wishing I had my own bike with me in some of the most wonderful scenery in the US (the White Mountains North of Boston) I finally bit the bullet and purchased a bike box. I wanted security for the bike (obviously) but did not want it to be so heavy as to make moving around an airport or loading into the hire car an unpleasant task. I purchased a bike box from BikeBoxAlan (delivery time less than two weeks by courier) in white with Cervelo / Zipvit / Continental livery (wow!). The storage system is simple to use (there are plenty of very heavy duty velcro straps holding everything in place, once the wheels, pedals, saddle and seat pillar and bars and stem are removed), there is plenty of room for all my kit (helmet, shoes, clothing, even my track pump!) and nothing moves around inside once assembled. It is so easy to move around the airport (the front wheels swivel) but is not so heavy that it proves unwieldy once full. It has to go via the oversize luggage system but I watched it being unloaded at Boston and it looks so good that the guy treated it even more carefully that I did loading it! The website shows it being stood on and pushed out of the back of a speeding car - it survived that with a prestige carbon bike inside it (one of the reasons I went for this make). Should have done it years ago. Yes it is not cheap, but the best rarely is. I could have sold ten times over, such was the interest it generated in both airports and the hotel. A great product IMO, well thought out, great construction - and British too !!!

Comments

  • andymiller
    andymiller Posts: 2,856
    Joined September 29. Posted September 29.
    Italy Cycling Guide
  • ChrisPrice
    ChrisPrice Posts: 5
    Correct, Andy. I've been reading threads out of interest on the website for ages but never felt the urge to contribute until now.
    For the record neither I nor anybody I know have any connection with BikeBoxAlan (other than the fact that I am currently enjoying one of their products), nor have I gained financially from the thread.
    I thought this was the point of these forums - people could express their genuine feelings about products in an open and frank manner?
  • andymiller
    andymiller Posts: 2,856
    Apologies Chris, but a first-time poster endorsing a product is inevitably going to attract scepticism.
    Italy Cycling Guide
  • ChrisPrice
    ChrisPrice Posts: 5
    Apologies accepted Andy, thanks.
    I guess I had to start somewhere, may as well be with something I rate!
    Rgds Chris
  • blorg
    blorg Posts: 1,169
    I called and emailed Bikeboxalan before but he never got back to me, maybe I should try again. I was looking to buy too, basically said "how much including shipping to Dublin."

    It does look like a good box, basically a copy of the top-end Scion box at around half the price. Only downside seems to be that it is very big and very heavy- this will be more relevant as airlines are reducing the weight allowance for boxes and there can be issues with rental cars...

    I have travelled a fair bit with a dhb box but it has suffered damage more than once... so need something else. The other one I would be considering would be the Roofbox one that comes in blue in a sort of trapeizoid shape- friend used that for the Marmotte and it seemed to work very well.
  • ChrisPrice
    ChrisPrice Posts: 5
    I do know he had a couple of trade fairs a month or so back, but I personally found him to be very helpful, and answered my queries promptly.
    Yes the box is large, but not overly so IMO - I managed to get this and my wife's bike (the Birdy, folded, inside its own hardcase), two more bags to go through the hold and one through the cabin, all in a small A Class Merc (erm, and my wife).
    I think it is mainly down to the design - it is quite narrow compared to its breadth and length, so provided you have a car with a base area large enough, it really takes up less room than you think - it lays flat at the base and you can easily load other bags on top. I had much more problems in the past when taking two folding Birdy bikes. Although I'm sure the volume of the Alan is larger, the Birdy cases are fatter and squatter, so taking two of them meant we had to be careful about what else we took. We once had to call another taxi at Heathrow when a Signum estate car could not get us and our luggage home!

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