Bikes on a Plane

nonnac85

Off to Malaga visiting relatives and taking my bike with me
2 questions...

1 - any body any experience of which airlines have a decent allowance for bikes. Most seem to be 20kg but I have heard easyjet give you 32kg but their T+Cs are confusing

2 - proper bike bag e.g. like this or plastic bag so the handlers can see its a bike and supposedly treat it more carefully.

NatoED

damn i was expecting a script for a new horror film where a FBI agent is escorting a witness back to the USA when they are attacked by inner tubes and such . The immortal words being uttered at the end being :

" I'm fed up with the Futher mucking bikes on this futher mucking plane!"

I'd go see it.



Seriously i'd put it in a proper bag and deflate the tyres and let the air out of the forks if they are air forks. (and lock it up just in case) Make sure no one can open the bag .

nonnac85

FBI agent is escorting a witness back to the USA when they are attacked by inner tubes and such

Sounds like a better basis for the film than the snakes...

TBH a box sounds better but I can see the logic in just using a bag.

Anyone got an answer for Q1?

NatoED

when i say a bike bag i mean a proper bike carrier . Wheels in a box are a good idea . you can get solid bike bags which will protect it better.

Deputy Dawg

The bag you linked to looks exactly the same as my CRC one.

It should be good enough for occasional plane use if you pad it out with your riding gear/bubble wrap/pipe lagging.

The one security flaw I've noticed is the zips to hang it onto a rack. With no lock hands could easily get in to pinch smaller bits (maybe a long zip tie between the two?).

If your not planning on using it much, a cardboard bike box from your LBS would work fine.

mac_man

nonnac85 wrote:

Off to Malaga visiting relatives and taking my bike with me
2 questions...

1 - any body any experience of which airlines have a decent allowance for bikes. Most seem to be 20kg but I have heard easyjet give you 32kg but their T+Cs are confusing

2 - proper bike bag e.g. like this or plastic bag so the handlers can see its a bike and supposedly treat it more carefully.

Took 2 bikes to Malaga over Xmas with Easy Jet. Cheaper than Ryan air by a mile. Didn't actually notice any weight restriction TBH. We used to boxes from the LBS and we were fine. Padded the inside with pads, shoes and other bits of biking gear and nobody looked twice. The boxes fit ok on the luggage trollies as well.

If you're hiring a car... just make sure it's big enough :-) we had a Ford Cmax and the bikes only just fit.

Where are you riding? And who with - you going with any of the MTB guides out there?

alfablue

2 - the plastic bags worked fine, just take pedals off. Handlers treated bikes with kid gloves, standing them upright on the wheels on the trolley to the 'plane, and bringing them out to us by hand at the other end.

We tour straight from the airport so nowhere to leave bulky boxes or bags, but in any case I would use the plastic bag for preference.

ashleymp777

Another excellent bit of advice which i picked up the other week was to nip to B&Q and get a couple of lengths of foam pipe lagging to put round the frame. I've recently started transporting my MTB and road bike round quite a lot and it's a god send. Just secure them with a little bit of masking tape or celotape to keep it on.

Northwind

I do like the plastic bags idea, but I'm not brave enough to try it. Instead I use the approach a mate recommended- "Make sure you package it up so that you'd be happy to drop it out an upstairs window". Course some airlines have low weight limits- with Jet2 the 20kg limit meant no cardboard reinforcement and even limited how much bubble wrap etc I could use, annoying that.

Those big packaging air bags- PakR is one make- are fantastic for this btw, they weigh nothing, they're extremely tough and they're convenient.

NatoED wrote:

Seriously i'd put it in a proper bag and deflate the tyres and let the air out of the forks if they are air forks. (and lock it up just in case) Make sure no one can open the bag .

I wouldn't do any of that. Leave air in tyres, will protect the rims. Leave forks as
standard, they'll be fine, the air pressure difference is small.

Locking it depends on where you're flying etc- but if a customs man decides to get into your bag you can find it cut open, and a thief will probably still get in. What a lot of people recommend is to cable tie the locks up, which makes it impossible to get in without cutting the cable tie, ie not secure but tamperproof. Security can still get in (and should leave a tag on it marked that it was opened), but nobody else can get in without it being obvious. Neat idea I think. After all little padlocks can be cut effortlessly as can the bag.

nonnac85

If you're hiring a car... just make sure it's big enough we had a Ford Cmax and the bikes only just fit.

Using my relatives car - will be plenty big enough :-)

Where are you riding? And who with - you going with any of the MTB guides out there?

Going alone no guides, riding up near Fuengirola / Benelmadena (using the teleferico hopefully) and just generally exploring. Need to find a off road good map of the area

Pipe lagging sounds a good idea as do those Pakr bags
Might go for a box from LBS as its light - some of those bags seem to eat into your allowance...