Bike transport advise

klep
klep Posts: 158
edited April 2012 in Road buying advice
Hi guys,

I'm planning to go to Mallorca next month and I want to take my bike with me. I live in Holland and I'm going by airplane.

In the past I have done this before. Loadsa bubble wrap in an old carton bike box and I was all set. That was when I had a cheap alu frame.
Now I want to bring my carbon frame and I'm afraid of transporting it the same way as I did with the alu one.

The problem is that those bike-cases are extremely expensive. I dont wanna spend hundreds of €€ on this but I want to know of a safe way to get my dear bike transported.

Anyone had experience with this?

Comments

  • proto
    proto Posts: 1,483
    I bought one of these a couple of weeks ago from Germany. Even including carriage it was cheaper that Wiggle, and much, much cheaper than Bike Box Alan.

    Special 'deal of the day' offer at the time cost me £165.00 incl carriage. Looks like price has gone up a tad but still a bargain.

    Highly recommended!

    http://www.bike-discount.de/shop/k1250/ ... e-box.html
  • graham_g
    graham_g Posts: 652
    Ask at your nearest 'proper' roadie bike shop - most have top quality hardcases that they will rent out for this exact purpose.
  • cougie
    cougie Posts: 22,512
    My carbon bike has always gone in a bike bag.
    Padded out to the max but its been fine for years.
  • mallorcajeff
    mallorcajeff Posts: 1,489
    moved mine many times here to mallorca and been fine. i use a padded soft bag and then loads of bubble wrap and two cheap inflatable lilos either side dont weight much but lots of protection.
  • klep
    klep Posts: 158
    Thanks for the help guys, I think I might buy a hard bike case after all since I'm way too lazy to wrap my bike every time I want to go abroad with it. And I plan on doing more trips with it after I come back from Mallorca.
  • nferrar
    nferrar Posts: 2,511
    Just beware the cheap hardcases can weigh a fair amount (could be an issue with some airline terms). Personally I just use a softcase (Evoc) bag but it's well-protected (I add some pipe lagging to certain areas is all), one of the best things about it is the wheels, makes going through airports a doddle (can be a hassle sorting a trolley out if you're on your own).
  • rc856
    rc856 Posts: 1,144
    I've been abroad with my carbon a few times.
    Bike has survived fine in this Tifosi bike bag.

    There's also a good wee guide to packing your bag here

    You can also hire a box from Bike Science
    £40 for 10 days. You have to cover the cost of the return postage which would be about £25 I think.

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