Bike transport by plane

goonz

Hi I will be cycling in the Pyrenees in August and have decided to take my own bike rather than hire there.

I will be flying so am looking into travel arrangements for my bike. What would I need and is it safe?

I hear some bike shops hire out bike boxes are these sufficient and safe?

navrig2

Typically three choices:

1. Obtain a cardboard bike box from your LBS and pad it out for protection - biggest risk, cheapest

2. Buy/borrow a soft bag and reinforce it with some cardboard and padding - medium risk, middle cost unless you borrow.

3. Buy/hire a hard case. Lowest risk and most expensive. Google "BikeBoxAlan"

All of the above options are known to work but each carries its own level of risk. Someone will have horror stories about how each one of the options went wrong.

You'll pay extra on the flight too.

All options require a degree of dismantling and reassembly so you need to know how to do that. Check YouTube for guidance.

goonz

Thanks mate, yes I think the final option is the only sensible solution imo. Do bike shops hire them out?

Dismantling shouldnt be a problem as long as its not too much other than wheels an pedals and handlebars....

navrig2

goonz wrote:

Thanks mate, yes I think the final option is the only sensible solution imo. Do bike shops hire them out?

Dismantling shouldnt be a problem as long as its not too much other than wheels an pedals and handlebars....

http://bikeboxalan.co.uk/

http://www.boxmywheels.com/

Some LBS hire them out.

7 of us went to alps last year, all used soft bags. No bike damage at all using EasyJet. Some scuffing on the bags themselves though.

We are doing it again this year, the same way.

slowbike

We flew to Sardinia with Evoc bike bags - these are soft bags with a solid base and battens to add stiffness.

No problems with the airline (Ryan Air) or either airport (Gatwick & Sardinia) - we did book them on as sports bags @ the extra cost though.

Extra things I did do were
a) create some fork and rear dropout spacers - just some plastic conduit held in place by QR.
b) put shoes over the levers so they were protected from being crushed
c) removed the chain & rear mech - chain went in a bag and sidepocket, rear mech wrapped in cloth & cable tied to the frame
d) I had to remove my seatpost to get it in the bag - this was carefully wrapped, placed and then held in place by straps

we got the evoc bags as they are lighter than many solid cases so we can pack clothes & tools with them within the weight allowance, plus it's easier storage when we're not using them. If you don't need to worry about the latter and don't need to travel too often then hiring one is a better bet and you could probably do with a solid one.

navrig2

One of our group has an Evoc and it looks to be the most robust and well designed. It is also the most expensive of the group.

goonz

Transport costs are not a problem thanks work! So general consensus I need to remove the rear hanger. Great was hoping not to.

Ill buy some of that pipe insulation foam piping and wrap the frame in that and bubble wrap the rest of the bits. Hopefully that should be protection enough?

navrig2

goonz wrote:

Ill buy some of that pipe insulation foam piping and wrap the frame in that and bubble wrap the rest of the bits. Hopefully that should be protection enough?

Depends on what approach you take:

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=bikebag

rickwiggans

Also, make sure you are bang up to date with the carriers regs. They are all different. For example, last time I flew Jet2, there was a limit on the weight of the bike/box/bag combination. It is , or was only 20 Kg. Above this , they are very likely to refuse to carry it. Most bikes in an Evoc are below this weight. Many bikes in a hard case are above this weight. Easyjet's regs are more generous. No doubt somebody will be along to say they've flown Jet2 loads of times with an over-weight bike box, but I've seen people a couple of times being refused, and on a couple of occasions people i've travelled with have only got bikes on because they were only just over the limit, and the rest of us were well under. Whoever you fly with, carry a copy of the carriers regs with you to wave at the check-in staff if needed. They aren't always up to date with the regs.

slowbike

goonz wrote:

Transport costs are not a problem thanks work! So general consensus I need to remove the rear hanger. Great was hoping not to.

your choice - I didn't bother removing the hanger when we transported the bikes in the bags on a yacht - but then I was doing the handling. With the hanger being designed to break under the wrong load it seemed sensible to remove it when someone else was handling the bike - even in a well packaged bag.
If it really upsets you, you could make some sort of protection for the rear mech and fix it in place so it can't get hit. But TBH, 1x 5mm allen key and it doesn't take more than 2 minutes to reattach.

Don't forget to let some air out of your tyres...

navrig2

Slowbike wrote:

goonz wrote:

Transport costs are not a problem thanks work! So general consensus I need to remove the rear hanger. Great was hoping not to.

Don't forget to let some air out of your tyres...

Don't think that's ncessary as the holds is pressurised on commercial aircraft.

rickwiggans

Navrig2 wrote:

Slowbike wrote:

goonz wrote:

Transport costs are not a problem thanks work! So general consensus I need to remove the rear hanger. Great was hoping not to.

Don't forget to let some air out of your tyres...

Don't think that's necessary as the holds is pressurised on commercial aircraft.

It isn't, but despite that, and despite the fact you have almost completely dismantled your bike to get it in the box, they will, very sternly, refer to their list of "Things to ask cyclists", and ask you "have you let the tyres down,have you removed the pedals, and have you turned the handlebars". Bless ' em! (Yes, I know that is for people travelling with bikes in plastic bags, but it still makes me smile. I'm easily amused.

Oh, and despite the fact that CAA rules allow CO2 cylinders, and some airlines will let you carry a couple, some don't, and certainly the security people at Leeds and Blackpool won't let them through.

goonz

Yep my mate got them through to Belgium on the Eurostar but on the way back he had them removed.