L'etape Airplane Bike Packing

sanspoof

Hello all,

Just wondering if I could dig into all your experience with taking a bike abroad...

I have borrowed a bike bag from a friend with decent padding, although it doesn't have a frame or anything inside to place your bike on...

My main question is, when i take my wheels off, do I then put my skewers back on the frame to help avoid any compression from unnatural angles, so for example if bikes were piled up on top of each other?

Any hints or tips anyone could offer??? I am obviously intended to bubble wrap to high heaven also.

Thanks in advance :-)

fenix

Follow the advice in this - you won't go far wrong.

http://www.pirateshipoffools.co.uk/?p=41

If you pack the bike right you'd be happy to throw the bike down some stairs.

If you're not that happy then you've not padded it enough.

I'd also add - put the chain on the largest chainring and zip tie it on. Chainrings are sharp so its better if the chain is over them.

When the airline ask if you've deflated the tyres - just say yes. And only take out a little bit.

Don't try smuggling CO2 canisters through either.

And it could be worth ordering a spare rear hanger. They're not expensive and you never know...

sanspoof

Fenix wrote:

Follow the advice in this - you won't go far wrong.

http://www.pirateshipoffools.co.uk/?p=41

If you pack the bike right you'd be happy to throw the bike down some stairs.

If you're not that happy then you've not padded it enough.

I'd also add - put the chain on the largest chainring and zip tie it on. Chainrings are sharp so its better if the chain is over them.

When the airline ask if you've deflated the tyres - just say yes. And only take out a little bit.

Don't try smuggling CO2 canisters through either.

And it could be worth ordering a spare rear hanger. They're not expensive and you never know...

Thank you very much for taking the time to reply, that is world class advice.

Cheers!!!

amrushton

Put the skewers back in the forks. Bubble wrap/parcel tape cost pence. Pipe lag around all tubes. Unbolt the rear mech and zip tie to the frame. Some large pieces of cardboard (or thin ply) on the inside of the bag. If poss leave the bars on but loosen the stem, turn the bar/stem and roll the bars downward so the hooks go under the tt. Dont forget to mark/write down where the bars were and have a torx/allen key set in the bag with your pedals (in a padded bag/towel)

sanspoof

amrushton wrote:

Put the skewers back in the forks. Bubble wrap/parcel tape cost pence. Pipe lag around all tubes. Unbolt the rear mech and zip tie to the frame. Some large pieces of cardboard (or thin ply) on the inside of the bag. If poss leave the bars on but loosen the stem, turn the bar/stem and roll the bars downward so the hooks go under the tt. Dont forget to mark/write down where the bars were and have a torx/allen key set in the bag with your pedals (in a padded bag/towel)

Thanks for the advice...Im going to throw in my torque wrench and write down all important measurements....!! So should all be ok, i've got lots of foam which i am going to prop the bike up with at the bottom....my main worry is the base of the bike and it getting dropped...

pilot_pete

All been discussed at length before. Here is the last one I contributed to;

http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=40042&t=13062206&p=19838522#p19838522

If you look for my post you will see my advice....for what it is worth I am a cyclist, but also an airline captain who takes his bike abroad every year....so I have inside knowledge and experience as to how bikes are handled when carried on aeroplanes and what the likely pitfalls are.

If you want to minimise the risk of damage you need a hard shell box that can resist crushing (within reason) and survive falling from an aircraft hold onto the ground (depending on aeroplane type this can be anything from about 5' to 25'!

Follow the box manufacturers instructions on packing, usually this entails removing stem/ bars as one and turning them and placing them at ninety degrees to the frame, removing seat and seat post, wheels which screw back into a shaped lid using the skewers and removing your rear derailleur and hangar and wrapping them in foam before taping onto a seat/ chain stay. It all works very well and with practice only takes about 20 minutes to do. This is quicker and better than trying to fit a bike into a manufacturers old cardboard delivery box, which of course was designed to fit into a shipping container with 100 other boxes and not to be used to air freight a bike by itself.

Good luck

PP

Oh and p.s. if you go to your local bike shop they will give you packing materials that come with a delivered bike. This includes hard foam bits that can be wrapped around the frame to help prevent chafing/ rubbing damage and hard plastic inserts to go between fork legs and rear drop outs to support the frame/ forks in these vulnerable areas.

pblakeney

Pilot Pete wrote:

... and hard plastic inserts to go between fork legs and rear drop outs to support the frame/ forks in these vulnerable areas.

These are a must!
The skewers will do nothing to stop compression.

manic_esso

I tend to use loads of pipe lagging, even round the chainring. You can also cut a length of pipe lagging to fit between your forks and tape it to stop it coming off or loose

sanspoof

Thanks for all you replies, much appreciated...

All good advice that I am going to follow for sure!!!

navrig2

All of the above plus I bought two very cheap, small beach balls. I inflate them to about 75% and place one between the forks and one within the rear triangle. They weigh almost nothing but are strong enough to take most pressures on the bag.

fenix

And then you have two beach balls to play with !

Genius idea there Navrig !

podsquad

Bike Box Alan all the way. These guys offer a great service if you are based in the North West www.bike-armour.co.uk

I used a Bike Box Alan to get my bike to Pau for the 2014 L'Etape, packing took 30 mins and it was solid as a rock. I even witnessed the baggage handlers launch my case at the luggage trailer, it missed and bounced onto the floor. I was quite concerned, but the bike was not damaged nor the bike box