Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Madison, WI
Posts: 11,214
Bikes: 1961 Ideor, 1966 Perfekt 3 Speed AB Hub, 1994 Bridgestone MB-6, 2006 Airnimal Joey, 2009 Thorn Sherpa, 2013 Thorn Nomad MkII, 2015 VO Pass Hunter, 2017 Lynskey Backroad, 2017 Raleigh Gran Prix, 1980s Bianchi Mixte on a trainer. Others are now gone.
Mentioned: 48 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3462 Post(s)
I have tried to adjust the size and shape of a cardboard box a few times, I find that a pizza cutter can help crease the cardboard to make it easier to fold exactly where you wanted to put in a fold. Hold a yardstick or other straight edge and go over a few times, start out light and increase until it has a nice crease It takes care, push too hard and it can cut the paper.
I used to strap all the parts together inside my S&S case with double sided velcro, but am switching to zip ties for that purpose. If you put everything, or at least all the big parts together in a bundle that won't shake loose, it is less likely that things will bounce around inside the box. And of course that means padding between the pieces, etc. Using zip ties to hold all the big pieces together makes it less likely that TSA will take it out of your box and shove things back in the wrong way.
If you wanted to make an 80 inch box that you could re-use again and again, a sheet of corroplast might have better protection against water and hold up better if it gets wet than paper based cardboard. I bought a sheet of corroplast last year for about $20 from Home Depot that was 4 by 8 feet, fortunately I could fit it in my truck to take home without cutting it first.
And of course the standard caution applies, remove the rear derailleur from the hanger and strap or tape it to the frame, remove the skewers from the wheels, I like to put a piece of plastic or metal tubing that is 135mm long between my rear dropouts to protect the frame if airline handlers stack stuff on top of my case, I use a bolt on type skewer to hold that tube in between the rear dropouts. Use the plastic thingy that comes with a new bike in the box in the fork dropouts if you leave your fork in the frame, if you don't have one, get one from a bike shop. Etc.
Disposable gloves can be nice to have if the bike is not perfectly clean. I have asked at the denist or Dr office when I am there if I can have a few pairs for working on my bike, they always give me a few pairs.