John N

Hello, my wife and I are contemplating a month-long tour in Europe next year and my wife only rides a recumbent trike. Does anyone have a shop they can recommend that rents recumbent trikes, ideally an electric trike, on at least a weekly basis? We are pretty open to which area as the rental trike is the limiting factor. On a related issue, does anyone know the cheapest way to ship a folding trike from the USA to Europe and back? I have shipped my DF with me on the plane several times but a trike is another issue.

Tailwinds, John

Kelly I

I think you already have the easy answer, with your folding trike. It's the ride your wife is familiar with and should be no problem to box up to appropriate airline acceptable size. I flew American to Madrid this past summer with a Stratus XP that had S&S couplers. American's bicycle policy was (check to see if it has changed!), is a generous 120 liner inches. Not, around the box, but just one side. The 50 pound weight was the number we had to watch. I put the seat in a duffle bag, and that went as my second piece of luggage.

There is the downside for you that E bikes/batteries are not allowed on airplanes.

I've been emailing with a man in Alaska who will be coming to Tucson for a month. He and his wife both have folding trikes that they fly with regularly.

I was uncertain about the whole Europe thing. We rode 1,400 miles over 29 riding days and had a grand time. Our bikes were seldom allowed in the room, but the lodging hosts always found a secure place for our bikes each night. We found Spain/Portugal to be grand cycling destinations - low traffic, good roads, and pleasant people. Riding past castles never got dull. Our record was four in one day!

Here is a link to my journal - https://www.cycleblaze.com/journals/gotagorda/

John N

Thanks for replying. Here is American's Bicycle Policy (as of this date):

You can travel with 1 non-motorized touring, mountain, tandem, or racing bicycle if the:

• Bicycle is in a hard-sided case, bicycle bag or box built for bicycle transport
• Handlebars are fixed sideways
• Pedals are removed; or
• Pedals and handlebars are wrapped in plastic foam or a similar material

Please note that if your bicycle is not in a hard-sided case, it will be treated as a fragile item.

Standard checked bag fees of your destination apply up to 50 lbs / 23 kgs and 126 in / 320 cm (length + width + height) and standard overweight fee applies from 51 lbs / 23 kgs to 70 lbs / 32 kgs.

You must have been very lucky on 120 inches on one-side as that is typically WAY over-length. In 45 years of bike touring, often requiring a plane, I have never seen that. As you said, the weight limit will be an issue. AA even states that the max size on any size is 43" from Madrid. That and if I can get the trike down to 126" linear inches (linear by the way mean (L+W+H). I do plan on seeing if I can make it work but I doubt it will. The hassles of boxing it, shipping it, rebuilding the trike each way plus the actual cost plus the lack of taking batteries is what is making us lean toward renting if we can.

If others have any suggestions on where to rent a trike in Europe, that would be appreciated.

Tailwinds and Merry Christmas! John