Jskirbyman

Hi all,
It’s been a while since my last post. Since then, I’ve consistently ridden my ibis Cousin It tandem weekly, oftentimes daily, and somehow found someone who wants to do a bike tour with me…

I’m taking a bit of time off work this summer to fly to Egypt (!!) and we’re planning on taking an uncoupled Burley Samba with us instead of the Ibis - this is to prevent heartbreak if the tandem gets damaged in transit, or stolen, or breaks, etc… however, I need to procure some sort of box or bag to get it on the plane!
I have already checked with the airline (Polish Air), and they accommodate tandems. Should I try to make some sort of wooden box, a la carbonfiberboy? Should I make a custom cardboard box, consisting of two bike boxes connected together?

My personal preference would be to get an Scicon Sports Soft Bag - internal frame to protect the bike, has wheels to roll on, seems pretty nice. However, I don’t have $600 to drop on a bag I may only use for one trip.

Does anyone have any experience flying with their bike in a cardboard box? Creating a tandem box out of multiple boxes? Better yet, does anyone have a Scicon Sports Bag, or a comparable bag that can fit a tandem, that they would be willing to sell to me?

Thanks for reading this essay! I’ll try to grab some pictures soon to show the setup of our Burley!
Jaden in sweltering Tucson AZ

jas

Jaden

I have a tandem specific padded soft case with internal frame. I think its bikepro? We don't use it anymore since we now have a coupled bike.
I think it was $650 new and I'd be happy to sell it to you for $200. I'm in Seattle, so the only thing would be getting it to you in Tucson. It can't fold as it has the frame, but I'm sure bike flights could manage it.

Let me know if you want to try to make this work.

Joel

jas

Jaden

I have a tandem specific padded soft case with internal frame. I think its bikepro? We don't use it anymore since we now have a coupled bike.
I think it was $650 new and I'd be happy to sell it to you for $200. I'm in Seattle, so the only thing would be getting it to you in Tucson. It can't fold as it has the frame, but I'm sure bike flights could manage it.

Let me know if you want to try to make this work.

Joel

reburns

I used a CrateWorks tandem box (corrugated plastic) for air travel with an uncoupled tandem for several years. One thing to watch out for (beyond the size of box you will need to transport to/from/through airports) is the total weight of the package. 70 pounds seemed to be a common limit by many airlines and airports, and it’s surprisingly easy to exceed that depending on the box or bag. The CrateWorks box was about the lightest option, but they stopped making it and I’m not sure the company exists anymore. I still have the box even though we now have a coupled tandem, but the last time I checked, the stoker didn’t want to let go of it for some reason.

Jskirbyman

Reburns, thanks for the tips! It's not going to be hard to get really close to that weight limit, the burley is not a light bike by any means.

jas , I send you a pm regarding your case!

Jskirbyman

Still looking for a Tandem Bike Bag! Trying to snag one before our trip on the 2nd.
Jaden in Tucson, AZ

jas

Jayden,
I cannot see the PM.
try emailing me at shapnyc at hotmail dot com
Joel