Nbob

I usually travel stateside a few times a year and rent a bike for the week or so I'm there. Most visits I stay with friends, who have good relations with the LBS, and wind up renting very passable rides. That was not the case last week when I visited Vegas for a conference. The gal I know there (and usually ride Red Rocks with) was out of town so I booked a bike for a day from a LBS. It seemed like a good deal -pick up/drop off at the hotel was included.

We get to Red Rocks and the guy takes the bike off the rack, hands it to me, and drives off. As I bent down to instal my pedals I noticed the chain and cogs looked like they hadn't been cleaned for months. Oh well, I thought, it's not my bike and off I went. About half way up the climb I got out of the saddle to attack a steep grade and the chain dropped. I was on a right downstroke - my leg went swish- and I began to tilt over. Usually when I lose balance by instinct I lean opposite, crank the wheel and power out of it. This time with no chain, hence no power, I over compensated and hit the deck on my left side. Put the chain back on only to have it drop again 10 minutes later and again 2 minutes later.

When I reached the top of the climb I thought my troubles were over because I can big ring the ride from then on. But no ! I began to experience, what I first thought was, phantom shifting about every 45 seconds. As it turned out it wasn't a shift just the chain losing tension for a moment ( my guess is the bottom pulley was sticking thus leveraging the top one back causing chain slack). So much for a nice smooth cadence. It was a total buzz kill for a ride I usually love.

Anyway, I'm thinking from now on I'll pay the oversized baggage and just bring my own. I have a Evoc bike bag and have taken my bike along many times within the country with no problems. My concern is taking it across the border. When I travel here the bag is too large even for the oversized X-ray so I have to unzip it and let them inspect the contents. So two questions;

1. Anybody have experience flying a bike in/out of the US?
2. Anybody have any problems with hotels letting you keep your bike in the room? I'm thinking it might look a little strange wheeling it through the casino- but I can live with that ( hey, it's Vegas). I just don't want them to make me keep it in the bell room.

rbart4506

Flew into the US last year, from Canada, with two bikes....no issues, except the cost...

Really it's not a big deal if you can get past the cost of traveling with the bike...

aztimm

I've only rented from two different shops, but my experiences were very different:

* here in the Phoenix area, I rented both a Roubaix and a Tarmac to test them both out before buying. They were both SL3 versions of the bikes, and both in fantastic shape. The LBS put my pedals on for me, stored my old bike, provided a bike bag with spare tube, CO2, etc. Rode the Roubaix for an organized metric century that the shop sponsored, saw the LBS owner at a SAG stop who asked me how it was working. The Tarmac was an awesome ride, I was able to get 3 rides out of it for the price of a day. Certainly no issues with either bike. When I did buy, the cost of both rentals was applied to my purchase.

* while visiting Houston, I contacted an LBS in advance (per advice from the regional forums here), called them a few days ahead to verify everything. This was a Trek Madone. They didn't provide a bag w/spare, so I just brought my own. While renting, if you buy anything they gave 20% off, so I picked up an extra pair of SPD pedals, which they installed for me. They did a quick fit to make seat adjustments. I remember there was something wrong with a cable, they had to change it out, I went over to a Target while they did that. I only rode 60 miles with a group, but it was a great experience. When I turned the bike in the next day, the owner asked how everything went.

njkayaker

Where are you flying from?

What does the airline charge for the bike?

jrobe

If you travel with a bike frequently, it is worth it to have a travel bike. I bought a barely used 1 year old Bianchi steel frame bike on Ebay ($700) and had it converted to a travel bike with S&S couplers along with the case that is below the oversized airline bag limits. I probably have $1500-1700 in the bike but I have spent $300 or more renting nice bikes on vacations in the past. I didn't take me very long to get my money back and now I can ride a bike that is set up perfectly for me. https://www.sandsmachine.com/

I usually now pay $25 each way to carry it on airlines but with my Delta credit card I get one bag free. The oversize baggae fee for Delta is $350 for 2 ways. It doesn't take very long to pay for a travel bike with fees like that.

prathmann

I have a folding bike that fits in a regular suitcase and I've frequently used it when flying somewhere. Las Vegas is the only place where I've had issues with just wheeling the bike up to my room. The hotel lobbies are frequently arranged so you need to pass through crowded slot machine areas to get to the elevators leading to the rooms so it's somewhat understandable that the lobby staff sees a bike as a potential problem. If I had had my carrying bag along I suppose I could have folded it and brought it in that way, but it wasn't bad having the valet parking people bring it around whenever I went for a ride.

merlinextraligh

OP,
Did you rent from McGhie's? https://mcghies.com/about/road-bike-r...2012-pg459.htm

I'm assuming that's who it was, given that they're tied in with the Red Rock.

I've had very good success with them personally.

merlinextraligh

+1. Had couplers added to my Merlin. Treated as a regular piece of luggage (and I get 2 checked bags as a frequent flyer). Easily pays for itself if you travel much.

Silvercivic27

What about this? Anyone tried one? I've seen one in real life and it looked like a solid build (although goofy as hell).
https://www.bikefriday.com/blog/?p=423

merlinextraligh

Bike Friday's are nice bikes. We had a Bike Friday Tandem Traveler XL.

You can ride as fast on a BF as a conventional bike. They tend to be a tad heavy, but you get an advantage with less wind resistance from the smaller wheels.

The small wheels provide less of a gyroscope effect, so the handling is a bit twitchy, but you get used to it pretty quick.

Persoonally I like the S&S coupler option better. But a Bike Friday is a viable option.

They tend to hold there value very well, so if you try one and don't like it, you can sell it without much of a loss.

kidd546

look at a Ritchey Breakaway also a very nice bike that is reasonably priced.

Looigi

I've wheeled my bike through casinos in Vegas and Reno no problem. Also have never had an issue keeping my bike in my room, though that's no guarantee it won't happen. The least accommodating so far was a NYC hotel that had us use the service entrance and service elevator with our bikes. The only issue there was the service elevator was sometimes very busy...so we cheated and used the guests elevators a time or two.

mpath

I rented a bike in Kona once but never got dialed in with the fit even though it was a great bike (Fuji SL1/Ultegra) and the LBS was great. My rear got sore. I bring my own bikes now.

merlinextraligh

Only issue with the Ritchey is the Ritchey case is just outside the 62" requirement to fly as standard size luggage. It's close enough that people with them report that they don't get called on it. Also depending on frame size you may be able to fit it in an S&S coupler case.

The issue with the case size, and the CF stays on the Ti version ( I like all Ti for a travel bike because you don't have to worry about scratching CF, or painted steel parts.) lead me to go with S&S couplers. That, and I also had a bike that was a good canidate for S&S couplers.

Nachoman

Renting was a big hassle so I eventually went out and bought a Trico case.
But no matter how careful I was, I could NEVER avoid the bike getting pretty dinged up during transport.
Now I use a Bike Friday. And frankly, when TSA messes around with it, I don't even care when it comes back scratched and dinged.

Nbob

Flying within Canada they usually charge 50 bucks each way( additional+ oversized bag) but often they only charge 25 for an additional bag. Cheaper than the 150 to 200 I've paid for a weekly rental and it's my own bike. I haven't asked if it's more to take across the border - I hear some US lines charge hundreds and I often have to take connecting flight with a US carrier to get to the final destination

Nbob

No but afterwords many people said I should have

Bikegeek1968

Here's my 2 cents on travelling with a bike. If I am flying on Southwest Airlines and my trip is more than 2 days, I bring one of my older road bikes. They only charge $50 each way, and every once in a while they don't charge for the bike. But on almost every other domestic airline the fee is between $150 and $200 each way. Ugh. So most times I go bikeless and end up really missing out on riding. I have rented a bike only once, and while the price and service were OK, a rented Trek 1.1 just does not compare to my own Cannondale SuperSix.

Here comes the shameless plug. Inspired by my subpar rental experience, I started my own high end road bike rental service. I have several Cannondale CAAD10 3 Ultegra bikes. If you ever find yourself in South Orange Couny, CA, (Dana Point, San Clemente) you can reserve a bike from me and I will bring it right to you. Bring your own pedals, shoes, helmet and kit, the bike comes equiped with bottles, cages and flat repair/mini tool kit. And If I am free that day, I can even take you out and show you the roads I ride on.

https://www.rentabikenow.com/store?loc=riverstonecycles

See you on the road!

Mark

WingSuit

I have sent my bike UPS to myself in a Thule hard case a few times. way cheaper than the airline fees. plus you dont have to huck it around the airport.

MegaTom

Not really "way cheaper" anymore. Last time I got a quote to ship a bike case it was over $100 to ship from Orlando to NYC. The airline wanted $125 each way. Amtrak only charged $15. I opted for the train and they didn't even charge me the additional fee for my return trip.

Looigi

Same is true for Jet Blue and Virgin on domestic flights. I more often fly Jet Blue than SW.

Bacciagalupe

Pro: You're familiar with the bike, it's set up the way you like. Lots of locations don't have good bike rental options, so bringing your own bike vastly expands travel options.

Con: I found that disassembling and reassembling a folding bike, and lugging it to the airport, to be a PITA. Travel bikes have a price premium. Many airlines charge for any type of luggage, so it takes lots of trips to break even.

Hotel attitudes vary. Most hotels I've been at are very accommodating, a few can be a little fussy. If you're doing a loop and bringing a hard case, make sure you can leave the case at the hotel for the duration of the tour.

Chris Pringle

Domestically, it is almost better to ship your bike ahead for trips lasting a week or longer. A nice road bike rental is good for one or two days at $40-$60/day. Beyond that, it is almost better to bring your own.

Internationally, a travel bike (folding, S&S coupled, Ritchey breakaway) is the way to go. Bike rentals at most international locations also suck. Nearly impossible to find a decent road bike.

DXchulo

Don't be so sure. I rented a bike from them a while back and while the bike was good, the guys in the shop were a-holes.

I've had mixed experiences renting bikes. Like you, I've noticed that the bikes are almost never clean. I don't now why that bothers me so much, but it does. Could you imagine renting a car that was covered in dirt?

I made my own case out of Coroplast and my little 52cm frame just barely fits in under the magical 62 linear inches if I take everything off, including the crank. It saves me from the big fees, but it's a PITA for a short trip. I put my wheels and other gear in one of those cases made for an S&S bike. TSA will always open your cases and 99% of the time they'll pack it back wrong, so just request a private screening. It doesn't take too much longer.

I've had my eye on the Hen House, but it's pretty expensive. I'm still debating between that and an S&S bike.

Will G

Airlines charge extra for shipping bikes. They do not charge extra for shipping athletic equipment. It might affect your results if you file a claim for damage or loss but not much else. I've never tried this but I've heard it works well.