Thigh Master

Overseas bicycle travel newbie here… it one uses a cardboard bike box from one’s local bike shop to fly it to say, Edinburg for an Outer Hebrides tour, how do you save the box for the return flight?

Steve B.

Do some research for a local bike shop near where you are starting the ride, contact them to ask if they can store the box as well as pack the bike up, for a fee, for the return trip. This assumes you are starting and leaving from the same place. If not, into the garbage with the box and arrange at an LBS near the finish to pack and ship the bike home. Also look into any local clubs that might know of a hard shell bike box to rent.

Thigh Master

Excellent. The LBS stores but gets some remuneration packing it for the return. Thank you so much.

Tourist in MSN

Some early communication with any bike shops is a really good idea, when traveling international you really should have the bike on the same plane as you are on so you can clear customs with the bike. Otherwise they may think it is being imported to the country and subject to customs duty.

staehpj1

If you are starting and finishing in the same city a hotel will likely store a box for you if you are staying there at each end of the trip. Verify ahead of time. Other options include finding assistance from a warmshowers or couchsurfing host. They will often provide logistic help like box storage whether you stay with them or not.

If you need to return from a different city than you start from, you may need to source a box there. That is usually not too difficult, but corresponding with bike shops ahead of time may be a good idea.

I have used a light inexpensive soft case (Transit from Performance Bike). It is light enough to be easy to mail ahead and light enough to carry along (maybe 2 pounds?) if you aren't weight conscious like me. It isn't padded so I add some cardboard and use clothing to add some padding. I discard the cardboard when carrying or mailing the case. When packing ultralight I have been able to get my bike and all my gear (for camping and cooking type trip) into it and still be under 50#.

Thigh Master

I will check that out. Sounds easy.

Yan 

You don't save the cardboard box. You throw it in the trash upon arrival and buy a new one from a bike shop when you're ready to fly home.

mev

It depends...

To make a concrete example from two recent trips:
1. I had a local bike shop pack my bike in a box before flying three hops to Georgetown, Guyana.
2. I took a taxi to a hotel in Georgetown where I left behind the box and bicycled one-way to Paramaribo, Suriname.
3. In Paramaribo, I got a large and sturdy box for free from a bicycle excursion company. I had contacted the company before traveling and while not a certainty they "might have a box" so I had left some time to otherwise look around Paramaribo to get/build a box.
4. I flew back from Suriname in three hops (Paramaribo/Trinidad/Houston/Austin) with the bike in the box.
5. Next trip, I again had a local bike shop pack the bike. It turned out my Paramaribo box was larger and a better alternative than a box they had so we reused the box.
6. I then flew to Dili, Timor-Leste in four hops (Austin/LAX/Manila/Bali/Dili). I took a taxi from the airport to a Dili hotel with the bike box hanging out of the trunk.
7. I left behind the bike box at the hotel and cycled a loop through Timor-Leste and part of Indonesia. The last night was at the same hotel that had stored my bike box.
8. I repacked the bike in the box and took a pickup to the airport (photo below). I flew back the same four hops to the US.
9. The box is still in good shape after a dozen airport flight segments (starting probably in Europe, going to North America, Asia and back to the US) and available for a future trip.

A one-way ride in Guyana and not as many possibilities in Timor-Leste meant I left abandoned a box one time and reused it another case. However, it depends...

Photo below was my transport for myself and bike box back to the airport in Dili. Just finding transportation was enough of a hassle so I was glad to reuse the same box.

Yan 

How was it? I'm going through Indonesia in February and was planning on going no further east than Flores. But I could extend to Timor if it's worth it.

staehpj1

That is what I have done, but I have never flown home from the same city as I started the tour from. Also I usually ride out of the airport. There are many variables. Some folks do loop trips short enough that it makes a lot of sense to have a hotel, shop, or someone hold their box for them. It never has for me with only one exception where I had someone hold my soft case (granted even that one wound up not working out quite as planned).

mev

Timor-Leste feels very much out of the way and doesn't get many tourists but instead has more of a legacy of UN/International project area. For example a common question was "what project we were working on?" However, unlike Eithiopia or Cambodia which can also have that feel - I also didn't sense begging from foreigners.

Timor-Leste used to be very poor but not too long ago found oil/gas in the Timor Sea so it isn't as poor anymore. Dili has ~200,000 people and some traffic (cars, trucks, two wheelers) but once you leave the metro area there aren't as many roads but also little traffic. There are some steep hills but you also have areas of somewhat flat along the coast. It was warm/humid but not as stifling as plain in South America.

​​​We cycled from Dili to Oecussi enclave and took the ferry back. In between was a quiet border crossing which closed for two hours midday. Buses from Dili go to one end and different buses go from there to Kupang Indonesia. Indonesia was slightly richer and more developed though this is also a backwater (none of the hustle/bustle of Bali or busy cities). We got help from locals to find a place to stay. One night in a house being renovated by an Indonesian family who also brought us to a birthday dinner.

So as an out of the way, interesting side place to ride it was interesting to visit. I get the sense there is a wide variety between islands in Indonesia. This has legacy of Christian and former Dutch/Portuguese (Timor-Leste) colony area and the Portuguese didn't spend much here. In 1975 Portugal divested itself of several colonies and shortly thereafter Indonesia annexed Timor-Leste as a province. Close to 2000 there was a referendum where they voted to be independent and violence followed between various gangs/militias. This led to the UN/Australian peacekeeper period and there is still some legacy of this past.

However, even though Timor-Leste is closer than Bali to many large Australian cities - it really hasn't become a tourist destination (e.g. unlike frequent direct flights between Sydney/Melbourne/Perth and Bali, from Australia there were only flights from Darwin). Perhaps it might eventually but for now it is a quiet peaceful place.

Photo below approaching the border. Unfortunately we missed our exit stamp and by the time we got it the Indonesian side closed for two hours. So we waited and had interesting conversations with Indonesian border personnel (who also wanted selfies with these tall curious strangers) and also got help finding a guest house.

Yan 

Thank you for the detailed reply. We will consider it as an option depending on timing of spring in Scotland.

HappyAussies

I have a follow up question - when packing in a box do most remove the rear rack or leave it on?

Tourist in MSN

In most cases a rear rack could easily be left on the bike, it would be quite unusual to have to remove the rear rack to get the bike into a tight fitting bike box.

imi

Most bike boxes have their dimensions printed on them.
It can be a good idea to note the minimum size you can squeeze your bike into to make it easier when picking one up.

staehpj1

It would be unusual to need to take rear rack off to fit bike in regular box. I think I have taken it off to fit in a soft case, the kind where you take both wheels off, but not in a regular bike box.

djb

I've never had to remove the rear rack. On my last trip I had space to attach my tent to the top of the rack and the box was still able to close.

From my experience, unless your box is super tight for the bike, and or your rack is unusually high, it shouldn't be a problem.

mev

I have very rarely taken off either rack to get things in a bike box. I did once however quite a while ago (1998) flying back from Hobart, Tasmania. Quantas Airlines had bike boxes that were shorter and fatter than normal airline boxes at the time. I definitely had to take off both wheels and put them next to the frame. As it turned out I also ended up taking off my front rack and fender to get things to fit. Where I can, I really like having both racks and ideally wheels on the bike when packing. That keeps a constant spacing on the front fork without having to get one of those plastic things - and also seems to be a little better for the derailleur as well.

HappyAussies

Cheers, thanks for this. Our upcoming Europe ride will be the first time boxing our own bikes so we're a bit nervous :-).

djb

I highly recommend getting some boxes well, well in advance and practicing a number of times. You may find that a box is too small, plus you'll get some practice mucking about doing this.
Get all the plastic protecty bits from the new bike removed from the box, fork brace, rear derailleur protector, front disc protector, and see how a new bike is packed and try to copy it.
Buy. A bag of zip ties and also get the little bits of foam from the bike store too. Generally the process is straightforward, but I've done it lots of times, but in the past have wasted a lot of time and cursing when not using good techniques.

HappyAussies

Funny you should say this, yesterday picked up a box to start "testing" the process. We're not planning to head over until late August, but your point is well made so will definately do this.

djb

I should copy and paste the suggestions I've written in the past about packing, but the main important things to do are to have the plastic piece in the front wheel dropouts, I tape foam piece to this to act as cushion for fork. Zip tie front wheel onto frame, non drive side, with foam for contact points, tire up against crank, remove qr. Tape disc protector if applicable.
put rear derailleur protector on, put chain on largest rear cog to move rd inward. Or remove rd, which I've never done but is supposed to be safer.
Use common sense for foam etc and placing handlebars is bike specific and can be futzy.

With zip ties, put foam or something to not mar frame.

Be prepared for trying it numerous times, it can be a pain in the rear sometimes, but thoughtful smart packing is key.
Lots of tape on box contact/drag points, also on hand hole handles.
Smallest box for your frame not to move around is best, plus easier to put in car and to move around in airport on trolley.

Have fun and hopefully not too much cursing.

Tourist in MSN

Historically bikes were shipped from the manufacturer with a piece of plastic in the front fork dropouts, that plastic kept the forks from puncturing the bottom of the box and sticking out. Now that newer bikes have through axle, not sure if your bike is the older quick release or not. If it is quick release and if the bike shop can't provide the plastic thingy, you may need a piece of lumber 100mm long and a couple washers and screws to substitute for that.

When I bought my road bike a few years ago, I took it out of the box from the manufacturer, and the first thing I did was take photos of it so I had a record of how the manufacturer packs a bike that they ship from the factory. Photos at:
https://www.bikeforums.net/23017449-post49.html

In a previous thread you asked about removal of a front fork. In the photos, the front fork on my road bike was packed so that the curved fork blades curved backwards, not forwards. With all the foam, that is a bit hard to see, but that is how it looks to me. In this case a front rack probably would have had to have been removed as it might have hit the down tube.

I usually suggest removing the rear derailleur so that the rear hanger is less likely to be bent out of alignment. If it was me, I would remove the chain and put in a baggie too. All the small parts on my road bike were in a small box that is in one of the photos. If a hole is punctured into the big box, if all small parts are inside another small box, it is less like that they will be lost.

If you have access to some disposable medical gloves, they are great for packing up a dirty bike, or even a clean one with a freshly lubed chain.