Originally Posted by
HillRider
Yes, and I've been one of the posters mentioning the cost. I wasn't aware the airlines have eliminated the absurd surcharge for bikes. Nice to know.
That said, a full size bike travel case or even a re-enforced bike shop cardboard box is a large and awkward thing to maneuver through airports or train stations and may not fit into taxis in Europe or Asia or into the luggage racks of busses and trains. I traveled to both Europe and Japan several times with a coupled Co-Motion CoPilot years ago. While the S&S packing suitcase was quite large, it was nowhere near the size and awkwardness of a full size box.
Yeah, the case does have to be stored but the S&S case will generally fit into an airport locker or a hotel's luggage store room. Not so much a full size bike shipping case. A cardboard bike box could be discarded at your destination and replaced at a local bike shop for your return trip but this isn't a sure thing unless you are traveling to a common bike touring area.
Agreed, disassembly/reassembly isn't trivial or super fast. After some practice it took me about 30 minutes to unpack and put the bike together and about an hour to repack it for the trip home. As to a second piece of luggage for your clothing, racks, etc., there is no way to avoid that no matter how the bike itself is shipped. Again, it's easier to find storage for the S&S case than for a full size shipping case.
Domestically, tourists can ship their bike to a bike shop or the hotel at their destination using Fed-Ex, UPS or a specialized bike shipping company and have a bike shop repack and ship it to their home at the trip's end. I'm not sure I would want to do this internationally.
Most people now opt for some form of collapsing or soft sided case which make longer term storage a minimal issue. I have used a Biknd Helium without a issue with extensive travel. Most cases now all have some form of wheels as well. Given the cost of a good case the prices may be a wash though.
Never had a issue with transport to and from airports as mini vans are common. Just flew in and out of Vietnam no problems at all.
Long term airport storage is very expensive as it must follow security protocols so that is not a practice solution presently. Lockers are not a thing anymore. Hotels have never rejected my storage requests. I also end up doing at least one point to point trip a year where I travel with a cardboard box and return in a simple plastic bag.
You are also able to travel with the best suited bike for the trip if you have more than one. Carbon, disc brakes ect. All that said S&S bikes were great just things have changed making regular bike travel easier. But my main point was rather than spend a lot of money and hassle on some older touring bikes give it a try first and decide from there which direction you choose to go. The OP seems to have moved on anyways once the challenges were pointed out.