MidasTouch

Anyone ever gone overseas vacation and bought a bike to ride there and brought it home?

Ive been trying to plan a 2-3mo overseas trip to cycling and check out the area for moving to and thinking it would be a lot less stress for me to fly out with just my clothes and gear and buy a new bike there, ride the piss out of it and then buy a hard bike case and bring it back home with me. Anyone done this?



Nervous about flying in general, especially over seas and especially with an 8k$ bike. if i fly out there without one it would be a lot less stress only having to worry aobut the ride back, and worst case if something happens i dont be without a bike while im on vacation because they lost mine in the multiple lay overs....



thoughts?

Bosco13

I would look at what you'd have to pay for a new bike where you are going, including any extra fees for shipping/bringing back. I've found for most things that they are cheaper in the US than overseas. If money is no object, and bikes are available where you are going. Then go for it.

surveyor6

I have oft daydreamed about flying to Italy, buying a Bianchi there and bringing it back on the plane.
I never actually planned it out.
So... I took the family to Ireland and bought a lot of Guinness. We did rent bikes there for a while.
Alas, I have still never taken a "fitness" vacation.

qwaalodge

Buy a cheap but quality bike at your destination, ride it with care then give it as a gift to the bug-eyed kid or adult who keeps eyeballing your bike when your vacation is over and you're going back home.

Not only you have saved yourself a lot of trouble, you also would have made a loyal friend if you ever decide moving to that place or your work takes you back to that place.

N2deep

I bought a Tern Link 7 on my last trip to China. Alibaba and a few friends helped, easy purchase and it was shipped directly to a friends apartment. The price was significantly less than the US advertised price and saved miles of walking everyday. You need to be aware that they sell fake copies of almost anything made, including Chinese products, so having native friends helped a ton.. Research is imperative to getting a great buy and not a fake. I also bought a cheap suitcase, disassembled the bike and shipped it home as airline baggage. My granddaughters loved the bike.. .. .

Have fun..

Wildwood 

Years ago, I was scheduled to travel to England & Netherlands.
Trip canceled - medical reasons.
Bummed
Bought beautiful Eddy Merckx vintage from Belgium.
Damaged in shipment.
Bummed & burned (somewhat).

Not everything works out as planned.

PacificSpray

Yes. Just before covid, my wife and I flew from NZ to Raleigh NC, where Dr. Yan delivered two Downturn folders with panniers to our hotel (pre-arranged) and we cycled locally for a bit then to the Outer Banks. The Covid outbreak prevented continuation of our tour and we flew back to NZ with our purchases. Our sentiments and motivations were somewhat similar to OP's. Post 9/11 flying becomes more onerous as I get older. If not for covid, we intended flying from Raleigh to Europe before returning home. Aside from that, it worked out well. We 'wanted' folders anyhow. Oh, and we also picked up a tent and stove from REI to make it even easier on the outward flight. We incurred no extra costs flying back with everything.
Edit: *Downtube

indyfabz

I’ve flown to Europe with a bike three times. One trip was for a seven week tour of Andalucia. Not really stressful.

Finding a suitable bike that your gear is compatible with them trying to find a hard case at the end sounds much more stressful.

Litespud

I'm going to be flying to Dublin for a few weeks in June/July, and I'm thinking of bringing my bike. Not interested in buying another bike locally, and all the rental options I've found are hybrids and various flat-bar options. I'll be staying beside the Wicklow Mountains, where I used to ride as a teenager on an old steel 6sp Peugeot (long since at one with the Universe) and I would love to tackle the same hills on the decent bike I have now. Torn between buying a hard case and flying with it, or exploring something like BikeFlights and having it shipped over. I'm leaning toward a case, because (i) I like breaking down and reassembling my own bike (BikeFlights seems to require a shop doing the breakdown/rebuild), and (ii) as I'm approaching retirement, I intend to do more of this, therefore a case might be a good investment.
I'm not wild about the idea of getting a big bloody bike case from Dublin Airport across the city to my final destination, but it's a small sacrifice when I get to use my own bike.
On a separate but related note, my dream vacation would be to fly into somewhere in Europe with my bike, rent/buy an old station wagon, then drive down through France, Spain and Italy for a few months, stopping to ride for a few days, getting in as many iconic routes as possible, then moving on to the next spot.

pennpaul

My concern would be getting to your vacation spot and not being able to find a bike.

Some guys in my group have bought used (but excellent) bikes on the local market but only because we're friends with a connected local and they waited months to find a bike their size and in their price range. The bike shops have limited stock or not the right size.

Not sure what size bike you ride, but many of my expat friends are riding >56cm frames but the average rider here is 5'8" or shorter so the available frames run small.

If you're based in the US, VATs can be high, too, overseas. The tax in our current place is 11% whereas when we lived in the Middle East, it was 17%. Europe has VATs in the 20% range. Asia can be lower than the US, but sometimes it's higher.

50PlusCycling

On a vacation to Hawaii, I found an old Schwinn 5 speed cruiser on Craigslist. It cost an extra $175 to fly it home, but it was well worth it.

GhostRider62

Bought a Dawes Super Galaxy overseas about 40 years ago, rode it all over Europe. Disassembled and put it in a cardboard box, handed it over to the airline, and no problems.

joesch

Depends where your going ? and what kind of bike your looking for ?
Recommend a classic road bike, not a 8K bike, but that would change my advice.
If UK, DK, NL, IT then there are lots of nice classics for deals. Many such dealers where you can even buy a bike and ride it there and ship it back (not sure if this is cheaper than taking back on plane but I do know its under $150 since I have purchased several bikes for NL. There are many sellers from the countries I noted above that sell on 36@y and www sites so you could choose and buy now and pickup upon arrival. Im suspect that LBS would even help you with the return shipping.

GhostRider62

Shipping a whole bike overseas by common carrier is super expensive.

Taking it on the plane with you is the cheapest and easiest......

SpeedyBlueBiker

It might be a little helpful if you listed the country or countries that you are thinking about moving to. There might be someone on this forum that lives there or has spent significant time there that could give you more useful information.
Potential problems are that you might not be able to find the right bike in your size. Or they don't have it in stock but can order it for you but will take three months to arrive. Will the bike be cheaper, about the same, or cost a whole lot more in the place you are going to? The same goes with buying a hard case or soft case to pack your bicycle in. Will they have a bike case in the place that you are going to? Will they have to order it? Maybe you can order on Amazon, Lazada, or Alibaba and have it delivered? If you take a brand new bike or a used bike will that country make you pay duty (tax) on it? What will airlines charge for taking a bike on the plane as oversized luggage? (US carriers generally make you pay much more than foreign airlines, at least in my experience)
I have traveled internationally for both work and leisure as well as lived overseas over the past 35+ years. I have traveled both with bikes and without. I've used hard cases, soft cases, and no cases. Personally I like hard cases the best because they have wheels and are easier to move around. The bad thing about hard cases is the wheels can easily break. Soft cases are lighter but often don't have wheels or only wheels on one end. Believe me, you want wheels on all four corners. Your back and arms will thank you for that.

thumpism 

I flew to Amsterdam in '74 and bought a Batavus Tour de l'Europe, about Raleigh Grand Prix quality, for my tour de l'Europe and rode it for five months and then brought it back with me unboxed on the flight home. Five years later I flew back with the same Batavus (upgraded and boxed) for five more months and brought it home unboxed again. Traveled fine each time and I think it cost me nothing as accompanied baggage. I'm sure things have changed since but if I were inclined to try it again I would not hesitate to do so.

TomM

I am in the process of moving to Paris and weighing my bike options. My original thought was to sell my bikes here and buy one in Paris but I am finding that US brands in the EU carry a premium in price if available at all. At this point I just might bring my Steamroller.

burnthesheep

RDU to CDG direct, larger hard case with rollers. Hatchback 4-door cute-yute vehicle. I rented the specific model because I looked them up to make sure the case fit the rear hatch. Drove to Nancy. Assemble, rode daily to commute for work and rode in the small mountains on the weekend.

Case was close on weight due to me shipping different extra tires and such. I put the rollers inside my check baggage while dropping the case off.

It wasn't THAT bad and a hard case is pretty secure for transport if you do the whole bubble wrap or pool noodles thing. Also, use a skewer in the fork and dropout even without the wheel to provide another protection point for crushes.

Otherwise, use Bikeflights to ship it ahead and ship it back. More expensive but don't have to cart it in a rental or thru an airport.

I frankly had a lot harder time finding rental road bikes for that part of France than I would have thought. I emailed a lot of shops and places and only came across one or two larger outfits that rented decent stuff and it was $$$$$ and also a 100% value of bike deposit.

One minor thing to consider, I got lucky, first ride I laid bike down and bent the RD. Luckily bent it back by hand fine. But include spare screws and spare hanger as it's such a common issue and could ruin a whole trip over a $5 part.

sovende

Back in the mid-90s, I was stationed at the U.S. Army facility in Vicenza, Italy. While there, my in-laws came for a visit and my F-I-L shipped his pretty nice Trek(can’t remember the model) road bike in a custom shipping container in the baggage hold of the plane. Can’t remember the cost (if he even told me) but quite sure, knowing my F-I-L, it was the most economical method. Things were different in those days and the airlines weren’t “nickel and dime”ing air passengers like they do now. Had he purchased an Italian bike to be brought home, there may have been some “duty” issues with U.S. Customs.

Atlas Shrugged

When comparing prices most European countries have a Value Added Tax (VAT) embedded in the retail price usually in the mid 20 percent range. These taxes can be credited back when leaving the country as a tourist. Something to look into when considering.

njkayaker

???

No, they don't.


https://www.bikeflights.com/pack

Flip Flop Rider

have never seen a bike that costs 8k

base2 

My spouse & I scoured Craigslist Amsterdam for a bike to purchase before our trip there. We arranged for & bought them the day the plane landed. Rode the dickens out of them & during the course of our trip discovered that the hotel bartender had no bike of his own. Before we left, we handed him the keys to both bikes, locks, & showed him the rack outside they were attached to. He comp'ed our entire food/drink bill. The bikes basically paid for themselves.

...




As to the comment above about paying import duties upon return to the US: I've never heard of such a thing. Personal property is personal property. Local taxes were already paid. The customs declaration form is at best the honor system. They don't know, nor do they care how/when you acquired your personal items or how many times it'd been in/out & in/out & in/out of the country again. Can you imagine paying duties on that half-tube of toothpaste & touristy t-shirt you bought while there? Where would they draw the line? How would they track each passengers list of personal belongings? Exactly. Did you buy premium art or are you smuggling jewels? If not, don't worry about it.

philbob57

Personal property most definitely can be taxed on entry to the US. The thing to remember is that a bike you bought for $n,000 in Europe is now a used bike worth far less than the purchase price, so it will most likely be valued in a way that avoids taxation. (I think you can bring in $800 in bike stuff without paying duties.)

sovende

Another consideration, for those bringing their own bike with them on a trip to Europe, is being able to prove that you did so! This is especially true if you bring a European made bike. Perhaps best to contact U.S. Customs & Border Protection before your trip.