Doug64

This is the early stage of packing. We've shipped our bikes on 17 flights without significant damage. It takes about 2 hours to put 4 bikes back together, change clothes and load gear.


Portland


Paris

3speed

Since you have a coupled bike that goes in a case, that's the way I'd recommend. That's certainly what I'd do if I had one. Otherwise given the history of issues with bikes on planes, I'd say ship it with FedEx or something.

One thing I never thought of that just occurred to me - I wonder if the box from one of these 70" TVs that people get these days would work as a bike box. Maybe thinking that there's a TV inside would get some of the airport d-bags to handle it a little better? Stick a giant FRAGILE sticker on it for good measure.
That totally makes sense, considering probably 90% of the people in the touring forum have $1,500+* bikes and 75% of the touring forum folks put their bikes in regular bike boxes...
*Obviously some generalizations here, and maybe it would be less than 90% since there are a good number riding Fuji or Windsors, but you get the point. This is one of the sillier things I've read on bike forums in a while.

JohnJ80

S&S couplers are pretty cool and work well but they are expensive, heavy on the bike, and the TSA guys who inspect this stuff can cause a big problem if they don't get it all put back together right. I wouldn't shy away from a bike with these and would use them if I had them, but I don't see it as necessary. The last time I checked, the cost to add couplers to a frame being built was around $700-900 and it adds around a half pound to the bike. But they do work and they work well.

Hard cases give a false sense of security. The problem is that they can't handle these cases in their normal baggage flow which means it goes on a truck and is unloaded often times at a loading dock. I've seen hard cases completely smashed which is what happens when a truck backs over something or jams it between the truck and the dock. (I have a picture of skis in a hard case somewhere that had the tips bent at right angles - imagine the force to do that!). Anytime you pit *any* luggage against *any* of the baggage handling power equipment, the luggage loses every time. Any time you ask them to handle luggage in a nonstandard fashion, I think you are just asking for it.

There are any number of soft cases that work and work well. We've come to really appreciate our Orucase bags. They have a sheet of plastic in them on each side, you disassemble the wheels, fork, handlebars and put the bike in the case. The size of the case is within inches of the airline 62" linear spec. The case is light so presuming you don't stuff it too full of stuff, it comes in well under the airline weight allowance. We have yet to have a baggage agent even take a second glance at them and they go through the normal baggage handling equipment. They work great. We've not ever been charged a bike fee by an airline, they fit in airport buses, in coach bus baggage holds, in the the back seat of cars, they attach to our (beefy) wheelie carryon luggage. Most other solutions can't claim most of those attributes.

They are also easy for the TSA to open them, look inside and see everything and get them zipped back up. Not foolproof, but seems the average TSA baggage inspector can do it with out a problem.

I'm totally convinced, after more than a million miles in airline travel, that baggage agents and the airlines are a lot more worried about weight than they are about size. Weight = costs in terms of fuel and worker's comp injuries. Weight is easy to measure - there's a number on the scale that is fast and easy to obtain and the number is pretty much beyond reproach. Size is an argument, slow and fuzzy to figure out. It requires measuring and doing some math and it takes time. If the piece is not a rectangular shape, then it easily becomes an argument with the passenger because the spec is built for rectangular objects. So they just don't care as much because it's a hassle for them. If it's not grossly out of spec, they don't care. Approach the baggage agent pleasantly, like it's no big deal, if asked about the bag contents, reply "sports equipment" (mutual agreement on a don't ask don't tell policy) and away you go. No one will even blink as long as you're not standing there doing something stupid like wearing your bike helmet (don't laugh, I've seen it) or being obnoxious and impolite to the baggage agent.

We're big fans of the Orucase Airport Ninja and use it routinely on Delta/KLM which might have, arguably, the worst bike policy of any airline at $150 each way ($300 RT). We have yet to be charged. Given I have elite flyer status, it even doesn't cost us a bag fee if we keep it below their limits (50 lbs international, 70 lbs domestic US for elite status). After we had done it a few times, we can completely assemble/disassemble and pack/unpack our two bikes in about 45 minutes total for the two - figure about 20 minutes per bike.

Doug64

This has not been the case in my experience, and from the many other touring cyclist that I know. They pack their bikes properly in cardboard boxes regardless of the bike's cost.

This is my wife's custom built touring bike (with couplers) which costed a 100 times more than your "charity shop "example. It has been shipped on at least 17 flights coupled in cardboard boxes without any damage. We don't usually end a tour near the same airport that we started the tour from. Using a hard case is not an option for us. Uncoupling does save some money when we ship our bikes by UPS or FedX, but we still use a cardboard box.


My wife's bike is in the smaller box not because it is uncoupled, but because it is a 47 cm frame. In hindsight, I don't think we'd have opted for the couplers.

Tourist in MSN

A friend of mine got a really heavy duty cardboard bike box that had been used by the manufacturer to ship a higher end bike, he uses that cardboard box when he leaves his hard case at home. But he uses bikeflights, not airlines with that box.

By using the couplers so that I can pack my bag small enough to fit in the trunk of the taxi (Prius), I am quite happy I got the couplers.

But if my bike was traveling in a group with another bike that was in a full size bike box, then the other bike in the big box would dictate the type of transport to and from airports, etc. In that scenario, my couplers would add a lot less value. I assume your bike in the big box did not have couplers?

Doug64

I can see where couplers would be handy in the situation you described here and especially useful in the trip you described in your previous post. Your 3rd paragraph above describes our situation. My bike does not have couplers which reduces the value of my wife's bike's couplers.

On our tour last summer the biggest challenge was getting 4 boxed bikes and 4 people to the airport 120 miles away. The only solution I could come up with that fit our time frame was to rent a crew cab pickup

Tourist in MSN

I hope it was not raining. Your cardboard boxes might have zero structural integrity by the end of the trip if it was.

My last flight (not a bike trip) the long walk to the economy parking lot to get to my truck in the rain made me pretty happy that my checked luggage was a duffel with waterproof fabric and shoulder straps. Seams were not sealed, but the rain was not that hard, very little got in through the seams.

JohnJ80

It's really not a big deal to ship something from a hotel or shipper location (UPS, FedEx etc...) to another end point such as a hotel. I've done it a number of times. A case, especially a small one or one like ours that compress nicely, is not an issue to do this. And it would beat the airline charges for us by a long ways ($300 per bike RT on Delta/KLM). Pretty much any shipper has it as traceable so you're not going to lose it and if you did, it's insured. At that point, you could do the cardboard box fallback.

Using our cases, it would be easy to get 4 bikes in the back of an SUV. For that matter, getting a cab of any size in any airport has never been an issue for me. That includes destinations in Asia, Europe and the US. But having couplers is nice for sure but taxis are not the reason since they are an easy work around.

Doug64

I had 4 plastic mattress covers (free) used by the manufacturer for shipping, and a roll of duct tape ready in case we needed it. It was a beautiful day We have mostly started our tours from the airports, or ride from the airport to the train station. However, airports like Frankfort, Schiphol, and Paris-CDG; have train transport from the airport.

I could have used my own truck which has a canopy, but I did not want to leave it at the airport or long-term parking for 2 months. On most return flights at the end of our tours we ride from the airport to the train station, take the train to a nearby town, and then ride the 35 miles home. It is a nice way to wind down from a long tour. We have also ridden home from the airport.

cyclezealot

Carless. We have similar goals in that my trip to Adelaide will be almost entirely sans car. My goal will be to have my bike ready to go at the airport and pedal in part to my b and b if necessary. I will be there for one month. The benefit of putting my bike into a suitcase would be: hopefully, TSA won't. this time. shred my cardboard bike box. I can't visualize myself being at the airport assembling my bike since I arrive in the evening. I Am too fussy to want to have to assemble it under pressure and have it done right. Adelaide does have a tram option very near the airport. I thought I might put two panniers in one large disposable suitcase, and have to not carry more than my combined panniers, a carry-on, and my bike.
Thanks, Australia will be my last continent to visit, outside of the Antarctic.
As to domestic flights. I'll do the bike flights idea. But, then I mostly travel by Amtrak. With their baggage car situation that is almost luggage free other than my panniers.
All this is pretty dependent upon knowing how Qantas treats its cyclist passengers. ? Can't be as bad as BA.

cyclezealot

. 👌 Great idea. four mattresses how could that fail. Better than my sleeping bag that did not. I might have to ride about 8 Km to my b and b from where the tram line ends. Most would take a taxi, I guess. Why wait when I can be there.

Tourist in MSN

Now that this two and a half year thread has been resurrected, I should point out that all of the discussion in posts 1 through 36 were during the era when Delta and American still charged exorbitant oversize fees for bikes. But now those two airlines change for a bike as a regular piece of non-oversize luggage. There however is still an upper limit for size, check before you buy your ticket.

Someone commented that United also dropped their oversize fee for bikes recently, but I have not checked on that since I have not flown United since the prior millennium.

indyfabz

Seems we have another Zombie Thread ressurecter in our midst.

base2 

Well, it was almost halloween, afterall. Zombies are to be expected.

indyfabz

The post the brought this back to life is gone. Checked the poster’s short history. All his posts were in zombie threads. Sounded like he was shilling.

Tourist in MSN

Now it looks like I was the one that resurrected it. Great. Well, I see no reason to erase mine.

staehpj1

I hate it when that happens.

indyfabz

I know. At first I thought I had imagined things. Many of his posts in the threads he bumped mentioned specific products. From the wording, it appeared like he was trying to post links but didn’t have enough posts to be able to do so.

Tourist in MSN

I was not even thinking about what he or she was saying, I just wanted to point out to anyone that looked at this thread for the first time that the world has changed as far as oversize fees go.

MarilynDutil

I've transported my bike by plane many times. However, I wouldn't say I like folding it every time, removing all the fasteners from the frame.

John N

Where do you buy these? I have looked and can't find them. Maybe I am using the wrong keywords. Thanks!

jefnvk

Some airlines will provide them. If they don't, I just use mattress moving bags, IIRC a queen is more than large enough. You can get them at U-Haul stores, or often times Wal-Mart will have something similar.

John N

Thanks! The mattress bag is a great idea.

Tourist in MSN

You disappeared some time ago. Welcome back.

jefnvk

Thanks, yeah for the last bit I've pretty much only showed up when summoned with quotes!

Like most folks, the last two years overhauled my life quite a bit, and when most of my cycling was done on trails after work that I was no longer near due to perpetual work from home, and the motivation was cycling trips that became much harder due to travel restrictions, unfortunately my cycling tapered off. Trying to take my fitness a bit more serious this summer though, so hopefully I be back in the swing of things as soon as the dirt roads by me start drying out