RChung

You can often find vendors at the airport who will wrap boxes with heavy duty plastic wrap for $10-15 per box. If I had to change flights, I might do that.

Badger6

There are bikes in Europe, like lots of bikes and even ones that are not sold in the US! (I jest, you knew that.) If you are prepared to buy one upon arrival, it won't take long to find one. With some google-fu you might even be able to find a shop or two, reach out and see about having a bike ready for you to purchase as soon as you arrive. If you will qualify for a VAT free purchase discuss this up front. I've purchased 6 bikes (not all for me) since moving to Europe in 2015, two within the COVID time. I've never had a problem finding a bike.

I have flown with a bike over the Atlantic can about 20 times (round trip) in the last 4 years. It's surprisingly easy if you are somewhat mechanically inclined (partial disassembly is required) and is without any worries if you have a proper case (cardboard boxes work, but can be iffy, I know people who have arrived with damaged bikes). Also, cases are not equal, some will get you oversize fees with the most zealous ticket agent, some will not, they key is a case that will pass the measurements for consideration as normal luggage (each airline is slightly different). Also, as noted, Delta, along with United and American no longer charge bicycle fees if the case is under the measurements for consideration as "normal" luggage. European carriers still mostly have bicycle fees within their fee schedules, but charging them is again hit or miss, depends on how zealous the ticketing agent is...in my experience KLM is less zealous than Air France, and Lufthansa (last flown in 2017) never charged.

Falchoon

I'd be wary about having any bike parts/tools in carry on luggage. Airlines can class them as weapons and confiscate them.

I tried to fly with a pedal spanner in my carry on luggage and the airline took it out and was going to confiscate but I managed to persuade them to put it in my bike bag with the bike.

Airlines in my experience are hit and miss with their charges for excess luggage such as bikes.I flew QANTAS from Canberra (Australia) to Sydney then Etihad to France. QANTAS had a baggage allowance I think of 20kg and I had about 30kg. They wanted $100kg for the excess, so $1000. After some pleading with me they reduced the charge to $800.

Etihad in comparison didn't charge a cent extra.

Then on my return from France, flying the same airlines, Etihad tried to say my bike bag was unsuitable (Scicon, used by most of the pro cycling teams and exactly the same one I had used a week earlier). Only way we resolved thatwas them to declare my bag was unsuitable and for me to sign a waiver that if the bike got damaged they weren't liable.

Then flying from Sydney back to Canberra QANTAS just had a light plane that seated maybe a dozen passengers, instead of a 747 jet, but didn't charge me any excess baggage fees. I would of thought weight would be more of an issue in a small plane rather than a 747, but what would I know...

unterhausen

When I was going to France in 2019, I paid for an extra bag for my bike on American. On the way back they didn't charge anything. I think the case was a trico. I have an S&S coupled bike, but didn't decouple it because I didn't find a case in time. I think the rules are confusing to everyone, but most airlines no longer have a bike specific fee, which means the person that charged me for an extra bag did the right thing.

Those cases are heavy enough to make the weight limit an issue.

As it turned out, I should have taken a different bike but that's a different story.

kahn

Baggage fees: Flying Seattle to Munich with ski bag. Online they suggested $100/ski bag. I decided not to pay in advance and risk it at the check-in. Get to Check-In. She suggests $150. I say that sounds high and she went away to check. My luggage was already on the scale, so curious I tossed the ski bag on top. Came out fairly low. She returned noticed the total weight and said "No charge" Two woman in our group on a different line paid $100 each! Completely arbitrary charges - obviously. Or it was my smile.

BruceH

Many thanks to everyone's suggestions and advice, it's very helpful. I received my approved long stay visa, so booked my flight and my LBS will box my bike. You guys are great! I really appreciate all the help.

canamdad

If you're using a cardboard box,I found it advantageous to Gorilla tape the entire outside bottom of the box and a few inches up along the sides and ends as well. This reinforces a critical area of the box and could help if you have the misfortune of the bottom of the box being exposed to some wetness. Good luck!

BruceH

That's a great tip. Thanks canamdad!

Attilio

I was looking into this issue over the winter (like January of this year) because I am from Italy. We generally spend a lot of time there always at the same places as I have family. Sadly there were no bikes to borrow from relatives as I am far taller than anyone and most of what is left is from dead relatives, IE junk bikes that are 3 sizes to small and the tires completely crushed from sitting there for a decade or more.

Since I need an XL no one had one to rent and it wasn't for lack of trying. I contacted a lot of bike shops, none in the areas where we planned to be. I looked at buying a bike there and even as of January no XL's. Just few are made because not many people are over 6'2"-ish needing XL. In Southern Europe people are shorter too so nothing. Again for us it worked in our favor that we go there regularly and have reason to keep returning to same spaces so I just bought a brand new bike for me and my wife to ship there. We didn't get anything too fancy as it would be sitting there a lot, basically discounted gravel bikes that listed for less than $1000 and were 2-3 years old sitting there nothing special. Given COVID, we got lucky.

The shipping cost was insane. We used bikeflights and bought it through a far away shop online that did this on a regular basis. Better you let the shop do it for you as they have experience packing it up. Buying new also gets you the exact factory box that is supposed to protect it but more on that later as it's no guarantee of an intact bike (keep reading). Contacting different shops might be of help. You will have to pay for shipping and in our case it was $400 per bike. Customs isn't cheap either costing almost as much yet again. So we ended up paying about almost as much to ship the bikes as we did buying them. Maybe if its part of your baggage on airlines they won't count it as an import and levy taxes, however in all cases no one is very careful with your bike. From talking to other shop, people, and looking online I heard once your bike gets shipped any which way there is a decent chance it can and will get damaged. Still I wanted a bike so bad that I just went ahead hoping for the best. Glad I did it, European country side by bicycle is sublime! That said one of ours had huge holes in the boxes on both sides meaning it had a penetrating object of some kind thankfully nothing was bent, damaged or dented but it doesn't work that way you may not be so lucky.

If you are from France, have property or family or reason to go back to same area year after year, maybe you can also ship one as well. But be careful, no carbon (more fragile) and don't spend a lot. Try to get one with common parts that is not necessarily cheap (cheap bikes aren't that great either) but not like your top end 7k road bike with the full carbon wheels that you might want to ride there. It's more of a "decent", not necessarily junk but more beater bike type mission because you're taking risks.

One note on bikes and almost everything in Europe they have a VAT tax of more than 20%, the Euro is very strong, and prices in Europe tend to be higher to boot as well. So even though we ended up paying more by shipping, we found to get similar type bikes that we bought we would have had to spend over $1000 Euro or maybe like $1300-$1400 to start when we could buy our bikes for less than a grand here similarly equipped. So while the shipping seems expensive at the end of the day the price differential to buy there is not as much as you think. You still spend more but the difference will be less. I think the higher end bike you get, the more the difference. IE for a cheap bike it's probably cheaper to buy there. As it gets nicer the cost of shipping is fixed but a nicer bike in Europe is a LOT more expensive than here justifying the shipping.

Also factor in accessories. Do you ride a bike bone stock as it comes from the factory? Do you like special pedals, seat, your GPS mount for your Garmin, a compass, water bottle/cage, packs, your speedometer, your bar ends on a flat bar bike? You might want to pre-arrange these things and bring some, or more importantly find a shop that will sell them to you once over there. It is tantamount you find a shop not only where you can buy in the USA, but also ship to in Europe so they can help you put it together. Are your relatives or friends or family going to want to deal with his huge package? Or its going to sit there at your vacation home for an indeterminate amount of time waiting to be stolen etc. It helps to buy accessories from them as it puts them in a better mood about helping you out otherwise they can easily charge you a hundred or more dollars as a "setup fee" for the inconvenience of dealing with a bike you didn't buy from them. Not saying you should ship vs buy in Europe or buy in Europe vs ship but these are the pros/cons and issues we faced and just sharing so you can make the best decision you can.

As part of the accessories you know how it is with getting a new bike. It takes an hour or two to get everything properly installed aligned and fit right before you even start riding it. You're going to want to do it like the first day you're there but all that stuff isn't fun when you're all jet lagged. Do you have the proper tools at least like a little wrench kit, one of those 17, 18, 19 tool swiss knife thingies? At least bring that just realize you're not going to have your regular workspace you've so carefully set up to work so well with all the lighting you're used to. Power is EXPENSIVE in Europe, even with LED's most places err on the side of saving money so it's relatively dim compared to the USA standards of brightness you might be used to. Then you're learning a new bike and new places. City biking in Europe BLOWS DEAD GOATS. Things are very narrow and close. It's super crowded. You can't really go that fast and you need eyes in all directions. You have modified electric scooters going 40-50mph on the bike lanes THE WRONG WAY. It will take you some time to really find what the nicest routes our always outside city limits and how to get there. There will be a learning curve. Europeans are more assertive bikers, riders, walkers and drivers so people aren't afraid to cut you off consequences be damned. No one gives a crap you're going to break your shoulder or damage your bike, another reason maybe not to get carbon as it damages more easily and that's another factor to consider. Are you going to keep the bike there with relatives that aren't careful that will unknowingly trash your bike?

Like I said it was a mind expanding experience for me. I look at my phone, what I wrote to my friends, the photos I sent and I feel like a different person now thanks to my cycling experiences over there. It was absolutely mind blowingly transcendental, one of those things that rocks your world so well that you "never feel the same". But at the same time I wished I went in knowing everything I did now. At the moment, I simply cannot wait the next time we go as I have a very good idea of where I will go for my rides, it wasn't so at the beginning of the summer. There will be a learning curve.

The corollary to this is that if you're only going for 1-2 weeks then it's not worth it. PITA that's all. Find someone with a cheapo bike, go for a few rides in the park, or go to gym and do the spin bike to "stay in shape" a few times a week. This has to be a serious hobby for you given the cost and more importantly, heartache and learning curve it will involve. At the cost of being boring and repeating myself: it's a huge PITA to do it, and also a huge source of satisfaction maybe one of the most fun and best things I have done for many years. The more you plan on being there length wise THIS trip, and the more future plans that are likely to include this part of France the more it's worth it.

Alternatively you could find a bike hotel or something like that to take care of all this craziness for you. This is a huge place of growth, and bike tourism hotels are all over the place. They take care of all the research, setup and often rent bikes as well so that could be your one stop shopping. If you're only going once especially for a shorter amount of time this could be your E-Z solution, capital "E", capital "Z". They will take you places, often having vans to drive you to the nice places without having to deal with all the city crap.

If you don't have an unusual size I suggest also contacting shops local to your area that may rent. Sometimes you get lucky, sometimes you can go ahead with that.

If you or someone in your party, wife, husband, kid, relative, friend etc has an ebike that creates other problems too because the airlines will NOT take the batteries. Too big, too explosive. So you will have to ship them separately via like UPS, Fedex to and fro. That's another thing to consider, another cost. And you cannot leave the battery behind as if it sits there for more than a few months without the "maintenance" (being regularly charged) you fill find it dead at your next trip and that's an expensive mistake.

Another thing with COVID is that bikes are just harder to come by. I started my journey in January contacting everything and was thankful but even then stuff was hard to get, sold out and felt like I should have started a year before especially if you want to order over there. From what I heard most shops put in their orders for next year *NOW* like late August/SEptember. If you wait even until the holidays given demand it might be too late. That was just our experience with trying to buy over there take it for what it's worth.

Us, we just left our bikes upside down at the back of my uncles underground garage which has all his crap in it in his storage locker which for Europe is quite large. I oiled the drivetrains up covered them with a tarp and look forward to next year. I can trust him. It was a great idea, well worth it, but fraught with just stupid little issues to tick you off, inconvenience you, give you anxiety and block your way. Like trying to ride a gravel bike over some trails which are mostly good but you encounter certain sections with roots and rocks that you have to walk, or even deep woods where you have to hike a bike it. You feel like it's just a little too hard and Dear Lord why oh why does it have to be so difficult, why me? But once you finish the journey, you'll be glad you did. Now that it's sorted out I can hit the ground running next year and I cannot wait.

Have fun and good luck!

Atlas Shrugged

Having used cardboard boxes in the past without issue a couple of tips. I used cheap pipe insulation and bubble wrap on the frame, place a spacer in the dropouts so can’t be squeezed. Also a layer of thermo plastic corrugated lining inside the box helps. The same stuff they make yard signs from. Be careful over wrapping with gorilla tape because more than once had to open for security to look inside before loading on the airplane. Bring extra tape just in case. Lastly remove all batteries from the box as that has also been a issue. On a positive note I have been fortunate to have travelled extensively and my bike has joined me on many trips. Europe, Asia, N. America, S. America all without any real issues. Last tip get comfortable with routing software like RWGPS as it really adds to the adventure when you have a plan.