Touring - Getting a bike back from Europe to Canada

I've booked a flight to Copenhagen at the end of June and return from Paris at the end of July. My plan was to take my bike before the trip and have my LBS pack it nice and tight.

So I've been trying to figure out the best way to get the bike back to Canada. My best thought so far has been to call a bunch of LBS in Paris seeing if any of them could arrange to have packing materials waiting for me and pack the bike when I arrive in Paris for my flight the next day.

Its possible I could leave the bike with someone I trust to ship it to me at a later date, but I hate the thought of the shipping cost and being back at home with no touring bike.

I could also buy a hardcase, but then how to get it to Paris a month later? Is there a shipping company where I could ship it to Paris and have them hold it for a month, at a reasonable cost?

Has anyone done something pre-arranged with an LBS? Anyone have any ideas on what I could do?

Thanks!

LBSs in Paris probably receive their bikes in cardboard boxes, so they should have plenty of empty ones. I would imagine they're happy to give you one.

--J

I did something similar to this last summer for the Paris-Brest-Paris. I rented a hardshell case from my LBS here, packed up my bicycle, and headed to England. My event was in France but it was quite a bit cheaper to fly to England.

Once there I was picked up by acquaintences, I unpacked my bicycle and set off for Paris leaving my hardshell case there.

I did the PBP, returned to England, toured Wales, and then went back to where my acquaintences lived, repacked my bicycle into the hardshell case, and returned to Canada.

If you could leave your bicycle with someone, couldn't you leave a hardshell case with them while you're there? Then have them send the case by train to Paris for you to pick it up?

If you could leave your bicycle with someone, couldn't you leave a hardshell case with them while you're there? Then have them send the case by train to Paris for you to pick it up?

I never thought about that. I could land in Copenhagen, ship the hardcase to an friend, then get them to ship me in Paris at the end of the trip.



LBSs in Paris probably receive their bikes in cardboard boxes, so they should have plenty of empty ones. I would imagine they're happy to give you one.


I've never had good luck calling them at the last minute (days) and getting a decent box; they're always to small. Although I usually end up in small towns and small bike shops. A large Paris bike shop might be better.

Perhaps I'll just start emailling various Paris LBSes.

Thanks.

Anytime you ship a bicycle by air, you are taking a chance. Those hard cases should keep your bicycle safe, but I once met someone whose bike sustained major damage on a flight while packed in a hard-shell case.

Most airlines seem to have dispensed with cardboard boxes, and provide big plastic bike bags instead. I have personally shipped my bicycle in bags and boxes, and have found no difference. Either the bike arrives safely, or it does not.

Much depends on the baggage handlers. A few years ago I watched in horror from my seat as a baggage handler threw my touring bike over his head into the storage bin. When I arrived, a tire was flat and one of the wheels was way out of alignment. (I wrote the airline -- Air Canada, for your information -- to demand they repay the cost of the repairs. They refused twice; they finally cut me a cheque after my third letter.)

I am planning an overseas trip this summer on my new custom-built touring bike, and I am resigned to taking my chances on the plastic bag that the airline will provide. I doubt that a box of any kind -- whether plastic or cardboard or cast iron -- will make much of a difference if a gorilla gets hold of it. Bikes in plastic bags look fragile, so hopefully, the handlers treat them a little more carefully.

have you contacted your airline? or others that fly into paris?
some carriers provide bike boxes, altho others have only bags.

I am planning an overseas trip this summer on my new custom-built touring bike, and I am resigned to taking my chances on the plastic bag that the airline will provide. I doubt that a box of any kind -- whether plastic or cardboard or cast iron -- will make much of a difference if a gorilla gets hold of it. Bikes in plastic bags look fragile, so hopefully, the handlers treat them a little more carefully.

I've done the bag on WestJet without issue. In fact for that trip I came home on the bus, with the bike in a box, and the bus people wrecked it! Of course the box was pretty crappy.

Perhaps there is something to the theory of the bag. Also on the way back its not as important if they damage the bike as get it fixed at my leisure.

I hate the thought of putting my baby in the plane :-(

I packed my bike in a soft shell case and flew Swiss Air. I let them know it was a bike and they treated it like a newborn baby they had to handle with kid gloves. They explained to me that they had special methods for handling bikes and told me not to worry. I had packed clothes around the bike, and I had those air bubble wraps that I packed around the wheels and the body of the bike. When I got home, I unpacked, and I saw the bike was in perfect condition. Not even a scratch.

I would check the policies for the different airlines and see what they do and how they handle bikes. I flew American Airlines and Air France with my bike. Each tiime, I had a hard shell case, and each time, I had problems with the bike mechanically when I got to my destination.

Koffee