Touring - Getting your bike from USA to Europe

We've done lots of touring in the past, including a 2 year ride, but have never had to pay a fee for flying with the bikes internationally.

It seems that airlines have now put an end to reasonable fees - United lists $200 one-way! My bike isn't even worth the $400 it would take to fly with it. (I thought it used to be $50 one-way.)

This summer, we rode US50 from Reno to Colorado, and just used FedEx to get the bikes there - about $35 one-way. Unfortunately, using FedEx or UPS overseas is closer to $250.

Any ideas on reasonable shipping methods for flying from the USA (Denver) to Western Europe (say, Frankfurt)?

Thanks,

Steve Casagrande
http://scasagrande.tripod.com

Air Canada charges $50 for a bicycle for each flight leg. Air Transat (a small Canadian low-cost airline) charges $30. If you live near the border, it might be feasible to connect through a Canadian hub, although the current exchange rate might make the fares expensive.

It would just be cheaper to rent a bike in Europe than to ship it there.

Get a Bike Friday. It's a great bike and it packs into a suitcase whose total dimensions are under 62", so it still travels for free on flights between the US & Europe.

British arirways are about £30 each way.

British arirways are about £30 each way.

Stay away from Delta or United. They are screwing cyclists.. There are alternatives.

^ I read about them something like 300 USD crazy, it pays to research these things, I've never taken a bike across the Atlantic personally though.

Lufthansa charges $200 each way, they have a non-stop from Denver to Frankfurt.

British Airways allows one checked bag on flights to Europe, your bicycle counts as your second bag and costs 32 pounds. It appears that if you could check your bicycle and carry everything else in a carry-on bag, there wouldn't be a charge.

I took my bicycle on British Airways for free last May, and I took my bicycle for free on Lufthansa in May 2006. traveling with a bicycle isn't what it used to be.

If you go with British Airways, be aware that the flight from Denver lands at Heathrow, and most of the onward flights to the continent leave from Gatwick, about 30 miles away. When I flew to Sicily in 2008, I cycled from Heathrow to Gatwick, but it wasn't easy.

30 min in a car with no traffic.

Try aer lingus.

I used them to fly over, and the bike was included in the regular luggage, which at the time was two articles. I think they may of changed their baggage policy since I flew with them, so you might want to research it, but the airline was low cost and our bikes were free. However, our plane was canceled the day we were supposed to fly out, and rescheduled for the next day, then our bike didn't even arrive with the regular luggage. This was a blessing in disguise cause they had to deliver the bike to northern france after that, and we would have never been able to fit them in the car at the airport!

Airline Baggage Regulation for Bikes

http://www.ibike.org/encouragement/travel/bagregs.htm

But be sure to check with the actual airline you choose before booking to see what they currently charge, in case the above list is out of date ... and check again a week or so before you fly to see if the airline has made any further changes.

I'm wondering if people feel that all this hassle makes S&S couplers more of a good idea these days. Any opinions on that? Does S&S make the airline process any cheaper in the long run?

Thanks,

Neil

If you have a touring bike, an S&S coupler will allow you to pack a full sized bike in a standard case. This will significantly reduce the airline fee. Its an expensive upgrade but its less expensive than paying those airline transport charges.

A drawback to S&S couplers is that you have to find a place to store the case during your tour. Otherwise, S&S couplers are looking better and better as airline bike fees go up.

If you start and end at the same airport, then it shouldn't be too difficult to find someone local who's willing to store the S&S box or bag in a back room or basement for the duration of the tour. Pay them whatever nominal amount sweetens the deal and that's that.

If you're ending somewhere different from the start, then I'm guessing it shouldn't be that expensive to FedEx or UPS an empty case (or, even better, a bag - can it be compressed into a smaller box?). Yes, it's a hassle that normally I wouldn't want to be bothered with, but it seems that airline fees are going up so much as they try to cut costs and eliminate non-paying weight and space. This is probably a trend that will only get worse, I think - all the airlines seem to be hurting, particularly in the USA since 9/11.

If I end up trying to get a Co-Motion Americano, I'm just debating whether to try to go whole hog and get the S&S right from the start... are there any disadvantages, for normal use of the bike? I haven't heard of any, but I'd just like to make sure there aren't any gotchas. About the only thing I can imagine is that you can no longer lock the bike through the main triangle (since it's relatively easy to dismantle that and circumvent the lock). Apart from that, it sounds like it might be useful to be able to take the bike apart a bit, even if it's just for transporting in the back of a car.

Sorry, not meaning to derail the original point of this thread... but it is somewhat related.

Thanks,

Neil

FedEx'ing an empty case makes sense, the bag would offer less protection to the bike and wouldn't cost that much less to ship.

I think a special tool is required to dismantle the S&S couplers, I don't know how many bike thieves would carry such a tool or recognize S&S couplers. I could be wrong, though. At any rate, you can still secure the frame and rear wheel through the rear triangle, and run a separate cable through the front wheel.

Getting the bike with S&S from the start would certainly save a few steps if you're getting a frame built, as well as being cheaper.

Steel can be converted but not aluminum or carbon fiber. Those frames have to built with S&S couplers by a custom bike frame buider.

There's no charge on Virgin Atlantic. I flew from Boston to London recently and just packed my bike into a Tardis soft sided bag and handed it over to the Virgin baggage guy at the airport. simple!!!

^^yeah as long as your final destination is london. I hate transferring through london because they always lose my bag. One time I didn't see my nag again for about 10 days after my flight....that was a real PIA...

We took our Trek 2000 tandem from Tampa to London free last year on British Airways. It was packed in 11/2 bike boxes. British Airways used to consider bikes as sporting goods and allowed them to be carried free in addition to normal baggage. I don't know if they have changed their policy.

We took our Trek 2000 tandem from Tampa to London free last year on British Airways. It was packed in 11/2 bike boxes. British Airways used to consider bikes as sporting goods and allowed them to be carried free in addition to normal baggage. I don't know if they have changed their policy.

They have changed their entire checked baggage policy.

See post #8, or visit https://www.britishairways.com/travel/bagchk/public/en_us

A drawback to S&S couplers is that you have to find a place to store the case during your tour. Otherwise, S&S couplers are looking better and better as airline bike fees go up.

I've been looking at the S&S couplers and am considering getting these put on my next (custom) frame from the get-go.
Airline prices for carrying bikes are getting ridiculous (as many have mentioned) and the S&S would quickly pay for itself.

Previously at the end of tours I've searched for cardboard boxes from lbs's or sport stores... Thrift shops may have second hand suitcases that would do the job (better) than cardboard boxes... just a thought :)

edit: second thoughts... are suitcases big enough? ...hmmm probably not :(

It has gotten more expensive. Swiss Air Lines is now charging CHF220.- (ca. Euro 150) to bring a bike on an intercontinental flight - and that's only in one direction!

Try aer lingus.

I used them to fly over, and the bike was included in the regular luggage, which at the time was two articles. I think they may of changed their baggage policy since I flew with them, so you might want to research it, but the airline was low cost and our bikes were free. However, our plane was canceled the day we were supposed to fly out, and rescheduled for the next day, then our bike didn't even arrive with the regular luggage. This was a blessing in disguise cause they had to deliver the bike to northern france after that, and we would have never been able to fit them in the car at the airport!

I was lucky with this little problem. By securing my Hollywood rack about my large suitcase and then wrapping the whole thing in plastic, they let me take the rack as one piece.. No charge.After re-assembling my bikes- All I had to do was put the cardboard bike boxes in recycling at the airport. I did have to pay an extra sixty buck for the second bike. That on KLM.. I 'd fear to think what transporting two bikes would cost today on most airlines.

Just to be specific: S&S couplers added $700 (plus $50 in sales tax) to the cost of my bike. On top of that I still have to buy the case- these range from $400 (soft shell) to $600 (hard shell) and have it shipped here. So, all in, the cost for the S&S option is $1200-1400. YMMV.

A long ways from a cheap and I'm still scratchin' my head wondering if it was a smart thing or not. Guess if I ever sell the bike (shut your mouth) I should recoup some of this.

Neil, I have good friends who did the west coast last month on an S&S coupled Co-Motion tanden and had no issues. I just bought an S&S Americano and have never given the S&S a bit of thought- haven't toured loaded on it yet (next week!!), but I think if its done right the S&S is a non issue.

Good post bobframe! Worth considering if/when ordering S&S upgrade/new build...

I have an S&S couple Waterford touring bike and the hard shell case. While I only test rode a non-S&S coupled Waterford before I bought one, I can't imagine that the bike rides any different with or without them. The only maintenance I ever do is to occasionally tighten them and put a teflon grease on them when I take the bike apart.

The hard shell case has been on about a dozen airline flights and is starting to show some major wear and tear. I'll likely have to buy another one after a few more flights.

On a previous thread, someone pointed out that instead of a hard case, a disassembled bike could be put in a cardboard box that is cut to be the exact size accepted by airlines. This might work for a tour whose starting and stopping points are different. I have a better solution which involves my wife flying to my destination point with my bike case.

In today's world of lower air fares but higher baggage fees, the S&S couplers pay for themselves after a few plane flights. If I needed to buy another bike, I would definitely buy one that had S&S couplers on it.

Ray

Just to be specific: S&S couplers added $700 (plus $50 in sales tax) to the cost of my bike. On top of that I still have to buy the case- these range from $400 (soft shell) to $600 (hard shell) and have it shipped here. So, all in, the cost for the S&S option is $1200-1400. YMMV.

A long ways from a cheap and I'm still scratchin' my head wondering if it was a smart thing or not. Guess if I ever sell the bike (shut your mouth) I should recoup some of this.

Neil, I have good friends who did the west coast last month on an S&S coupled Co-Motion tanden and had no issues. I just bought an S&S Americano and have never given the S&S a bit of thought- haven't toured loaded on it yet (next week!!), but I think if its done right the S&S is a non issue.

Was $700 the total cost to have them installed on an existing bike or was the cost plus to have it installed on a new bike that you ordered? Because I thought it was far more expensive than that. I thought it was $700 for the couplers and another $800 or so for the install on an existing bike.

But even if we went with your figures it would take 3-7 trips for the couplers to pay for themselves. If you travel a lot, probably worth it, especially for making it easy to transport.

If ypu have a tandem then they are almost a requirement.

spinnaker,

Co-Motion adds $700 for S&S installed (parts & labor) to a new bike. I don't think they offer retrofits on any bikes....even their own. I agree that if one travels enough with a bike there is a break even point on the cost- just wanted to inject a factoid on what the upfront investment will be for me.

You make a good point that in addition to the cost issue, dealing with a 26" x 26" x 10" case on wheels is a whole lot easier than schlepping a bike box around. And what price do you put on the convenience factor? OTOH, dealing with the case is an issue, while tossing a cardboard box away is a good bit less so.

I was trolling through Bilenky's site and I saw that he retrofits for less than that ($495 for steel bike): http://www.bilenky.com/retro_prices.html. His site is not clear on what else is required in terms of painting, but if you have a nice bike it might needed to be completely repainted- Bilenky quotes $325 for this: add more for decals or a tandem. So you're at $820 (more than what it cost me to have it done from the outset).

I am certainly no expert on the subject of retrofitting S&S couplers, but I would want to be certain that the folks doing so really knew what they were doing (I'm picturing a 40 mph descent and the frame coming apart....man that hurts). I think with a steel frame there is a matter of paying heed to how the tubing is butted. I'm wondering of Bilenky replaces the tubes being retrofit or if he patches the couplers in?

Just to be specific: S&S couplers added $700 (plus $50 in sales tax) to the cost of my bike. On top of that I still have to buy the case- these range from $400 (soft shell) to $600 (hard shell) and have it shipped here. So, all in, the cost for the S&S option is $1200-1400. YMMV.

A long ways from a cheap and I'm still scratchin' my head wondering if it was a smart thing or not. Guess if I ever sell the bike (shut your mouth) I should recoup some of this.

Neil, I have good friends who did the west coast last month on an S&S coupled Co-Motion tanden and had no issues. I just bought an S&S Americano and have never given the S&S a bit of thought- haven't toured loaded on it yet (next week!!), but I think if its done right the S&S is a non issue.

I'm going to be seriously looking at a Co-Motion Americano as my next touring bike.

Whenever the subject of S&S comes up, the conversation seems to focus on airline travel and whether or not this makes S&S "economical" or not. To me, though, there is another big potential reason for being able to break the bike down: Simple transport in a car. It would seem to be quite a major advantage to be able to get a full sized bicycle into a small economy sized rental car. It seems like a bit of a no-brainer in terms of utility, regardless of the current foibles of the airlines. I believe that most of the long times that people report in taking apart and rebuilding their S&S bikes are due to the need to break it down sufficiently to fit into one of the special cases. You have to pad the tubes, possibly remove the racks and forks etc. Well, for car transport that wouldn't be as traumatic, would it? All you need to do is break the bike at the S&S points, possibly disengage the cable splitters and chain, and you're good to go. I don't see why that should take more than a couple of minutes.

There was one person on crazyguyonabike who told me that their S&S equipped Salsa Fargo started to come undone on them during a tour:

http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/forum/board/message/?message_id=142884
http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/forum/board/message/?message_id=142898

This gave me some pause, though I haven't heard about this happening to anybody else. The big nightmare with any coupling system is that they will come loose while you're riding the bike down some huge hill or other. I guess any system can come loose if attention is not paid, but obviously you do need to be aware of what can happen.

I understand that S&S couplers don't generally creak, and they are actually stiffer than the tubing that they replace. Also, you need to be careful about not getting any grit on the threads before reconstruction, and you ideally also need to have some special teflon lubricant at hand. That said, are there any real disadvantages to S&S in practice, cost aside? Do they prevent you from doing anything that you might otherwise be able to do with a non-S&S bike?

Thanks!

Neil

Neil,

Every word I've read about them suggests that the coupler is actually more stout than the tubing. I think the preferred thread treatment is to clean and grease the threads periodically.

Although I haven't had mine apart yet, there are two couplers to unscrew and three cable splitters to unscrew and your bike is in two pieces. Couldn't take 3 minutes.

Putting it all into a case however, is (I'm told) a couple hour process since there is a good bit of dis-assembly and prep required.

Read the links from CGOAB...sounds like operator error to me.

I've been measuring my bike to see how realistic it would be to pack it if it had S&S couplers. I'd definitely have to remove the crank arms and chainrings. What tools would this require (having never been man enough to put a wrench to my cranks before ;)? (Shimano LX) Thanks! :)

EDIT: 'k googled and youtubed... 8mm hex key and crank puller tool...

A drawback to S&S couplers is that you have to find a place to store the case during your tour. Otherwise, S&S couplers are looking better and better as airline bike fees go up.

Why not use a cut down bike box that is the same size as the S&S case? Or just use a plastic bag like the CTC sells/promotes?

I used the plastic bag earlier this year on British Airways and with the front wheel strapped to the frame it was nice and compact.

Was $700 the total cost to have them installed on an existing bike or was the cost plus to have it installed on a new bike that you ordered? Because I thought it was far more expensive than that. I thought it was $700 for the couplers and another $800 or so for the install on an existing bike.

I called a local place about getting a bike retrofit w/ S&S couplers and it came back around $1300 going from bike to bike. So I would bring them my bike, they would completely disassemble it, cut it, put on the couplers, give it a completely new paintjob, and then rebuild it. If I brought them the frame already stripped, the couplers would only have been maybe $800 for installation + touch up the paint around the edges.

I bought a traveller's check frame and for the one flight I've had it on I used a cut down cardboard box, which I still have and will be able to use for the next flight. This was not a touring trip, this was just to have a bike with me on a family trip to visit relatives across several east coast states. It was nice to be able to break the bike in half w/ the couplers and throw it in the trunk of a borrowed car so I could move it around with ease. I got at least as much satisfaction about that general ease of transport as I did from poaching the checked bag allowance of one of my kids to fly it around at no charge.

In my own case, and maybe anyone else's, it's a real headscratcher to truly *justify* S&S couplers vs a folding bike. But I sure do like the bike a lot. It's been my main commuter during the time I haven't needed my trailer-pulling bike, so even if a folder would have been more utilitarian per dollar or whatever... I am definitely getting use out of it.

Stay away from Delta or United. They are screwing cyclists.. There are alternatives.

Delta now actually controls NWA and United.. The concept of competition is difficult to achieve when their is no competition. Cyclists better fly foreign airlines or else pay out the big bucks.. Some of the Canadian airlines listed above. Wonder if you can ship your bike as freight.. Second question.. Should they loose your bike is it insured. ?

This is a head scratcher alright... I've been looking around at a number of airlines' bagage policies (in particular from Europe to the USA and Australia).

The tendency seems to be going from an extra charge for sporting equipment, to simply charging for excess baggage weight (usually anything often over 23 kg (50 lbs))

The "standard" size for baggage (LWH=62" (158cm) varies aswell...
Thus, in some cases having S&S couplers won't make a difference...

I am tending towards ordering my new frame with S&S couplers and then keeping the total weight of my bike and gear to under 30 kg (7kg hand baggage + 23 kg checked baggage).
The only way this would work for me is to wear ALL my clothes when flying, and packing as much as possible in a cardboard box with the bike...

2 other things: my packed cardboard box w/ TC weighed around 25 pounds; also, even though it was that 26x26x10 size, I told the woman when I was checking it that it was bicycle parts. She seemed to want to slap a bicycle charge on it regardless of size if it had been a whole bike. It wasn't a whole bike, I had the pedals and wheel axles in another bag.

Yepp Hardy! I got this from one of the airlines aswell, doesn't matter if it was 26x26x10 box or big bike box, if it's a bike you pay for sporting equipment AND you can't put anything else in with the bike (no tools, camping gear etc)... Oh, and "discussing" things like it's just bike parts, or my helmet is a hat, or whatever, usually won't get you anywhere :(

My word what IS the world coming to?! ;)

Check out the site "bikeaccesss.net" lots of info on moving a bike around the world