spinnaker

And in this post 911 / airline layoff and salary cut world I think it is foolish to lie. Just about everyone from the ticket counter to the security to the luggage throwers can make your life a living hell if they want. Try to lie to them and they could get pissed and your bike might end up in Hong Kong when it should be going to Denver. Or worse they figure if you are lying about the contents of that box then you might be lying about something else and have security do a search.

cyclezealot

Another hassle with the 300 dollar charge. Ask if Delta will fully cover the cost should they loose or damage your bike.. On some flights , I've had to pay an extra charge for my bikes. And they confirmed, there was not additional insurance coverage. Luckily , so far the extra charges were much less than Delta's. Most airlines pay back based on weight. not value of the contents .

stedalus

If you look at their oversize charges for any bag (any item over 62" L+W+H), the fees are the same. They don't want to be in the business of carrying anything that's not a standard suitcase, period.

nancy sv

Years ago we took a great big double baby stroller for our twins to Ethiopia. Of course, it had the big bike wheels. They wanted to charge us for a bike and it took a LOT of convincing that it wasn't a bike - it was a stroller. In the end we had to open the box and partially take the thing out in order to convince them. Even though it was actually bigger than a bike would have been, they let it go free once they knew it wasn't a bike. Makes no sense to me...

Bacciagalupe

"Big problems?"

• The geometry differences are pretty slight. LHT does have an advantage for heavily loaded touring or tourers with huge feet, but it's not like the CC is a pursuit bike.
• Lack of fork mounts is easily remedied: p-clamps or racks that mount on the axle and/or brake bosses (e.g. OMM Sherpa).
• How, exactly, does a smaller wheel have less "clearance issues" than a larger one? If anything, the CC will have more clearance. (Upside, better on dirt / gravel / mud etc. Downside, raises the center of gravity a bit.)

People have toured for years, and still do, on cross-style bikes; the sky does not fall on them. These are fairly minor quibbles, compared to, say, loaded touring on a carbon fiber racing bike.

Shemp

Been a few years since I used them, but I used https://www.sportsexpress.com/ to ship my bike. They used FedEx. I first read about them in one bike publication or another.

spinnaker

Looks to me like they are a bit more expensive than shipping yourself but they do pay for rental or replacement at the other end should it not get there. I guess a small price to pay for a little insurance.

howsteepisit

I don't know looks to me like just more hypocrisy in the US- reduce your carbon footprint but don't do anything like ride a bike 'cause its not convenient for the auto driving, mass transit that does not go where you want/need no trains system we have built.

spinnaker

Save your liberal clap trap for the Politics and Religion forum.

Camel

I shipped my road bike yesterday UPS without the wheels Portalnd area to Boston.

Cost 106.05. Weighed 23.4lbs actual, charged 57.0 dimensional weight. I might have been able to include the wheels in the box and still stay at the same dimensional weight.

I double boxed, and reinforced/protected the frame further with foam boarding. Likely cost would have been in the 80$ range had I single boxed (the inner box is smaller, so a smaller dimensional weight would have applied).

...In summary, we tourists are looking at a cost of $140-$170 to ship a touring bike with racks and wheels (properly boxed up) from coast to coast USA using UPS insured one way.

-Not too far off from the Delta $175 one way charge.

jbpence

S&S couplers just keep looking better and better. while it took me a while to get the bike, fenders, racks, pedals, fork, stem, bars all back together, it sure was sweet not having to hassle with all of this. sure, they'll take some time to 'pay out', but I plan to fly and tour a lot.

spinnaker

I'm considering buying a Travels Check. I am hoping that Surly will start making a full bike in the Travlers Check. It will make it more affordable.

What worries me is investing all that money and the airlines still charges if they find it is a bike or worse change the rules so that size luggage becomes oversize.

El Pelon

Lighten up, Francis.

spinnaker

I didn't know you real name was Francis

Chuck G

The Delta web site says they are charging the $175/$300 fee not just for bikes, but also for scuba tanks, surfboards, and windsurfing boards. It doesn't sound like they are singling out cyclists, just people whose recreation equipment isn't compact.

spinnaker

Well since no one I know of travels with their own tanks (you need to travel with them empty and and reputable shop will refuse to fill them without an inside visual inspection) it's kind of moot.

I notice that they do not charge for skis, while lighter, would require the same special handling as a bicycle and golf clubs which are probably almost as heavy as a bicycle. They don't charge for clubs or skis because of the backlash it would create.

Losligato

Here are some alternatives to Delta:

Southwest Airlines: $50 per flight for bicycles over the 62" rule
Alaska Airlines: $50 or $75 depending on the size
Ryanair 30-40 Euro
Spirit Airlines: $75 per leg
Virgin Atlantic: Bikes fly FREE (in addition to free baggage allowance) if they are under 32 kg.

Chris_W

If you have multiple bikes then one way to save on airline baggage charges or shipping charges is to get a custom-made box and put two bikes in one box. When my wife and I moved from Canada to Europe, we wanted to take four bikes with us. With some experimentation with a standard cardboard bike box, I figured out that it would not need to be much larger to get two bikes in there and it could still be under the weight restrictions. I called a local box company with the dimensions and they made two double-walled cardboard boxes for $35 (Canadian) each. They were even tougher than standard bike boxes.

I put lots of padding around all of the frame tubes, and put all the small parts in a box that I taped inside the main box. It all worked fine. We had planned to pay the airline fees for them (though only two times not four because of my cunning method), but we actually ended up using an international shipping company for those and a couple of other boxes with large, heavy items in them. We got a good rate for the whole lot, and could buy insurance coverage for whatever value we declared. Even when using the shipping company, it saved to have two bikes per box because those boxes were charged based on volume rather than based on weight, and one double box is significantly less volume than two single boxes.

Everything arrived in about 7 days perfectly safely, and we've since kept the boxes, folded in half under the bed for whenever we make the return trip. However, transporting oversized bike boxes with two bikes in each is of course not straightforward.

Johnny Vagabond

I just built up a Travelers Check and totally disagree with the "not as comfy for touring with large loads". I've carried at least 45lbs on the back using an oversized saddlebag and two small panniers; I had no issue whatsoever. And, even though there are no eyelets for a front rack, there are several alternatives to this, many just a website away (https://www.thetouringstore.com/TUBUS...ONS%20PAGE.htm).

-JV

paxtonm

On some flights, it would be cheaper to buy the bike its own seat, then insist it get its little packet of snack mix and a complimentary beverage.

GeorgeBaby

And just in case, anyone still wants to fly Delta -- it comes in last, according to FlyersRights.org.
https://www.cnn.com/2009/TRAVEL/03/11...ard/index.html

GeorgeBaby

A professional cellist I once knew would buy her cello a seat, and then insist on getting the meal (starving musician syndrome).