Originally Posted by
nicole999
I only have 2 days unfortunatly. But I'll be there early morning and have 2 full days alone until my trip partners arrive (they are flying seperatly because we booked tickets at different times)... anyway, what if I contacted a bike shop before, gave them my information, and they gave me a list of bikes or something that I could look up/ check out in my own city. Or would this be a bad idea because I would have a feel of the bike before I started riding? For me I don't think it would be an issue, but then again I've never done a bike trip, so maybe my bum may be aching after a few days on a bike I'm not used to.
I wouldn't want to get a new bicycle a day before I set off on a tour. It usually takes me a few rides to get the set up of my bicycle just right, and I've found that quite often about a week after owning a new bicycle, I need to take it back to the shop to have something adjusted.
But how mechanically inclined are you? If you feel very comfortable pulling over and making adjustments to your saddle and handlebars as a part of the set up process. Then maybe a new bicycle isn't a terrible idea. Can you comfortably and confidently adjust your derailleur? It's usually something like that which needs a bit of adjustment after the first week or so.
As for airlines ... there are lots of airlines out there. Go to their websites, look up Baggage, look up Sports Equipment, look up Bicycles, and see what they say. They will tell you on the website.
This isn't necessarily up to date because airlines have been changing their policies every few days it seems, but it does provide you with links to the airline websites and an idea of how much airlines charge.
http://www.ibike.org/encouragement/travel/bagregs.htm
I think if I were flying in the US, I'd probably opt for one of the smaller airlines like Southwest if possible.