Leinster

Doing a one-way London-Paris with friends in May, and I’ll be flying into one, and back to California from the other. It won’t be practical to bring a hard shell bike case along, obviously.

I could get a cardboard bike box at this end and discard it in Heathrow/Paddington, but there’s no guarantee I’ll be able to acquire another one in Paris, depending on when we get into town and have to fly next day, so I don’t want to arrive not knowing how I’m getting my bike home.

any suggestions of a bike box brand that can be packed up small enough to take in a pannier?

The Bike I’ll be bringing won’t be so nice that I’ll be cut up if it gets damaged en-route, but I’d definitely prefer to be sure it’s in working order when I arrive in London.

rsbob 

Why not contact a bike shop in Paris and have them put one aside for you?

Don’t know of any bike box that can be broken down to fit in a pannier.

GiAllen

I'd also call them directly

staehpj1 

I have used a light inexpensive soft case with no padding and added cardboard to add some protection. I don't typically carry it for the trip, but it is small and light enough that you could. I have mailed it home or mailed it ahead to the end of the trip. Once I put off mailing it ahead long enough that I actually did carry it for the whole tour. I would discard the cardboard and find some new at the end for the flight home. The lack of padding is an advantage in my usage.

A case with no padding is typically light and inexpensive. The bag goes on sale often and is currently on sale for $39.99. It is only a little over $50 even when not on sale. The one I use is from Performance or Nashbar. https://www.performancebike.com/tran...RoC4koQAvD_BwE

Packing ultralight I have managed to pack not only my bike but bike and gear for a multiweek camping and cooking tour all in it and still be under the 50 pound airline limit. It was nice to be able to have only one bag with a shoulder strap. Granted it was a big unweildy bag. Typically I'd have a little 18 liter backpack that I take as a personal item so it the weight went slightly over a bit of weight could go in that. If you pack heavier obviously you can take a second checked bag and/or a carry on bag in addition to that.

Herzlos

Are you going to be stopping in a hotel before flying out, or are you cycling straight to the airport?
You should be able to post a bike box from wherever you start in London to the hotel at the end in Paris. It's apparently a 21 hour cycle from airport to airport, so I'm assuming you're stopping somewhere.

Also, from California that's a huge journey to straight home, why not spend a couple of days in Paris to recover before flying home? That'd solve the bike case problem.

If not, arrange something with a bike shop there and see if they can ship it home for you or have the case shipped from London to them.

It'll also be worth checking what paperwork you may need to import a bike into the UK, then France, then back to the US. There's no free movement between any of those countries now.

pdlamb

I've read that foreign airlines will often take your bags wrapped up in a large, clear plastic bag. That might be a possibility on British Air or Air France from the larger California hubs.

U.S. airlines won't let you do that. Best bet would be to get a cardboard bike box here, and arrange to collect or buy one from a Parisian shop there.

chaadster

Another option is to buy a bike transport bag off Amazon.fr and have it delivered to your Paris addy:

https://www.amazon.fr/s?k=sac+de+tra..._ts-doa-p_2_26

staehpj1 

I have done that quite a few times from US cities. Every bike shop I tried was willing to pack and ship for a reasonable fee. That works well if you use a cardboard box and discard it afyer the first leg.

Leinster

Thanks for the responses, all. Gonna try to reply in order, rather than quoting everyone and creating a doomscroll.

rsbob
I may end up contacting a bike store. As said, I'd be concerned if my arrival and departure times don't line up with their opening hours.

staehpj1
The Performance soft bag looks ideal for what I'm looking for! How small does it fold up?

Herzlos
The trip is 2 days London-Newhaven, ferry to France, 2 days riding Dieppe to Paris. Posting a bike box might be an option.
I'm keeping this trip tight to have time for some other family vacation time later in the year.
The guys I'm traveling with are all based in the UK or Ireland, so knowing about paperwork won't be a problem.

pdlamb
I've shipped bikes in a plastic bag from Ireland to the Netherlands before, so yeah, I wouldn't object to doing it like that, but I guess like you say it's not done here. I may be able to return that way.

staehpj1 

I just checked and it was out in a cold-ish shed (39 F this morning here), so the fabric was kind of stiff and not as compliant as it might otherwise be. Also mine is old and getting stiffer than it used to be. Any way I rolled it around the stiffened bas and then folded it into thirds. That wound up being about 8"X12"x4" thick. I think maybe it might compress down more in the 4" dimension if warmer and newer. I did not actually measure it, but that I think that is a reasonable estimate. If an actual accurate measurement is needed I can do that.

Leinster

Thank you for that! It sounds like the ideal size, I’ll definitely plan on that or something similar, depending on my final luggage configuration.