gauvins

(Will be the first time I fly with a bike -- direct transatlantic. This is a strong touring steel bike equipped with racks).

When you pack your bike, how do you deal with the wheels? You remove both? Only the front wheel?

I have purchased a soft, padded flight bag. Read a couple of "how to" on the subject. And am a bit puzzled by the wide range of suggestions (the airline on which I fly says something like "remove pedals, turn handlebars sideways and store in the plastic bag we supply" ; professional shipping companies use hard case shells or suggest a considerable amount of care).

I plan to leave the rear wheel on the frame, to remove the front wheel and to use a fork mount as a spacer. I might screw a board to the fork mount that would extend to the rear wheel -- this would protect the crankset from being hit from below. I plan to remove and bubble wrap the rear derailleur, pedals and handlebars (butterfly, i.e. almost flat), set the seat post at the lowest possible level and protect the frame (main triangle and stays) with sections of pipe insulation. I will place two panniers stuffed with my soft luggage inside the bike flight bag (I do not think that weight will be an issue).

Any thoughts?

saddlesores

1. are you planning on returning by air from the same location? maybe get
your first nights lodging to store your bag/box/luggage.

2. boxes work well. protect the bike. are cheap. easy to replace. are cheap.

3. which airline? did you check maximum allowable dimensions and fees?
make note of the max weight per bag/box to avoid excessive fees.
any connecting flights that might have smaller cargo bays?

i usually fly jetstar/tiger/airasia on A320's. if wanted, could carry a completely
assembled large-frame bike in a box. only real limit is weight.

normally i get a cardboard motorcycle box (carboard part stapled to wooden frame
to deliver 125-150cc motorbikes. then cut to fit my bike. i choose to make a box
150cm x 90cm x 25cm. (23" mtb frame)

1. remove pedals
2. remove front wheel, zip tie to frame
3. quick release skewer holds a 100mm section of PVC pipe in the fork.
4. remove seat+post and bottle cages
5. rear wheel, rack, fenders stay on the bike. (may need to remove front platform rack)
6. one pannier with bottles+cages, pedals, helmet, misc stuff fits inside the triangle.
7. maybe ziptie shoes to the rear rack?
8. handlebars removed, ziptied to toptube (with suitable bubble wrap)
9. pack liberally with closed cell foam, i.e. computer packing material.
10. after taping, make a web (takes less than 10 minutes) using cheap twine to hold
the box together, prevent stuff falling out in cardboard tears.
11. using a couple 6" pieces of pvc and twine, make some carry handles for the
baggage gorillas. don't want them picking box up by little handholes or the web.
12. finally, reach into the box handholes when you remember to deflate tires!

got a 25L duffel type bag that holds the second pannier and whatever else is necessary
to keep the bike box below the per bag limit.

handlebar bag is the carry on bag. camera, money, wallet, valuables, passport....and
whatever needed to sleep overnight (alarm clock?) in the airport.




shipping companies use more packing as they have more transfers between trucks
and warehouses and stuff. and they don't have the liability protection that airlines do.

wooden board? heavy. you'll be over the weight limit. wrap big chain ring
in bubble wrap or foam.

gregf83 

I use a soft bag from Pika Packworks. Both wheels come off and store in the sides. Works very well and takes 5 or 10 minutes to pack.

Trevtassie

I have one of these Nashbar Bike Transport Bag It's huge 47x 32 x 6", and even with that with 26" wheels I need to: Remove handlebars and stem. Remove seat and post. Remove Wheels. Remove cranks (I have self extracting bolts). Remove Rear Rack and place over top tube. I leave the front low rider racks on because they fit nicely into the bottom corner of the bag. The wheels have the skewers removed and the ends of the axles padded with bubble wrap. They go in the side pockets. Don't forget to deflate the tyres so they don't go bang at high altitude (this is normally an airline requirement). I use chair rubber feet over the ends of the BB, the derailleur mount and anything else that pokes out. I found some used thin core flute plastic board used for industrial packaging and I use that to line the bag so knocks don't either damage the bag or the bike. The loose bits I throw into padded post packs in the bag. Empty the whole lot packs down fairly well and can be shipped to your final departure point.

Rowan

Saran wrap or cling wrap has become my best friend in packing bikes so parts don't rub against each other and are held together. It's cheap, and once you get the technique right, easy to wrap around things such as wheels, handlebars, pedals and so on.

You can incorporate cardboard or Bubblewrap as added padding as required without it moving around once it's been wrapped in place. You also don't need other stuff such as adhesive tape or ties

Now we have Bike Fridays, it's excellent for keeping the bikes fully folded in the case or box, and they can be easily lifted out by security personal without everything falling apart... plus the wrap is reasonably transparent.

Pannier and/or bags generally go in the box/case with small items such as pedals, computer and tools in one of them. Zip-seal bags are useful for keeping stuff separated but together.

You do need a knife or a fair bit of patience to unwrap the bike at the other end because of the four or five or six layers, but at least the bike and parts will be comparatively unscathed.

If you have concerns about the box or bag being crushed, you can make up spacers from light corrugated cardboard from another box or two rolled and saran/cling wrapped. Make sure the width of the cardboard is precut to the width you require. I generally use one or two in a big bike box; position at least one cylinders in the middle of a diamond frame and wrap it in place with saran/cling wrap that's going around the rest of the frame.

Some more gratuitous advice:

Make sure you check the airline's oversized luggage limits and costs that you may be charged.

If using a bike box, think about reinforcing the bottom ends and corners with wrapping tape, especially if you expect to drag the box on airport floors or footpaths.

You should be able to pack your bike so you can place it on end on airport trolleys; it's much easier to negotiate a busy airport with the box upright and the box is likely to end up on its end at some stage in the baggage handling process.

Go to your bike shop and see if you can pick up the spacers/protectors used for shipping new bikes that go in the fork, protect to an extent the rear derailleur, and pop on one end of the axle of the front wheel. Of course, they can all be kept in place with... saran/cling wrap The fork one in particular is hand to prevent the dropouts punching through the double layer of cardboard; likewise the protector that pops into the front wheel axle.

If your bike has disc brakes, seriously consider removing the discs and packing them in one of the panniers/bags.

That's it... for now.

Tourist in MSN

I have occasionally seen comments here that baggage handlers in Germany are unusually rough on bikes but I have no direct experience to cite.

Tourist in MSN

Great idea. Thanks for posting.

indyfabz

FWIW, I one took three 3 flights to get from Spain to the U.S. My bike was placed in an airline-supplied plastic bag, fully assembled. No damage whatsoever.

I flew over with a box from CrateWorks. I like their boxes as they are large but still "airline-legal." I can fit my 60cm LHT and racks inside with room to spare. They are also less costly than a hard case. For my seven week tour in Spain the campground where I started stored my box, but I ended up abandoning it due to the difficulty in getting a cab from the campground to the airport when it was time to fly home. I simply rode to the airport and put the bike in the bag Iberia gave me. Panniers, tent, sleeping bag, etc., went in a checked duffel.

gerryl

If the airline lets you use a plastic bag - use the plastic bag. Don't take the wheels off, just do as they say - remove pedals and turn handle bars sideways, roll bike into bag and you're good to go. This has worked for me many times - just do what the airline says, it makes life much easier.

fietsbob

At the end of a US transamerica trail Bikes are left for UPS shipping Re Using the Shop's boxes.
Pedals Off bars off , front wheel*, off .. front rack has to come off.

handlebar bag mount often blocks a faceplate to remove the bars .
* centerlok discs a winner as the disc an come off to be packed separately.. and thus stay Flat.

unscrew the RD so it wont be used to bend the hanger in transit ,, seat post out ..

tighten things a Bit , maybe add tape over them so as to not come loose and escape the carton.

gauvins

why? Because otherwise the saddle could be crushed? Is this a real possibility?

fietsbob

Because it has to fit in the Box .

rawklobster

I just used a mixture of cardboard (to protect the crank, or rather, to protect the workers from hurting themselves on the crank) and cellophane on my trike. I don't plan on using much more than cellophane and bits of cardboard.

I saw the loading and unloading of the Trike, and was pretty pleased. There was no damage, and I generally think baggage handlers are careful. This online article gives a reasonable rundown of what to expect.

I'm likely to continue with just pieces of cardboard and cellophane. I think bag handlers will be as cautious as needed to keep your bike from being damaged.

If the airline has bags, I'd likely just add some cardboard around the main tubes of the bike. I think they'd rather spend time being careful than dealing with the bulk of boxes.