Tandem Tom

Wondering about a way to protect the fork when the bike is boxed for air travel. I plan to use a spacer between the dropouts but would like more protection ideas.
Thanks!

alan s 

My travel bike came with Velcro padding that wraps around all tubes. Even the steerer. No idea where you can buy the stuff. Maybe pipe insulation would work.

saddlesores

1. cut a 100mm piece of pvc, fit between fork legs,
then insert and secure the skewer.

2. get a piece of styrofoam or foam pad, cut to fit
into the bottom corner of the box. (craft stores)
make a suitable cavity for the fork.

3. i think you know.

fietsbob

At LBS there are abundant plastic pieces made to do that job, in the box used for that purpose, with every new Bike..
available for free, just ask..

Be there when they pull a new bike out of the box , and see the way a brand new bike is packed...

Tourist in MSN

When you say more ideas, do you mean for the rest of the bike or just more ideas for the fork? The suggestions above for the fork are about as good as I think you will get.

I have only packed a bike in an S&S case, that had to be more compact and you had a lot of parts in contact with each other. I bought some cheap perforated rubber that is sold as a shelf liner, cut that into pieces to wrap around the parts that were in contact with each other. Cheap at Dollar Tree.
https://www.dollartree.com/bulk/Shelf-Liner

But in a bike box I think that pipe insulation is the favorite. It is too bulky for me to use in an S&S case, but is a much better cushion.

Here is a pretty good video but you need a fast internet connection to watch it.
https://www.bicycling.com/video/pack-bike-travel

If you use zip ties, I find a small side cutter or toe nail cutter to remove them really fast. Zip ties are also cheap at Dollar Tree.

Assuming it is a derailleur bike, you want to remove your rear derailleur so it does not get bent or break a breakable hanger.

I met a couple people in a campground in Iceland looking for front skewers, they left the skewers in their front wheels and the skewers were bent by the airline handling.

If you do not know for certain that you can get your pedals out of teh crank arms, several days earlier make sure that they are loose enough to extract. Some bike shops put them in really tight.

Doug64

I also get the protective goodies at my LBS for free.

Also use pipe wrap on fork blades.

jefnvk

Pipe insulation or pool noodles around the blades. I'll either get a spacer from the LBS, or in the more likely chance I forget to do so, cut a small piece of a furring strip that fits between the blades.

spinnaker

T strap a narrow strip of lumber to each fork using wire ties. The lumber extends past the dropouts. The intent is to protect the dropouts from damage should shipping slam the bottom of the box off of the floor.

djb

This time I added a piece of old blue camp mat that I taped to the whole bottom of the fork, to act as more cushion, and to stop the fork swiveling at all. I'm actually carrying this piece and a few foam bits in a pack on my rack that has space for this stuff.

I also jam my sleeping bag in front of the fork from the top, again as cushion and to stop any movement.