Go Back  Bike Forums > Bike Forums > Touring
Reload this Page >

What type of damage have you experienced flying your bike

Notices
Touring Have a dream to ride a bike across your state, across the country, or around the world? Self-contained or fully supported? Trade ideas, adventures, and more in our bicycle touring forum.

What type of damage have you experienced flying your bike

Old 04-07-18, 10:11 AM
  #1  
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: QC Canada
Posts: 1,950

Bikes: Custom built LHT & Troll

Mentioned: 12 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 832 Post(s)
Liked 141 Times in 100 Posts
What type of damage have you experienced flying your bike

We travel with padded bags. Considering unpadded. Wondering how much protection a rugged steel touring bike needs.

If you've experienced damages, I'd be curious to learn what it was (bent frame, damaged wheel, damaged RD, etc.). And if it was serious enough to warrant a visit to a repair shop or modifying you travel plans.

Thanks
gauvins is offline  
Old 04-07-18, 11:54 AM
  #2  
Newbie
 
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: Arizona
Posts: 24

Bikes: Tout Terrain Silkroad Xplore Gold

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 11 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
With a padded EVOC bag, I got a slight bend in my front disc brake (largely because at the time I didn't have the center lock tool to remove it - I had removed the rear disc). A few minutes with a pair of pliers, surprisingly, fixed it - surprisingly because I had no idea of the correct way of doing it, but beginners luck and all that.
RobSN is offline  
Old 04-07-18, 11:55 AM
  #3  
Every day a winding road
 
spinnaker's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Posts: 6,538

Bikes: 2005 Cannondale SR500, 2008 Trek 7.3 FX, Jamis Aurora

Mentioned: 24 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3394 Post(s)
Liked 63 Times in 46 Posts
Broken shift lever. I witnessed the bike come literally tumbling down on to baggage carousel when it should have been taken to oversize luggage. Good thing I was coming back from a trip.

The bike was in a box.
spinnaker is offline  
Old 04-07-18, 11:57 AM
  #4  
Heretic
 
Caretaker's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Dublin, Ireland
Posts: 2,246

Bikes: Specialized Sirrus, Giant OCR3, Giant CRS3

Mentioned: 20 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2827 Post(s)
Liked 561 Times in 429 Posts
No protection most times, sometimes use an airline supplied plastic bag, only twice used a bike box. After almost twenty years and about 40 flights I've never experienced any damage.
Caretaker is offline  
Old 04-07-18, 12:16 PM
  #5  
Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 2,011
Mentioned: 4 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 285 Post(s)
Liked 120 Times in 88 Posts
1 bike stolen after checked with a now defunct airline. My boxed bike was never found. I borrowed a bike from the friend whose home I was intending to ride to at the beginning of the tour.

1 wheel pretzeled. Bike was in a plastic bag supplied by the airline. Fortunately, it happened at the end of the tour. I built a new wheel after I got home.

1 downtube bashed and indented, looking as though it had been done intentionally with a hammer. Hasn't affected rideability, fortunately. Bike was unboxed.

Since I bought my Bike Friday, a folder which packs into a hard-sided suitcase, I have had no problems and paid no bike fees.
axolotl is offline  
Old 04-07-18, 03:02 PM
  #6  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Golden, CO and Tucson, AZ
Posts: 2,822

Bikes: 2016 Fuji Tread, 1983 Trek 520

Mentioned: 13 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 669 Post(s)
Liked 725 Times in 422 Posts
Broken spoke, drive side rear of course, so I had to visit a bike shop to pull the freewheel (yes, it was a while ago).
andrewclaus is offline  
Old 04-07-18, 03:17 PM
  #7  
Senior Member
 
chrisx's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 924
Mentioned: 9 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
Quoted: 406 Post(s)
Liked 9 Times in 9 Posts
one flight with a plastic wrap'
bent derailleur hanger on my old 95 mt bike
had to borrow an adjustable wrench to fix the non replaceable derailleur hanger
glad I removed the rear derailleur for the flight

lots of trips with coupled bike in hard case
small scratch in paint
chrisx is offline  
Old 04-07-18, 03:23 PM
  #8  
Banned
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: NW,Oregon Coast
Posts: 43,598

Bikes: 8

Mentioned: 197 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 7607 Post(s)
Liked 1,354 Times in 861 Posts
they lost my U lock.
fietsbob is offline  
Old 04-07-18, 03:56 PM
  #9  
djb
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Montreal Canada
Posts: 13,191
Mentioned: 33 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2731 Post(s)
Liked 952 Times in 783 Posts
touch wood touch wood touch wood touch wood touch wood touch wood touch wood touch wood touch wood touch wood touchwood

what, me superstitious? No....
djb is offline  
Old 04-07-18, 05:05 PM
  #10  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Posts: 3,275
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 158 Post(s)
Liked 1 Time in 1 Post
Dublin to Spain the bas...ds broke my skicon bike box how they managed to break it i'll never know but i can sure guess.
antokelly is offline  
Old 04-07-18, 09:09 PM
  #11  
Senior Member
 
jefnvk's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: Metro Detroit/AA
Posts: 8,215

Bikes: 2016 Novara Mazama

Mentioned: 63 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3640 Post(s)
Liked 81 Times in 51 Posts
In two trips, nothing beyond the front hub scratching the hell out of my downtube, because I was dumb enough to let them rub against one another
jefnvk is offline  
Old 04-08-18, 05:57 AM
  #12  
Senior Member
 
staehpj1's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Tallahassee, FL
Posts: 11,837
Mentioned: 7 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1236 Post(s)
Liked 744 Times in 554 Posts
After flying quite a few times, I have had very little damage.

I did have one shift adjuster broken off in the lug on the down tube. A shop I stopped in tried to get the piece out with a screw extractor, but failed. I adjusted the cable by using the adjuster on the shifter and have never bothered to fix the broken adjuster on the down tube.

The only other issue was that they opened the little under seat tool bag, ripped out the lining and left the tools and spares rattling around in the box. If I remember correctly that was on the same trip.

If there were ever any dings, dents, or scratches they were minor enough that I either didn't notice or have forgotten them by now.
staehpj1 is online now  
Old 04-08-18, 06:26 AM
  #13  
Full Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Tulsa, OK
Posts: 451

Bikes: Co-Motion Americano Pinion P18; Co-Motion Americano Rohloff; Thorn Nomad MkII, Robert Beckman Skakkit (FOR SALE), Santana Tandem, ICE Adventure FS

Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 169 Post(s)
Liked 64 Times in 48 Posts
After many trips, I have only had a headset cap smooshed. Really can't figure out how that happened. I pad my bike with HVAC pipe insulation (inexpensive) and zip tie so nothing moves around and/or lost.
John N is offline  
Old 04-09-18, 08:18 AM
  #14  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Madison, WI
Posts: 3,473
Mentioned: 5 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 363 Post(s)
Liked 28 Times in 22 Posts
Twas but a scratch. Other people’s stories always scare me, though. I feel like I should pack the bike Really well and just pay whatever oversize fees come with it. Just try not to fly airlines from US companies and at least the fees won’t be As bad.
3speed is offline  
Old 04-09-18, 08:42 AM
  #15  
Senior Member
 
indyfabz's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 39,051
Mentioned: 210 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
Quoted: 18318 Post(s)
Liked 15,276 Times in 7,225 Posts
Slightly out of true rear wheel flying from Spain to the U.S. (three separate flights) with the bike in a plastic bag. Bike in CrateWorks plastic box=0 damage.
indyfabz is offline  
Old 04-09-18, 09:39 AM
  #16  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: northern Deep South
Posts: 8,843

Bikes: Fuji Touring, Novara Randonee

Mentioned: 36 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2575 Post(s)
Liked 1,900 Times in 1,192 Posts
S&S coupled bike in a hard case, had a few issues.


Multiple times TSA opened the box and sat on it to re-close it. Results: wheels out of true, bulges in the case where the axles tried to poke through, some scratches where they didn't put the frame padding back in place.


Related to above: kinked a shift cable and cracked a cable connector. (They couldn't be bothered to put the cables back in the case!?!) Missed that when I got home, had to do an emergency cable replacement before the next ride.


Bashed the case hard enough to shatter plastic ring inside a bar-end shifter.
pdlamb is online now  
Old 04-09-18, 04:39 PM
  #17  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 4,671

Bikes: N+1=5

Mentioned: 21 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 875 Post(s)
Liked 243 Times in 180 Posts
Originally Posted by pdlamb
S&S coupled bike in a hard case, had a few issues.


Multiple times TSA opened the box and sat on it to re-close it. Results: wheels out of true, bulges in the case where the axles tried to poke through, some scratches where they didn't put the frame padding back in place.


Related to above: kinked a shift cable and cracked a cable connector. (They couldn't be bothered to put the cables back in the case!?!) Missed that when I got home, had to do an emergency cable replacement before the next ride.


Bashed the case hard enough to shatter plastic ring inside a bar-end shifter.
You know, in a lot of ways, the TSA is a bigger problem with respect to luggage than are the airlines. I'm willing to bet that a lot of times the airlines get blamed for damage the TSA either directly caused or indirectly by repacking incorrectly.

J>
JohnJ80 is offline  
Old 04-09-18, 07:44 PM
  #18  
Member
 
Brob2's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: East coast
Posts: 25

Bikes: Opus Staccatto

Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 10 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
bent sprocket and wheel out of true for me. Bike was in a bag.
Brob2 is offline  
Old 04-09-18, 09:08 PM
  #19  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 3,150

Bikes: 2013 Surly Disc Trucker, 2004 Novara Randonee , old fixie , etc

Mentioned: 3 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 671 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 49 Times in 43 Posts
2 flights with S&S soft case, bike's been fine but case fabric got small tear. Seems like it would take a lot of force to squash a Trucker frame esp w fork removed.
DropBarFan is offline  
Old 04-12-18, 08:21 PM
  #20  
djb
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Montreal Canada
Posts: 13,191
Mentioned: 33 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2731 Post(s)
Liked 952 Times in 783 Posts
I never had any damage because ET was in my front basket

(just reread the thread title).
djb is offline  
Old 04-12-18, 08:42 PM
  #21  
Senior Member
 
Shimagnolo's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Zang's Spur, CO
Posts: 9,086
Mentioned: 11 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3355 Post(s)
Liked 5,431 Times in 2,810 Posts
Originally Posted by pdlamb

Multiple times TSA opened the box and sat on it to re-close it. Results: wheels out of true, bulges in the case where the axles tried to poke through, some scratches where they didn't put the frame padding back in place.
I knew a guy who made the mistake of taking a high-end bike through an airport in a nice hard case.
TSA broke the CF frame, and lost a bag of small parts that had been in the case with the bike.
Shimagnolo is offline  
Old 04-13-18, 12:18 AM
  #22  
Full Member
 
jurjan's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: The Netherlands
Posts: 236

Bikes: Idworx Easy Rohler (2012) / Velotraum Speedster Single Speed (2019) / Batavus Stabilo (1995, now decommisioned)

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 8 Post(s)
Liked 3 Times in 2 Posts
We've had different 'small' damages, scratches, bent stuff, once a broken brake handle.
The worst however was when they managed to jam the rear wheel cassette so hard
into the steel tubing of the frame they actually created holes.
And that was just the worst damage of that flight, there was multiple other damage.
jurjan is offline  
Old 04-13-18, 10:43 AM
  #23  
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: QC Canada
Posts: 1,950

Bikes: Custom built LHT & Troll

Mentioned: 12 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 832 Post(s)
Liked 141 Times in 100 Posts
Originally Posted by jurjan
The worst however was when they managed to jam the rear wheel cassette so hard
into the steel tubing of the frame they actually created holes.
(to be sure I understand)

The rear wheel had been removed and stored with the cassette facing the frame, I assume. The bike was packed in an unpadded travel bag? A box?

(I read somewhere that one of the downside of packing in boxes is that bike boxes are often laid flat on the floor with other pieces of luggage piling on. That would be consistent with the incident to which you refer.)
gauvins is offline  
Old 04-13-18, 01:42 PM
  #24  
Full Member
 
jurjan's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: The Netherlands
Posts: 236

Bikes: Idworx Easy Rohler (2012) / Velotraum Speedster Single Speed (2019) / Batavus Stabilo (1995, now decommisioned)

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 8 Post(s)
Liked 3 Times in 2 Posts
Gauvins,
yes that was the case. the bike was packed in a bikebox, like they sell at Schiphol Airport (our closest main airport).
Fortunately it was on the way home.
jurjan is offline  
Old 04-13-18, 03:00 PM
  #25  
Macro Geek
 
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Toronto, Ontario
Posts: 1,362

Bikes: True North tourer (www.truenorthcycles.com), 2004; Miyata 1000, 1985

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 43 Post(s)
Liked 12 Times in 7 Posts
I have flown a bunch of times with my bicycle, sometimes in a box, other times in a plastic bag provided by the airline.

The bicycle held up fine on every flight – except once.

By happenstance, I was a witness to the damage. While sitting in my seat in the airplane, I glanced out the window, and watched the baggage handler aggressively throw my bicycle overhead into the hold.

The main damage: one of the wheels went out of true, which necessitated a trip to a bicycle shop.

I wrote the airline to ask for compensation (about $50 for the tuneup). I also asked the airline to reprimand the baggage handler for his shoddy treatment of my bicycle. (The airline eventually sent me a cheque, but did not acknowledge that one of their employees mishandled my luggage.)
acantor is offline  

Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.