On the way out the bike box length is not an issue as I have collected several. Most are 59 +/- 2". The constraint is on the way back where I will have to use an Air NZ box with a 56.7" length. However since I know the dimension the bike will fit.

The issue with the bars and front fork is that this is a hydraulic disc bike so I am limited on how and where the bars will reach with the current brake hose lengths. If / when I have to change the front brake hose it will get an inch or so longer. It is kinda tight now.

I'll look at this again during the final packing.

I marked the current location in pencil and also measured and marked the distance to a reference mark near the top of the post.

Hi Steve. Even without hydro housings and slightly longer ones I put on my bike for easier front end loading when doing the bike packing setup, I've always found finding the bar positioning in the box tricky.

When I've taken off my bottle cages, they nestle into themselves easily and it's super easy to pack them into my clothes, as clothes fit in them, so they actually take up hardly any space in my baggage.

Re the seat, on my slant style top tube bike, I'm lucky as pushing the seat post all the way down gives me enough clearance to close the box top even with some protective cardboard on the seat.

Do consider taping some sort of cushion onto the bottom of the fork. The foam piece I use also takes up minimum space after use.

You know, we do all this and for the last bunch of flights I've done, the box really seemed well treated--but it's the old "hope for the best, but plan for the worst" scenario isn't it?

Oh, off topic, but I've read about that cool looking off road route in NZ, can't recall the name of it, but you've never mentioned the route you are doing.
Your tires made me think of that trail route.
What is the width of your herses?
Cheers

Have a great trip.

Here is what I use:



I made it out of some scrap lumber. It protects the fork from compression damage while stabilizing the front forks / front of the bike. It wasn't assembled when I took the previous photos. This also serves as a nice work stand to hold the bike upright while assembling / disassembling it.


It is called Tour Aotearoa and it is the route that I am riding. It is 3200KM long, New Zealand end to end.

Those are 45mm width.

well, that wood fork holder thingee will certainly work. bulky to carry around but as you say, not a problem with them carrying your stuff in vans or whatever.

Yes, I believe the Aotearoa is what I have seen. I remember the beach ride part so am nearly certain this is it. Sounds pretty darn neat.
45mm , I am used to using 2.1 tires for that sort of thing, although I guess it depends on how much really rough stuff single track you'll be on. I personally prefer wider, but really it depends on the overall ratios of surfaces but I'm sure you've researched it from what others run.
I'm carrying tent and the whole shebang, so wider is a lot better for a heavier bike overall.
I imagine your daily setup will still have a seatbag, or framebag or whatever to carry repair stuff and food, rain gear and whatnot?
3000kms, thats a hell of a hike, especially if on a lot more rougher surfaces. Its gotta be taking you at least a month no? And thats 100k days, which for me offroad are possibly too demanding, but I'm older now and just a very average rider.
And I guess wiser enough to know that this trip would be challenging.

Yes, this all begins with a very long beach ride on the first day.

[QUOTE=djb;2343600745mm , I am used to using 2.1 tires for that sort of thing, although I guess it depends on how much really rough stuff single track you'll be on. I personally prefer wider, but really it depends on the overall ratios of surfaces but I'm sure you've researched it from what others run.[/QUOTE]

Most of the route is tarmac / gravel with maybe 20% single track / MTB. While I may suffer more on the single-track sections I should more than make it up on the tarmac / gravel sections. Just like when I took my road bike on the ACA Trans Am Express. I suffered a bit on the Muddy C&O and GAP and Katy trails it was the right decision.

Correct. Only carry what is needed for the day's ride.

I am not getting any younger either so have decided to do the more challenging rides sooner rather than later. I think that we have 38 ride days so that averages out to 84K (53 miles) / day.

Ive ridden 45 slicks a lot (supposed to be 50s, but on my rims are 45) unloaded and even fully loaded when I've done two Latin American trips, mostly on pavement, some dirt roads. I had a crapload of stuff on the bike but with a light bike and 45s it will work well all in all. Personally I would still go wider, but hey, you can let me know after 38 days of riding on the various surfaces with a given total bike weight if you think you should have gone 50 or 55s.
If you havent experimented with tire pressures, do so, as getting the pressure right for the surface and your bike weight can make a huge difference in riding comfort and traction.
85k per day, certainly doable and you are always going to toughen up, especially after the first week and then after the second.

sounds like a great adventure. I too have had the same view as you, gotta do this stuff while we are able, no point in hell waiting for "retirement" or whatever you think is a better time. Thats why I did central america and then about half of mexico another trip, and certainly glad I did.

I'd be curious to hear how this trip goes, its very intriguing. I really like doing these types of trips, did a bit in Scotland in 2023 and loved it. Super fun. Challenging but really loved it.

Uncorrect. My box was not opened at MSO because the airport was equipped with a large scanner. Same in Venice, Italy.

We travel a lot with our bikes. We *always* take the rotors off. They’d probably be ok, but they come off pretty fast and easy. We put them in amazon envelopes with cardboard shield on the outside. We’ve never bent one in probably 20-30 flights we’ve taken over the years. We also put the thruaxles back with a PVC piece of tubing cut to the hub width to protect dropouts front and back.

It’s so easy to take them off and a bent rotor is something you either can’t fix our youre going to spend a ridiculous amount of time trying to straigthen it when you could be out riding and having fun.

We have the Wolftooth Pack Wrench and the bits for pedal and disk removal. Light weight and really durable. Also have an 8mm bit that lets you take your pedals off.

Especially handy if you get their lockrings too (one less bit). They have them for internal and external splines.

We have Orucase bike cases and we bought the rotor protection covers but after trying them on, I’m not confident in them. Easier to take them off.

Delta doesn’t charge for bikes other than what they charge you for a regular piece of luggage.

FWIW, we also have the same Orucase as you and we’ve never been charged or denied carriage for the bike in the case. They work great and we’re big fans of Orucase. I have flight status by virtue of being a million miler and they’ve never charged us for a bike in the many trips we’ve taken. If you don’t have flight status then it’s going to be the $50 per bag or whatever they charge.

Orucase Airport Ninjas also can go through the regular baggage flow but since Delta dropped the bike charges several years ago, they treat it as oversized luggage if you tell them it’s a bike. That *might* get it a bit more gentle handling.

It is worth carrying a copy of the baggage rules along with you especially if travleing internationally, I did have to pull them out and convince an SAS agent and a KLM agent that they were the proper size and weight. They were both very nice about it and once they saw the printed web page, they immediately passed it through. Even though you’re ticketed on a Delta code, you may have to argue their specific airlines rules with them and having a copy has always settled it in my experience. In my case, KLM and Delta have similar rules so it’s just a matter of showing it to them on their letterhead. That said - nobody at Delta or KLM or SAS was entirely sure which set of rules applied - the ticketing airline or the codeshare carriers.

Thank you, I tried to explain to him that Delta dropped their oversize charge for bikes, but after he essentially called me a moron and he called me a liar, I gave up trying to explain it to him.

Side note: I looked up the Orucase website. I was quite shocked that they bluntly say it is not oversize, but their information on their site says the smaller case is 34 inches long, 28 inches high, no thickness specification. Therefore, it must exceed the 62 inch limit for being oversize. But, since Delta (and American and United) dropped the oversize fee for bikes, that does not matter on those airlines.
https://www.orucase.com/collections/...es/products/b2

But some other airlines still have an oversize fee. Last time I flew with a bike, it was in my S&S Backpack case which is 26 X 26 X 10 inches, which meets the 62 criteria. I flew Air Canada, they still charged an oversize fee for bikes, but mine met the criteria, the S&S case is not oversize. And the time before that when I flew with a bike, it was on Southwest, at that time they also charged an oversize fee for bikes that are in a case over 62 inches, but my S&S Backpack case is not oversize. As far as I know, Southwest and Air Canada still charge an oversize fee for over 62 inches.

That said, it still needs to meet the max size, which for Delta I think is 115 inches, the Amtrak box is probably too big.

The Ritchey Break Away case is slightly over 62 inches, but the Ritchey owners I have talked to almost never get charged for exceeding the 62 inch limit. I have never seen airline staff pull out a tape measure, but on airlines that charge extra for over 62 inches, they might pull out the tape measure.

I hope this fellow's bike arrived safe and sound for his trip, and I'm sure he is having a great time riding there.

Yes, it was an AWESOME trip but also very challenging. I would recommend that you do this trip in early retirement and not later unless you want to hire an ebike.

As for the bike packing, everything physically tied together prevented damage. However, I would like to KILL the TSA inspector in Houston who opened the bike box from the BOTTOM by removing all the metal staples AND then didn't bother to tape it back up and just sent it on its way! It arrived at RDU with the bottom completely open. After being on a plane or in an airport for 36+ hours I had to dig through luggage to find packing tape to re-seal the box just so that I could get it home.

I tell ya, you yanks seem to have real idiots who work in this TSA thing. I've flown with bikes in planes for over 30 years and never had anything like that happen, nor have any friends who had this sort of thing happen either.
That aside, very happy it went well. Check your PM's .
Cheers

Yup. I have had TSA inspect my bike a couple times, it was packed in an S&S case, not a taped up cardboard box. Other times, not inspected.

My last trip on a plane with a bike was to and from Canada. A Canadian inspector looked at the x ray, saw something, asked if I had a camp stove. I said yes, she asked me to dig it out of my case for her to inspect. I did so, she said if she smelled anything on it, she had to confiscate it. She smelled nothing (it was a butane stove), handed it back to me to pack and that was it. Everything passed.

But, I have read that some TSA inspectors just confiscate camp stoves if they are not brand new, no matter how clean they are. The rule says it can't have any residue, so if they see it is discolored from the heat they will assume that is residue. I no longer fly with liquid fuel stoves, too much hassle to clean them well enough to pass a smell test. But more recently when I saw how cheap some of the asian unbranded stoves are, I bought a few cheap stoves to use on trips in the future if I fly, in case it is confiscated. I would rather lose an $8 stove than an $80 stove.

Yeah that's ticked me off for a couple decades. They tried to confiscate mine (used but zero smell, white gas leaves no smell), I was able to get the airline to stash it for a couple weeks until my return. Rules made by people without any investigation, after all, if stoves were a threat (they ban torch lighters but not simple flame butane or zippos), they wouldn't allow NEW stoves still in packaging. If I need to travel with one, I would:
- polish away heat marks on the stainless steel with metal polish or lye-based oven cleaner
- fab a soda can stove to bring along (although performance really suffers with no heat adjustability and 4-5X the boil time)
- like you said, buy and bring a cheapie

Further note:
- California has banned disposable 1 lb propane bottles. The cost of refillables has come down from $50+ to about $20. But I don't think they can be refilled at propane filling stations; You need a 20 lb tank, inverted, and filling adaptor for the 1 lb tank.
- Do NOT ever try to fill a disposable butane/isobutane cartridge with propane; Cartridge stoves can run on propane (from a propane bottle) with an adapter, but the vapor pressure of propane is 3X that of butane and it will probably burst the (orginally butane) cartridge. Some cartridges have a small amount, like 25% propane, so they burn better in cold weather. At Asian food stores here, they have spraypaint-sized cartridges of all butane, used on tabletop stoves by many Asian here; Those can be used on a backpacking butane stove with an adapter, provided it's not too cold out (below freezing) and you rig something to stabilize the tall slender can. Or, they do have adapters to refill wide butane cartridges with that (leaving some airspace, as they have no overfill protection device (OPD). Those skinny butane cartridges, 8 oz, sell for $2 at my local Asian market, and they'll sell singles, elsewhere they are $4-5 either single or in packs. So that's a cheap fuel source, if I can use it. But of course no fuels allowed on airplanes.

White gas is getting increasingly difficult to find, and price has not come down from when it went up to $15-20/gallon well over 10 years ago.

White gas (or coleman fuel) smells like white gas. Yes, it can have a smell. White gas is a liquid at room temperature, you have to wait for every last drop of liquid to evaporate to remove all smell. The human nose can smell most petroleum fuels down into the single digit parts per million range.

Butane is a gas at room temperature. All of my butane stoves (I have several) are designed to only have butane in the vapor phase within the stove, thus it would be almost impossible for any smell to exist after it has been removed from the canister for a while. For this post where I refer to butane, I am considering that to also apply to iso-butane or butane/propane mixtures.

on the "smellorama" thing -- the times I have flown with my Trangia, I have washed it very thoroughly and soon before traveling with a very "soapy" smelling soap, so that it smells all nice and flowery soapy or whatever, just to hopefully reduce the risk of any issues.
I'm fairly certain though that due to its weird shape and size, it hasn't even been noticed and looked at by security people, as I have never noticed any indication that my checked bags were gone through.
I've done the same with my fuel bottle also. I've taken a small red MSR one on trips as I have a nice pouring lid cap thing for it, so useful for neater daily use with the Trangia.

If your Triangia is using alcohol for fuel, that is 100 percent soluble in water, so the fuel easily rinses off. But with inspectors, maybe that flowery smell helps too?

I mentioned the one time Canadian security asked to see my stove already.

The other time (TSA in USA) inspected my stove was the one trip I did with my liquid fuel stove. I had the stove head in my carry on so if it was inspected, I would be there to comment. The pump part of the stove was in a checked baggage. The fuel bottles were in the same case as my bike, no lids on them and separate from the pump. The TSA employee dug through my carry on to find my stove, pulled it out, and felt the top pot supports, then he said that looked like a saw blade on the X ray but it was not sharp enough to cut anything so he let me keep it. He did not even smell it. Thus, no problems with TSA on that trip. But, the hassle of cleaning it convinced me to never bring it on a trip again.

The Coleman fuel I bought at my destination was in a plastic one liter bottle, I left the left over fuel on a free shelf at the hostel. Being my first trip with a liquid fuel stove, I planned badly, I forgot that the fuel I bought would come in a container, I brought a small and large container to hold at least a liter from home. But I did not need the larger container since I needed to keep the container that I bought the fuel in for end of trip when I left the left over for someone else. So, I was carrying around an extra empty liter bottle in my luggage for a month.

My plan for the future, butane stoves only. (I have never used an alcohol stove, not going to start now.) Bring two, just in case one does not make it through security. Pack the two in different bags. If pot support looks like a saw tooth, do NOT have it in my carry on. Not a security issue, but I will mention it anyway, bring an adapter for my stove so I can use either of the two common butane canisters.

I have no idea how this thread drifted from packing a disc rotor to stoves, but sorry for being off topic here.

White gas has a smell, but it leaves zero residue so zero smell once dry. That's why it makes a great dry-cleaning fluid for a spot on something non-washable. (My dad used to use gasoline, and it would smell like gasoline *forever*.) White gas has so many other handy applications, like thinning varnish if I'm out of the proper thinner, a gentler solvent for cleaning, I lament that the cost of it has zoomed over the years. For travel, it evaporates plenty fast, once I pump up the empty bottle and blow some air through the stove, and leave the stove and bottle some place warm.