Logistics question: what about the suitcase?
 

So I've been daydreaming about the touring bike I'll get if I ever hit the lottery -- Rolhoff hubs, S&S couplers -- something reliable and durable that I could pack into a suitcase and take on a plane with me anywhere.

So, let's suppose that I fly to Switzerland for a tour down the Rhine, finishing up in the Netherlands. I get a ride from the airport to a hotel, re-assemble the bike, put the panniers on ...

... and then what do I do with the suitcase I brought the bike in? If I were doing a loop, I suppose I could ask to leave it at the hotel for a while. But for a one-way tour, how do you get your suitcase to meet you at the end?

That is why I have never seriously considered buying a coupled bike.

I have heard of folks using a cardboard box that is airline legal. I was told that UPS and Fedex had a standard box that works. I have never verified that. I am guessing that either you could find something like that in other countries as well or cut down a larger size to make one.

A few options:
1) Arrange for the hotel in your destination city to hold the case for you and ship it there from your tour starting point.
2) Same as 1), but use a fold-up cardboard or plastic case to reduce the shipping charge.
3) Use disposable cardboard cases made out of bike shop boxes and a roll of duct tape (call ahead to have them save a couple boxes for you).
4) The Bike Friday method - a take-apart trailer frame that carries the case with your other luggage inside and is towed behind your bike.

The world is awash with suitcases. On arrival, toss or give away the one you packed.
When you arrive in Amsterdam, go on Marktplaats.nl or 2dehands.nl and buy one of the gazillion that Dutch people are desperately trying to get rid of.
They're called 'reiskoffers' there. You could even set up the deal before you start.
Use the suitcase to get back home, then again on the outbound segment of the following trip.

Post it to your destination using General Delivery service.

You pay someone else to worry about it. There are services too: bikeflights.com

You do what most sensible people do, forget about couplers and just put your bike in a cardboard box.

Wow that's expensive.......I never understand why people have to make things so complicated. Just get a soft sided case for around $100 and do a bit of disassembly and you can get your bike on a flight with little or no extra cost. It's also easy to put on buses and taxis. At the other end you can fold up the case and either carry it on the bike or simply address it to yourself and send it to the hotel or a post office at your end point.

Cardboard box is also an easy option as long as you are sure you can get one and don't have to deal with transporting the bike on your own once it is in the box.

I've done a couple things:

- traveled to my starting place with my wife who flew my case back home and then met her in my destination city with the suitcase.

- shipped my case from the starting point to the ending point. I've used friends and family as the destination. Though, I would use a hotel, if necessary.

- left my case at a hotel (near the airport) that I left from and then drove a rented car back to.

While it is a bit of a hassle, likely no more than procuring a cardboard case, cutting it to size, and then putting a bike in twice, once for each way.

Given how airlines can make you cough up as much as $150 each way to fly with your bike, S&S-coupled bikes make sense for those who enjoy touring internationally. The initial investment can pay off in as little as three international trips.

The dilemma you present applies to both folding and S&S-coupled bikes. In regard to S&S bikes, my proposed solution is to buy the S&S soft "Backpack" case when you purchase your S&S-coupled bike. Before the start of your tour, remove the semi-rigid perimeter panels and fold the case and strap the whole thing to the top of your rear rack. You could also pack into into a pannier. It's a bit bulky and weighs about 8 lb., so you'll need to decide if it's worth carrying. Since it's collapsible, shipping it by post within Europe is a great alternative. For instance, you can ship it from Switzerland to your hotel in The Netherlands. It will be there within 2-3 days.

You don't have to win a lottery to do a little trip to Europe: http://www.machka.net/RTW_2012/RTW_Europe_Main_2012.htm

Get a part-time job over Christmas (or longer if necessary) and save the money. :)

As for a "suitcase" ... we don't use one. We have used cardboard boxes ... and cardboard boxes big enough for a full-sized bicycle. Scroll to the bottom of our story in the link above, and read what I've written about travelling around Europe by train, with the bicycles ... and what I've written about Heathrow, and bicycle boxes.

As for the bicycle ... I'd recommend a folding bicycle, especially if you've got any intentions of travelling by train. That'll increase your packing options.

As for airlines from the US, let me recommend British Airways. Whatever you do, don't go with a US airline!!
http://www.ibike.org/encouragement/travel/bagregs.htm

New bikes are delivered to bike shops in big cardboard boxes. Bike shops give them away. Just call up beforehand if possible to reserve one. A bit of ducktape and a knife and your bike is packed for air transport. Cut up and discard the box at the airport. No lottery win needed.

+1

And occasionally airports have them too, but you will have to pay a nominal fee for them.

Am I missing something here? I think the OP is talking about a case that will fit a coupled bike and meet the airline limits to not incur oversize charges. I doubt you are likely to find anything used when needed.

I have used a throw away $7 thrift store suitcase for gear, discarding it at the destination, but the chance of it fitting a coupled bike and not being oversize is pretty much nil.

Bike Friday and use the suitcase as a trailer, or seeing how you are rolling in money, just buy a new bike everywhere you go and give the old one to a local charity... :D

Aaron :)

Really? When I put in a San Diego CA and Baltimore MD zip it came up with $56 each way. That doesn't seem like huge a bargain, but not that bad either. In the US you have to be pretty selective with your airline to do better. Southwest ($50) and Frontier ($20) are the only ones I know of that do not charge more than bikeflights.com quoted me. Some airlines here are a lot more (like $175-200 each way).

I do agree that the soft sided case can work quite well. I have done it twice and was fairly happy with it. Having to ship the soft case ahead or home is a hassle though not nearly as bad as a hard case would be. If you fly to and from the same city it works great, but I seldom do that. It is very nice to have either everything or nearly everything in the soft case. It makes schlepping stuff around the airport super easy. Folks who pack heavier would not realize this advantage though since they would have an additional large-ish suitcase, duffel, or box.

Logistics question: what about the suitcase?
 

I think that the intuitive advantages of an S&S touring bike are much less in practice.
Fitting a 700c bike with racks and fenders into a standard airline sized case is nigh on impossible. You're going to need a seperate bag for panniers, water bottles etc, and the rest of your gear apart from hand-baggage.

With airlines going more and more to a single piece policy, but also having sporting equipment policies, the cardboard box maxed out to 23kg and a pannier as hand-baggage means you're within the allowed free baggage limit.
With the S&S bike you'd be paying a surcharge for the second bag.
This is the case for BA, (Quantas and Air France as well?)

I put in a US to UK trip and it came out at around $800.....last time I travelled form the US to the UK I used a soft sided bag and it went on as regular baggage so cost was $0.

This year I'll be doing some bike/Amtrak touring and I think I'll just use the Amtrak cardboard box as $25 is good value and it seems very easy rather than posting my Tardis to a hotel or Post office for pick up.

Qantas regulations for destinations not including North America ...
http://www.qantas.com.au/travel/airl...r-destinations
And this is a perfect example of why a person needs to check, and check, and check again when it comes to flight regulations.

If you were flying from Australia to Canada, you'd be allowed 2 pieces (maximum 23kg (50lb) per piece)
http://www.qantas.com.au/travel/airl...l-the-americas



But all these rules and regs, and the fact that they change with the wind, is one of the reasons why we'd go with folding bikes next time we take off for a tour.

+ 1000

A cardboard box can weigh 2-4 kg as well, so pack and weigh everything at home in good time, so you can repack and reweigh untill you get it right.

A nice smile and a pretty please won't get you anywhere nowadays :(

Well actually ... arriving at the airport very early and being extremely nice, kind, friendly, helpful, all with a smile, can still help the situation ... it did for us as we checked in for some of our many, many flights on our recent trip. :) The thing is, the check-in people have the option of charging more than the designated amount for the bicycle if they want. They can hit you with oversize and overweight charges too. But if you're really nice, and if you arrive early enough so that they aren't overworked and hassled yet, chances are they won't ... they might even reduce the charge for the bicycle ... and they might turn a blind eye to a slightly overweight box ... and they might give you some extra assistance.But being prepared helps too ... know what your airline is currently charging, know the allowable sizes and weights etc., pack and weigh everything ... and then arrive early and turn on the charm. :)

Using the Tardis, or something similar, the baggage people often don't realize you have a bike. When you walk up to the counter with this bag over your shoulder the last thing they are thinking is "Oh that's a bike". A soft sided case also takes up very little of your weight allowance (about 3lbs for the Tardis) and if you keep the bike and gear lightweight too you can pack everything into the bag and come in at around 30lbs, as long as you take your handlbar bag on as hand luggage. I've looked at using a folding bike as it is a little more convenient when flying or using trains, but the ride quality and extra weight of most folders have to be taken into account. If I was to go the folder route I'd probably look at a Tern.

Logistics question: what about the suitcase?
 

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Logistics question: what about the suitcase?
 

As to all those " mights", yes you MIGHT get away with incorrectly packed, oversize and overweight luggage... But you might not... Then what?

The handling with reasonably priced folders is usually pretty bad in my experience. I know that my Dahon Helios if fine to run errands, but I wouldn't want to do much more ambitious riding than that. I might consider it for a flat tour very lightly loaded and with low daily mileage, but I am not usually inclined to do tours that meet that criteria. I don't even like it for hilly rides of short duration due to the lack of frame stiffness, inability to get my preferred body position, and the generally funky handling.

I guess if you spend more on a folder they might be more rigid, but long seat and stem masts can only be so stiff unless very heavy. I have never ridden a bike friday or similar though, so I could be wrong.