Since tourers tend to ship their bikes at times, I will post the question here. If someone has a suggestion to post elsewhere, please suggest. I have a S&S coupled bike. Rather than spending a silly amount of money on a hardshell case, or a backpack, I am considering building my own box from coroplast. Anyone have experience? Is this a better choice than regular cardboard? Thanks.

I will speak from the experience of using a purchased coroplast bike box.

It's OK, but the most significant issue is ensure it is assembled properly. The one I bought was stamped from one big piece of plastic, and then pre-creased to fold. In other words, it comes as a "flat-pack". However, it still needs copious quantities of gaffer tape to keep it together.

It's also prone to creasing along the lines of the corrugations, and I don't think it actually is as robust as a good quality cardboard box. I know I can stuff quite a bit of other gear into an ordinary cardboard bike box and it will retain its shape, but the coroplast one didn't instill that sort of confidence in me.

As we have just experienced with suitcases on returning to Australia from North America, there are all sorts of opportunities for stuff to get caught on other stuff. The includes sharp edges of coroplast, or fasteners such as zipties if you use them to build the box.

There also is the added question of what to do with the box when you get to your starting point for the tour. Do you leave it at an accommodation house and return to that place at the end of the tour to collect it before returning home? Or do you flatpack it again and stash it somewhere in the hope that no-one will make off with it? Obviously, if you have friends or rellies to keep it with, there is no issue.

As a footnote, ensure your dimensions fall within the maximum limits of the airline if you are travelling by plane. I didn't realise my bought bike box was oversized until the WestJet clerk got out a measuring tape. It was something like two or three inches over the H + W + D limit. Fortunately, she let me off "this time"... Plus, don't be tempted to go a bit bigger so you can stuff more gear in there; as far as I can tell, the maximum weight these days is 32kg, and if you are travelling certain routes, airlines and class, it's 23kg.

Rowan, I was fortunate enough to get the plans from a local box manufacturer emailed to me to make a telescopic box 26 x 26 x 10. (The bottom half of the box fits snugly into the top half of the box). They wouldn't make the box for me as a custom box-too expensive. U-line sells a cardboard box of this dimension-but a 100 box order minimum. Home Depot sells a 4 x 8 sheet of coroplast for $23. I also found some plastic rivets to use to hold the box flaps altogether. Figured I use a couple of straps with quick releases and be off to the races. For the cost of the plastic, I'll just make one. If it ends up being too flimsy, maybe I can beef it up by laminating another layer inside. If it works out, I'll post pictures. Thanks for the words of caution.

I have an S&S coupled bike that I've flown with for 10 years. I pack it in the hard shell case. The case takes a real beating. From both the airline gorillas and the various TSA-types around the world.

While the box you describe will hold your disassembled bike, will it hold up when shoved into a tight space or on the bottom of a large pile of other luggage? Also, a disassembled bike has sharp edges that might poke through or distort the box under weight pressure or when being shoved back into the box by uncaring TSA goons. My hard shell case, which might not be all that more durable than your coroplast, has spots that have been distorted by the tip of the wheel (what the fork sits on where the axle goes) through compression over the years.

Things to consider when building the box:

How are you going to carry it? You will need a handle of some sort to lift it up/down stairs.

Will it have wheels? Otherwise, moving a packed bike down a long corridor or from the bus stop to a host's house is a major effort.

How hard it is to open and inspect? The TSA will likely open it every time you fly (they do mine). They are very hard on clasps, compression straps, and luggage. One of the two latches on my bike box no longer works as a result of some careless TSA reassembly. I've also had compression straps (now needed due to the latch problem) disappear.

How will you pad the bike parts? Packing a disassembled bike in a box results in lots of (painted) metal to metal contact. The parts need to be protected from one another and even then paint gets chipped off and parts bend.

While the hard shell cases are, indeed, expensive, consider how you would deal with arriving at your starting point with a broken coroplast box. My box is getting to the end of its useful life. I sort of hold my breath every time I wait for it to come down the baggage chute.

While building it is cheap comparatively, I suspect you won't get it right the first time(s), so will have to perfect it over a few iterations. In the end, it might save you money or it might not. The same can be said for it protecting your disassembled bike.

But your cost does not stop at the case. One problem with hard shell cases is they are heavy. Granted mine is a full size case and wehn packed with the bike it barely gets under the airlines weight limit. And that is the bike alone. No extra gear. Unless I am flying SW I doubt I will ever use it again.

A case for an S&S coupled case might be a little lighter but you still need to be careful on it's weight.

I have one of these, which I think is made of corrugated plastic:

Crateworks Bike Boxes and Accessories: Pro XL-C Plastic Bike Box

It has held up well and is big enough for my 60 cm LHT and racks (not installed) but still "airline legal."

I wouldn't bother building it. Think about the cost you building it(Material+time) and there is no guarantee that it will protect your bike from the airport abuse.

Also no one's going to ask what's inside your S&S coupler case because it looks like a suitcase. However, airline employees will definitely ask you what's inside your coroplast box.

My bike packed in its case weighs a bit over 40 pounds.

I have to carry a second bag, which must also be paid for, that carries everything else: racks, clothes, handlebar bag, saddle and post, shoes, etc.

While these bags cost me as checked baggage, they don't incur extra charges for being a bicycle or exta sized or overweight luggage.

Do people who pack full-sized bikes in cardboard boxes get all their gear in just that one box or is a second bag required?

I rarely do return to the same airport on my tours so I have always used disposable packing ..


as a Touring destination , the LBS, here, has some pretty fancy specialty boxes that were abandoned.. in the basement..


You can do a Open Jaw Itinerary and ship your empty box between arrival and departure towns.




to come back I turned 2 short boxes with a bunch of packing tape, into a long enough one ..






...

For CC touring, I get a good chunk of my gear in a cardboard container. The rest of the gear goes in one pannier which I fit one inside the other. The pannier goes as a carry on so it goes for free.

I built a box for my breakaway-style bike out of coloplast. I haven't traveled with it yet but it's easily as sturdy as double corrugated paper boxes that I've used. It's easy to cut, tapes together easily, and the material is cheap enough that if it only lasts half a dozen trips I'll be happy with it. It's also cheap enough that I wouldn't mind ditching it if I had to. I made a coroplast box because I didn't want to spend the money and weight for a hard shell, and I didn't want to sign the airline waivers that come with paper boxes and I was afraid of it dissolving in the rain on the tarmac.

It depends, I usually fly Southwest and the second bag is free so I generally don't pack much gear in the bike box. That said, I have put everything in a soft case along with the bike. That was with camping and cooking gear, but also a minimalist packing style.

If I had to pay for the second bag, I'd definitely pack everything in one box or bag. If it was overweight, I'd put a few pounds in my little 18 liter backpack and take it as a personal item. These days I pack light enough that probably wouldn't be necessary.

you got it exactly correct. I was thinking something like this…….

I am not trying to discourage you by any means,, but more observations on the straps. If you can, avoid them. As I said in my previous post, there are so many things for anything on a piece of luggage to be snagged on, minimising that risk is paramount. My coroplast box came with two straps that were "riveted" to the box. They got caught, and ripped out of the plastic. If the box is held enclosed only by the straps, you could be in a spot of bother should one or both get snagged and ripped off.

Sage advice, Rowan. Thank you for the guidance. I realize that it comes from experience!

My wife and I have Bromptons, and I want to try to build Coroplast boxes for them for airline travel.

Did you ever build a box? The ones that are in that pic look good. Where did you find it?

Get an IKEA Dimpa bag. It holds a Brommie well and you can "lock" the zipper with a TSA (or other if not flying USA) padlock. I have done this for a Brommie in Canada to avoid Air Canada's confiscatory fees of 50 CAD per bicycle per sector.

I used mylar insulation "bubble pad" for a camping ground pad to pad the Brommie and put in some camping gear so was NOT lying when I said I had camping gear in the Dimpa.

Some folks have made coroplast insert boxes for the Brommie in the Dimpa, but I have not bothered... Here are some links re packing a Brommie in a Dimpa:


My Folding Bike Brompton: Brompton Folder Fits in Ikea Dimpa Bag
Riding a folding bike around Manila: IKEA Dimpa Bag
Transporting a Brompton - The Brompton Traveler

This one shows a fellow making an insert box for the Dimpa:

AhPek Biker - Old Dog Rides Again: Brompton Accessories #15 - Packing The Brompton For Air Travel 02

the well designed molded cases that use straps to close the overlapping sections, I see, have a recessed channel in them for the strap & buckle..

to not have the strap the highest point.

Thanks for the idea and the links tmac! I live close to an Ikea so I went there after dinner and picked up one of those Dimpa bags. I like the idea of the Coroplast reinforcements, and plan to follow the instructions from ahpekbiker.

Let us know how you did with construction and use while travelling.