i am away to the alps this friday and just packed the bag to discover i am 1.5kg heavier than my allowance !!
Any one got any good pointers for the airports etc.
anyone else flying from Edinburgh this friday ?
Bike Forum
Alps on friday the 17th 0f june
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Posted 11 months ago #
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wear your heaviest shoes to go in.
Don't take loads of clothing.
Take your helmet in your hand luggage
Posted 11 months ago # -
the helmet wont fit. we are flying with easyjet so hand luggage is restricted. may have to stick the armour and the camelbak in the hold luggage.
Posted 11 months ago # -
Take your helmet as hand luggage anyway, in addition to your hand luggage allowance. I do it all the time with half and full faces and have never been questioned. If I ever do, I'll just tell them its a safety risk to have the helmet in the checked baggage as I won't know if it has suffered an impact or not, which is completely true so they can't really argue with it.
Where are you heading to?
Posted 11 months ago # -
I travel a lot with the ryanairs of the world,- seriously put heavy compact stuff in your pockets- mutltitools inner tubes etc- I can fill my pockets with 1.5 kilo easy- camera, charger, diary( paper is heavy) chanrger for laptop etc- then when on the plane- stick it back in your bag!
Posted 11 months ago # -
have seen 2 guys checking in in full body armou before. not sure whether they got away with it.
last time i flew (ba i think) we were allowed to share allowances between the 2 of us. good job as my mates five was 2 kg over.
carry your helemt as your +1 (handbag) on hand luuggage.
Posted 11 months ago # -
Wear your pads. When asked, tell them you don't trust their seatbelts.
Posted 11 months ago # -
Put 2kg worth of baggage into your hang baggage, then when you have checked in and you take your bike to outsize baggage, just put it all back into the bike bag.
Posted 11 months ago # -
I'm off on Saturday
What extras can you get away with in your bike bag?
Posted 11 months ago # -
What extras can you get away with in your bike bag?
As long as you don't go over the weight limit you can take anything, they won't check (they might ask 'is that just your bike?', I always say 'yes just my bike stuff' nice little white lie). I always use pads, tyres some clothes to help protect the frame as well as a mega ton of bubblewrap.
edit: I'm off on a week Saturday. I believe the term is stoked!
Posted 11 months ago # -
you can take up to a max of 50kg. No single item can be more than 32kg.
Its all in the T&C's. plus the bit about bikes not attracting excess luggage charges! (carrier T&C's)
most people think it reads that you can only take a max of 32kg in total. that is incorrect but you do need T&C's and carrier T&C's to get to a conclusion that will suit us lot.
I never travel easyjet without a copy of their terms, just in case.
Failing that, wear loads of clothing and fill your pockets with stuff. When you carry your bag from check in to over-sized luggage bit, en route, chuck your excess clothing etc into the bike bag. Simple.
Posted 11 months ago # -
you could always put a ruck sack on your back and wear a large overcoat over it all and tell them you're a hunchback?
Posted 11 months ago # -
Lhs's idea sounds like a pretty good one to me.
Posted 11 months ago # -
I'm amazed you've gone over the allowance, that's quite some achievement.
Posted 11 months ago # -
LHS' idea didnt work for us at gatwick, as they check the weights again when you go over to oversized luggage hand in.
last year got my cardboard bike box to 31.5kg with a huge amount of stuff, but my other hold luggage was only 12kg, so I had the joy of ramming lots of my friends stuff in it to get his suitcase bike box down from 38kg,
Posted 11 months ago # -
I've only had to do it once but I put my foot under the bag when its getting weighed in to take some weight off it.. don't sweat and smile and all is fine
Posted 11 months ago # -
You will never get stopped for carrying your lid onto the plane
Posted 11 months ago # -
Where are you heading Norcosix? Im driving down to the White Room on Friday..at a push i would happily take a few bits down in the car if youre heading there also...assuming you can guarantee its delivery to North Yorkshire tomorrow, cos im leaving early friday morning to pick a mate up.
Posted 11 months ago # -
My bag was overweight on a recent trip to rivierabikes and the guys at checkin at gatwick told me to take my fullface lid out of my bag and stuff some bits into it, as you are allowed your 1 item of hand luggage and fullface lid, loads of people with more than 1 hand luggage got stopped in the waiting area, but i didnt, tho i did get some duty free and asked for the biggest bag and put my lid in that bag.
Good luck and have a great trip.Posted 11 months ago # -
Move stuff around to get the bike bag weight down to the right level, never allow your helmet to travel in the hold some of the things they do to bags are unbelievable.
Posted 11 months ago # -
I flew with ba to geneva, my bike bag was 36kg, and my main luggage was 28kg. Didn't get charged an extra penny, though just had to ballance out the bags so they both weighed under 32kg. That was from heathrow t5 too.
Posted 11 months ago # -
Use your camelbak as your hand luggage and as already said carry helmet on. Done it loads and never been queried. I would be careful with carrying tools. Are you going with an organised company? If so, you won't need lots of decent big tools just a few trail tools. They should have track pumps and the like. Remember you don't need many "normal" clothes maybe 2 sets, as you will be out in cycling gear all day. I'm impressed you have gone OVER your limit, that is going some.
We flew from Gatwick to Morocco and they couldn't physically weigh the bike bags as they had rails up preventing them! I think our bags have only been weighed maybe twice in the 8 years we have travelled with bikes. Remember as well some places funny with putting stuff into bike bag, i've known people who have had bike bags looked in and made to take stuff out. It says in T&C's only bike, so you shouldn't stuff it with clothes etc (not saying I agree with this just what airlines say).
Posted 11 months ago # -
You'll be amazed at the stuff you didn't really need.
I used my shampoo/shower gel and washed tshirts etc and left them on the balcony and they were dry the same day.
All you really need is twice as many boxers/socks as days you are going, two pairs of shorts/flip flops.
It aint no dinner date every evening and you find yourself lounging around in shorts/tshirt and flipflops/trainers anyway most of the time.
You definitely don't need 'options'.
Posted 11 months ago # -
I've been through Edinburgh to Geneva 3 return times with easyjet, the bike bag was only weighed once in Geneva. Always have the full facer in a rucksack on my back, packed full of crap, often weighing up to 15kgs. Just pack the full facer and shoes at one end of the bag, and the clothes and other crushable items to the other end, and ram the bag into the overhead locker.... never has weight or bulk ever been mentioned, but I too always travel with the T&Cs.
Posted 11 months ago # -
Bikes packed, ready to rock!
Mrs Cheezes comes in at 24Kg, mine at 28Kg, couple mud tyres,bits n pieces, hats n pads.
Flying on Sunday, staying in Morzine.
Might see you there, Norcs!
(p.s. message to potential STW light-fingered scrote-types, dont think about coming round to rip my place off while we're gone, savage M-I-L is looking after the house)
Posted 11 months ago # -
thanks for the help folks. am i off to chatel on friday for those off yous who asked. think al carry the helmet through and stick the pressure suit in someone elses bike bag. can belive i have went over bbut i do have a santa cruz bullit with boxxers but i only have a couple off things in the bag. hope you guys all have as good a time as i will. i should be on the trails by friday 4pm !! woohoo
Posted 11 months ago # -
Jealous have a great time! I love playing in Pre la Joux and Le Pleney. Lets hope the waether is good, friend says it hasn't been particularly great lately (although she was talkihng about a bit further south).
Posted 11 months ago # -
Yeah weather has been a bit changeable recently. I was in Chatel for the opening day at the weekend. It was sticky gloopy mud and all the "motorway" jumps trails weren't much fun. The natural red on the left side as you look up the valley was great though and be sure to ride those blacks off the right of the first lift! I heard it was much better on Sunday when it had dried out a bit. Morgins was great on monday although was full of braking bumps. The guy in charge of the trail building/maintenance there told me it'll be buffed out by this weekend, I might pop over there again.
Have fun!
Posted 11 months ago # -
Wow braking bumps already! Oh what a shame ... not there this year so selfish me so boooooo
Posted 11 months ago # -
A n00b l00b question....What's the deal with taking chainlube, spraylube, mineral oil etc etc?
Posted 11 months ago # -
Don't put multiple tools in hand luggage, I forgot and had them confiscated, apparently I could have unscrewed the seats!!!!
£30 worth of tools down the drain.
On the plus side, with Alitalia, and I think BA, the bike bag counts as checked in luggage if it's under the weight limit. I thus had pretty much everything in it!
Posted 11 months ago # -
Why the need for spare tyres?
take double-ply and slightly 'beefier' than what you'd normally use here and you'll be fine. Its more stuff to carry.
Posted 11 months ago #
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