So we drove to Morzine last year and the van broke down. (New injectors) €€€€€
Complete faff and 2 days lost of a week off work.
Looking at flying in march to switchbacks.
Any tips from your experience would be much appreciated.

Book the bike on with the airline before you fly.
Decent bike bag/well padded box

Assuming you’re going to Geneva, look at BA club Europe both ways – often not a lot more (especially if you book it as a BA holiday with a car included) and you get 2 x 32kg bags included which can be worth a total of £240. They are very particular about bag weight at Geneva. If you get one person in club then that person can take two bikes with them.

Buy/rent an Evoc bag, use plenty of bubble wrap and make sure you put a dropout spacer between the forks and another one between the rear dropouts. Stops them getting crushed. Take the rear mech off and wrap in bubble wrap. Get an old setpost that fits your frame, cut it down to about 10cm and put it in as far down as it will go to stop the seat tube being crushed. Take the disc rotors off so they don’t get bent. Put helmet, one set of kit and shoes in your hand luggage in case they loose your bike.

Personally I’d say flying is the greater faff, and greater risk too if your bike ends up delayed or wrong destination and ruins your trip.

Other than that, box is most secure but a lot more faff to pack and check carefully it fits. You might have to pull everything apart with a box, including forks off (friend had to take rear shock off also as support pillar went right through where the shock was!).

Box weighs a lot more so you’ll be guaranteed over a basic 23kg limit if it’s a mountain bike + box, before you’ve even put anything else in it. There’s a blog somewhere from a rider who has also worked in baggage handling and said big problem with boxes is they slide off the conveyer ramps, dropping to the ground. Sure enough, friends spotted boxes doing just that on the last trip.

Bags are lighter but potentially more of a risk of damage. That said a good Evoc is pretty reliable. Less to pull apart potentially. My Evoc was fairly easy. Still though it’s an extra faff to be doing bike assembly the day you arrive instead of heading to the bar.

Drive, and you can take what you like, no weight limits, very little restrictions on CO2, liquids, sprays, etc. Loads of tools, spares. You just need reliable transport that’s in good condition and a recovery policy that will sort you out 😉

Plus it takes longer. Though depending where you live from the airport and comparatively the channel (if heading to Europe), it may not be many more hours compared to door to door flying when considering transfers/parking/taxi, the two hour wait before flight, extra hour other end to get out of the airport, etc.

I bought this before Xmas, it’s a really good bag at a v cheap price. My hardtail fitted fine with the air out of the forks but I suspect a full sus would need the handlebars taken off

https://www.merlincycles.com/raleigh-padded-bike-bag-clearance-106297.html

I also took the rear much and rotors off too

I’ve had more joy flying with bikes in soft bags than hard cases – a light bag is easier to lift or move around. Bike boxes are heaviers and his the ground with more energy – if you can’t lift it, what do you expect a baggage handler to do? I’ve seen bike boxes ‘dropped’ out the cargo hatch of a plane onto the runway at Toulouse. The bags were lifted onto the trolley. Unless the bag is really well made, cut off any webbing handles that might tear if pulled – I use a couple of webbing straps with metal buckles instead. A couple of old QRs with pieces of copper tube make stronger dropout spacers than plastic ones.

We have access to EVOC bags and looking to fly into Malaga.
So Easy jet from Bristol.

Bars off .
Rotors off.
Rear mech off .
Let the air out of your suspension.
Let most of the air out of your tyres.
Loosen seat post clamp.
Visit your lbs and get some dropout spacers front and rear!!!
Foam pipe laggingtastic.

Flew BA from gatwick to valancia with a bike recently. Got a cardboard one from local bike shop for cake, with loads of packing too. Really easy to strengthen and main focus was what was inside not rubbing.

Check-in was a breeze, bloke just lifted it for reasonableness. No issues at all.

I haven’t flown with an MTB for years but done lots with the road bike (so I’m always well under 32kg, even with a solid box).

Bike Box Alan, everything strapped down and padded. Clothes go in bags around / within the frame tubes. Dropout spacers.

Driving still wins for me just in terms of being able to take ALL the spares, tools and kit you could need.

I’ll add a few things to Senor j’s list:-

Bars off. – (Leave stem on) Check the hoses as you put it in the bag – may be worth taking off the levers if the hoses are going to kink.
Rotors off. – Yup and maybe in your hand luggage
Rear mech off . Obvs & bundle it up inside rear triangle
Let the air out of your suspension. – No need unless it means you can get the monster wheelbase in the bag
Let most of the air out of your tyres. – Yes makes them smaller
Loosen seat post clamp. No idea why you’d do this but deffo lower seat/dropper and maybe unclamp the remote if dropper fitted as with levers
Visit your lbs and get some dropout spacers front and rear!!! May not be possible if 20mm or 12mm etc so as suggested above a bit of pipe cut to length good.
Foam pipe laggingtastic. Yup

Evoc bag. I just took bars off (and yeah, leave stem on) and pedals off. Used their provided straps together with bubble wrap in places that knock together and put firm protection around levers, cardboard to hold brake levers from being moved.

Mech left on as the way the bag is designed, the support that sits the frame off the ground and the hard shell at the back it really can’t get knocked. Just wrapped it up.

Additionally the wheels in the sides provide further protection. Didn’t take discs off as they have struts and a hard cover that make it difficult to bend the disc externally.

Left air in the tyres. Just reduced them by 10psi. Provides further support. There’s no logic at all to removing the air despite what some airlines insist. Just say you’ve let the air out. Exception being 29ers might not fit when fully inflated.

Left air in the shocks. Again, no scientific reason to let them out. They’re not going to explode and hold pressure is the same as cabin.

Left the seatpost in and just compressed it down (Reverb).

Oh and cardboard between brake pads.

My front and rear drop outs use through axles, so screwed the rear in. The front pocket for the fork prevents putting one in there, but way it’s padded and strapped it doesn’t need anything.

Or drive – stick bike in car/van, plus tools. Drive. 😀

senor j – Member
Bars off .
Rotors off.
Rear mech off .
Let the air out of your suspension.
Let most of the air out of your tyres.
Loosen seat post clamp.
Visit your lbs and get some dropout spacers front and rear!!!
Foam pipe laggingtastic.

Lost count of the number of flights with the evoc but I get the first 3 rest is a waste of time. Hold is pressurised. Evoc design stops crushing of the drop outs and when it’s all in right nothing moves so I’ve no idea what the pipe lagging or bubble wrap is for.

drop out spacers? just leave your maxles in.

we drove last year, and the spares were invaluable!

went through brakes, wheels, mechs, all sorts.

although i do prefer flying

but its a tinchy bit further to Malaga than Bourg!!

@magalo,. You drove to malaga!?! How long did that take? Must have been a couple of days each way.

not me, we drove to Bourg – OP is off to switchbacks!

disappointed with lack of ET content

😆 – Forgot you need a basket also.

drop out spacers? just leave your maxles in

Doesn’t one side of a Maxle ‘float’ – ie leaving the axle in won’t stop the forks/rear getting crushed unless there is something solid in there (otherwise how would it clamp onto a wheel)

If your using an evoc the floor where the drop outs are is solid. Very hard to squish if at all. The wheels protect the rear very well on top of that.

Thanks for all the bits of advice..
What do you do about hand luggage and your full face helmet?

Carry full face as hand luggage most times,

BA give you generous 2 bag for hand luggage, which can be up to 23kg each so long as one fits in the overhead and the other under the seat. I got all my clothing in hand luggage. Regular lid in the bike bag, didn’t have full face. It probably would have gone in the Evoc, though adds to the weight, but BA aren’t fussed with bike bag weight (and one of them said the limit was 32kg despite their web site saying 23).

EasyJet are more strict. Pay extra for bags, and only one carry on except certain types of tickets.

Skiing I’ve often carried helmet in addition to hand luggage no problem.

I used a soft bag, bought some sheets of polystyrene 50 mm thick loft insulation and turned my soft bag into a custom box. Very little weight penalty and no damage at all. Only issue is the annoying littte white bits escaping. Mine was searched by US security and the only reason I noticed was they left a leaflet in the bottom of the bag.
Only take the bike apart with tools you’re taking.

yeah just clip the full face to a back pack – try and keep it out of site in the boarding queue just in case Jobby McJobsworth is on duty…

Doesn’t one side of a Maxle ‘float’ – ie leaving the axle in won’t stop the forks/rear getting crushed unless there is something solid in there (otherwise how would it clamp onto a wheel)

Doesn’t one side of a Maxle ‘float’

Yes, the leg nearest the camera in the picture above is not threaded, so they can be pushed together. Similarly with the rear axle. As Mike says, not so much of an issue with the Evoc bag.

Let the air out of your suspension.
Let most of the air out of your tyres.

This is cobblers. The hold is pressurised to 10,000 feet. Would your shock or tyres explode while riding over an Alpine col at 10,000 feet? No they wouldn’t.

ah i see what you mean..

Let the air out of your suspension.
Let most of the air out of your tyres.

The only reason to let your tyres down is if they don’t fit in the wheel slots/bags with air in! The rest is, as others have said, total rubbish. However for sake of brevity at sign on, if they ask “have you let the tyres down?” the correct answer is “yes”.

Put a basket on the front and insert small brown alien wrapped in a blanket. 😀

HTH

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlNauzlJroU[/video]

(never got why they keep pedalling)

shermer75 – Member
I bought this before Xmas, it’s a really good bag at a v cheap price. My hardtail fitted fine with the air out of the forks but I suspect a full sus would need the handlebars taken off

https://www.merlincycles.com/raleigh-padded-bike-bag-clearance-106297.html

Thanks Bargain needed a new one for the one or two trips a year !

Bake all packed etc. Not too concerned about cosmetic damage etc, but losing my bike would be pretty gutting. Does anyone have some suggestions for suitable insurance?

Stick with the Evoc bags – Bike Box Alan doesn’t fit through the scanner at Malaga 😄