I’m planning an MTB trip to Switzerland and will be bringing my bike with me.

I’ll need to bring shoes, helmet, clothes and a small tent, so trying to work out whether I need to carry these in a large bag, and pay for that as checked in luggage. Or can I get away with stuffing these items into the bike bag, along with the bike ?

Do airport security people check to see whether passengers have stuffed bike bags full of luggage items ? I’d hope not considering the cost of checking in a bike.

Normally if it’s below the weight i’ve been fine but I have had to open my bike bag a couple of times for them to check whats in it.

Mine has been opened in the past and not done up again, luckily nothing fell out but ever since I have attached loose items to the bike just in case.

Mates helmet got mashed in a bike bag.

Thanks guys

I’ve often stuck stuff in my bike bag, and assuming it’s under the weight limit have never had an issue (apart from CO2 canisters which sometimes airlines are funny with). I wouldn’t put your helmet in your bike bag though, as you never know quite how rough the ‘throwers’ will be.

I’d also be wary of putting too much in the way of stuff you couldn’t hire in the event of you bike being delayed. I discovered this when my snowboard bag didn’t arrive which not only had my board and boots, but gloves, helmet, goggles, radios etc. Had to buy replavements for the stuff which I couldn’t hire, and the airline and insurance wriggled out of paying any compensation too 🙁

Cheers, Rich

Depending on your bike, you’ll be doing well to get much in there. I tend to travel with light bikes, and my bag isn’t heavy, but together they are not far off 23kg.

That’s not so much them being funny as them being specifically banned items. <ahem> I’d certainly have never carried them on a plane because I always abide by such rules <ahem>

turboferret » (apart from CO2 canisters which sometimes airlines are funny with).

aracer » That’s not so much them being funny as them being specifically banned items. <ahem> I’d certainly have never carried them on a plane because I always abide by such rules <ahem>[/quote]

Well, given that they’re identical to the ones used in all the life-vests, it’s a bit of an arbitrary rule. When I’ve checked specifically I thought the 28g canisters were ok, and it was only over 50g that there was an issue. Certainly when having a discussion with airport security after being hauled off a flight to open my bag, they were unable to show me the rule in their which I was violating. However it was a somewhat futile argument 😆

Cheers, Rich

I go through this dance with skiing and it depends on the airline. Some don’t like you putting clothing in the ski/board/bike bag, and others don’t mind. Depends if they think they can make money from excess. Been with some where you pay extra up front for baggage allowance and then they actually say you can shove everything in the one bag, but then they have a limit on bags but a large allowance for the bag.

Careful though as there is a legal limit to how much a bag thrower can carry in one bag, regardless of airline rules (32kg I think?).

Helmet – carry on. Wear it if they get fussy. Never had issues though, just carry and shove it in the overhead or under the seat.

CO2 – nope. You can risk it, but then I’ve been with people who’ve been dragged off at the gate and flight delayed so they can remove offending items.

Anything electrical, and batteries – hand luggage.

Or… drive, then it’s no problem what you take and how much, plus don’t have to pull bike apart and reassemble 😉

Interesting – I’ve just checked the online rules and it seems they are allowed, you’re right. I’m wondering if they’ve got more sensible since I last flew with a bike over 10 years ago.

When I flew to Van one year the checking guy refused to let me take my D3 as hand luggage “in case I started a fight and put it on so no one could hit me!”

I try not to put too much extra stuff in.

I’ve been challenged about the total weight of the bike bag in Vancouver, and have had a bike bag opened for inspection in Vancouver, Heathrow and Dallas-Ft Worth.

I’ve also seen a mate have the weight of his bike bag challenged in Chiang Mai (Thailand), although to be fair he had started with a Demo8 and then put everything else bar the kitchen sink in there for a total weight of nearly 60kgs….

I’ve had my bike bag checked, but that was once it was checked in & I delivered it to the over-size baggage bit.

They nicked a brand new can of GT85, but apart from that it was all good.
I had a large tub of Torq powder in the bag, all my tools, knee/shin & elbow pads, my back pack and it didn’t raise an eyebrow. I think once it gets past the check-in person, so long as there’s nothing dangerous in there or it’s overweight you should be OK.

As others have said – helmet I wouldn’t chuck in. Never had a problem with shoes in the bike bag. I use elbow/knee pads as padding on the bike, and if I needed to take clothes in the bike bag, I would probably do similar, that way if I’m challenged I could say that it’s frame protection, not clothing. (not that I ever have been challenged).

I checked the sleazyjet rules on CO2 last year and so carried 2 canisters in my hand baggage (I thought it would be easier than someone opening up the bike box), I was stopped at security, but just showed them the printout of the rules and was sent on my way 🙂

Remember that security in principle doesn’t care about airline baggage rules and allowances. I have always packed clothes (and other stuff including helmet) in with the bike and it’s never been an issue. Getting as close as possible to (but below) the max weight is the game.

Usually when checking in I don’t let them see what I’m carrying hand luggage, just the check in stuff. Security is just interested in what’s generally forbidden regardless of airline. By the gate the airline generally won’t kick up a fuss over hand luggage unless it’s obviously excessive. I see people with way over sized bags going through the gate.

If it’s a very full flight though they might question some stuff, and occasionally they get some hand luggage put into the hold. Seen this often on internal flights in US where they’re packed to capacity.

Slightly different but have to work with 23kg limits over here and much prefer to have a separate bag, if it’s a week on the MTB it’s nice to have plenty of changes. Generally sneak the shoes and pack into the bike bag which brings it up to the 23kg for me. Quite nice having a decent bag of clothes on holiday. Last trip was lucky enough to have 3x23kg so packed some spare tubes, tools and other stuff that normally gets left behind.

The only time the lid doesn’t go hand luggage is if I can pack it in the evoc suitcase properly so it doesn’t get crushed.

I’ve been checking this out the last couple of days. It seems EasyJet only let you have your bike in the box and have made people empty their other stuff out. I haven’t found anything about Ryanair using the same policy and haven’t seen anything in their T&C’s about it either. Anyone had problems with Ryanair? (That’s clothes in a bike box problems!)

. It seems EasyJet only let you have your bike in the box and have made people empty their other stuff out.

JUst also remember that 32kg is a hard limit for handling so if you go over and start to unpack at the checkin desk they will probably do you for it. But as above a decent trail bike in a decent bag is close on 23kg anyway so do you really want to do a weeks holiday on 9kg of other gear?

Use the clothes to ‘protect’ the bike and claim it is padding. Does need to be wrapped around frame and forks though, not just dropped in.

It’s all about weight. They don’t actually care what you’ve got in the bag so long as it is not illegal. However in all my years skiing and taking a bike to France last year they never seem to check the weight so the chances are you’ll get away with being over.

I didn’t realised about the rule on CO2 canisters. When I met my mate in France and started unpacking my bike and pulled out a box of 6 canisters he was amazed it got through the x-ray machine. I didn’t bother taking them back on the return flight.

There is no risk of these things exploding on a plane. They’re already pressurised to hundreds of PSI so another 15 PSI is not going to cause them too much trouble. He was also surprised I didn’t even bother taking air out of my tyres which are normally at 100psi.

But as above a decent trail bike in a decent bag is close on 23kg anyway so do you really want to do a weeks holiday on 9kg of other gear?

We managed five weeks in NZ last year on 7kg for other gear.

wobbliscott – Member 
It’s all about weight. They don’t actually care what you’ve got in the bag so long as it is not illegal.

Some airlines do have a policy on no clothes in sports equipment bags but that’s because they are trying to get you to pay for extra bags.

It makes crap all difference to the weight on the plane really, but makes them a lot more money if they can try it on. Once the bag is past the check in desk though they have no say in it. Only security will then look in the bag and they don’t care so long as it’s nothing illegal in it.

Whereas many airlines don’t care. I’ve come across both policies.

We managed five weeks in NZ last year on 7kg for other gear.

Well done I enjoyed clean clothes etc. and not spending time needing to do washing. It was a great holiday

Well done I enjoyed clean clothes etc. and not spending time needing to do washing. It was a great holiday

Us too mate, us too…

Well done, but that really isn’t a lot of stuff is it? Especially if it rains. Especially if you can just pay for an extra proper bag