I work away for reasonable periods of time and have a HT over there to keep getting miles in. I’ve recently discovered some decent trails and have bought another full sus bike to take over to fully enjoy the spring and summer months.

I’ve secured a cardboard bike box from the LBS and want some advice for best packing the bike to protect it and more importantly, what pressures should I drop the forks, shock and tyres to do there is no damage in transit?

Get a proper bike bag and a big roll of bubble wrap. Not a crappy cardboard box.

My bike, in a cardboard box, survived the round trip to Canada without any issues at all.
If it’s only going one way a box should be plenty good enough.

Repeated trip bike bag, as said in other threads evoc works for me. It’s fast and easy to pack, I dont need bubble wrap and it’s really easy to move around between places and keep in hotel rooms. It’s also good when it gets wet for the way home. Long haul is better than shirt haul as it’s its normally packed into the containers.

Get some some tube wraps from the bike shop, place between things, then secure with big zip ties. Get it all solid with front wheel alongside and bars secure so nothing rubs when its shaken. All you need to do beyond that is protect anything that touches the box, like dropouts and side of the fork etc.

It’s a one way trip and it will live in an apartment when over there.

I’ve heard conflicting info on here between what is best, bike bag or box and as I’ll only need it once, I’m happy with the box. Bike will be bubble wrapped and the box duct taped for security.

If it’s in a box make sure nothing can be crushed, nothing can move, nothing can move. Pedals off, rotors off, bars off, mech off and wheels at normal pressure. Look at the evoc design, use the wheels for vertical strength, find something to brace the base with to prevent squashing etc.

Nothing wrong with a box.
No need to drop pressures as long as you’re not near absolute max.
Make sure you support absolutely anything crushable.
i.e. re-insert maxles/etc into frame after removing wheels.
Make sure nothing can move.

Reinserting Maxles doesn’t actually give that much crush protection without a hub in between. If you could get a piece of plastic pipe that is the right size to stick between the rear dropouts and then put the Maxle through that then that would be a lot better.
One of my mates had the carbon rear-end of his bike crushed on a flight.

what pressures should I drop the forks, shock and tyres to do there is no damage in transit?

Leave em where they are. Even if the hold wasn’t pressurised the different at 36,000ft is only 10PSi

as above + normally remove the rear mech wrap in bubble wrap and strap inside rear dropout

Some good advice and ideas I hadn’t thought of! Thanks all!

Reinserting Maxles doesn’t actually give that much crush protection without a hub in between.

Yup. Frames without pinch bolts on the dropouts can still be crushed. Lad had that on our holiday last year, Orange 222 swingarm squeezed to 100mm wide (from 135) as the pinchbolt wasnt done up. It jammed on the axle so wouldnt spring back apart, thankfully, it being and Orange, a swift application with the hammer jolted it free and it sprang back apart. Forks are pretty strong though id not worry about the front end. Leave the rear wheel in if at all possible.