Two questions really. I've heard conflicting tales about bikes on Easyjet 9even from easyjet). Anyone know the score?
Second question, who makes a good hard case fro a bike? Second question part II, does anyone rent them out?
Cheers.
Q1:
you book your bike at the time of booking online. Max weight is 35kg. It does not count as one of your hold bags. doesn't matter who you fly with, the baggage handlers are the same so likelihood of bike death stays the same.
Q2: cardboard box from bike shop or hard case from various hire companies. google or ctc for more info.
hardcasesare heavy
cardboard boxes are best value and protect your bike
soft bags are ok - mine has been all over the world with no problems
crateworks do a good corrugated plastic box - http://www.zoogz.co.uk/ but you may struglle to get free ride/all mountain bike in without taking the forks off and they are no indestructable
me, i would recommend a padded bag or cardboardbox
I've used a soft padded bag loads with no problems. Hvaing said that on my last flight, I ended up with a bent mech hanger but it didn't matter too much as it was my return journey! That's been the only incident, every other time with both road and MTB it's been fine. Pack the bike well, loads of bubble wrap/cardboard etc, chuck clothes in the side pockets to pad it out even more and smile/be polite at check in... 😉
Borrowed a hardcase last time I flew (Wiggle DHB one), they're heavy but give you a lot more piece of mind. I've flown without a problem using a cardboard box and padded bike bag before but I've also had incidents to (broken mech hanger and damaged forks) so didn't want to risk it. I looked into renting a hardcase but it was silly money (like £60+ for a week).
cardboard box and just get some corflute (stuff they make estate agent signs from) for down the side make it pretty puncture ressistant - get some old signs from the estate agent.
Or in the past i have used carri mat and never had problem.
Some guys were on my Aberdeen flight with bikes - they just took wheels off, ziptied them to the frame, then wrapped in clear plastic. They said they'd never had problems doing that and their bikes were fine.
Theory is that it's bloody obvious they're bikes, and being an awkward shape means they have to take more care, and can't stack things on top - they get placed on top of other things in the hold.
I normally use a soft bag (from Chain Reaction) but make sure I put the wheels in padded wheel bags as well. Take the mech, pedals and handlebars off and then wrap in bubble wrap and cardboard. First time I took the removeable bag handle off and the bag came back unscathed. Just got back from Spain and didn't take the bag handle off...but the baggage handlers ripped them instead. simon_g has good advice that I might try next time.
Worth nothing that my friend had a large DHB bag lined with cardboard and bubble wrap and containing a Kona Dawg - not a super heavy bike by any stretch - but the all-in weight was 32kg. He didn't have anything else other than knee and elbow pads in there. Watch out if you're taking a big DH bike. We also encountered a jobsworth at East Midlands who quizzed us for 15 minutes on why our bike bags were so heavy, even though they were below the 35kg limit.
Having seen the way the baggage handlers at Luton (not saying they are any worse than anywhere else its just you can see them working from the departure gates) treat bagged/boxed bikes I would go for a hard box everytime. The damage is usually minor but on one flight we were aware of of one frame with a dented head tube & one with a seat stay (part of a 4 bar linkage) damaged beyond use. The cost of buying a hard case was less than that lad payed out for hiring a bike for a week (if you can hire them its a no-brainer).
Yeah I don't buy into the whole "if it's obvious it's a bike they treat it more carefully" thing, 6 hours into a crappy shift and they're just going to chuck it and stack it whichever way is easiest for them. I doubt they get much in the way of repercussions for breaking stuff anyway.
Max weight for any item of luggage is now 32kg (manual handling regs) and with a hard case it can be difficult to keep under this especially with a dh bike or similar. I use a soft bag with pipe lagging cardboard etc and have only minor issues.
With easyjet specifically you pay extra for the bike but it does not count as part of your weight limit so you keep 20kg for your suitcase/bag. The easyjet site isn't super clear on this but don't let them tell you otherwise, this is what the terms of carriage say which override the contradictions to this on the website. The web says that you get 12kg extra for sporting goods giving you a total of 32kg for bag and bike (or other sporting gear) but the terms say that bikes are exempt from extra charges due to weight.