I’m going to get a free cardboard bike box from a shop (maybe 2, lots of cutting etc), loads of gaffer tape from the pound shop, some cheapo ratchet straps. I’ve found some wheels to put on one end. Padding will be pound shop camping mats and large diameter pipe lagging.
If you can’t afford up to 500 notes for a decent off-the-shelf one, a bit of home brewing will make a decent box that’ll be good for a handful of airline trips before MK2 is needed to be built.
Any ideas? Comments? Suggestions? Anyone else done it? Try and keep it on topic and objective please. And you can stay under the bridge!

I was gonna say: 2 boxes from lbs, insert one inside the other, reinforce vital areas with estate agents for sale signs inbetween the two boxes & gaffer tape in situ, add cut outs for airport staff to lift it, clearly mark it as fragile, keep the weight down or you’ll get hit with an excess, then commence prayers

I reinforced a cardboard bike box with heavy duty double thickness corrugated cardboard panels that I PVA glued in place. It’s super strong and has now seen 4 trips to the Alps.

Luckily it hasn’t been subjected to rain yet 😉

1x £69 CRC bike bag + wheel bags

+ Bike box from LBS cut down to a very tight fit

= pretty protective and easier to carry than the original bag as it stands easily upright now.

The bag alone survived the last trip without carefull packing (mech off, bars off, done) so the added box and bubblewrap etc should make it pretty bomb proof.

I got one of these when they were $150 and a pound was worth near enough $2

Tough as **** – it must have been on at least a dozen trips now without showing any damage or wear

http://www.crateworks.com/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=crateworks&Product_Code=Pro_XLC&Category_Code=Bike-Boxes

A mate of mine just gets a nice big bike box from his LBS. Hardly reinforces it and it does fine. I think the baggage handlers prefer a box cos it’s flat sided and can be stacked nicely and stood up and stuff. Plus I think they probably handle it a little better cos it’s ‘only in a cardboard box’.

How very enterprising of you !

I wonder if you are the first to do this kind of thing?

First time I was prepping my bike to fly I went down the custom carboard box route, reinforced everywhere I could, industrial castors on one end etc. By the time I was done the box and bike were way over the weight allowance so I had to strip back most of my additions to get it back to an acceptable weight.

Bike got through fine in the stripped down box. 2nd time I kept it simple and spliced 2 smaller boxes together (all my lbs had at the time) and some cheap yoga mats wrapped around the important parts.

In the two trips I’ve done the only members of our group who’ve had problems with damage have used specific bags or hardshell boxes.

Flew back from the US with a bike in a cardboard box, gaffa taped up as described above. The box was cut open by security at the US airport after check in…still…the bike arrived ok, even if the box was half open. Recommend a bike bag or similar, use those special TSA locks on it for security.

Interesting comments, thanks. I used a large packing case from some exhibition boards years ago. I wished I could have turned the box into a bike trailer at the airport though as I had a 20 mile trip at the other end. Cost me and the missus about £60 in taxi fees. I have an old, alu kiddy trailer with 20″ wheels I could use as the basis for a project… back to the man-cave!

This year I’m using a Plasma TV box from Here as I found bike boxes are a bit to long for the sliding doors at geneva airport. The box is big enough to take the frame and forks intact with a wheel either side.

I tried contacting a local firm about making boxes from corrugated plastic (waterproof, robust, long lasting) but I never got any response. Do we have any dragon’s who want to take up the mantle?

Edit – and IMHO bike bags aren’t big enough and att to much weight if you’re flying with a DH rig)

+1 for painting the whole lot with PVA. It’ll stay waterproof once properly dry, so no worries on that score either.

I was gonna use pound shop gaffer tape (bloody sticky!) and coat the box completely. Maybe do a ‘Eddie Van Halen guitar’ design over it in red gaffer tape – I’ll be able to see it loading from the departure lounge!

I bought a second hand bike bag for £22 on Ebay. Decent DHB one too

More than made up with that considering the lack of hassle I now have!

I’ll be able to see it loading from the departure lounge

You really don’t want to see that – trust me