alright, I’m off to whistler in a month (woo) and starting to research bike packing options. I’ve always driven to france, so never had to flight-prep a bike before. Whats the consensous as to the best option? from what I can see

cardboard box from a shop
bike bag
abs bike box

are the latter options worth the money over the first one? any horror stories from bad airlines?

Cheers

Hugh

There’s a thread from earlier today on that very subject

i have used padded bag with the sides reinforced with cardboard from a bike box
for long haul i sometimes wrap the packed bike in an old sleeping bag

if you send me your email addy (mine is in my profile) i have some foolproof instructions for packing a bike for air travel

Are you going with a company or on your own? I’m going with Ticket 2 Ride at the beginning of July.

I pack mine in a Planet X padded bike bag; let air out of the tyres and put them in the pockets; bubble wrap everything in sight; loosent he handlebars and turn them 90 degrees and tie them to the frame (with padding of course; plastic spacer for the rear drop-outs; pedals off; saddle down = good to go.

http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/boxes-vs-bags-vs-bagage-handlers

Bike bag, cardboard boxes aren’t so good .. bike boxes will increase your weight limit and often struggle to get MTB’s into them.
Reinforce bits of bag with cardboard and pipe lagging if you are bothered about scratches etc.

Packing, take off the following:
discs, rear mech and chain, chainest and pedals.
twist handlebars, sorted.

I have been flying bikes yearly for the last 6 years and never had any problems. Yes I’ve seen bikes dropping out of planes 20 foot onto tarmac in a bag but if it’s all padded up, it’ll be fine. Never had a problem yet!!! I remember the days off travelling when they DIDN’T want your bike in a bag/box they wanted it wheeled on with handlebars turned ….. times have changed!

“Packing, take off the following:
discs, rear mech and chain, chainest and pedals.
twist handlebars, sorted.”

I leave my chainset on, but then again I do run a bashring. Yeah I forgot: Take the rear mech off, wrap it in bubble wrap and secure it within the rear triangle.

we’re staying with bearback, but we’re flying with thomas cook. incidentally, if you pay £60 to get your bike on return, there’s no weight limit on the bike bag\box, so I guess I know where all my heavy gear is going 🙂 (not to mention my bike, which is a not unsubstansial 44lbs)

cheers for the info, there’s bags for under £40 on ebay, might go and invest..

I’m flying out with Thomas Cook as well (through Canadian Affair) and they told me the weight limit is 32kg, even if you pay for a bike.

Make sure the bike bag has enough padding and strong zips: The cheaper ones may not and it may end up cost you alot more in the long run.

Also, a plastic window on the outside to put your flight details in is always a nice touch (makes me feel better anyway).

i just got off the phone to canadian affair, they told me that thomas cook don’t stipulate a weight limit (but that its £30 each way to take the bikes onboard). they also said its 20kg limit, reinforced by this on their website

At the airport
Our UK and Canadian Airport representatives will ensure your holiday gets off to the right start along with the excellent ground staff of Air Transat, Thomas Cook Airlines and My Travel Airways. Check in opens:

3 hours before departure for flights on the Boeing 757 and
4 hours for flights on Thomas Cook & AirTransat Airbus A330 and A310
5 hours for flights on Mytravel Airbus A330
and closes strictly one hour before departure.
Baggage allowances are 20kgs for the hold (unless you are traveling in premium where the allowance is 30kgs) and 5kgs for hand luggage.

These limits are closely adhered to and the airlines will charge for excess baggage at check in.

Top Tip – If you are travelling on the Airbus A330 and feel that you may need more luggage allowance, upgrade to Premium and you’ll receive an extra 10kgs as well as all of the other extra benefits!

i run saint, so the rear mech/chain rings aren’t an issue, I’ll be sure to protect the other bits where possible though

I’ve just got off the phone to Canadian Affair as well and they said that there is no weight limit for bikes. I said that the website says no single piece of luggage can exceed 32kg and she said that that only applies to ordinary luggage that is sent down the conveyor belt, whereas bikes are checked in differently at the oversized baggage counter.

sweet. maybe take two bikes, or pack all my mates bikes into one box and just claim for one??

I thought the 32kg limit was a baggage handlers H&S limit rather than specific to any airline

EDIT: Looks like that is indeed the case & the unions are looking to reduce it further

http://www.unitetheunion.com/news__events/latest_news/baggage_handlers_to_lobby_parl.aspx

“I thought the 32kg limit was a baggage handlers H&S limit rather than specific to any airline

EDIT: Looks like that is indeed the case & the unions are looking to reduce it further”

TBH That’s what I thought as well. I will certainly aim to get it under 32kg if at all possible.

definately remove the discs, easyjet trashed one for me last year. Thankfully it was on the return and not the way out.
It’s also a good idea to bleed the brakes before you go, I didn’t and the pressure changes had inflated my front brake so the brakes were binding for the first day. In the end i had to just undo the hose and let some fluid out! 😯 was fine after that…

Over the years I’ve tried various methods, like cardboard boxes & soft cases, with varying results. Last year we hired a couple of these hardshell cases

http://www.bikeboxalan.co.uk/#technical

A bit expensive, but if you’ve got a decent bike, IMO they’re worth it – no fiddling around with packing materials, just whip the bars (& poss. rear mech) off, strap the frame into the box, then use your QR’s to attach the wheels to the inner lid of the box (no need to remove discs). The boxes are also pretty easy to get around the airport as they’re on castors.