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Best Way to Travel with a Bike on an Airplane
"David Hill" wrote in message
... Hello. My wife and I are travelling to SE Asia this December for a three-week tour. We are taking our old mountain bikes turned commuter bikes (beat up looking, but great shape mechanically). We can either borrow a bike box from a friend and have to deal with storing it on the other end, or we can, as I've heard from some people, simply check the bikes assembled, with no boxes. I'm curious to hear from people who have taken the latter route. We don't really care about scratches, etc., (10 year old frames), but we don't want to arrive and find our bikes with lots of broken spokes and the like. Thanks, D. Hill. I worked at a major airline for 7 years on both the ticket counter and the ramp side. I have checked and loaded many bikes. The rigid bike boxes do their job, but they are heavy and cumbersome. A good solution is the carboard bike box that most airlines have handy at the ticket counter. Sometimes the cardboard boxes just seemed to prevent scratches more than anything else. Numerous times we would receive a bike that has come a long way away and the box would be very tattered. If the pedals were still on the bike, they would be sticking out of the box, and sometimes the handlebars would especially if it was a mountain bike. If you don't mind the hassle, I recomment the following while using the cardboard BIKE BOX: If the brake/shifter cables stick up, tape them down somewhere that does not bind the cable, but will prevent them from getting caught on something and getting damaged if the box happens to open. Take the pedals off and losen the handlebar and adjust it so that it is parallel with the front wheel and also lower the seat as low as it can go. This will allow the loaders to lay the bike flat on top of the baggage/cargo. The problem with the box is that it is very cumbersome and gets droppped at times (due to lack of hand holds), where a plain bike is much easier to handle by just grabbing the frame. The good thing about the box is that it keeps the cables from getting caught on various things and the flat sides tend to make it easier to load where there is a tight area just wide enough for the bike; an uncovered bike (especially with the pedals on) would bind up on other carge/luggage when trying to fit it in the tight spot. It will store flat wherever you are when you arrive and worst case, just buy another one when you leave. Most carriers have them and I believe they were fairly inexpensive ($8 I think, but that was a few years ago...). If you don't use the cardboard box, just follow the same directions as above and tape the wheels to the frame so they won't rotate. This allows them to move the bike when it is laying flat by grabbing the wheel (end of the bike if loaded parallel to the worker). Good luck, it's a jungle out there... |
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#2
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Best Way to Travel with a Bike on an Airplane
"David Hill" wrote in message
... Hello. My wife and I are travelling to SE Asia this December for a three-week tour. We are taking our old mountain bikes turned commuter bikes (beat up looking, but great shape mechanically). We can either borrow a bike box from a friend and have to deal with storing it on the other end, or we can, as I've heard from some people, simply check the bikes assembled, with no boxes. I'm curious to hear from people who have taken the latter route. We don't really care about scratches, etc., (10 year old frames), but we don't want to arrive and find our bikes with lots of broken spokes and the like. Thanks, D. Hill. Check with the airline you're using. American Airlines (and I assume others too) will take a bike as checked baggage and have a choice of a plastic bike bag for US$10 or a cardboard bike box for US$20. You'll probably need to turn the bars and take off the pedals, so take along the appropriate tools for the return trip. |
#3
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Best Way to Travel with a Bike on an Airplane
David Hill wrote:
Hello. My wife and I are travelling to SE Asia this December for a three-week tour. We are taking our old mountain bikes turned commuter bikes (beat up looking, but great shape mechanically). We can either borrow a bike box from a friend and have to deal with storing it on the other end, or we can, as I've heard from some people, simply check the bikes assembled, with no boxes. I'm curious to hear from people who have taken the latter route. We don't really care about scratches, etc., (10 year old frames), but we don't want to arrive and find our bikes with lots of broken spokes and the like. Thanks, D. Hill. I just came back from there a month ago. I pinched a bike box from the LBS, just a cardboard box they ship them in. Take of the wheels, handlebar and seatpost. Duct tape everything together and wedge it into the box. Toss the box away at the other end. Then when you are ready to come home ask the concierge to take you to the "box district" go get a big cardboard box, then take the bike to the "moto washing district" to get the bike washed. Shouldn't cost you more than $6 to get it washed and packed. May I ask where you are going? I went from Kuala Lumpur to Hanoi. I may be able to offer some more up to date advice than Pumpy. He's good but when he's wrong he's really wrong. -- Cheers Damian Harvey This space reserved for standard disclaimer, witty quote, plug for own business in caps and large, bad ASCII art. |
#4
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Best Way to Travel with a Bike on an Airplane
"sparker" wrote in
: Not an exhaustive comparison, just my experience. I had my bike boxed to fly from Vancouver to Paris a few weeks ago. Flew the same route with Air Canada in June. Put my bike in a bag with pipe insulation on the tubes, no problem either. Had my 6mm hex wrench in my packpack to straighten the handlebard when I arrived and they confiscated it as dangerous...think they have gone a little too far. |
#5
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Best Way to Travel with a Bike on an Airplane
Mike Latondresse wrote:
Flew the same route with Air Canada in June. Put my bike in a bag with pipe insulation on the tubes, no problem either. Had my 6mm hex wrench in my packpack to straighten the handlebard when I arrived and they confiscated it as dangerous...think they have gone a little too far. They did the same thing to me and my U lock. It was the heaviest thing I had so knowing that they don't weigh carry on I carried it on. He he. Silly me. -- Cheers Damian Harvey This space reserved for standard disclaimer, witty quote, plug for own business in caps and large, bad ASCII art. |
#6
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Best Way to Travel with a Bike on an Airplane
"Luigi de Guzman" wrote in message
m... "sparker" wrote in message ... "Now that the sky is empty And that is nothing new Instead they look upon us When they tell me That we're nothing I say! That's when I reach for my revolver-- that's when it all gets blown away-- That's when I reach for my revolver The spirit passes by this way" -Moby I hate to be an ass, but IIRC Moby is covering the classic Mission of Burma song. Actually, why be nice, it's a shameless rip-off. ah, cut me some slack, oldtimer. I'm just a kid. -Luigi Heh... Nice try. MoB was before my time. Just giving credit where it is due. ; ) |
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