Advice Needed: Bike Case for Air Travel

[Sunyata]

I mentioned this in your other thread, but I would forgo trying to buy/borrow a bike case/bag and just pack your bike in a cardboard bike box (that you can get for FREE from any bike shop) and ship it via Bike Flights. It is going to be a lot cheaper in the long run.

[ImaCynic]

A good travel case is a significant investment. I have a Scicon Aerocomfort 2.0 TSA, which allows minimal disassembly of the bike. It works, but was expensive. Also, airline only accept damage claims on bikes store in hardcases, not soft/fabric ones. I’m not sure if this policy applies to all airlines, so be sure to check.

Unless you plan to travel with the bike often, my suggestion is just to have your favorite bike shop pack it up the in one of their new bike box, and request “Fragile” stickers at check-in (so it is loaded last and unloaded first), and it should be fine.

[pmf]

Before kids, my wife and I did a few vacations that involved shipping out bikes overseas on a plane as luggage. Back then, it was free if it was one of your two checked bags. No idea what the fee is now. On domestic flights, it’s outrageous. I’ve got a couple Performance hard cases sitting in my tool shed gathering dust. You’re welcome to borrow one. They’re hard plastic, but have no wheels. They’re not the real fancy ones like trico, but they work. There are latches on the side for locks, but I’d use carbiners instead because TSA may want to open it up and examine the contents.

Look on ebay and you’ll find some used Performance cases.

The packing/unpacking process is pretty easy

1. Remove the wheels
2. Remove the skewers and cassette from the wheels and store in a bag
3. Remove the saddle/seat post
4. Remove the pedals
5. Brace the front and rear drop outs — you can make braces yourself, or get them from a bike shop. Don’t skip this step.
6. Loosen the headset and turn the bars 90 degrees.
7. If you’re worried about your paint job, you can buy plumbing pipe insulation — basically 4′ round foam tubes an zip tie them to the frame tubes.

If this sounds like a PITA to you, your local bike shop would probably box it up for you for a fee and show you how to unpack it. Or you could just ship the thing to where you’re going. Know anyone down there?

One year we did Ride the Rockies. Hundreds of people were wandering around the Denver airport. I think we were the only ones with hard cases. Everyone else seemed to be getting along just fine with cardboard boxes.

[hozn]

Maybe also consider https://velosurance.com/ w/ the “international option” to cover any damage / theft of bike during trip + while you’re there.

[Kitty]

Thanks guys! The more I dig into it, the more complex the situation is becoming. United’s bike shipping policies aren’t terrible (if its >50 lbs no extra “bike” fee) however, it looks like there is a restriction imposed by Brasil for the Sao Paulo (and Rio) airport against oversized baggage… I’m going to have to make a phone call or two.

I’d looked into the BikeFlights, but their quote was something akin to the cost of a tricked-out Brompton. Brazil further complicates things by having an extremely closed economy that makes imported goods (like bikes and bike parts!) stupid expensive so buying a bike there might be similar in cost to a tricked-out case. If I could get the plane to take a case, it would have been a good investment since I’ll have to do this a minimum of every-other-year, but no dice. 😡

Sooooo… any thoughts on folding bikes? ^_~

[Sunyata]

@Kitty 182852 wrote:

I’d looked into the BikeFlights, but their quote was something akin to the cost of a tricked-out Brompton.

HOLY COW! I just did the estimate and that is more than three nice new car payments!

I guess it is less economical if you are not shipping domestic. Sorry about that.

[hozn]

Yeah, when I was looking at shipping a bike to Switzerland it was $1200 each way (IIRC) for bikeflights … !!! And United would have charged me $250 each way (my bike was less than 50lbs — I wasn’t aware that if it’s > 50lbs they don’t charge extra). So that basically just gave me justification in having a $1500 coupler bike frame built and buying a $400 case. Yeah, I’m not sure the math worked out there for that first trip, but I’ve used that frame + bag again since then with expectations to use it for many more trips, so it makes sense in the long run.

[LhasaCM]

@Kitty 182852 wrote:

Sooooo… any thoughts on folding bikes? ^_~

If the airport/airline is strict on the oversized baggage limits, then you’re most likely restricted to a folding bike with 16 inch wheels like a Brompton or getting a specially-made piece of luggage or getting creative. Per their website (https://www.ternbicycles.com/support/techtips/packing-your-bike-suitcase), even a relatively compact and partially disassembled Tern with 20 inch wheels requires a suitcase that is 30x21x13 inside (compared to the normal 62 linear/dimensional inch limit). The problem with most suitcases are that they are rectangular, and you need a big square space to fit wheels.

I have seen posts where people have taken a larger folding bike (e.g., a Montague) and fit it into two standard sized suitcases with a decent amount of disassembly. https://wheelsdown.wordpress.com/2008/11/01/getting-packed/ is one such example.

One extreme option to minimize spending money on new stuff but maximize workload: if you have a small enough frame (which in of itself is a bit of a longshot), you theoretically could disassemble your bike so that the frame fits into a box/case that is just within the size limit, have a second box/case for the wheels, use available space in either for the parts you took off, and travel with it that way.

[bentbike33]

So the State Department provides you no assistance with moving your personal possessions to your post?

[hozn]

If you don’t expect to use it beyond this tour, I would probably just start the search for a second-hand bike there and selling (or donating) it when you leave.

[drevil]

@Kitty 182852 wrote:

Thanks guys! The more I dig into it, the more complex the situation is becoming. United’s bike shipping policies aren’t terrible (if its >50 lbs no extra “bike” fee) however, it looks like there is a restriction imposed by Brasil for the Sao Paulo (and Rio) airport against oversized baggage… I’m going to have to make a phone call or two.

I’d looked into the BikeFlights, but their quote was something akin to the cost of a tricked-out Brompton. Brazil further complicates things by having an extremely closed economy that makes imported goods (like bikes and bike parts!) stupid expensive so buying a bike there might be similar in cost to a tricked-out case. If I could get the plane to take a case, it would have been a good investment since I’ll have to do this a minimum of every-other-year, but no dice. 😡

Sooooo… any thoughts on folding bikes? ^_~

I love my Brompton, but it’s not a great long distance bike, at least for me. It feels like too much resistance compared to a larger wheeled bike. The longest ride I’ve done on mine is about 15 miles for a work commute. You’ll get to where you want, just slower.

I don’t have a case for it, but I’ve put directly in the overhead bin without any wrapping on a Southwest flight from Charleston, SC to BWI. (The BWI guys wouldn’t let me do the same on the flight down to Charleston, but they did let me bring it down the runway like a stroller.)

Brompton in Overhead Bins by ricky d, on Flickr

Someone has a new Brompton and case on eBay for what looks to be an unbelievable price. If it’s real, I’d jump on it:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/BROMPTON-S-TYPE-S6R-RED-FOLDING-BIKE-BICYCLE-WITH-SUITCASE/173635727747?hash=item286d7ef183:g:cAYAAOSwAVlb6KDL:rk:3:pf:0

[ATTACH=CONFIG]18590[/ATTACH]

[Boomer Cycles]

I use a top-end hard-case Thule that I bought (~ $400) used off of Craigslist a few years ago that has served me well crossing the Atlantic with carbon-fiber framed bikes (see pic below). My UK housemate also used it to transport a steel framed touring bike to Sweden from the UK with great results.

But it is bulky, exceeds the overweight limits even when carrying carbon bikes, and airlines are all over the map on their charges. WOW Air flew it for free across the Atlantic. KLM charged me $225 to bring it back. United Airlines flew it across the Atlantic for $185. So go figure!! I’d strongly suggest that you notify the airlines ahead of time in case they have a special baggage policy, or else you might get hit with an additional service charge because it requires that one of their handlers has to manually lug it from the ticket counter to the plane’s cargo hold (KLM slapped me with an additional $25 fee once for this).

Sent from my VS501 using Tapatalk

[Kitty]

Oh man oh man, the plot thickens! I wrote to the shipping maven at post and was warned NOT to attempt shipping it via a private service. It will just stuck by customs and they will get pissed and charge me an arm and a leg to get it back! Glad I got that warning…

@LhasaCM 182862 wrote:

If the airport/airline is strict on the oversized baggage limits, then you’re most likely restricted to a folding bike with 16 inch wheels like a Brompton or getting a specially-made piece of luggage or getting creative…

One extreme option to minimize spending money on new stuff but maximize workload: if you have a small enough frame (which in of itself is a bit of a longshot), you theoretically could disassemble your bike so that the frame fits into a box/case that is just within the size limit, have a second box/case for the wheels, use available space in either for the parts you took off, and travel with it that way.

Thanks for the dimensions info for the wheels. That’s really helpful.
As for the disassembly, I’m looking into that option tomorrow morning. I’ve just gotten the dimensions for the Unattended Air Baggage shipment (we’re alotted one UAB for a portion of our stuff that follows us a few weeks later after arriving in-country). I’m going to see if there’s any hope of shoving Kali in there…

@bentbike33 182864 wrote:

So the State Department provides you no assistance with moving your personal possessions to your post?

They do, but the main solution is it goes on a ship and you’ll get your stuff in 6 months. I’m just trying to find a way to not be bike-less for that long… They also will ship some of the more urgent things by air, but that comes with very strict size restrictions. This is ostensibly to save you, the tax-payer, money.

@hozn 182867 wrote:

If you don’t expect to use it beyond this tour, I would probably just start the search for a second-hand bike there and selling (or donating) it when you leave.

That’s my last resort. So far though the online searches haven’t been promising. A basic-basic commuter is going used for the cost of a cheap folder new. The tariffs are real and have the market pretty skewed.

@drevil 182871 wrote:

I don’t have a case for it, but I’ve put directly in the overhead bin without any wrapping on a Southwest flight from Charleston, SC to BWI. (The BWI guys wouldn’t let me do the same on the flight down to Charleston, but they did let me bring it down the runway like a stroller.)

I love that photo so much right now!

@Boomer2U 182886 wrote:

I use a top-end hard-case Thule that I bought (~ $400) used off of Craigslist a few years ago that has served me well crossing the Atlantic with carbon-fiber framed bikes (see pic below). My UK housemate also used it to transport a steel framed touring bike to Sweden with great results.
But it is bulky, overweight limits even carrying carbon bikes, and airlines are all over the map on charges. WOW Air fly it for free across the Atlantic. KLM charged me $225 to bring it back. Go figure!!

That is exactly what I had been hoping to invest in, but it sounds like this post, that’s a no-go. Alas.

[consularrider]

Stop by (or call) College Park Bicycles and see what used Bike Fridays they have. Those will fold up into a normal sized suitcase. Also check bikes@vienna. One of my riding partners bought a Dahon here in Germany to take in his tiny VW Polo “trunk” and has been happy with it. Much less expensive than a Bike Friday or a Brompton. Also look at a Tern.

[n18]

Once Upon a Time, in a post far, far away, Steve O posted: “Do not be attached to the bike–be attached to the experience of riding the bike.”

Typing “bike shop” in Google Maps shows more than 15 bike shops. Trek has a dealer there.

Also, Sao Paulo seems to have gotten their own docked and dockless bike sharing service earlier this year. I am not sure if it’s fully implemented, but you can download the app(Apple/Google) to find out:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_bicycle-sharing_systems#Brazil
https://www.pbsc.com/2018/01/bike-sharing-service-sao-paulo/
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-brazil-bikes/dockless-bike-sharing-start-up-set-to-brave-sao-paulo-streets-idUKKBN1KN330
https://techstartups.com/2018/04/04/brazilian-bike-sharing-service-startup-yellow-secures-9-million-first-dockless-bike-sharing-service-brazil/

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