Flying with your bike.
Unless you're John Foden or Yannick Read, or a bunch of crazy Czech designers and have a flying bicycle stashed in your garage, you might at some point have to put your bike on a plane. The single most useful piece of advice I’d give is: don’t, unless it can’t be avoided. Baggage handlers, God bless them, do not care about your bike as much as you.
If you must fly your bike, then plan ahead: you need to know that you aren’t going to lose some essential piece of kit in security or be left with no means to leave the airport at your destination.
I’ve tried various methods, including:
- A bike box
- A bike bag
- A clear plastic bike bag
- Nothing
Bike Box
A box is most secure, but leaves you with a problem of disposal or storage at your destination. (There’s money to be made from someone setting up a storage and transfer of bike boxes and bags between Europe’s airports).
Assuming you don’t have a friendly hotel or a mate, and need to throw the box away – good luck finding a bin – you may be able to get another box coming back from a local bike shop. You will need to think about how you’ll get your boxed bike to the airport, though: you’ll need a taxi big enough to take it, which will mean pre-booking it.
That said, I once made a pre-fabricated. bike box in bits of box from a supermarket, which I strapped to my rear pannier, and assembled with packing tape outside Nice airport check in.
Bag
I’ve also used a fabric bag, which requires taking the bike apart – removing handlebars, wheels, bike rack, saddle, pedals, etc. Obviously, this means putting it back together at the other end, so you’ll need all the screws, tools and bits and pieces. To speed up the process of reconstruction the other end, I double-bag the nuts and bolts from each different bit together and label it. I then gaffer them to my bike VERY SECURELY. I also take spares with me. It would be incredibly annoying to have lost a screw and have to find one in the middle of, say, Italy.
You may want to use cable ties to secure the various bits of your bike together within the bag to minimize everything banging about and getting damaged. CTC - the cycling charity - recommend, and I concur, that you protect your packed bike as much as possible, including:
- 10 cm piece of metal tube used with the front wheel quick-release as a dummy front axle, to stop the forks being squashed together.
- Handlebars not only turned but also twisted downwards in stem so that the levers are sheltered – essential if you have dual controls (easy to break, hard to replace).
- This exposes bar-end controls though, here protected by pieces of PVC waste pipe jammed on the ends of the bars.
- Rear mech unscrewed from its frame-end “hanger”, tethered by a zip tie to the chainstay, so they can’t bend it or the hanger.
- Bike computer mount removed from exposed top of bar, tethered to a brake cable below, and bell rotated under the bar
- Bottles in their cages strapped to the frame with PVC tape, to protect cages and save space in luggage. Pump may be attached likewise, but risk of theft if visible in poly bag or denting if metal
- Front mudguard stays with safety-release fittings (plastic, easily broken) detached from dropouts and tethered with PVC tape instead
- Exposed rear lamp should be removed from mudguard, which should be adjusted down against tyre at this point to avoid damage when it is forced down later!
- Saddle cover fitted.
Though I'm not sure where you put all this stuff when you get to the other end....
Don’t forget to bring something which will be able to cut and cable ties etc. And enough plastic bags, cable ties, gaffer etc., for the return journey.
Depending on the size of your bike, you may need to book a taxi / transfer for your bike and luggage to your hotel. It isn’t really practical to put your bike back together in the airport and cycle off with it. You might also think about finding out a local bike shop in advance and arrange to pop the bike in for a service.
All airlines who will take bags will take bikes in these bags or proper boxes. They do offer the advantage of being easy to transport to and from the airport in a normal taxi. But it is a bit of a faff, and you need to be confident you can rebuild it all at your destination without worrying it will fall apart.
Clear plastic bag
My favoured method was to use CTC’s large plastic bags, but I can't find the CTC shop at the moment, so I'm still using and reusing those I bought ages ago. For most bikes, the whole thing fits into it with the handlebars turned around, the pedals off without taking off the wheels. Because it is transparent, it is clear it is a bike, which means there’s the chance the baggage handlers will treat it kindly. However, in my experience, it is becoming increasingly difficult to use on some airlines, so check exactly what’s said on the carrier’s website and be prepared to charm / plead / beg / bribe / negotiate / argue.
If you’ve cycled to the airport with your plastic bag, you’ll need to have a pedal spanner, bike tool, multi-spanner, gaffer tape, long cable ties, packing tape, plastic bag and scissors with you. Because you can’t take some of this stuff as hand luggage dismantle it and CHECK THE BIKE before you check other luggage.
Wheel the bike to check in, where they’ll probably say they need to see it in a bag before they can check it. Find out where you’ll have to take it as an outsized bag – that’s where you’re going to have to carry it to. Then remove the pedals, put the pedal spanner and pedals easily accessible in your checked luggage with the nuts put back on the pedals. Use your bike tool to turn the handlebars and secure it to the frame with cable ties or gaffer tape. Don’t wrap the tape around the brake or gear cables, as it stretches them. Also, don’t use a bungee – it can get hopeless wrapped up in the chain and cables. The bike may then be wheeled into the bike bag, which should be sealed like the end of a Christmas cracker with elastic bands and abundant packing tape. I prefer the stuff that says FRAGILE on it. Who knows, it might inspire people to be careful. You may want to secure a spare bike tool and spanner with the bike using a cyclist’s best friend, gaffer tape. Otherwise, they probably should go in the top of your checked luggage to avoid causing issues at security.
Panniers
Don’t forget that you’re checking your panniers. If they’re like mine, they have plastic clips which stick out, which will need removing if you don’t want to risk their being damaged in transit. You’ll need an appropriate (probably Phillips) screwdriver and a plastic bag for the screws and the clips once they’re finished. You can either gaffer them to the bike, or put them in the top of your checked luggage. Don’t forget to mark the position of the clips – I’ve scored lines into the metal. (I used nail varnish to mark the height of my saddle for the same reason).
Don’t forget to take an extra bike bag for the return journey. Small food bags also can be used to contain small items like screws / nuts / bolts incase you need to. Also take handwipes in your hand-luggage. All that dismantling and rebuilding is going to cover you in oil.
When you get to the other end, you’ll probably find your bike propped against a random pillar in some random part of baggage reclaim. Unless I have booked a cab which will take it as it is, I tend to check it over there and then and put it back together in the baggage hall. All you’ll need is to put the pedals back on, return the handlebars and put the clips back on your panniers. You can then wheel your bike with its panniers on through customs, rather than struggle trying to carry your bike and your luggage.
Trust me, you really DON'T need to deflate your tyres whatever the airport staff say. In fact, it is better not to, as it helps to stop any damage to the side walls and the rim. So just say you have when they ask you - after all, didn't you deflate your tyre the last time you sorted a flat?
Nothing.
There was a time when you could simple turn your handlebars, take off the pedals and wheel the bike to the check in. That’s almost impossible now, so I really wouldn’t risk it, unless you have absolutely no alternative. Don’t like your chances, though, unless you are charm personified, and in a place where the rule of law is more flexible than England – like Italy.
There’s not much point in servicing your bike before it flies: it’s bound to be banged about a bit, whether it’s in a box, bag or clear plastic. Plan ahead, find a local bike shop on the internet, and book it in for a service. This will also enable anything that’s been broken in transit to be fixed, in all but the worst cases.
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