Travelling With a Bike

Travelling at the best of times in hard.. Flights are long, luggage is heavy, plane food sucks and you generally feel pretty gross towards the end! Now throw in two or more bike boxes, heavy tools, $$$ on bike fees, race gear, helmets and spares — Yup! travelling with bikes sucks, well the getting there anyways. My recent flight(Etihad) Sydney — Munich charged me $1600 for taking one extra bike! yup, thats more then my ticket cost.

Best travelling with a bike tips and tricks I can give that might help you next time.

#1 When booking your flights, try to arrive at least a few days before the event starts in case your bags are delayed. That way you won’t miss practice or racing because of a missing bike.

#2 Use your knee and elbow guards as extra padding around the stem and ends of your frame or bike when packing it.

#3 Always label the box or bag with a name and return address and phone number.

#4 If anything make sure the top most parts of the bike and tires are clean! Most airports will just check for any visible dirt.

#5 Tubes work well on boxes to help carry and secure the boxes. Double wrap them around the box, they’ll keep the box from getting out of shape too much.

#6 When you’re flying to a race and have practice the day of arrival, pack a bag in the box or bike bag with your race gear needed that day. So all you have to do is get that bag out and you’re good to go. Saves you time that I could be practicing, warming up or practically anything better!

#7 Saving weight? Chuck tubes and tires in your helmet bag.

#8 Duck tape and zip ties! Always. Kmart or Target do great deals on boxes of the stuff!

#9 Always try and purchase the additional baggage before hand. Even call up the airport and advise them.

#10 Go to local bike shops and grab all the packing materials you need. Including disc brake wedges to keep your brake pads from getting squeezed in transit.

#12 To save on weight. I use boxes from bike stores and then when I arrive at my destination I throw them out. When you leave, just go to a local bike shop and grab another.

#14 At check in, be nice! You’d be surprised at how many times they’ve waived an overweight fee because we had a good chat! Plus it doesn’t hurt to be nice, they’ve probably been working a 12 hour shift full of unpleasant travellers.

#16 Rack up those points! Try to sick to one airline as much as possible, a lot of airlines allow for an extra bag or extra weight once you’ve reached a gold or silver membership. With these it also makes for a much more comfortable journey. I am guilty of NOT doing this in the past and now I’m paying for it (Literally).

#17 If the bike isn’t fitting in the bag or box easily try letting down the pressure in the front and rear suspension, you’d be surprised at how much more room that’ll give you, especially with height in the front.

Hopefully someone out there gains something from this post! Please feel free to comment or send me any other tricks you use, I need all the help I can get.

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