Getting Bike To Europe

[quixoticgeek]

S&S make several hard cases that are supposed to be quite good. But they are not cheap, all >$400

J

[Nick H.]

Well, it's so easy with cases that it doesn't need thinking about. What about the times when cases are not an option?

[LittleWheelsandBig]

S&S hardcases are a pain. There is no 'give' so the packed bike absolutely cannot exceed 26x26x10", which can be tough with a big 700C bike. A softcase is much more forgiving.

The softcase can actually be carried on your back, which helps and the stiffeners can be moved to allow the unloaded bag to pack down a fair bit but not enough to carry on the bike.

[Wowbagger]

We took bikes on Eurostar last month, including the box option for one bike. A nightmare! I had to remove both front and rear racks and then the purpose-built box was not wide enough to accept the wheels in with the frame. They supplied a second box for the wheels at no extra charge - it seems they are familiar with this problem. Then there was the right pain of putting it back together on a railway platform. There were 4 of us so plenty of people to guard luggage, but I would hate to do it on my own.

For the return trip, we changed our last night’s accommodation from Ghent to Brussels and took the bikes to the station to be transported whole the night before we travelled. They left on the 8pm train, we were on the 11.56 the following day.

The people operating the system were very amenable and supplied kit for our use, but it is a lousy system.

[andrewc]

I’ve used the CTC plastic bag on multiple occasions. I’ve had to argue with check in staff a few times though. The last time I used Nice airport they flat out refused & I had to buy a box (they had them for sale).  A few scrapes & minor dings.


I’ve got the soft case for my S&S Nomad, it’s good for transporting the bike but it’s a nightmare to fit the disassembled bike in the case. Allow at least an hour to do this if you are not in regular practice!

[Nick H.]

ISTR that the 26" measurement for S&S cases is to cater for some US domestic airline rules. Or is 26" a common limit elsewhere?

[Ham]

I’ve used the CTC plastic bag on multiple occasions. I’ve had to argue with check in staff a few times though. The last time I used Nice airport they flat out refused & I had to buy a box (they had them for sale).  A few scrapes & minor dings.


I’ve got the soft case for my S&S Nomad, it’s good for transporting the bike but it’s a nightmare to fit the disassembled bike in the case. Allow at least an hour to do this if you are not in regular practice!

No connection, obv...

[Manotea]

I’ve used the CTC plastic bag on multiple occasions. I’ve had to argue with check in staff a few times though. The last time I used Nice airport they flat out refused & I had to buy a box (they had them for sale).  A few scrapes & minor dings

Funny you should mention Nice. Mattc and I were in Nice when the BA IT fiasco hit last summer.

Our bikes went through BA check-in inside the CTC plastic bags without a hitch. We were at the end of the runway and waiting to take off  when the plane was recalled and we cast adrift.

Next day we tried to fly home with Easyjet but the check-in staff insisted the bikes were boxed. Cue mad dash to buy boxes from the customer service depot at the other end of the terminal. By the time we got back to the gate it had closed. It took us two more days to get home. You couldnt make it up....

Top tip: Make sure you know how to remove pedals before travelling with a bike, and that they do actually come off...

[LittleWheelsandBig]

62" is a standard total max. measure and a 700C wheel just fits into a 26" x 26" square.

[Charlie Polecat]

With all the conflicting advice flying () around, I think it'd be best to pack the bike inside the clear bag and put that inside a padded bag and put that inside a cardboard box and put that inside a hard case and rent a freight airplane to fly the whole lot to London for me.

[mattc]

I’ve used the CTC plastic bag on multiple occasions. I’ve had to argue with check in staff a few times though. The last time I used Nice airport they flat out refused & I had to buy a box (they had them for sale).  A few scrapes & minor dings

Funny you should mention Nice. Mattc and I were in Nice when the BA IT fiasco hit last summer.

Our bikes went through BA check-in inside the CTC plastic bags without a hitch. We were at the end of the runway and waiting to take off  when the plane was recalled and we cast adrift.

Next day we tried to fly home with Easyjet but the check-in staff insisted the bikes were boxed.

I'll add a possibly significant fact here - BA & Easyjet use different terminals at Nice. (BA's was much nicer.) Possibly different baggage handlers? Or

Top tip: Make sure you know how to remove pedals before travelling with a bike, and that they do actually come off...

Airport luggage assistance have a toolkit with the right allen key - sadly it bent before actually undoing my pedals  in my defence, your pedals can stay on with the CTC bags!

[Nick H.]

62" is a standard total max. measure and a 700C wheel just fits into a 26" x 26" square.

Do you know of any airlines which have a 62" limit? The only one I've checked so far is Easyjet, which says 275 cm, or 108 inches, or 9 feet. That's colossal - you could have a 4 ft x 3 ft x 2 ft box. Big enough for a bike which doesn't have couplers.

https://www.easyjet.com/en/help/baggage/cabin-bag-and-hold-luggage

[LittleWheelsandBig]

Plenty of airlines have a 62" limit, if you don't want to pay the oversize baggage or sporting equipment premium. I don't just fly within this continent.

[Ivo]

If buying the cycling charge means that I receive 20-30kilos of extra luggage allowance for some 30-40 Euro's, I gladly pay it.

[fuaran]

I notice Flixbus say you can take a bike on the bus. Some buses have bike racks. https://www.flixbus.co.uk/travel-tips/bike-travel
Costs £9. Anyone tried it? Maybe some cheap tickets from London to the continent.

[Pickled Onion]

That looks brilliant, though it seems you either need to book well ahead or be fairly flexible. Thanks for the tip!

[adenough]

The Airlines and Train companies do not want your bike! It is a nuisance to them. So they are not interested in making your life easier if you insist on travelling with it. You can't fight them, as it's their plane or train. I now avoid travelling with my bike as much as possible. My life is so much more pleasant without it. I can stroll through the airport or station with just my hand luggage.
I now wonder why anybody would bother using their own bike, if bike hire is available, it is so much easier. This is a very pleasant low mileage trip and the touring unisex bike they describe would be more than fit for purpose. I would not entertain taking my own bike on this. Personally I could not be bothered.

[toontra]

The Airlines and Train companies do not want your bike! It is a nuisance to them. So they are not interested in making your life easier if you insist on travelling with it. You can't fight them, as it's their plane or train. I now avoid travelling with my bike as much as possible. My life is so much more pleasant without it. I can stroll through the airport or station with just my hand luggage.
I now wonder why anybody would bother using their own bike, if bike hire is available, it is so much easier. This is a very pleasant low mileage trip and the touring unisex bike they describe would be more than fit for purpose. I would not entertain taking my own bike on this. Personally I could not be bothered.

Hiring a bike wouldn't work for me on most foreign tours.  Where would I get a rigid MTB with mudguards, a rear rack that fitted my panniers and 2 bottle cages?

 Even if I found one, could I rely on it to take me over all sorts of terrain for hundreds of miles without component failure?

Finally, I really wouldn't fancy doing a long tour on a bike that I wasn't completely sure fitted me well. Could end up being very unpleasant experience.

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[adenough]

I hired a Hybrid [he did mtbs as well] in France last year for a nine day tour. It came equipped with mudguards. rack, bottle cages and panniers. It never missed a beat. He informed me on it's last outing a guy had ridden it to Rome and back. The tour you were asking about is not the kind of tour that would necessitate your own bike. For a long tour arriving at one destination and returned from another hundreds of miles away, I take my own bike. But only because there is no other choice.

[Ivo]

Adenough, that's very fine if your body can cope with a standard setup. A typical hybrid with straight bars would play havoc with my shoulders so no way I'd consider hiring a bike.

[toontra]

What are the chances of finding a

I hired a Hybrid [he did mtbs as well] in France last year for a nine day tour. It came equipped with mudguards. rack, bottle cages and panniers. It never missed a beat. He informed me on it's last outing a guy had ridden it to Rome and back. The tour you were asking about is not the kind of tour that would necessitate your own bike. For a long tour arriving at one destination and returned from another hundreds of miles away, I take my own bike. But only because there is no other choice.

What are the chances of finding a bike that meets all my requirements in any city I happen to be flying into? Virtually zero.

What happens if I'm flying into and out of different cities or countries? No chance of bike hire.

Even if there was the option of hiring a bike I may well choose to take my own.  Usually cheaper and if I've spent months planning a tour, usually at significant cost, I'm not prepared to take the risk of the bike not being up to the task. If my own bike fails then I can blame myself. It's about minimising risk.


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[Nick H.]

We all worry about our bikes being damaged in transit but few people have stories of serious damage. I once lost track of time in the bar at Stansted and suddenly realised I was looking at my bike through the window, just as it was being offloaded from the flight I was about to miss. The handler lobbed it several yards on to a trolley, breaking one of my carbon saddle rails. Served me right.

[adenough]

What are the chances of finding a

I hired a Hybrid [he did mtbs as well] in France last year for a nine day tour. It came equipped with mudguards. rack, bottle cages and panniers. It never missed a beat. He informed me on it's last outing a guy had ridden it to Rome and back. The tour you were asking about is not the kind of tour that would necessitate your own bike. For a long tour arriving at one destination and returned from another hundreds of miles away, I take my own bike. But only because there is no other choice.

What are the chances of finding a bike that meets all my requirements in any city I happen to be flying into? Virtually zero.

What happens if I'm flying into and out of different cities or countries? No chance of bike hire.

Even if there was the option of hiring a bike I may well choose to take my own.  Usually cheaper and if I've spent months planning a tour, usually at significant cost, I'm not prepared to take the risk of the bike not being up to the task. If my own bike fails then I can blame myself. It's about minimising risk.


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Well at the end of the day it's your choice. I was only trying to be helpful.
 By the way when I fly usually by Ryanair the bike costs £120 return. Plus I need to take a cab to the airport with the bike at £23. So my budget for a hire bike is £143. I've never paid that much to hire a bike.

[toontra]

What are the chances of finding a

I hired a Hybrid [he did mtbs as well] in France last year for a nine day tour. It came equipped with mudguards. rack, bottle cages and panniers. It never missed a beat. He informed me on it's last outing a guy had ridden it to Rome and back. The tour you were asking about is not the kind of tour that would necessitate your own bike. For a long tour arriving at one destination and returned from another hundreds of miles away, I take my own bike. But only because there is no other choice.

What are the chances of finding a bike that meets all my requirements in any city I happen to be flying into? Virtually zero.

What happens if I'm flying into and out of different cities or countries? No chance of bike hire.

Even if there was the option of hiring a bike I may well choose to take my own.  Usually cheaper and if I've spent months planning a tour, usually at significant cost, I'm not prepared to take the risk of the bike not being up to the task. If my own bike fails then I can blame myself. It's about minimising risk.


Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

Well at the end of the day it's your choice. I was only trying to be helpful.
 By the way when I fly usually by Ryanair the bike costs £120 return. Plus I need to take a cab to the airport with the bike at £23. So my budget for a hire bike is £143. I've never paid that much to hire a bike.

That's why it's often cheaper to fly BA or other non-budget airlines - no extra charge for cycles.

Btw you can save a lot by cycling from and back to the airport (as I've done countless times). Just means you have to book suitable first night accommodation.
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[adenough]

Most of the small airports I fly to are only served by budget airlines. I'm not prepared to ride to an airport at 5 in the morning and then start packing a bike up. But that's just me. I do ride back though.