traveling over seas with bike
Thread started by
alien invasion at 07.8.09 - 2:10 am
anyone have any experience with this?
i'm leaving for amsterdam in august, and from what i know there are a good amount of bikes there, aswell as bike lanes....
anyway, i'm thinking about taking my bike with me on the plane, how the shit does that work?
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If your aircraft is Virgin Atlantic they will let you take a bike box for free… this can save you around $200 (roundtrip) compared to most other airlines but check around. I got my tickets to London through Continental because it was cheaper BUT the aircraft was Virgin Atlantic so the guidelines you are required to follow are that of the carrier. Pack your own shit. Go to a bike shop and get a bike box… get some foam and zip ties
remove front wheel
remove pedals
remove the seat or lower it
remove or loosen handle bars and have them sideways
lots of info and guidelines online… you can watch some videos on youtube if you are so inclined and have the time, but packing it yourself is really simple. The main thing is to protect your forks by placing something between them. I took docmadmax’s advice and got a bolt with some nuts for my fork.
Look at what the weight requirements are. I was well below the 32kg limit and even put my clothes in with the bike box. Distribute the weight if possible. Put all your tools in there as well.
http://www.midnightridazz.com/forums.php?searchType=body&showThreads=1&keyword=london&topicId=10112
I might be forgetting a few things sorry kinda early and just got to work but you should be fine. If possible get some plastic pieces to cover the bolts on your wheels. I know when you buy a wheel set that is shipped directly to you they have this shit, but I didn’t have time to find it at bike shops and only went to one that did not carry this. we used plastic tops off of deodorant sprays or hair spray type products and taped it using masking tape to the foamed parts of the bike.
Do not let UPS or any of these companies pack it for you… they will fuck it up (this is what PC and some others have said… )search the forum for more details, but since you are flying over, this really shouldn’t be a worry for you.
Have fun!!!
Kakihara07.8.09 - 9:29 am
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