Bicycle case for airline travel?

[westtexas]

Hi all,

After my trip to Salt Lake, I realized that I would really love to be able to take my bike with me on planes so I can have it with my when I travel. I have a trip in a couple of weeks to visit my folks and later this fall I am planning on visiting my brother in Wisconsin. I'd love to be able to take my bike with me even on short trips so I can ride around the areas I visit.

I'm looking for suggestions for bike cases that are good for airline travel. Adventure Cycling had a good article on different cases and I was looking to see if you guys had any experience with the Trico, Serfas, Velo or BikePro cases. I just sold my old bike at the LBS and so I have quite a good deal of credit there and I am looking for something they can order for me.

Bike dissasembly isn't a problem - although I don't want to have to remove the derailleur or cables. Pedals, seat post and handlebars are not a problem, but if they didn't have to be removed, that would be ideal.

Any personal experiences with putting bikes on planes? My frame is all carbon so I'm going to put extra padding (egg crates most likely) in the case for security but I know they are still going to bash everything around.

Thanks in advance!

[OakLeaf]

No experience with the ones you asked about, but I've shipped my carbon bike seven or eight times in my Thule case - once in a round-trip air trip, the other times by FedEx.

Taking your RD off is no big deal at all, and it's really safest to do it. It's pretty vulnerable sticking out there from the frame. Just a 5 mm Allen key and I've never needed to adjust it after re-installing. Easier than taking the pedals off (which you will definitely need to do).

You do want to have dropout spacers - your LBS probably has some lying around, that came on bikes shipped to them. EPS pipe insulation helps protect the tubing, and I had an old convoluted foam mattress topper that I cut up to put on top of the wheels, and to wrap various other things in (including the RD).

Touch wood - but I've not had any problems yet.

It depends on your frame size, handlebar bends, etc. - you may or may not be able to get the bike in the case without removing the seatpost and turning/removing the bars - but the more you disassemble, the easier and safer it will all go into the box.

Packing takes a bit of care, but I've reassembled my bike in 20 minutes in the FedEx parking lot.

[tangentgirl]

I flew with a couple of bikes last year. Got (free? $20? i forget) cardboard bike boxes from the LBS - old boxes that their bikes arrived in from the mfg. I packed them with lots of styrofoam and newspaper and had no problems.

It wasn't nice and neat and I had to wrap stuff carefully, but it was cheap. That was good, cause the airlines charge a bunch to fly bikes - usually around $75 each way.

[westtexas]

It wasn't nice and neat and I had to wrap stuff carefully, but it was cheap. That was good, cause the airlines charge a bunch to fly bikes - usually around $75 each way.

Yes, this is what I am also afraid of. Looks like Continental/United (the easiest airline to fly in and out of Houston) charges $100 each way for bags over 50 pounds, or 62" H+W+L. Getting under the 50 pound mark is easy but there is no such thing apparently as a bike box that gets to be that small.

I did see this one - BIKND Helium Bike Carrier - on RealCyclist and thought it looked pretty snazzy and my bike shop can order it for me.

[OakLeaf]

If there's any way you can ship the bike to yourself at your destination, then you don't have to schlep the box through the airport. It isn't necessarily any cheaper than flying with the box, but you can pack a whole bunch of other stuff in the bike box, which both helps insulate the bike, and is that much less you have to pack on your flight. Plus there's less likelihood of the box being opened by TSA agents who won't care about putting everything back the way it was.

You can ship hold for pickup at the nearest FedEx depot (I think they require a local address, but that can be a hotel or whatever), or directly to your destination.

[tulip]

If you plan on doing alot of traveling with your bike, you might want to consider getting a Bike Friday. Those airline fees can add up to a new bike pretty quickly. Bike Friday bikes fit into standard size suitcases and there is no extra charge (other than the standard luggage charge) if it's under 50lbs.

The cost of a full-size bike case ($200+) and all those $100 each-way airline fees would add up pretty quickly if you travel by air often.

[wavedancer]

We have tried a couple of different bike cases on airlines and finally got the Tri-all-3 Velosafe. It works great. Minimal dis-assembly required, very sturdy, easy to roll through the airport, and you can get extra hardware so you can fit 2 bikes. Its pricey, but we found one on Craig's list for about 1/2 price.

We always fly Southwest or Jet Blue ($50 charge for both bikes in one case), and try to book direct flights to minimize chances of lost luggage.