Show us your folder!

[Blueberry]

But BF gives you such nice carrying pouches for the parts that I'd rather use them. Any suggestions?

Also--I haven't yet tried to fit her back into the case. How long would y'all say that takes? I'm sure it'll go faster as I get accustomed to doing it.

The problem we had is that TSA pulled off the little plastic paint protectors, dumped the pedals out of their pouch, removed all the felt padding, and then put it all (pedals too) back in the case loose. I think I'm going to try attaching each piece with a strip of velcro - make it more difficult to remove. Not sure if it will work, but it really looked like they just dumped our stuff for the heck of it.

For the first time you pack it - plan on about an hour. It takes me ~45 minutes from bike with rack to completely packed now.

CA

[Aggie_Ama]

Oh look at the cute little Fridays!! I would love to get one for traveling but I can't justify it since we most drive. But one day I will be able to. Just stinks that DH would need one too.

[Blueberry]

Oh look at the cute little Fridays!! I would love to get one for traveling but I can't justify it since we most drive. But one day I will be able to. Just stinks that DH would need one too.

You could always get a tandem Or, they make one that works as a tandem, and you can take the "back" off to make a single

Seriously - we travel with ours in the car quite a bit too. It's nice to be able to store them (securely) inside. You also don't take the mileage hit!

CA

[Aggie_Ama]

No tandems in our stable, DH hates the idea. But I told DH about an hour ago since I don't want to convert my Cannondale to mountain gearing exclusively I want a Bike Friday for traveling and to be my mountain goat. He flipped at the idea! We really missed having something to ride when we went to California (last time we flew) and really want to do more vacations outside of driving distance so this is a great idea. My wish list grows everytime I read TE, I better stop shopping vicariously through you guys!

[Aint Doody]

By the way, I ordered a Click Stand for my Friday. Do y'all know about them? I already had one for my regular ride. Click Stands are light, folding kickstands that you can shove into your jersey pocket when you won't be able to find a place to lean your bike and don't want to lay it on the ground. You order them online and they're made specifically for your bicycle.

Susan

[tulip]

I've taken my Bike Friday on a plane twice--to and from France last May. I had no problem with TSA. I packed my bike in the softcase and put that in the hard case. I taped a notice to TSA on the inside of the hard case, something to the effect of, "This is a folding bike. It has been taken apart for transport and packed with great care. If you need to inspect it, kindly pack it back as carefully as possible." I also left my cell phone number for them to call if they had any questions. I had one notice in English and one in French, since I was traveling to France. Along with the notice, I also taped a series of photos of the bike in the case so they could see how it was packed.

The trip had one domestic leg and one international leg each way. The bikes were not disturbed on any leg of the trip, going or coming. It was on Delta/Air France.

Here is a photo of the case all packed up with the notices and photos.

[tulip]

I made the mistake of trying to pack my clothes in with my bike. That made my case too heavy and I had to pay the overweight charge of $75 each way (nothing to do with a bike charge--just over 50lbs). Next time I will keep my clothes separate (in a larger carryon than I had).

[emily_in_nc]

By the way, I ordered a Click Stand for my Friday. Do y'all know about them? I already had one for my regular ride. Click Stands are light, folding kickstands that you can shove into your jersey pocket when you won't be able to find a place to lean your bike and don't want to lay it on the ground. You order them online and they're made specifically for your bicycle.

We got the regular Bike Friday kickstands for our Crusoes. They do add weight, but we felt that with loaded panniers (for touring or grocery runs), we'd need something really sturdy. Not sure if click stands would be up to the job, but maybe?? The kickstands we got would definitely be overkill for unloaded bikes, but we aren't weight weenies these days...

[tulip]

I think it entirely depends on the TSA person and what they had for breakfast that day. We happened to get lucky on our trip, but I will assume that there will be some unpacking on future trips. We're driving to Louisiana for Cycle Zydeco, but we're talking about Italy for next summer. We'll see how it goes.