travel with a bike friday

[NadiaMac]

thanks for the input! Generally, I'd rather have a full size bike like a Ritchey (the Ritchey itself being a moot point since I don't fit their smallest frame-- too much reach for me) but I think the Friday is an option, esp. for this trip which is not super riding focused due to my fitness at the moment.

Is the bike case you mention a soft case? (I will look at your thread). Any issues with damage in the soft case? We've had damage even in the Ritchey hard case--broken spokes and even a big ding in the steel frame, so I worry about a soft case in that regard.

[NadiaMac]

update: I ended up getting a soft case, the Pika packworks, & taking my regular bike. The case was easy to pack, light when packed (35 pounds total, which included some bike gear as well as the bike itself), good value for the money (less expensive than most hard cases), took just twenty mins or so to pack on my first try and the bike travelled securely (no damage).

I wasn't charged bike fees or oversized fees, but the agents at each end immediately recognized that it was a bike (contrary to what you might read if you research up the case). Not sure if I'd get away fee-free on every airline. Some of the reviews on the 'net suggest that gate agents are more relaxed about fees for this case because it is light when packed, even though it is clearly oversized. I guess I will see in the future!

Logistically, the case was light enough that I could just sling it over my shoulder using the shoulder strap. But, it's still bulky and large, and thus was awkward to carry especially while dragging other luggage along. As such, I will probably not take the case for trips where I anticipate I will be carrying luggage around a lot, for example, taking trains in Italy requiring lots of transfers between platforms and up and down stairs, etc. But, it was absolutely fine for this trip, where we had a rental car and thus carried luggage around only for short distances.

[tulip]

Glad that worked out for you. I would not trust a soft case to protect my bike from airline luggage handlers. I have heard of the argument that you can make if your bike is broken down...say it's bike parts and then sometimes they don't consider it a bike that is subject to extra fees. They don't charge extra for golf clubs, so they should not charge extra for bikes!

[NadiaMac]

I shared the concern over the soft pack, but was comforted by my research and also experience of folks I know with the same case. Also, there is really a lot of padding-- 2-3 inches of thick foam at a minimum with extra foam below the crank and bottom bracket & I added some padding at the fork and rear drop out points since my frame is small and there was some extra room for additional padding. So it is more robust than you might imagine seeing the case from the outside.

But ultimately time will tell on the durability of the pack! I'll be taking the bike toe new zealand in december (probably; still planning this) so that will be another test. I think the best bet is to ensure that there's a bike shop at your destination to take care of any glitches (or be capable of repairing spokes, cables, DRs yourself)!

Note: I have some pictures up from my trip on my blog if anyone is interested. The riding was really really fun on Maui