Packing a bike for overseas travel

[Guest Omega Man]

I've done 2 trips overseas with bikes. Once on Emirates. They are cool but if you are over the 30kg they will SMASH you for overweight.

 

If your tires are tubeless let them down but not completely. It's a ball ache to re-seat them when you get to the other side. (Don't listen to the geniuses on this site about leaving tires inflated. Read any packing instruction from any airline and they'll tell you to deflate your tires)

 

Don't take the air out of your shock. Firstly they can handle a kaaakload of pressure before failing. And secondly you don't want the hack of setting the thing up once you are on the other side.

 

When you take your wheels off but brakepad spacers in to keep the pads apart.

 

If I were you tho I'd take the bike to a shop, get them to give it a quick once over and let them pack it. They have easy access to boxes and will probably do a much better job than you. Expect to pay R100-R150. If you are gonna do a DIY try to get a 29er box. For obvious reasons.

 

Oh. go buy a roll of packing tape and re-enforce the corners. Major important.

 

Get the bike shop to weigh the box once it's packed and then throw in extra clothing etc in the box to get you close to the 30kg. Be careful. overweight charges...... If you are overweight make 100000% sure your box is under 32kg. They have a health and safety rule about baggage handlers carrying anything over 32kg in Dubai and have every right to leave your box if it's over 32kg.

 

Pack the tools necessary to reassemble your bike on the other side.

 

When unpacking your bike on the other end take care to save the packaging bits so you can re-use them on the way back.

 

Hope that helps.

Edited October 24, 2012 by Omega Man

[MTBeer]

dont take bombs(the co2 type)deflate tyres but not all that much.something to keep between the brake pads as well as between the fork.take off the rear deraileur , but sommer take it off with the hanger.where are you off to?

off to the Himalayas - northern India and Nepal. Why not take the bombs?

[MTBeer]

I've done 2 trips overseas with bikes. Once on Emirates. They are cool but if you are over the 30kg they will SMASH you for overweight.

 

If your tires are tubeless let them down but not completely. It's a ball ache to re-seat them when you get to the other side. (Don't listen to the geniuses on this site about leaving tires inflated. Read any packing instruction from any airline and they'll tell you to deflate your tires)

 

Don't take the air out of your shock. Firstly they can handle a kaaakload of pressure before failing. And secondly you don't want the hack of setting the thing up once you are on the other side.

 

When you take your wheels off but brakepad spacers in to keep the pads apart.

 

If I were you tho I'd take the bike to a shop, get them to give it a quick once over and let them pack it. They have easy access to boxes and will probably do a much better job than you. Expect to pay R100-R150. If you are gonna do a DIY try to get a 29er box. For obvious reasons.

 

Oh. go buy a roll of packing tape and re-enforce the corners. Major important.

 

Get the bike shop to weigh the box once it's packed and then throw in extra clothing etc in the box to get you close to the 30kg. Be careful. overweight charges...... If you are overweight make 100000% sure your box is under 32kg. They have a health and safety rule about baggage handlers carrying anything over 32kg in Dubai and have every right to leave your box if it's over 32kg.

 

Pack the tools necessary to reassemble your bike on the other side.

 

When unpacking your bike on the other end take care to save the packaging bits so you can re-use them on the way back.

 

Hope that helps.

thanks. pretty much done everything you've got there. What about bombs? can you take them and if so hand luggage or checked luggage?

[Guest Omega Man]

thanks. pretty much done everything you've got there. What about bombs? can you take them and if so hand luggage or checked luggage?

Never taken bombs. But if I were a betting man I'd say packing them in your hand luggage is a major no no. Maybe ask your lbs or travel agent.

[Nick G]

Its called "The Brompton Folder" http://www.brompton.co.uk

<p>

[MTBeer]

Its called "The Brompton Folder" http://www.brompton.co.uk

<p>

ya, those will bomb down some Himalayan single-track I'm sure

[SwissVan]

If you got the time and inclination try put some wheels on the one end of the box and also some straps to help hold. The wheels make it much easier to move around and the straps easier to pick up etc...

 

Another thing... record all your bike settings on a seperate piece of paper (seat height / angle, handle bars etc...) AND mark them with a permanent marker so its easy to set up again.

 

I also prefer to remove the jockey and hanger and tape them up between the wheel stays, its amazing how it can be bent but still look normal resulting in lots of gear slipping when you start riding.

[Muddy]

Somebody told me once that if you are are happy to throw the box with the bike in it down a flight of stairs, then it is ready for the airlines to handle.

 

A bit extreme I guess.

 

Bit off topic but no, not extreme at all. Actually I would say if it survives your stair test more than once you are save. Airlines don't handle your luggage, it's outsourced to ground handlers. Ground handlers have absolutely no respect for luggage. With 'no' I mean NADA, nothing. These are the people at ORT who break open luggage and steal valuables on a regular basis.

[MTBeer]

I've done 2 trips overseas with bikes. Once on Emirates. They are cool but if you are over the 30kg they will SMASH you for overweight.

 

If your tires are tubeless let them down but not completely. It's a ball ache to re-seat them when you get to the other side. (Don't listen to the geniuses on this site about leaving tires inflated. Read any packing instruction from any airline and they'll tell you to deflate your tires)

 

Don't take the air out of your shock. Firstly they can handle a kaaakload of pressure before failing. And secondly you don't want the hack of setting the thing up once you are on the other side.

 

When you take your wheels off but brakepad spacers in to keep the pads apart.

 

If I were you tho I'd take the bike to a shop, get them to give it a quick once over and let them pack it. They have easy access to boxes and will probably do a much better job than you. Expect to pay R100-R150. If you are gonna do a DIY try to get a 29er box. For obvious reasons.

 

Oh. go buy a roll of packing tape and re-enforce the corners. Major important.

 

Get the bike shop to weigh the box once it's packed and then throw in extra clothing etc in the box to get you close to the 30kg. Be careful. overweight charges...... If you are overweight make 100000% sure your box is under 32kg. They have a health and safety rule about baggage handlers carrying anything over 32kg in Dubai and have every right to leave your box if it's over 32kg.

 

Pack the tools necessary to reassemble your bike on the other side.

 

When unpacking your bike on the other end take care to save the packaging bits so you can re-use them on the way back.

 

Hope that helps.

should we wrap the boxes in that clingwrap stuff?

[Wolweseun]

CO2 bombs are likely to be confiscated

definitely not hand luggage I always put into checked luggage

 

Never use the word bomb when refering to them or you may get properly searched

[Karooryder]

 

Another thing... record all your bike settings on a seperate piece of paper (seat height / angle, handle bars etc...) AND mark them with a permanent marker so its easy to set up again.

 

 

Very NB! What I do is to take photos with my cellphone of every single setting, position and bit of gear on my bike. This is handy because you have the pics with you and you can reassemble the bike with all settings from the photos.

[Guest Omega Man]

should we wrap the boxes in that clingwrap stuff?

Ok so first off your box is gonna be too big for the clingfilm machine so basically what they do is haul out a huge plastic bag and a roll of packing tape and wrap it with that.

 

I did it the first time and it was a complete waste of money in my opinion. You'd be far better served taking the extra time to re-enforce the corners and any handles with extra packing tape. Go Big with the packing tape. it's super light and strong.

[ncm]

Some of my experiences flying with a road bike between SA, UK and Norway:

 

I used a soft bike bag reinforced on the inside with a cut-down bike box and used loads of bubble wrap and padding. Tyres deflated.

 

I once had to endure the pain of watching the baggage handler throw my bike onto the plane ("fragile" stickers are clearly just for decoration), but I didn't notice any damage when I unpacked the bike.

 

As for CO2 (try avoid using the work "bomb" at an airport), I forgot to take some out of my bag before I checked in, but no-one seemed to notice, so I got everything back at the other side. Because of this I snuck some in for the next leg, with the same result! This is probably not to be recommended, though...

[MTBeer]

Ok so first off your box is gonna be too big for the clingfilm machine so basically what they do is haul out a huge plastic bag and a roll of packing tape and wrap it with that.

 

I did it the first time and it was a complete waste of money in my opinion. You'd be far better served taking the extra time to re-enforce the corners and any handles with extra packing tape. Go Big with the packing tape. it's super light and strong.

cool, thanks.

[patches]

I've also flown Emirates. Also boxed my bike in cardboard. Here's what I learnt...

 

1. The Box. Try and get a double ply carboard box. I used a single ply. It only lasted one leg of the trip. It had a hole big enough to pull a todler through. luckily we were in Switzerland and it seems baggage handlers there don't have sticky fingers. I had to replace it to come back. Peach's double ply box lasted the whole trip

 

2. The wheels. If you can fit your bike in the box whilst leaving the rear wheel on, then do it (it is possible, even on a large DH bike with crazy rake). This uses the space more efficiently, and also keeps your chainring and drop-outs off the bottom of the box where thay can get damaged. As for front wheel, remove rotor when packing. this will prevent it from bending.

 

3. Bubble Wrap. Bubble wrap the hell outta anything and everything. If you're traveling with protecting gear (like knee-shin guards) these also work well to protect your frame. strap them on to your downtube like it's your leg. Some polystyrene blocks are also useful. Especially for where your fork rests on the bottom of the box. This prevents your lowers from punching a hole in the box and getting damaged.

 

4. Cling Wrap. We did ours manually. Seems like a good idea, but here are some factors to consider. Your flight detail labels stick onto the clingwrap. Easier to fall off/be removed. If you're traveling with 2 bikes, the clingwrap causes the boxes to stick together. Pain in the butt when loading/unloading a trolley.

 

5. What to take apart. Remove the following:

• front wheel
  
• front rotor from wheel
  
• pedals
  
• rear derailleur
  
• bars from stem
  
• deflate tyres
  

Try keep the following on:

• rear wheel
  
• fork in headset
  
• stem on fork
  
• no need to let air out of suspension
  

6. Packaging tape. Like OmegaMan said, re-inforce the hell outta any corners, sides, and handles on the box.If you can, keep yuour packaging tape in your handluggae for any on site repairs to the box. But don't be surprised if they confiscate it at Dubai International (as mine was).

 

Other than that... have fun!

[Guest Omega Man]

cool, thanks.

Oh. write your name, address and contact details on the box. just in case. The other posts about settings are pretty important. I use electrical tape to mark where my seat goes and a little white sticker for my bar position. Brakes and shifters i leave on the bars.