Bike Bag versus Bike Box

[R.D.P.]

I need some advise from some of you okes who have done this before. I will be travelling to London shortly and plan to take the MTB with me. Will a standard race bag be sufficient for transportation on the plane or would a bike box be a better option.

Thanks

[Red Zone]

I have always used a soft bag, one with a reinforced "floor" has been fine for me- road, TT or MTB. Just take off the dérailleur and pedals, turn the bars and get some of those things to put between the stays and the fork from your bike shop, wrap in bubble wrap and off you go.

 

If you want some extra protection, get a cardboard bike box from the bike shop, cut the sides off to reinforce the soft bag.

[Guest Omega Man]

I need some advise from some of you okes who have done this before. I will be travelling to London shortly and plan to take the MTB with me. Will a standard race bag be sufficient for transportation on the plane or would a bike box be a better option.

Thanks

The important question is which airline are you going? Most airlines have a 23kg checked baggage limit. Emirates, Qatar and Etihad have a 30kg limit. They are typically also cheaper than the other airlines.

 

I've done 3 trips to Europe and I get my bike packed in a carboard bike box by a bikeshop. It usually costs R150 and they do a much better job than I'd be bothered to do. Plus they do it a lot more often than I do. Bespoke bike bags & boxes are typically kaaaaaak heavy so unless you are flying business class I'd recommend going cardboard.

[R.D.P.]

Thats always the tricky one, Emirates is fantastic and the 30kg limit is great, but the 4 hour layover in Dubai is a grind cos you usually land there at like 4 in the morning so there's not much happening.

Flying direct by SAA or BA is cool and although the fares are similar the extra 7kg on Emirates certainly helps. Never thought of letting the bike shop pack the bike - thanks for the tip.

[Red Zone]

Omega man raises a good point, packing your bike is a serious pain. But since you have to re-assemble it in London (presumably) packing it gives you a bit of knowledge and ensures that you have the right tools on hand to put it back together

[Jakkals.]

cardboard box will do the job fine.

[droo]

Thats always the tricky one, Emirates is fantastic and the 30kg limit is great, but the 4 hour layover in Dubai is a grind cos you usually land there at like 4 in the morning so there's not much happening.the beer is stupidly expensive.

 

Flying direct by SAA or BA is cool and although the fares are similar the extra 7kg on Emirates certainly helps. Never thought of letting the bike shop pack the bike - thanks for the tip.

 

Fixed.

 

As for the box / bag question, the bags are lighter and offer plenty of protection. If you're flying with a bike box you'll either have to make do with hand luggage for everything else or pay a premium that almost makes it cheaper to buy another bike when you get there.

 

The cardboard box / LBS option is about the most cost effective way of doing it, both from a money and weight angle. My bike bag is trashed after about 4 trips on Emirates, so that's about R 500 a trip just for packaging. Not ideal.

[Guest Omega Man]

Thats always the tricky one, Emirates is fantastic and the 30kg limit is great, but the 4 hour layover in Dubai is a grind cos you usually land there at like 4 in the morning so there's not much happening.

Flying direct by SAA or BA is cool and although the fares are similar the extra 7kg on Emirates certainly helps. Never thought of letting the bike shop pack the bike - thanks for the tip.

On BA you can buy and extra 23kg for 35 GBP each way. You have to do it up front tho. You can't do it at the counter.

[fabs]

My experience is go to your LBS and buy a cardboard box. (very light)

Pack the bike yourself, (no one takes better care than you, knowing the bike is yours)

bubble wrap is light, and use where essentially needed.

you know what needs to be done on return, essential tools needed.

[GLuvsMtb]

Omega man raises a good point, packing your bike is a serious pain. But since you have to re-assemble it in London (presumably) packing it gives you a bit of knowledge and ensures that you have the right tools on hand to put it back together

Arrange to have a bike shop in the UK assemble your bike.

I used a bikesafe bike box for my trip to Canada last year. It was a breeze to pack and the added advantage is that if you use public transport to get to your accommodation, it at least has wheels so that you can cart the box around. You also dont have to worry about keeping the cardboard box intact. My bike weighs 11kg and my bike box weighs about 10kg, so it was a touch and go on the scale, but Virgin did not blink when the bike was 2 or 3 kg's over. The added advantage with the bike box was that I could store all my loose things in there and lock the box while I was doing BC Bike Race and then again having to move luggage around in Whistler was much easier with wheels on the box.

 

A shorter travel bike (i.e. anything with 150mm travel or less) should not cause you weight headaches.

[GLuvsMtb]

On BA you can buy and extra 23kg for 35 GBP each way. You have to do it up front tho. You can't do it at the counter.

On Virgin (going to Canada) and SAA (coming back via the States) my bike counted as sports equipment and did not cost me anything extra. I also had my usual 23 kg checked luggage and 7kg hand luggage.

[Ratty]

cardboard box will do the job fine.

 

We had our cardboard box completely trashed just flying to Durban. If you going all the way to the UK, rather spend a little and know your bike is safe.

 

We have the Thule bike box. You can see all the scratches etc from other things being put on top, but our bikes inside have been 100% perfect.

[SwissVan]

Difficult to decide, bike box = more safety but smore hassle due to extra weight and size.

 

Lots of people use the bike bag option and get away with it

 

I always think of this scenario that happened with me many years ago in SA.

 

Flew to George to go to SA tri champs in Mosselbaai, me and my mate had these 2 bike boxes (big ones) with all our stuff in them, most of the others (The whole TVL tri team +/- 20 people) had soft bike bags.

 

We landed at George and while getting off the plane we watch the baggage "handlers" unloading the bikes from the plane onto one of those baggage trollies. LOL they were literally chucking or dropping the bike bags and suitcases onto the trollies. The last things to go on top were our bike boxes

 

A few people had gear changing problems (bent derailleurs) and bent or broken spokes, so while we relaxed / checked out the route they were panicking / running around trying to get their stuff fixed.

 

The extra weight and hassle was well worth it, since then have always used a bike box (proper fibre glass type). You just need to check with the airlines and tell them you are bringing it before hand so you know what to do / expect cost wise.

[R.D.P.]

Thanks everybody, appreciate your time and comments.

[Meentb]

Just got a bikesafe box. Travelled to central Africa on SAA. They didn't even charge me. Box is super strong. Will consider this option too

[HeyYou]

I've used all the methods described above:

Cardboard bike box - trashed by American Airlines and by Air Mauritius, wet & in pieces Qatar

Bike Bag - not trashed, but torn to shreds by Emirates, Air Mauritius, SAA and others

BIKe box -

 

IMHO a bike box is the way to go. I know weight is a problem, but your bike is safe