[Closed] Transporting a new bike on an airplane

Please use the search, there are lots of threads about this

If it has to be cardboard box, at the minimum you will need to remove wheels, pedals, rear mech.

To make it more manageable, you would take stem off steerer and strap to fork leg or similar. Lots of padding to avoid parts scratching each other.

Do not underestimate how it will be handled, it will be piled in the hold and might well be under everyone elses baggage. Some airlines will allow it to be transported complete in a huge clear bag and in these cases, if it looks like a bike it will normally be treated with a bit more care.

Obviously you may get charged for customs duty if bringing into the UK.

This forum would be dead boring if everyone used the search and didn't post anything.

I take it you're after that sweet Mercedes bike in the classifieds from the States? 😯

@jambalaya - I did do a search... Even setting the search to 'anytime' I still get no relevant results for either "bicycle airplane" or "bike airplane".

@spooky - thanks for that. Duty not an issue this isn't for UK. Why do you have to remove rear wheel and mech, just to avoid damage to it? Any idea about keeping cables like hydro brakes and gear cables attached? Also, any pressure issues with such brakes or with shocks?

@bigshep - No, looking to bring a new hardtail build from South Africa to Kenya.

A) the search function is crap, use Google and add "site:singletrackworld.com" to the end of the search.

B) they're called aeroplanes, or planes, not airplanes - we're not American.

C) cardboard box is doable. Generally leave rear wheel in. Remove front, remove handlebars and pedals. Put rear mech into largest sprocket to keep it out of the way. Strap everything together with lots of padding. If you do it right it'll be fine - that's how they're shipped all over the world.

If its an expensive bike and you have plans to fly with it more than once than an EVOC bike bag is a worth while investment.

I used an Evoc to drag my bike around on a recent work trip. Took a bit to get the packing right but once I'd done it, was pretty happy with the results and it managed a fairly brutal (from the look of the filth on the bag) long-haul flight and the bike was pristine on arrival. I recommend it if you're going to fly frequently.

[i]No, looking to bring a new hardtail build from South Africa to Kenya.[/i]

that is a variable that probably you know better than us, how good/bad is this service?

2 evocs in the house here, I can also recommend their world traveller bag 🙂

Those Evoc bags do indeed look very well made, but almost certainly this will be a once-off flight with the bike, so I suspect not worth investing in it. But thanks for the suggestion.
Re: the flight service I haven't had any luggage issues before. I think so long as it is packed well and has a lot of padding I should be OK.

I would worry about leaving any pressure on your brake lines because during the flight the seals will have to withstand a much larger pressure drop than normal

I suppose an overland ride is completely out of the question? Could be the trip of a lifetime

Carpet underlay makes good padding.

I would worry about leaving any pressure on your brake lines because during the flight the seals will have to withstand a much larger pressure drop than normal

Yeah that's what I was wondering about... but I guess complete bikes with hydro brakes must be shipped from the manufacturer like that, no?

I suppose an overland ride is completely out of the question? Could be the trip of a lifetime

Haha... yeah that would certainly be a cool trip. But given my usual riding is about 10-15km once or twice a week, I suspect that might take some time 🙂

I would worry about leaving any pressure on your brake lines because during the flight the seals will have to withstand a much larger pressure drop than normal

Complete twaddle, fluid in brakes plus air in tyres/forks/shocks will be absolutely fine (although some airlines will ask you to deflate things anyway). The hold is pressurised, it's no different to riding up a big mountain, and your brakes don't explode then.

If its a new bike wont it come in a cardboard box already packed for you?

I flew 2 bikes from the UK to Thailand last summer.

They were in in LBS bike boxes.

I removed the bars from the steers, chain off, air out of forks and tires*, rear mech from hangers, pedals from cranks, took the wheels out and that was about it.

I used a combination of electrical tape and pip lagging to secure everything and 4 - 5 rolls of duct tape on the outside of the box

Judging from the state of the boxes when we arrived, they were very well treated.

I didn't touch the brakes. Surely the pressure when you brake hard is very high hence braided hoses.

*the airlines will insist you do this

If its a new bike wont it come in a cardboard box already packed for you?

Well hopefully, but it's being built from frame up by an LBS, so probably won't have a model-specific box...

*the airlines will insist you do this

Hmm, my airline doesn't mention this and suspect they rarely deal with such cicumstances. Is there any actual reason to take air out of forks?

None whatsoever. Planes have pneumatic tyres, the tyres on the main landing gear of a 747 are inflated to circa 200psi, so your 30psi MTB tyres ought to be ok!

asterix - Member

I would worry about leaving any pressure on your brake lines because during the flight the seals will have to withstand a much larger pressure drop than normal

lol, post of the month for me.

PMSL.

airplane

Your search turned up nada because you used the wrong word.

If the package’s destination is not immediately served by a major airport or is located in a remote area, it is introduced into a ‘feeder’ aircraft network. The cargo area is not pressurized in many feeder aircraft and when necessary, these aircraft ?y at altitudes that affect the environmental conditions in the cargo area. When exposed to these conditions, products and/or packages may be unfavourably affected by the changes in pressure and temperature.

Your search turned up nada because you used the wrong word.

Yes, yes, I get it... It seems being out of the UK 10 years and working with Americans has diluted my Britishness. For the sake of argument though "aeroplane box" or "aeroplane bike" doesn't bring up any useful results either. Seems one has to type the magic combo "plane box".

If the package’s destination is not immediately served by a major airport or is located in a remote area, it is introduced into a ‘feeder’ aircraft network. The cargo area is not pressurized in many feeder aircraft and when necessary, these aircraft ?y at altitudes that affect the environmental conditions in the cargo area. When exposed to these conditions, products and/or packages may be unfavourably affected by the changes in pressure and temperature.

That talks about packages, implying cargo planes. This would be taken as luggage on a standard commercial passenger flight, so don't think it is applicable.

What bike are you going for? KM Ops?0

What bike are you going for? KM Ops?

Yes, they don't have any complete bikes there, only frames, so trying to arrange for an LBS to build something similar from the frame-up. Still waiting to see if it can be done in the timeframe I'm there though... fingers crossed.

asterix - Member

If the package’s destination is not immediately served by a major airport or is located in a remote area, it is introduced into a ‘feeder’ aircraft network. The cargo area is not pressurized in many feeder aircraft and when necessary, these aircraft ?y at altitudes that affect the environmental conditions in the cargo area. When exposed to these conditions, products and/or packages may be unfavourably affected by the changes in pressure and temperature.

lol, again!

Bless.

10 years of flying with hydro brakes - no disasters... OMG

[url= https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=plane+bike+site%3Asingletrackworld.com&oq=plane+bike+site%3Asingletrackworld.com&aqs=chrome..69i57.12379j0j7&sourceid=chrome&es_sm=93&ie=UTF-8 ]2710 Results[/url] enough for you?

Even "aeroplane bike" returns [url= https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=plane+bike+site%3Asingletrackworld.com&oq=plane+bike+site%3Asingletrackworld.com&aqs=chrome..69i57.12379j0j7&sourceid=chrome&es_sm=93&ie=UTF-8#q=aeroplane+bike+site:singletrackworld.com ]783 results[/url].

The cargo area is not pressurized in many feeder aircraft and when necessary, these aircraft ?y at altitudes that affect the environmental conditions in the cargo area.

It may be cold, as most holds aren't heated, but if a plane is flying at high altitude (which many of these 'feeder' planes aren't) then it will be pressurised. Otherwise you'd need to have an airtight flight deck door and/or floors.

2710 Results enough for you?
Even "aeroplane bike" returns 783 results.

I was under the naive impression that the forum search function might search and find results. But your earlier point is now well-noted, I'll certainly use Google in future as it obviously is way more effective.

Yeah the search on here really is rubbish! Google far better!

Hmm, my airline doesn't mention this and suspect they rarely deal with such cicumstances. Is there any actual reason to take air out of forks?

I flew with Emirates whose website says

[i]Before bicycles can be accepted they must be packed as follows:

[b]Tyres must be deflated[/b]
Pedals must be removed
Handle bars must be fixed parallel to the frame
If the bicycles length exceeds 140cm (55in), the front wheel should be removed and fixed beside the rear wheel, inside the bike box[/i]

and the check in person did ask.

2 adults were flying with 160kg of luggage so they did ask more questions than normal!

Tyres must be deflated

If the package’s destination is not immediately served by a major airport or is located in a remote area, it is introduced into a ‘feeder’ aircraft network. The cargo area is not pressurized in many feeder aircraft and when necessary, these aircraft ?y at altitudes that affect the environmental conditions in the cargo area. When exposed to these conditions, products and/or packages may be unfavourably affected by the changes in pressure and temperature.

Hilarious! Where did you find that twaddle? All aircraft, cargo or passenger, have pressurised fuselages. It's only small private planes that fly at low altitudes that aren't pressurised.

And on tyres - TDF riders don't suffer blowouts when they cross an Alpine col at 10,000 feet, do they? So why would your tyres explode in an aircraft that's pressurised to 10,000 feet?

Even if wasn't pressurised, the pressure drop at 30,000ft is only 10Psi

Three complete bikes from CRC and Wiggle over the last few years and all arrived happily in Southern Africa with tyres, forks and brakes all connected and at working pressure.

All in a regular bike boxes with some bubble wrap to stop rattling and rubbing. I have no idea if boxes by courier receive better treatment than baggage, but no significant damage to boxes.

All I had to do was fit wheels, handlebars to stem (levers, shifters, grips attached already) and the seatpost/saddle.

I'm assuming they came in a large plane to JHB and then on "a feeder aircraft" to the destination.

If you don't depressurise everything for the flight then remember that Kenya has a variety of altitudes, so if the bike is assembled in Cape Town and you live in Eldoret you might have to adjust the tyres, shocks and brakes yourself, ditto if coming from Johannesburg to Mombasa or Lamu. 8)

If this is a new bike, can you just leave it in the box it arrives in from the shop? Or better still, get the shop to post it home to you? Or even buy the bike locally and have it delivered?

Thanks again for all the advice... In the end I took both wheels and seatpost off, undid the handlebars and taped them to the top-tube with all cables still attached, and put the lot in a large cardboard box (managed to find a box from a friendly LBS that another 29er bike had been shipped in from manufacturer). Forgot to deflate the tyres and didn't do anything to the shocks. It all arrived fine...

[quote=occamsrazor ]Forgot to deflate the tyres and didn't do anything to the shocks.

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