The recent Irish holiday was the first time I too a bike on a plane. I had always been nervous about taking a road bike. But, I knew that renting a bike would be a disaster. The more cycling you do, the more important it is to ride a bike with the same set up as your own. If you switch to different sized bike, you can cause yourself an injury. Also when you are used to riding a top of the range bike, there is no joy in reverting to a heavy mountain bike with fat tyres. My friends were amazed at how quickly I could cycle; but, alot of the difference is the speed of our bikes. When I tried their bikes it was torture – so slow!
Bike Bag.
I choose this Pro single padded bike bag from Wiggle. It cost £90. I was tempted to get a hardshell bike box, to give complete protection. In the end I choose the cheaper option. However, I added extra protection to the bag.
- Several layers of bubble rap.
- Some clothes padded between bike and bag.
The effect was that the bike was well protected and I didn’t notice any scratch.
I took my winter training bike, as I didn’t want to risk my racing bike; but, next time I would probably be happy to take any bike.
Preparing your Bike for the Plane
I only had to undo the handlebars and stem and place it to the side of the frame. For this I only need 2 allen keys and is a fairly simple operation. I didn’t need to remove pedals (speedplay) and I just removed the two wheels.
It is important to secure all the bits tightly together. I highly recommend some reusable plastic ties. This helped keep everything together and prevented any movement, which can cause scratching.
Make sure you keep all the bits, tools and accessories in a safe place. Luckily my bike bag and a pocket within.
It took about 15-20 minutes to prepare the bike. It may be quicker as I get more experienced.
Cost of Taking a Bike on Plane
Amazingly the cost of my Ryanair ticket from Stansted to Kerry, Ireland was £0. However, to take a sports bag cost £50 return. Tax cost £20 and another suitcase cost £25. The extra suitcase was actually unnecessary as I could have put all my clothes in my bike bag.
- Bike bags online at Evans Cycles
- Bike Bags review
- Bike Boxes
can someone explain to me what you do with a bike box when touring.. if you fly to another country what do you do with your packing when you get to the other end ?
You could try wrap in bubble wrap and cardboard. That’s how bikes often delivered. But, you would have to do a good job of packing to make it safe.
Hi, I’m cycling from Rotterdam to Milan in august, we’re getting the ferry to Holland from the UK so not worried about that but we are flying back from italy and obviously we cant take bike bags with us on the route. If we cant find bags in Italy is there another way of preparing the bikes for flight.. i.e. wrapping in shrink wrap ect ??
Hiya Lucy and others, generally speaking bike racks can not be hired from car hire firms though there are many Bike Shops that will do that for you.
However, if it is just you and your boyfriend going, then hiring a mid-range car can get you something like a Zafira which will easily take the bike(s) and your luggage if you fold the seats down……..
Have a good holiday
My boyfriend and I are going to France in the summer and he wants to take his racing bike. We have a way of getting it to the airport, but are struggling to find a car hire which also rents bike racks or roof racks. Has anyone got any suggestions on how we could get round this?
The trouble with bike bags and cases is,you can only fit racing bikes into them,also how do you get them to the airport and what do you do with them once you arrive at the other end?
Thanks Rob, That’s a good point about bikes going missing and hiring a hard shell. Some of them can cost upto £300. At £20 a time renting seems cheaper.
Some good tips here, though I wouldn’t recommend putting everything in with your bike. If it gets lost on the way, you’ll have lost everything. Even if you can get a replacement bike in time you’ll still struggle without your clothes/pedals/shoes etc.
I recently took my bike to an event in Sweden, flying with SAS. Having spent ages looking at reviews of boxes and bags I discovered that my LBS rented hardshell cases for £20 per week. Worth enquiring at your local shop if you don’t think you’ll be travelling with your bike all that often.