Box for bike?

shamama

Might be a dumb question, but I'm moving abroad and want to bring the bike...do I have to buy a box to pack it in or can I get a freebie form a bike shop?

Caroline_ie

Where are you going ... can we come too?

Given the way some airport treat bikes .. i would put it in a hard case if it's carbon for definate.

I have that one, it was used a lot and has taken a lot of abuse, and is quite cheap and still works. If you are only planing 1 trip a year, that would do nicely

If you are travelling with a steel or alu bike, you can get away with wrapping it up real nice with foam pipe tubes you can get at the hardware store. I have transported my bikes like this before. they will just wheel you bike to the plane that way.

By the way ... AerLingus Will charge you in additional weight if your bike weight more than 15KG ( i think ) even if it's in a box. Got caught having to cry my way out of being billed at the Bordeaux airport last October.[/I][/I][/I][/I]

Sean02

Shama don't be afraid to ask a dumb question on this forum. Almost everyone know that any bike shop will be more than happy tp oblige. Caroline never heard of or experienced additional charges for bike weight on airlines. Thats why we prepay the sports goods surcharge. I wonder if someone was dumb enough to try and avoid paying in advance would the bike be charged as excess baggage?.

Caroline_ie

Sean02 wrote: »

Caroline never heard of or experienced additional charges for bike weight on airlines. Thats why we prepay the sports goods surcharge. I wonder if someone was dumb enough to try and avoid paying in advance would the bike be charged as excess baggage?.

My Bike was pre booked and paid w/ aer lingus in advance, but the sport equipements, including bike are subject w/aerlingus to weight surcharge. I had called the irish call centre 3 times to assure me they wouldn't charge me, they confirmed their wouldnt, but they still did as it says in the website.

aerlingus wrote:

The maximum weight allowable for carriage of sports equipment is 15kgs/33lbs. Normal excess baggage rates apply if the passenger carries excess to this maximum allowance

My bike box was loaded with bike+accessories and gear and was about 30kg ...

Like I said, I had to tell them over and over again at the check in desk that I had 40quid and that I was not told I'd paid extra ... i even got to speak to the supervisor about it ...

blorg

@Sean- no, it is a new rule with Aer Lingus for the last few years albeit one they don't always enforce. You have to pay the sports equipment charge but it is also limited to 15kg.

Ryanair used to have a 32kg limit but they have brought this down to 20kg now.

Neither airline ever weigh it in Dublin.

Going to make things difficult TBH if you use a hard case, they are often around 15kg on their own.

shamama

Thanks for the replies guys. Luckily, I'm not flying with it: going into storage before shipping over-seas in a crate with other junk (yes, I'm going THAT far). Caroline, your case is great, although I don't know if my frame would fit. It's a hybrid, 16", nothing special but just special enough that I can't live without it.

I just wanted to check with the "experts" had to say. I think decent padding and a regular brown-box may suffice.

Sean02

Thanks for the info I stand corrected. First year not to do a long trip. Previously used Biarritz no problem but used Bergerac no bike recently,a tiny shed with a runway. There all 4 check-in staff must be making a fortune in excess charges for Ryanair. The big issue now for many is the hand baggage size checks in Dublin immediatly before boarding. Embarrising, costly and grossly unfair.

blorg

shamama wrote: »

I just wanted to check with the "experts" had to say. I think decent padding and a regular brown-box may suffice.

Yes, that would be fine. To be honest if you were flying with it (and that is generally cheaper than shipping it) I would just take it as is with no box at all. I have done this several times with my own tourer. I would only feel the need to use a box with a carbon bike really, or a very lightweight racer. They take it off you by hand in Dublin and wheel it on to the plane- in general they seem to treat bikes on their own nicer than they do the boxes.

Sean02 wrote: »

The big issue now for many is the hand baggage size checks in Dublin immediatly before boarding. Embarrising, costly and grossly unfair.

As far as I can make out they only really do this if someone is completely taking the píss. It would take too long otherwise. I know there were reports a while back of them being very exacting on this at the gate but there has been no over-zealous checking on any recent flight I've been on.

As to the bike weight thing, in my experience it generally doesn't seem to be enforced... but it is in their T&Cs so if they do decide to enforce it you could be in for a nasty shock, excess baggage fees are very high. You would typically be looking at several hundred euros.

mrbike

blorg wrote: »

Neither airline ever weigh it in Dublin.

Just to let you know, I had my bike weighed in Dublin during the summer. Was flying with Ryanair. Came in under 20kg, so I didn't get charged. Apparently someone earlier on had tried to get a 35kg boxed bike through.

adamshred

shamama wrote: »

Might be a dumb question, but I'm moving abroad and want to bring the bike...do I have to buy a box to pack it in or can I get a freebie form a bike shop?

what i done was got a long box from a bike shop, filled it with padding etc, plenty of tape, then tape black bags around it for protection. Absolutely no problems. keep it under 30 or 35 kilos i can't remember which weight it is. I had my box weighed on the way back from France so just be vigilant about it.

As was stated in the thread a carbon frame would require more consideration regarding boxes as the risk factor is greatly increased but we had 6 bikes brought over in boxes and absolutely no problems bar some rain damage to the cardboard on the way out which was resolved with the black bags.

adamshred

oh also forgot to add i put bungee cords around the box also for extra safety and added wheels for the ease factor.