Bike Boxes

Mosiki

Anywhere in Dublin rent them? Or anyone here fancy renting their's first week of July?

I have a (large) padded bike bag but not sure if its sturdy enough for flying.

Thanks

Mosiki.

cipo

Wheelworx rent em... I think 50notes a week??......

I'm happy to lend you mine as long as I don't need it at the time!!
Break it pay for it rule is standard!

It's only a dhb elsted case but I've been surprised with how well it's stood ip to abuse from bag throwers........

CramCycle

Just to hijack the thread a bit but its in the same vein. I'm off to the Netherlands for the Lowlands 1200 in mid July and would be looking for a similar favour.

I've never flown my bike with Aer Lingus before so I don't know what they are like, will a bag be OK or should I get a box?

More importantly can anyone spare either?

blorg

Personally I would go for either a hard case or nothing at all. I am of the view that a bag doesn't provide enough protection but at the same time makes the bike difficult to handle.

Touring with reasonably solid steel/aluminium/titanium machines I have just handed them over to the airline exactly as is. My carbon and ti race bike I put in a hard case.

Bear in mind that if you are flying to Amsterdam though. I believe they are quite anal about bikes being packaged though so you might not have the option of bringing the bike as is.

Lumen

Someone posted a couple of weeks ago about rental of some fancy looking hardcases.

edit: found it

cosman9373

I'd be with Blorg on using hard case with carbon bike. Word of warning though hard cases can be heavy and think the usual weight limit is 20 kilo. My bike and hard case together weigh in just below this. Just something to be aware of.

blorg

cosman9373 wrote: »

I'd be with Blorg on using hard case with carbon bike. Word of warning though hard cases can be heavy and think the usual weight limit is 20 kilo. My bike and hard case together weigh in just below this. Just something to be aware of.

15 on Aer Lingus, 20 on Ryanair- although the latter are more likely to enforce it.

cosman9373

15 on aer lingus, I'm bringing my bike with them to france in july, I can't use my bike box then cause will never be less than 15. will they check?

blorg

cosman9373 wrote: »

15 on aer lingus, I'm bringing my bike with them to france in july, I can't use my bike box then cause will never be less than 15. will they check?

Probably not but it is possible. You might be able to get something out of them that it isn't 15kg for the bike as the regulations are somewhat opaque on whether it applies to bikes (Ryanair by contrast are very clear that it is 20kg for bikes.) I'd make sure you get a name at least if you can't get it in writing. I know several people who have been asked to pay excess at the airport however... I think they all weaselled out of it.

It is actually an argument for flying Ryanair if you have a bike.

ROK ON

Hi. I have taken two flights in last 6days with SciCon padded bike bag.
20kg with bike and lots of gear, shoes, helmet, towels etc.

All of the guys who went on the trip with with hardshell bike cases were charged excess luggage charge of between 40-180€.

I have one trip left so will let you know how I get on with the soft case. However the bike arrived in Biarritz and London in fine shape.

Have to balance the extra security with the hardcase versus the high probability of excessbaggage charge on top of the sports bag charge.

goods

question ?
Did the camino last year and just had the bike wrapped in plastic, and cardboard. fine going dublin - biarritz and santigo - madrid but major hassle in madrid, again had bike wrapped in plastic. had to get the bike shrink wrapped before they let me on.
A bag would be very handy but what does one do with it while touring. can you get lightweight bags that you can carry with you ?

CramCycle

blorg wrote: »

Bear in mind that if you are flying to Amsterdam though. I believe they are quite anal about bikes being packaged though so you might not have the option of bringing the bike as is.

I've already been told the bike must be packaged for going through there as they won't let it through.

cosman9373 wrote: »

I'd be with Blorg on using hard case with carbon bike. Word of warning though hard cases can be heavy and think the usual weight limit is 20 kilo. My bike and hard case together weigh in just below this. Just something to be aware of.

Mine isn't a carbon so I may have to go with the cardboard box and a note for mercy on the side.

Lumen

Based on the materials investigations for the travel bike box I'm building, I think it would be interesting to produce a nylon bag with slots for reinforcing panels.

4 sq metres of 4mm internally ribbed structured polycarbonate panelling weighs about 2.5kg, and I can't imagine a double walled nylon bag would be more than another 2.5kg. You wouldn't need any padding in the sides as compression members would keep the panels away from the bike.

So the bag could come in around 5kg, plus perhaps 1kg for compression members and tube covers, leaving either 1 or 6kg for clothing/gear on Ryanair or other airlines (assuming an 8kg bike).

I'm sure somewhere in China could knock up a group buy of custom nylon bags for not much, and the panelling can be had from ebay for almost nothing.

I might return to this in a few weeks once I've got some more experience of the materials.

tomc

I rented from Wheelworx last year, their cases are semi-hard cases and it was a complete bitch to haul around due to the lack of good handles on it.
Swore I could buy a hard case this year when I saw my case falling off the top off the luggage ramp, 20ft drop, fortunately it landed on another case and not the tarmac!:mad:

montac

I travelled with Ryanair at Easter with my bike in a hard box. In total, the box weighed 23kg, but Ryanair didn't weigh the box at either Dublin or Charleroi. Luck of the draw, maybe. But the fact that the box couldn't fit onto the conveyor belt weighing scale may have been a factor. Stickers were put on the box, and I was sent to the oversize baggage area, where, once again, nobody weighed the box. Phew!

I have a hard box from Cyclesuperstore: https://www.cyclesuperstore.ie/shop/pc/viewPrd.asp?idcategory=217&idproduct=1913
It has done a few trips since it was bought in 08. There are plenty of scars and dents on the box, but none on my bike. The handles, though, are not all that sturdy, and I think I have to carry out my umpteenth repair on the side handle soon.
BUT - one of my recent travelling companions had a rental bag from Wheelworx - there is no real handle, so it's awkward to carry around (although, that's where airport trollies come in handy...).
And two other companions had soft bags from CRC - neither were all that convincing tbh.

blorg

montac wrote: »

I travelled with Ryanair at Easter with my bike in a hard box. In total, the box weighed 23kg, but Ryanair didn't weigh the box at either Dublin or Charleroi. Luck of the draw, maybe.

It is luck of the draw. We were weighed in Dublin going to Spain in February. Were not weighed on the way back. I have the same bike box; it is around 9.5kg. With the bike in it is JUST about possible to get it around 20kg if you don't have anything else in the box. What I will do flying with Ryanair in future is just book a checked bag so I can put the likes of the saddle and seatpost and tools etc. in that. That would have me safely under 20kg.

goods wrote: »

Did the camino last year and just had the bike wrapped in plastic, and cardboard. fine going dublin - biarritz and santigo - madrid but major hassle in madrid, again had bike wrapped in plastic. had to get the bike shrink wrapped before they let me on.
A bag would be very handy but what does one do with it while touring. can you get lightweight bags that you can carry with you ?

Not really, even the lighter soft bags are heavy enough (5kg) and more to the point are still enormous even folded up. I wouldn't want to be carrying it on a tour.

When touring I have always just carried the bike as is, unboxed. Most airports will take it like that; it can depend on the luck of who you get on the day though. Your other option is to get a cardboard bike box from a local shop on either end and put the bike in that.

cdaly_

blorg wrote: »

When touring I have always just carried the bike as is, unboxed.

No issues with bent spokes or derailleurs? You could add bike polo-style card discs to the wheels for protection...

blorg

cdaly_ wrote: »

No issues with bent spokes or derailleurs? You could add bike polo-style card discs to the wheels for protection...

No issues flying. I have had a chainring bent under a bus. I've seen them handling the bike and they generally seem to take care of it- much more so than the treatment I have seen dished out to my bike box. If they can wheel it around like a bike they generally do, it appears. A very heavy, bike-sized object that is hard to move about gets much more frustration taken out on it. I've had several bike boxes broken as have friends (no damage to the contents though.)