Traveling internationally with a bicycle?

[David]

The wife and I take an international trip every year and almost everywhere we go I’m jealous when I see cyclists out enjoying the beautiful European countryside. My wife won’t ride so any riding I might do would be alone and likely be early morning. I don’t think a rental is an option due to my height and picky bike expectations. I’m considering buying a hard case, renting a large enough car to carry a bike and luggage and take my bike with me on our next European vacation.

Anyone here have stories or suggestions for traveling international with a bike?

[Jeff Alton]

I have used soft cases and hard cases. My bought me a Thule hard case last christmas and I will never use anything but. Minimal disassembly, lots for room for your gear includes a built in assembly stand etc. It is amazing.

More bulky than soft cases, but has wheels and moves easily. Offers great protection for your bike as well. Plus when you pull it around a terminal building you get to meet all sorts of new people wondering what you have in it...

[billybek]

I have a soft case and it was fine for my commuter bike. I wouldn't want to package anything worth real money in it...
Took my commuter to England a few years back. I did package the heck out of everything to make sure it didn't get damaged.
It was checked as a standard bag.

[wayner]

Originally Posted by Jeff Alton

I have used soft cases and hard cases. My bought me a Thule hard case last christmas and I will never use anything but. Minimal disassembly, lots for room for your gear includes a built in assembly stand etc. It is amazing.

More bulky than soft cases, but has wheels and moves easily. Offers great protection for your bike as well. Plus when you pull it around a terminal building you get to meet all sorts of new people wondering what you have in it...

I bought their hybrid one ( all the best of that hard bag but a little less weight for airline shipping, but still good protection, although I use plumbing foam tubes on the tubes just to be safe)

Thule RoundTrip Pro
It has the same integrated bike work stand as the hard case

[wayner]

I guess the next questions are

1) Experiences with airlines (Air Canada charges a premium now...Im considering using a courier and meeting it there)

2) Importing into European countries ?

[Jeff Alton]

I flew a year ago on westjet, no extra charge. Treated it as a standard bag... Havent tried this year.

Cheers

[recycled sixtie]

Alternatively could you not rent a bike at your destination or even buy one and resell prior to leaving?

[John Rogers]

In 1984, my last cruise in the U.S.Navy I took a racing bike with me and actually built up one during the cruise too with a Vitus aluminum frame. Anyways I took the bike ashore in France, Monaco, Casablanca, Ivory Coast Africa, Several places in Australia (won a race there), New Zeland, Hong Kong, Tonga, Japan, Singapore, Thailand and Korea. I used a large "bag" to carry the bike on the ferry boats and would change shoes on land. I wore a Schwinn racing jersey and got a tremendous amount of friendly waves and bus loads of people wanting to give me "hi-fives" as it went by! It was probably the best trip I made in my 20+ years of sailing I'd say. As bad as the traffic was in Japan the bikes always were treated with respect and given plenty of room.

In a moment of craziness I rode to the top of Mt. Wellington while in New Zealand and it was snowing up there! The next day a whole TV crew showed up at the USS Texas to interview the "sailor who races bicycles". The CO was happy that we got great press from all that!

Try to find out bicycle laws and rules where ever you end up going and be friendly.
John

[herr_oberst]

Originally Posted by recycled sixtie

Alternatively could you not rent a bike at your destination or even buy one and resell prior to leaving?

Depends on the plan. If I was climbing oh, say, Haleakala in Hawaii, I'd really rather have my own bike. I've known people who HAVE rented bikes there at the FLBS and it's hit and miss. But, if I was just going to putter around a little, well, a rental would be fine.

[red-beard]

I guess there always is a USS Texas!

[Otter74]

I spent a week in the Dordogne a few summers ago and was not about to do it without a bike. I did not want what I imagined to be the hassle of packaging up one of my regular bikes, though they were what I would have preferred to ride. I bought a Bike Friday New World Tourist from an acquaintance for the purpose, and took that. It disassembled into a modified standard-sized hard shell suitcase that would also, if you wanted, turn into a trailer with the addition of a hitch and wheels, which were included. Arrive at destination airport, assemble bike, assemble trailer parts, hitch to bike, drop bag in, ride away. I did not use the trailer, as I had a car and just flew with it as a regular piece of luggage (I travel light, and ordinarily would only have had a carry-on bag.) Under such circumstances it's usually best to never, ever say the word "bicycle" unless you want to be charged extra money. If needed, "mobility device" is the magic phrase most of the time.

Shortly *after* returning from that trip, I learned that a number of European airlines, including SAS, which I had just flown, would let you take your bike on transatlantic trips *unboxed* - you pay extra for oversized luggage when you buy your ticket, and when you arrive at the airport you roll your bike up to baggage check and they put a tag on it and it, apparently, eventually goes into a special holder in the cargo bay. I have not tried this yet myself, but at the time I looked and I recall Lufthansa and either British Airways or Air France also offered this.

I have no experience with packing bikes into soft or hard bike cases, though I have friends who do and it's worked for them. If you are getting around by car it's pretty simple.

My bike travel by air has been with my Brompton, which is absolutely fabulous for the purpose. I'm picky about bikes too, and if I were, say, going to the Dordogne again I would bring one of my normal bikes. But *if* you just wanted something to get around places easily for transport or exploration or whatever, and liked or even just didn't mind how they ride (you get used to it, but it's different), I think Bromptons are impossible to beat. Last September I went to Portland, OR for a friend's wedding and did the whole trip door-to-door by bike (with a jet assist, so to speak). Rolled the bike into the terminal from the train at ORD, folded it up and ran it through the X-ray at security, rolled it to the gate dropped it in a bag and gate-checked it, walked off the plane in PDX, unfolded it, and rode through the terminal, out the airport and into the city to my AirBnB.

If I wanted to do longer-distance rides at a faster pace in the European countryside (e.g. German trail system) I might want one of my regular bikes, but if I just wanted to explore I'd take the Brompie.

All of this presupposes that for whatever reason you've excluded just renting something locally.

NB re: Bromptons - there's a really nice hire scheme in London and other UK cities. It was so convenient, and inexpensive, that when I was in London and Glasgow last fall I didn't bother to bring my own.

[David]

Renting is difficult for a 62cm frame. I wouldn’t be happy without a race bike so that limits options too. My riding would be early morning while the wife sleeps so no real touring. Travel would be flying into France and then traveling by car which would have to be big enough for the bike and 2 medium suitcases. Hardcase would be a must so I wouldn’t stress about bike damage. We’re spending 3-4 nights in each town so there’d be a bit of packing and unpacking the bike. I’m not feeling this would easy since cycling would be secondary to everything else we’re doing but it kills me to see riders all kitted up riding thru some of the best roads in the world.

[Captain Ahab Jr]

I'm sure every hotel you stay at would have a secure place for your bike be it a storage room or your own room so you should only have to build your bike up a few times

The most it should cost is at excess baggage rate with your airline.

Europe is very bike friendly, especially in France as they have the best cycle race in the world

You shouldn't need to bring many spare parts with you as every reasonable sized town will have a racing cycle shop and they all speak bike lingo

I'm jealous of your trip and don't even ride a racing bike!

[group911@aol.co]

Maybe if you didn't ride like you thought your were Lance Armstrong, your wife might ride with you and both would enjoy it?
But seriously, my wife and I have taken the month of September for the last 27 years and headed with our bikes to ride Europe and you won't regret it. We've always taken our bikes and you'll find dealing with hard side cases is the worst part of the equation unless you are staying at the same hotel on the first and last nights of your trip, in which case, most hotels will find a way to keep them.
Unless you are actually Lance Armstrong and there is a large amount of money to win, I'd go on Craigslist and find a really good cheap bike that fits and take that. Go to any bike store and get a box that new bikes come in and use that to ship it over. At the end of the trip, find someone you like and give it away.
We started doing this about 10 years ago and it works great.
And, I wasn't really kidding on the first part. Get your wife traveling with you by bike

[MFAFF]

Not taken my bike across the pond, just a few European trips and unless going to 'cycle' only... like a training camp; a good way is to re-use a shipping box from a retailer for the initial trip... then have a Seasucker bike rack (https://www.seasucker.com/collections/bike/products/hornet works for a Golf sized car or the Talon) for the car based parts.. so you don't have to break the bike down again and again... and find a decent bike shop on the last day or so and repack.

I think you might be better off this way as opposed to renting a larger car to carry the hard case and bike. Larger cars tend to be disproportionately more expensive here than a VW Golf sized machine....

Regardless great to know you want to ride, France can be a magical place for it.

[crb07]

I work in Europe every summer. I have used the same Trico plastic bike box. The newer ones look nice as you don’t have to remove the bars but I have never had any damage to my bike with the Trico box. Make sure you support the frame where the rear wheel goes from impact.

[billybek]

Originally Posted by crb07

I work in Europe every summer. I have used the same Trico plastic bike box. The newer ones look nice as you don’t have to remove the bars but I have never had any damage to my bike with the Trico box. Make sure you support the frame where the rear wheel goes from impact.

I had pulled the rear derailleur and hanger on mine.
Took Saran wrap to wrap chain wheels, chain and derailleur.
Foam insulation and tie wraps to secure loose parts and pad the frame.

[Jeff Alton]

Originally Posted by recycled sixtie

Alternatively could you not rent a bike at your destination or even buy one and resell prior to leaving?

I am partial to my own bikes. But I do like the buy and resell idea. Just spec one out like I have at home!

Cheers

[zakthor]

I brought my 29er singlespeed to northern spain to mountain bike. I used a trico ironcase from craigslist ($100). The size large bike took a few hours to carefully pack, deflated shock removed rotors, deflated tires. Was a hassle. I had a large (for europe) rental van and the box was a tight fit. Once into the countryside i was super happy to have my bike, i averaged 3 hours of riding per day for the two weeks i was there. Once the family arrived i mailed the bike home in its box for $140. No regrets to have my bike.

This summer im doing something more adventurous and need to pack smaller. I got an ibis tranny 29 that comes apart. Packs smaller but takes even longer to pack.

If i was a roadie i'd look into something with s&s couplers, ive seen those bikes get really small in 20 minutes.

Ps: European rental cars can sometimes use a cheap bike rack, but mostly they cant.

[Ziggythecat]

Fiat and Peugeot make a station wagon you can rent that will easily hold a bike with front tire removed, and luggage as well.