Travelling by bike

Winter hasn't even got a grip on the country yet and the blues are already hitting you: balaclava, winter jacket and overshoes - brrrr! Cyclists who want to escape the grey usually hop on a plane to the Mediterranean or the Canary Islands. Before departure, the motto is: I pack my suitcase and take with me: ... my bike? This counts as sports or excess baggage for all airlines, for which you usually have to pay a flat rate per single leg (see table on p. 118). If suitcases or cardboard boxes are not required anyway, as is the case with Easyjet or Swiss, the airlines stipulate that at least the handlebars must be folded in, the pedals unscrewed and the bike packed in bubble wrap or similar. However, this economy version often turns out to be a bad idea, as Jan Cramer from Hamburg knows. The 43-year-old has been travelling by bike for a quarter of a century: he discovers distant countries on his touring bike and flies to training camps on his racing bike. He has not always got his bike back at the destination airport in the same condition as when he checked it in: "Especially in exotic countries, airport workers have no idea how expensive a bike like this can be," says Cramer, whose travel bike, wrapped in bubble wrap, has even had its steel fork bent. He doesn't want to risk that with his carbon racer and therefore only sends it in a special case - because the hard shells also protect it from rough handling by ground staff.

The best protection

Bike cases all follow the same principle: two plastic half-shells enclose the more or less disassembled wheel (see the next page for how it's done). The wheels are specially protected and, depending on the case model, rest behind foam inserts, in extra compartments or in the bags supplied. You can get a good case from 170 euros. If you often travel with your bike, this investment is worthwhile. If you don't want to spend that much money on a bike case, you can also put your racer in a transport box. The somewhat bulky "Bike Travel Safe" (125 x 30 x 85 cm) from Rose-Versand, for example, weighs six kilos and costs 35.50 euros. The chainring is protected above the ground, the wheels are in a separate compartment. In our experience, the cardboard case can withstand several journeys - unless it gets wet on the tarmac, in which case it soaks through quickly. Wheels can be attached to the cardboard box using a tensioning strap - practical for short journeys at the airport.

The entire article is available as a PDF download below.

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PDF: Air travel with bike