Flying with a bike
It’s roughly a month until the Trans Alp, I am currently in the air (well I was on Saturday its now Wednesday!) flying to Spain on a much needed break with my family. However due to the proximity of the Alps race and the brilliant opportunity to ride some big hills I couldn’t resist bringing my bike along for the ride!
I contacted Box My Wheels who kindly leant me a bike box to keep my specialized Era safe during transport.
The bike box Alan is a big box with special wheel segments and an anti-crush bar. As my wheels are bolt thru skewers they haven’t fitted in the holes as they should, but with some careful arrangement it has all gone in!
It’s pretty simple to get the bike in you need to remove your handle bars, to do this you need to loosen the headset with an Alan key. I have also taken my forks out as this meant it fitted in further away from the edges of the boxes which made me feel more confident in its safe arrival. If you’re going to do this remember which order your spacers go in and store them securely on you forks by refitting the headset cap. Remember the bits with ball bearings in need handling carefully!
I had to take the rear hanger off which was a simple Alan key bolt I then wrapped this in bubble wrap.
As my wheels don’t fit in the proper wheel holds I have taken my rotors off and wrapped them in bubble wrap too.
Once the frame is in pieces you simply fit it into the box securing with Velcro straps, in the spaces I’ve secured my seat post, a pair of shoes and some inner tubes in the space remaining.
The frame is separated from the wheels by a large sheet of foam. I have also added a blanket for added protection.
Once your wheels are in and the anti-crush bar the box closes securely and once stood up has very handy wheels. Although, a bit like a shopping trolley, these sometimes have a mind of their own!
My top tips for flying with your bike:
- Hire a bike box from Box My Wheels around £60 a week
- Get a decent alan key set to make dismantling easier
- Get some Loctite 222 to put on your rotor bolts
- Take photos of things like the headset before you undo them so you know exactly where to replace them
- Put some tape round your seat post before you take it out so you know where it goes in
- Get bike insurance
I hope you enjoyed my post, see you in a week!