The most stressful part of bike touring is getting the bike there and back. At the time of writing, I estimate that I have taken my bike on 28 flights and through 15 airports, all within Europe. I’ve taken a bike with rim brakes and one with disc brakes. And I’m still learning…
With the experience of taking my bike to Oslo and back last month fresh in my mind, I thought that I would give some tips on how to pack and unpack, based on what I have learnt over the years, and the mistakes I made along the way.
If you Google, you will see lots of different and contradictory pieces of advice – and I have looked at most of them for inspiration over the years – but this is what seems to work for me.
Obviously one way of avoiding the hassle is to rent a bike at your destination, but that might not be practical if you plan to return from a different city and personally I prefer to ride my own bike where I know how everything works.
What follows is a bit long but don’t worry: it doesn’t actually take too much time and is not very hard to do. It just involves a bit of planning and preparation beforehand.
Before your trip
When planning, the first thing that you need to do is to look at the possible flights. I try to get a direct flight to minimise the chances of the bike getting lost en route, though the one time I had to do a transfer (in Athens), it was fine. Whilst for many cities, there is just one big airport, be aware that for some – London, Brussels, and yes, Milan – there are multiple airports. It will be tempting to go for the cheapest and most direct flight but before you do, check how close the airport is to where you want to start your trip and what the transport from the airport is like.
Many cyclists put their bikes together at the airport and cycle from there/ take the bike on a train. This can be fine as long as everything arrives in a good state, you have plenty of time, can work undisturbed and you do not need the bike box again.
For sheer convenience, I have tended to take a taxi from the airport and quietly unpack at my starting hotel. With both options, be aware that the choice of arrival airport can make a big difference to the cost/viability. Modern airports tend to be far away from the city and with only fast roads around them, which can make setting off by bike an unnerving proposition. Equally, some airports are over an hour’s drive from the city centre, which makes for a very expensive taxi and might have poor or non-existent public transport. For instance, in Belgium, Zaventem (the main airport) is reasonably close to the centre and there are good and regular trains, but Charleroi, the alternative is basically in another city with only bus connections. Check it out: it might be worth paying more to fly to a closer and more convenient airport. (I made this mistake going out to Milan, flying to Malpensa when I should have found a flight to the much more central Linate. It cost me a whopping 95 Euros compared to 25 to go to Linate on the way back.)
For my recent trip to Oslo, I found out that taxis are ruinously expensive and that the best way is to take a direct train. Given that I needed the bike box for the return flight, unpacking at the airport was not an option. So I stored a lightweight and easily portable trolley in my suitcase and used it when navigating from Oslo Central station to my hotel 10 minutes away. It was a bit clunky with both the bike box and the suitcase but it just about worked.
Secondly and again before you pay for the ticket, check that the airline that you propose to fly with is OK with bikes and what their rules are. Most are fine, but some have some awkward rules (see below). I usually reserve beforehand either by phone or by email, usually paying in advance. Be ready to answer questions on the weight of your bike and dimensions of the bike/box that you are taking it in. You do not need to be ultra-precise on the former – I quoted 12kg but when checking in, it was closer to 19 and they did not care – and on the latter, unless you have a specially big bike, I would tend to quote 135x75x20cm, which is the standard size of a bike box. Don’t worry: they are unlikely to check.
Next, book your starting accommodation. One factor in my choice is that the place is reasonably close to a bike shop, just in case anything has gone wrong. If I am doing a round trip, I book the same place for the return. I tried this with Milan and asked the owner if I could leave the bike box with him while I was cycling, and he was great. This made life much simpler. In Oslo, they were initially sceptical, but agreed that if I flattened the box to save space, they would look after it. All this meant was using an extra bit of duct tape (see below).
If returning from a different city, it can be a good idea to identify a bike shop there and ask them if they can reserve a bike box for you. I recently did this for a trip ending in Ljubljana, contacting a bike shop that had good reviews about ten days before I needed it, and they were happy to keep one for me (and said that they did this all the time). On the day, I simply walked up, picked up the folded box and reassemble it with duct tape. The only city I had difficulties with was Prague, where several bike shops did not even reply, and the one that did, charged me about 10 Euros for the privilege and had forgotten about it when I finally turned up. Luckily, they rustled one up and I spent ten very amusing minutes walking through central Prague with an empty bike box.
The risk if you don’t is that you find that no one has anything. At worst, you could make a box from other cardboard boxes, but it is a lot more tricky.
A month or so before you go
A few weeks before you go, approach a local bike shop and ask them if you can take an old cardboard bike box. As with Ljubljana, most bike shops are very happy to do this for free or ‘coffee money’, as all they do when they have received new bikes and assembled them is to chuck the boxes away. Try to get one that is ‘standard’ size – 135-140 cm in length, 75cm in height, 20 cm in depth or close to that, so that your bike fits tightly. You might want to bring a tape measure to be sure. By the way, it is not a bad idea to take your bike for a check-up about a month before you go unless it is new or was repaired recently. They should check the chain, spokes, brakes and tire treads.
While you are at the bike shop, you could also ask them whether they have other protective materials left over for packing. Of particular value is a derailleur protector/ shield. They will know what to give you.
If you have rim brakes, you should ask them whether they have a plastic spacer for the front forks. This is to stop them bending or getting twisted. If you have disc brakes, you should ask them for a protective padding for the disc brakes and a spacer/mount. It is a different type – see below. When I am using the bike with rim brakes, I take the spacer, remove the skewer from the front wheel and use that.
The latter two look like this:
One thing to avoid
When I started touring, I used a reusable transparent bike bag, having read on the Internet that this would actually lead to better treatment of the bike because baggage handlers would see that it was a bike and take better care of it. In my experience, this is, to be frank, bollocks. After nearly having had my trip from Sofia to Istanbul jeopardised by a crushed derailleur (and only saved by an extremely nice bike mechanic), I switched to bike boxes and have not looked back (though note my comments below.)
A week before you go
Finally, also a week or two before you go, head to your local hardware/DIY store and pick up the following:
- A roll of bubble wrap
- A few lengths of foam pipe cladding
- A bag of plastic cable/ zip ties of a decent length
- A roll of electrical tape
- A roll of duct tape
- A small length of bungee cord
(And if you do not have already, make sure that you have a full set of Allen keys/ a multi-tool, some grease and some lube.)
Packing the bike
Finally! I recommend that you pack your bike at least a few days before you travel and ideally at a time when shops are still open – and especially bike shops – just in case you need to run out and get something or have a mechanic help in an emergency. If you have recently had your bike fixed or checked, you might find that they have over-tightened the pedals.
I also recommend setting aside about 2-3 hours. This is something that you want to do slowly and carefully.
As well as all the above materials, you will need: your phone/camera, a knife, some scissors, some freezer bags and a marker pen. Important rule here: if you use a tool or material when packing your bike, you will need to have it (or a substitute) with you when you unpack it at the other side and when you repack at the end of your trip (or be sure that your hotel will have one). It does not need to be the same tool but close enough, so for instance, when I pack at home, I use kitchen scissors and a Stanley knife, but when on my trip, I substitute with a small pair of medical scissors and a penknife. I use the camera to record every major move and for instance, the position of the saddle, handlebars and other adjustables.
Ready to go?
1. Lower your gears to the minimum on both sides
Simple reason for this: it means that the derailleurs – gear changers – are as protected as possible (see below).
2. If your bike has disc brakes: loosen the skewers
The reason why I suggest doing this now is that sometimes, you will find that they get stuck or have been over-tightened by the shop. Best to find this out now before you dismantle everything else or go travelling. I had this happen the last time that I dismantled the bike. Luckily, squirting some WD40 and leaving it for 10 minutes to soak in allowed me to unscrew the skewer. If not, you need to find your nearest bike shop and get them to unscrew. I would check both wheels, but not actually unscrew them. You will not be removing the rear wheel but it is best to check this before you head out on the road as you don’t want to have this problem when you are trying to fix a flat tire.
3. Remove the pedals
Here is an interesting thing that I did not know until a few years ago: you don’t – usually – need a spanner to remove pedals… All you need is a big Allen key. I don’t know for sure whether all bike cranks and pedals are the same size but for my bikes, we are talking 6mm and it comes as part of my multi-tool.
Why? Because if you look at the crank – that is the ‘arm’ sticking out from the big chainwheel at bottom centre of your bike – you will see that the hole that the pedal screws into is completely open, so you can in fact unscrew the pedals from the side furthest away from you rather than using a spanner on the near side. (If you want to use a spanner, don’t let me stop you, but I don’t as it is unnecessary extra weight)
A simple rule with screwing and unscrewing pedals: you tighten by screwing in the direction that you pedal and you loosen by screwing in the reverse direction. So for the pedal on the left hand side of the bike, you loosen by turning clockwise, and on the right by turning anticlockwise.
A quick warning here: as with wheel bolts, it has been known for overzealous bike mechanics to over-tighten pedals by using a massive torque wrench, making them near impossible to budge. This is one reason why I pack the bike at a time when bike shops are open just in case, though these days, I specify with the bike mechanic when I pick up the bike from its service.
Having removed the pedals, I wrap them in bubble wrap, and put them in a plastic bag. Out of caution, I used to take them with me as part of my hand luggage, pulling them out when I go through the airport X-ray machines. These days, I tend to tie them to the top bar right at the end of my packing. If anything is going to fall out, it will more likely be the seat.
4. Remove any bells and mounts
OK. This is much simpler. I unscrew my bike bell, handlebar bag mount, GoPro mount and bottle holders so that they don’t get bashed/ get in the way. Again, I put the mounts in a freezer bag and I put the bike bottles in the mounts in the bike box at the last minute as extra padding.
With the bottle holder screws and any other screws such as for seat post, pannier rack and handlebars, as soon as I have removed the bottle holder, I screw them back in though not too tightly.
5. Fit padding onto frame
This is where those lengths of foam pipe cladding and cable ties come in. They are ideal for wrapping round the frame to protect it. I use a mixture of duct tape and cable ties to secure them in place. With the cable ties, do NOT tighten them as far as they will go. When you unpack the back, you will need a little bit of space to cut them without damaging the frame. And you may be using a Swiss Army knife at that point.
I start with the three core parts of the frame – the top tube, the down tube and the seat tube – and then move to the other parts of the frame though leaving the front forks until I have removed the front wheel. If I can, I mark each part so that I remember which bit I used when I come to repack at the end of my trip.
6. Remove the front wheel
OK, this bit is slightly different according to which type of brake you have.
If you have cantilever rim brakes, start by releasing the wheel release mechanism.
Then turn the bike upside down. Then flip and unscrew anticlockwise the quick release mechanism: the golf club-shaped lever that sits on the left hand side of the hub of the wheel. For the time being, you don’t need to unscrew it all the way: just enough to loosen the wheel enough that it comes out of the forks. Remove the wheel and unscrew the quick release skewer all the way and pull it out of the wheel, replacing the nut loosely on it and then wrapping in a bit of bubble wrap and packing with the pedals.
If you have a fork spacer, fit it now.
If you have disc brakes, it is even simpler. Turn the bike upside down, and unscrew the skewer. Gently remove the wheel, which will come out easily.
Then, take the weird brake spacer and plug it in between the brake pads, inserting the narrow bit, with the wider bit sticking out so that you can remove it when you unpack. Screw the skewer back in, and put the spacer block on top of it (so that when you turn the bike up the proper way, it will be sitting underneath the skewer. Use a cable tie to fix it in place.
[If you have a front mudguard, this is the time to remove it.]
Then wrap the forks (and disc brake if appropriate) with pipe cladding and/or bubble wrap. They can easily get damaged so wrap them nicely. If using disc brakes, wrap the disc in some bubble wrap.
7. remove pannier rack and seat
Sometimes the pannier rack will fit in the box without needing to be removed, but most times it doesn’t. I unscrew the bolts, remove the pannier rack, and then rescrew the bolts loosely. I wrap the ends of the rack and the top in bubble wrap/cardboard.
With the seat, before removing it, I cut a small bit of cardboard to the length of the gap between the seat fitting to where it fits in the seat tube (see picture). I take a photo and put the cardboard in my wallet or handlebar bag. This allows me to set the seat at the right height when unpacking. While on the road, it also allows me to check whether the seat is slipping or not and if so, to refit it and tighten the bolt.
8. Deflate tires
This is a bit of silliness that most airlines insist on even though it makes little difference. Half-deflate both tires so that they are soft enough that an overzealous airline will be satisfied in the unlikely event that they check. You don’t need to go all the way and you want them to have a little air in them to pad them and to save you some effort when you have to pump them up again.
9. Remove and turn the handlebars
Now the bit that always makes me nervous because I once screwed it up, even though it should be easy: removing and turning the handlebars.
First, take a few photos, including a side-on view of the handlebars.
Second, cut two small strips of electrical tape and apply them evenly either side of the handlebar clamp (the bit that holds the handlebars onto the front stem of the bike). Note where the clamp bracket screws on (i.e. where there is a little gap) and mark it with the marker pen on both sides.
Then go and get the small bungee cord and loosely hang it on the top tube – as you will need it quickly.
Then start to unscrew the four screws holding the clamp bracket in place. I tend to loosen each one a little to start before unscrewing them in turn, ending with one of the top ones. Put them in a safe and close place. Then remove the clamp and immediately take the handlebars to the left and hang them on the top tube, using the bungee cord to hold them in place and being careful not to twist the gear cables. It does not need to be tight at this stage: just enough to hold them and get them out of the way.
Then fix the clamp back on, using the screws. Again, do this by hand: no need to over-tighten: just enough that they do not come off.
At this point, I turn the forks clockwise 180 degrees so that the handlebar holder is turned towards the back of the bike. When you come to fit the handlebars and put the bike into the box, you will find that they turn slightly. See the picture below.
With the handlebars, you will probably find that you need to lift the left hand side over the handlebar holder and then can wedge the right hand side in between the front forks that you just reversed. Keep it loose because in a minute, you will need to fit the front wheel and adjust the handlebars around it. See the picture below.
Nearly there…
10. Wrap derailleur and everything else
If I were really talented, I would remove the rear derailleur, and that is the safest thing to do if you know how, but every time I have looked at a YouTube video on it – and when the friendly Sofian bike mechanic tried to explain – it has looked wayyyy… too complicated and more likely for me to damage the bike than protect it.
So having lowered the gears, I wrap the derailleur with as much bubble wrap and other protection as I can manage so that it is as snug as a bug. If you can, get hold of a protector as seen in the picture. Your bike shop should have some. You attach this to the hole where the wheel skewer fits. It just gives a bit more protection.
I also put more wrapping on anything else that seems vaguely vulnerable, using whatever bubble wrap and pipe cladding I have leftover. You do not want to overdo it or you will never fit the bike in the box, and you run the risk of customs or security officials at the airport not being able to see clearly what is in the box and opening up the box to take a look. Believe me, this has happened a few times.
11. Put bike in box
Enfin. The big moment. Start by using some duct tape to cover the bottom of the bike box so that even if there is some rain while it is being loaded onto the plane, the box still holds together. I use quite a lot.
Then take the front wheel and fit it on the left hand side of the bike (i.e. the opposite side from the derailleur) between the tubes. I tend to use two short lengths of bungee cord to hold it in place.
If using a disc brake wheel, I would put the side with the disc on the inside of the box so that it is more protected. Please note that I did not do this in the picture below. I am always learning!
Really my advice at this point is to fiddle around a bit and see what works, protecting the sensitive parts of the bike – the derailleur, gear levers, brakes, front forks – as much as possible.
Then gently lower the bike into the box, starting with the rear wheel and then the front forks. You need to fiddle around a little bit including with the handlebars so that they fit, but DO NOT FORCE ANYTHING. This is why I use the bungee cord rather than a cable tie, to give myself a little bit of movement.
Then fit the seat post and rear pannier rack if possible and mudguard if appropriate. I also jam in a bit of extra padding round the rear wheel if possible to give the derailleur extra protection. Don’t overdo it with the padding for reasons set out below.
What about the pedals? Some sites suggest taking them with you in your main/hand luggage just in case your bike box gets ripped. I used to do this – and got some odd looks when going through airport screening – but these days I put them in a tough plastic bag and try to fix them to the top of the bike. If your box is going to get ripped – and so far, I have had only minor tears around the handling holes at the top – your bike seat and everything else is going to drop out too. So far, that has worked.
The last few times that I have travelled, I also dropped in my bike bottles, with two of them in the bottle cages, and my helmet, putting it on the same side as the derailleur. This seemed to work.
Then close the box and seal it with the duct tape.
On the side of the box that the derailleur is on and on the top of the box, use the marker to write such things as “Fragile: bicycle”, your name and phone number and the flight number and date.
Remember to pack the duct tape, electrical tape and some spare cable ties for the return journey, together with some grease, oil, and the pedals and other parts that you removed from the bike.
12. The day itself
Whenever possible, I try to take the bike to the airport myself using a share car. If not, I try to call a taxi company and tell them that I will need a car or minivan large enough for a bike box. When loading the bike, if it has to be turned on its side, I make sure that the part with the derailleur is on the upside.
When travelling to/from Oslo airport, given the exorbitant cost of taxis, I was forced to take the bike on the airport train, taking a small foldable trolley that I packed in my suitcase for the flight. It just about worked for the five minute haul of my bike from the central station to adjacent hotel, but I certainly would not have wanted to lug it and my suitcase for much further. Still, it saved me about £100 each way, so was worth the inconvenience and odd looks.
At the airport, having navigated round with a trolley and got to the check in desk, I usually find that they weigh it and then tell me to take it to the large baggage desk. When they stick the baggage tag on it, I ask that they put it on the side with the derailleur on, again so that this placed upwards ideally.
One final word here: after you have parted with your precious bike, it will usually go through two sets of baggage handlers and two sets of customs officials. Both tend to be underpaid and overworked… Baggage handlers might not treat your precious bike like Ming china and customs officers when presented with a large box marked “Fragile: bicycle”, often think “Hmmm…. I wonder if that’s really a shipment of cocaine or some explosives. I’d better check”. On a number of occasions, my bike has arrived at the other side with large holes torn into the box as a result of careless treatment/ a customs officer wanting to take a better look at the contents.
I am sorry to say that there is nothing that you can do about this and it would be difficult to prove that it was the airline’s fault. This is why I try to leave at least half a day spare between arrival and setting off just in case I need to take to a bike mechanic. But please take heart: since I started using bike boxes and worked out how to protect the bike, I have had no damage to my bikes and have found taking it on planes to be considerably simpler than taking on cross-border trains even if it does take more time.
Reassembling your bike
Over the years, I have put my bike back together in airport terminals, car parks both inside and outside, hotel rooms, hotel corridors, hotel luggage rooms and quite often, a quiet part of a hotel lobby.
A sense of humour, lots of patience and the ability to withstand odd looks and funny comments from passers-by are essential. I take the bike box, my tools and a rag and bottle of water, and slowly get on with it. Believe me, hotel staff have seen stranger things…
Inflate tires
If you are doing this in a hotel room/airport, then the chances are that you will be using a hand pump. Unless you feel super-strong, I would pump them until they are reasonably hard and then take them to a bike shop when the bike is fully assembled and ask to use a foot pump. Usually bike mechanics grunt a bit but then consent.
Remove padding
Do this gently, so that you can re-use as much as possible. If I am doing an A to B trip, I tend to compress all the packing materials into a bag that I tie with the bungee cord. If not, I shove them in my luggage or the bike box.
This is the point to remove the spacers from the front forks and disc brakes and put them somewhere safe: possibly the bag that you put the bell and mounts in.
Replace front wheel
If you are using rim brakes, now is the point to stick the skewer back through the front wheel. The quick release lever should be on the left of the bike – the opposite side to the gears. With disc brake wheels, you will obviously want to remove the skewer at this point, keeping it in your hand.
If you have a front mudguard, this is the time to refit it.
Turn the bike upside down gently.
A minor but important point is to put the wheel in the right way. With disc brake wheels, this is rather obvious. With wheels that use rim brakes, the way of checking is to look at the markings on the side of the tire. You will see an arrow pointing in the direction that the bike should rotate in when pedalling (so on the left side, it will be pointing anticlockwise and on the right side clockwise).
Gently slide the wheels in. With disc brake wheels, you will find that they slide in precisely. With rim brakes, a piece of advice given to me by a mechanic is to get them roughly in place and then when the bike is the right way up, loosen them a bit and slightly jog them into place to allow them to find their natural fit, checking by then lifting the front wheel and giving it a spin. Then tighten the skewer before pressing down the quick release lever. The rule here is that you should tighten the skewer just enough that when you press down the quick release lever, it momentarily leaves an imprint on the palm of your hand.
Turn the bike right way up. If you are using rim brakes, you now need to refix the wheel release mechanism for the brakes so that the conical part slides into the catch. The ribbed rubber covering should be outside this.
Refit handlebars
Start by unscrewing the clamp bracket, again keeping the bracket and bolts in your hand, and then undo the bungee cord and gently slide your handlebars back into the clamp before rescrewing the bracket, being careful not to twist the gear cables. Don’t worry about getting it exactly right at this stage and don’t fully tighten the screws. You can adjust at the end. You just want the handlebars the right way up and fixed inside the clamp.
Refit saddle
Same process here: gently lower the seat post into position and slightly tighten but again don’t worry about getting it exactly right at this stage.
Refit pannier rack
Having removed the screws from the frame, I tend to start by fitting the top part of the frame and rescrewing the two top screws halfway before dealing with the bottom screws, and then tightening up everything. Get it nice and tight and check regularly as with the jolting of the bike on the road, these often come loose.
Refit bottle holders, mounts and bell
As with the pannier rack, I get everything loosely into place before tightening up.
Refit pedals
Before you put the pedals back in, give both them and the crank a quick clean with some toilet paper/ kitchen paper and then squeeze a bit of grease onto the pedals before screwing in. As above, to screw in, the left pedal should be turned anticlockwise and the right clockwise. Again I use an Allen key for this. You do not need to tighten beyond the point at which you feel resistance and the pedals are screwed all the way in: the act of pedalling will automatically tighten the pedals.
Final checks and adjustments
By this point, everything should be more or less in place.
This is the point to get the saddle absolutely right, at the right height and with the nose pointing in a straight line along the top tube, before tightening up.
Then I make sure that the handlebars are sitting absolutely right, absolutely aligned between the two pieces of electrical tape and with the gap between the bracket and rest of the clamp absolutely aligned with the markings. Then I tighten everything up.
At this point, it is a good idea to check that the screws holding the gear levers are firmly in place as sometimes they come unscrewed. You do not want them super-tight as otherwise you will not be able to move the levers: just tight enough that the levers do not slip.
Then time to spin both wheels and check that they are moving freely, check that the gears are working and check the brakes. If you are confident that all is OK at this point, squeeze a bit of grease into the various nuts and even better, run your chain loosely through a bit of rag and apply a bit of lubricant.
Remember to keep the bits of padding, tape and cable ties with you for the return journey or in the bike box if you are leaving the box until your return.
If you can, take the bike out for a quick ride round the block, just to check that everything is moving nicely. Happy riding!
Any questions?