General Discussion Triathlon Talk » bike transport - help! Rss Feed  
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2004-06-15 12:28 PM

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Member
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Conshohocken, PA
Subject: bike transport - help!
Hi everyone. I live in PA and am competing in my first Olympic at Camp Pendleton in San Diego on July 17th!! I'm so excited, but I think I underestimated what's involved in transporting my bike x-country. I'll be flying Southwest out - cargo fee ~$40. I don't have a bike case or $300 to buy one. What other kind of box can I use that will protect my ride? Southwest says I have to remove the pedals and handlebars, which means this mechanically uninclined gal has to put it back together. I just got the bike tuned up in April! I'm sure some of you crazys do more than local races! Anyone have any affordable suggestions?

Thanks in advance-
Becky

Congrats, Ron!


2004-06-15 2:38 PM
in reply to: #31532

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Regular
133
10025
Seattle
Subject: RE: bike transport - help!
Here's a thread from last month:

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp...

Unfortunately, it's a bit of a pain. You have a few options:
1) Buy or rent a hard bike case. Rental is about $50 per week, or $300 or so to buy. There is some disassembly required, depending on the case. Usually, you take off the pedals (easy), and handlebars (harder). You can usually leave the aerobars on, but that will depend. Cables, etc. can remain in place. This is the safest option, as it requires some serious work for the airline to destroy. But, do not underestimate baggage handlers. ;-)

2) Buy a soft-sided case from Sci-Con or similar. $350 or so, but no bike disassembly required. You do have to loosen the handlebars so that they can point downward, but that's easy. You remove the wheels, and the bike stands upright on a metal frame. VERY easy to use. BUT, obviously less protection than a hard case. As I found out, paying Southworst $40 for the privilege of mishandling the bike is very stressful. Most people love this case, and never have a problem. But Southwest decided to play football with my bike the one time I travelled with it (4 days before an ironman, yikes!). Sci-con does offer a hard-sided case that also does not require disassembly, but it runs about $450-500. IF I had the money, that's what I would do...

3) Pack your bike in a box. You can buy carboard or light plastic boxes desigend for this for about $100. (ex: https://www.crateworks.com/frameset.html?page=products) Or, you can go to your Local Bike Shop (LBS), and ask them for an extra. They'll usually oblige. Supposedly, Cannondale and Giant are the strongest.

That leaves you with 2 more questions
1) Airline or UPS? Going TO the race, I would tend to bring the bike on the airplane, since it's most likely to arrive when you do. That's ok for Southwest, where the bike charge is just $40. Some airlines charge $50 or even $80, so UPS starts making a lot of $en$e. I shipped my bike back from CA for just $25. (AmericaWest will waive the bike charge for USAT member, but you need to book through the USAT travel desk to get that deal. See the USAT web page for info).

2) How do you get the bike into and out of the box/case? If you are "mechanically uninclined", then you probably want some help. BUT, it gets expensive. Your LBS can break it down and box it, but will generally charge $15-30. Now, once you are at the race site, you need to build it back up. Most races will have a "sponsoring" LBS, and you can usually make arrangements ahead of time for them to build it. That will cost from $20 for a straight build, to $60 for a build-and-tune. Also, if you are shipping UPS, you can usually arrange with the race LBS to receive it. For a fee.

Now, to save money, you can do the box/unbox yourself. Here's a pretty detailed website:
http://lousbikes.com/site/page.cfm?PageID=203
and reassembling:
http://lousbikes.com/site/page.cfm?PageID=95

Personally, I'd intended to pay for the break-down and rebuild before the race, just so I wouldn't mess it up. After the race, I'd intended to do it myself, since it was no big deal if I had a problem.

As it turned out, a friend lent me his Sci-Con case, and I used that to get it to the race. $40. The bike was fine, despite Southworst's best efforts, but I had a very stressful sleepless night before I could get it to the LBS. Having experienced that, and not wanting to look at my bike after a painful bike split, I just brought it to the LBS, and said "here, take it." $55 for them to pack it and ship it.

So, $95, without renting or buying a case. If you can box it yourself, you're looking at $80 to take it via Southwest both ways, or maybe another $50-60 to get mechanical help.


Do you have an experienced biker friend, or a local tri club? I have a friend whose tri club actually has a few bike cases that poeple can reserve for free. If you do get your LBS to break down the bike for you, ask them if you can watch, so you can rebuild it. (Note, you will need a hex wrench for your handle bars, and a pedal wrench for your pedals).

Good luck!
2004-06-15 2:45 PM
in reply to: #31532

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Resident Matriarch
N 43° 32.927 W 071° 24.431
Subject: RE: bike transport - help!
well, Rich covered it all, nicely done I might add.  If it were me, I'd rent a hard case and find a shop on arrival ASAP and have it reassembled, even if it means a huge tip to the wrench.  Then I'd UPS it back home, in the hard case, after the race.

Let us know what you decide to do, I've never actually travelled with my bike.
2004-06-15 2:48 PM
in reply to: #31532

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50025
New Hampshire
Subject: RE: bike transport - help!
Start riding now – you may make it in time :-)
2004-06-15 7:12 PM
in reply to: #31573

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Member
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Conshohocken, PA
Subject: RE: bike transport - help!
Wow! Thank you so much for taking the time to answer so thoroughly. Thank God for you! I still don't really know what I'm going to do, but you've given me many questions to ask all the right people. I am a member at REI in my hometown, which is also ~15 min away from the place I'm staying in CA. Hopefully something can be worked out with them out there for a reasonable price. Thanks again everyone!

Becky
2004-06-16 4:51 PM
in reply to: #31532

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Dallas, TX
Subject: RE: bike transport - help!
Southwest DESTROYED my bike this weekend. I borrowed a hard case from a friend. I had to ship it back because I didn't trust them with it again. The first time it came out of the baggage chute it was upside down (the case was clearly marked fragile and this side up). The second flight (I had to fly back with the empty case) the case was so banged up and torn that I can only imagine what would have happened with a bike in it. They assured me that they handle bikes all the time and blamed it on TSA, but I still wouldn't trust Southwest again. Can you fly on another airline?


2004-06-16 4:54 PM
in reply to: #31532

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Dallas, TX
Subject: RE: bike transport - help!
I forgot to mention, there were volunteers from local bike shops in case you needed help reassembling your bike at my race. I was hopelessly inept with the pedal wrench, so they came in handy.
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