Boxing Clever – The Smart Option for Travelling with Bike

For something on wheels, bikes aren’t half a pain to transport if you’re not riding them.

You either have to take them apart or buy an expensive rack/carrier to transport them by car; reserve in advance if you want to take them on a train; and you might as well forget it if you want to take them on a coach – operators such as National Express will only accept folding bicycles.

Then there is air travel, which opens up a whole new world of financial pain and potential pitfalls.  Will the luggage handlers treat your pride and joy with the respect it deserves?  How much will the airline charge?  And that’s before you even get to the question of what you are going to pack your bike in.

One rider I know swears by wrapping his in clear, plastic sheeting.  That way, he says, baggage handlers can see what it is and will treat it accordingly.  The problem with his theory is it doesn’t take into account the risk of accidental damage.  Even the most bike-loving baggage handler in the world might be a bit of a butterfingers when it comes to large items.  And there’s also the problem of safely securing the removable bits and pieces such as pedals, seat post and handlebars.

Another option is a bike bag.  For around £100 you can get one that comes with a limited amount of padding and supplement this yourself with acres of bubblewrap or foam.   But the fact that it’s a bag, i.e. soft, and not a case, i.e. hard, still leaves the contents vulnerable.

Which leaves the final, most expensive option – splashing out on a sturdy, highly-protective bike box.  Except this can end up costing you more than your airfare.  Fine if you’re planning on using it three or four times a year.  But what if your trip’s a one-off, or you only take a cycling holiday abroad once a year?

The answer is provided by Bikebox-Online.  They will rent you a top of the range bike box and deliver it to (and collect from after your trip) any address in the UK and Ireland.

They offer either a Polaris bike pod or a Bike Box Alan, which is the one I opted for.  Worth £450, this is as tough as they come.  Somewhere on YouTube is a video of one of these boxes being hurled from the back of a moving van, and the bike inside survives unscathed.  So even the laziest, most incompetent baggage handler would hold little fear.

My only reservation was having to take my bike to bits and pack it in the box.  I have the mechanical aptitude of a tree.  If I’d lived nearer to Bikebox-Online’s depots in Windsor or Portishead, I could have arranged for one of their staff to come and do all the packing for me(for a reasonable extra charge of £10).  But I live in the wilds of Scotland, so had to do it myself.  That’s where the official Bike Box Alan video came in handy…..

Sure enough, within half-an-hour, my bike had been taken apart and securely strapped into the recesses of the box. (Actually, I left my pedals on, they were seized solid.  The box accommodated them easily).  The box doesn’t come with padlocks or security ties, I bought my own.

The strength of the box means its relatively heavy, over 10 kilos.  With my 58 cm carbon road bike inside, plus helmet and saddle bag with tool kit, the total weight was 23 kg.  Bear this in mind, as this exceeds the weight allowance for bikes with certain airlines. (The Bikebox-Online website contains a table of weight allowances and excess charges for the leading airlines).  The box is on wheels, so easy to manoeuvre even if you are carrying hand luggage.

Another potential problem is its size.  Though I had no problem checking it in at Edinburgh airport, it was too big for the Outsize Luggage X-ray scanner at Malaga airport on the return journey.  I had to return to my airline’s check-in desk for a member of staff to escort me down into the bowels of the airport to a bigger machine.  Again, bear this in mind and allow plenty of time for checking in. (The Bikebox-Online website has a list of most airports and what the check in procedure is for bike boxes.  The website also gives precise information about what size/type of bikes will fit in what box, and what boxes fit in which vehicle, all extremely helpful information).

The net result was my box appeared to be treated with respect and my bike arrived safely in one piece.  Well, half-a-dozen pieces actually, but you know what I mean.  I also received lots of admiring, “wow, he must be a professional racer”-type looks as I emerged from the Arrivals hall.  But they were swiftly dispelled when we arrived at our accommodation and I had to beg for help with re-assembling my handlebars.

Rental prices start at £45 per week, with delivery charges for the UK starting at £17 one way.

The website is extremely helpful, reflecting the youthful efficiency of the guys who run the business, Sam Gardner and Steve James, both accomplished amateur riders(Sam is currently competing in a series of MTB races in the US while Steve is the current under-23 National Cyclo-Cross champion and former Junior MTB XC national champion).

More information at: www.bikebox-online.co.uk