F1
August 11th 03, 06:29 PM
"David Hill" > wrote in message
...
> Hello.
>
> My wife and I are travelling to SE Asia this December for a three-week
tour.
> We are taking our old mountain bikes turned commuter bikes (beat up
looking,
> but great shape mechanically). We can either borrow a bike box from a
> friend and have to deal with storing it on the other end, or we can, as
I've
> heard from some people, simply check the bikes assembled, with no boxes.
>
> I'm curious to hear from people who have taken the latter route. We don't
> really care about scratches, etc., (10 year old frames), but we don't want
> to arrive and find our bikes with lots of broken spokes and the like.
>
> Thanks,
> D. Hill.
>
I worked at a major airline for 7 years on both the ticket counter and the
ramp side. I have checked and loaded many bikes. The rigid bike boxes do
their job, but they are heavy and cumbersome. A good solution is the
carboard bike box that most airlines have handy at the ticket counter.
Sometimes the cardboard boxes just seemed to prevent scratches more than
anything else. Numerous times we would receive a bike that has come a long
way away and the box would be very tattered. If the pedals were still on
the bike, they would be sticking out of the box, and sometimes the
handlebars would especially if it was a mountain bike. If you don't mind
the hassle, I recomment the following while using the cardboard BIKE BOX: If
the brake/shifter cables stick up, tape them down somewhere that does not
bind the cable, but will prevent them from getting caught on something and
getting damaged if the box happens to open. Take the pedals off and losen
the handlebar and adjust it so that it is parallel with the front wheel and
also lower the seat as low as it can go. This will allow the loaders to lay
the bike flat on top of the baggage/cargo. The problem with the box is that
it is very cumbersome and gets droppped at times (due to lack of hand
holds), where a plain bike is much easier to handle by just grabbing the
frame. The good thing about the box is that it keeps the cables from
getting caught on various things and the flat sides tend to make it easier
to load where there is a tight area just wide enough for the bike; an
uncovered bike (especially with the pedals on) would bind up on other
carge/luggage when trying to fit it in the tight spot. It will store flat
wherever you are when you arrive and worst case, just buy another one when
you leave. Most carriers have them and I believe they were fairly
inexpensive ($8 I think, but that was a few years ago...). If you don't use
the cardboard box, just follow the same directions as above and tape the
wheels to the frame so they won't rotate. This allows them to move the bike
when it is laying flat by grabbing the wheel (end of the bike if loaded
parallel to the worker). Good luck, it's a jungle out there...
...
> Hello.
>
> My wife and I are travelling to SE Asia this December for a three-week
tour.
> We are taking our old mountain bikes turned commuter bikes (beat up
looking,
> but great shape mechanically). We can either borrow a bike box from a
> friend and have to deal with storing it on the other end, or we can, as
I've
> heard from some people, simply check the bikes assembled, with no boxes.
>
> I'm curious to hear from people who have taken the latter route. We don't
> really care about scratches, etc., (10 year old frames), but we don't want
> to arrive and find our bikes with lots of broken spokes and the like.
>
> Thanks,
> D. Hill.
>
I worked at a major airline for 7 years on both the ticket counter and the
ramp side. I have checked and loaded many bikes. The rigid bike boxes do
their job, but they are heavy and cumbersome. A good solution is the
carboard bike box that most airlines have handy at the ticket counter.
Sometimes the cardboard boxes just seemed to prevent scratches more than
anything else. Numerous times we would receive a bike that has come a long
way away and the box would be very tattered. If the pedals were still on
the bike, they would be sticking out of the box, and sometimes the
handlebars would especially if it was a mountain bike. If you don't mind
the hassle, I recomment the following while using the cardboard BIKE BOX: If
the brake/shifter cables stick up, tape them down somewhere that does not
bind the cable, but will prevent them from getting caught on something and
getting damaged if the box happens to open. Take the pedals off and losen
the handlebar and adjust it so that it is parallel with the front wheel and
also lower the seat as low as it can go. This will allow the loaders to lay
the bike flat on top of the baggage/cargo. The problem with the box is that
it is very cumbersome and gets droppped at times (due to lack of hand
holds), where a plain bike is much easier to handle by just grabbing the
frame. The good thing about the box is that it keeps the cables from
getting caught on various things and the flat sides tend to make it easier
to load where there is a tight area just wide enough for the bike; an
uncovered bike (especially with the pedals on) would bind up on other
carge/luggage when trying to fit it in the tight spot. It will store flat
wherever you are when you arrive and worst case, just buy another one when
you leave. Most carriers have them and I believe they were fairly
inexpensive ($8 I think, but that was a few years ago...). If you don't use
the cardboard box, just follow the same directions as above and tape the
wheels to the frame so they won't rotate. This allows them to move the bike
when it is laying flat by grabbing the wheel (end of the bike if loaded
parallel to the worker). Good luck, it's a jungle out there...