Packin' yer bags

[stu23]

When travelling in the past I've normally put my bike in the bike bag with a cardboard bike box inside to give it some rigidity. This however has only been when travelling up and down the country on the train, bike bag being carefully moved by myself.

Taking the bike abroad, and having little airport men play "catch" with my beloved mtb worries me a little. Any suggestions on how I shoudl pack it so that when they do decide to play "catch" my frame doesnt get destroyed. I've got clothes I could take I could pad it out with and a mile of bubble wrap?


Will that be sufficient or is there a better way?

[Ivor]

Never had to do it myself.... but I believe the usual tips are to use pipe-lagging on the frame tubes and make sure to put a rigid spacer between the dropouts to prevent squishage. and remove the rear hanger+mech and pack that up too.

[Sylv]

Yes I just use a padded bike bag for the plane, but I do try and dismantle as much of the bike as possible:

- forks off
- handlebars off
- driveside crank off
- left pedal off
- rear mech off
- chain off
- discs off wheels (they can get warped)
- skewers off wheels
- saddle and post off
- plastic spacers in front/rear dropouts (get these free from shop)

Then try and arrange all of this in most compact way, with some buble wrap or clothes if possible.

It takes a little while to reassemble when you get there, but it's the only way to ensure all those protruding bits will not get trashed.

Have a good trip!

[Andrew G]

I'm not sure they are as bad as they're always made out to be. Only taken a road bike, but in theory that should be more fragile than a MTB (apart from possibly suspension forks).

Bubble wrap and plenty of it, wheels either side of frame in my bag and I put some cardboard outside them for added protection.

Remove bars (and tape to top tube), saddle/post, rear mech, pedals, frame protectors between dropouts and that's about it. Chain in big ring and pipe lagging around it. Block of firm sponge or some cardboard packing under the bottom bracket to level the frame so all the weight isn't on the chainring.