Comment transporter son vélo en avion ?

Un échange de points de vue apparu sur le site CyclingNews en septembre et octobre 2002.

En premier lieu, la question : Flying a bike - to box or not?

After three trips to Europe with my bike, once using a rented commercial bike case, twice using corrugated shipping crates, I am planning to present my bike at the airline counter next month more or less as is. Following instructions on the airline Web sites, I will remove the pedals and release the handlebar so that it can be lined up with the top tube, but other than that and some pipe insulation on the main tubes, the bike will be road-ready. I actually went out and blew $250 on a Trico bike case a few weeks ago, but one look at this 30-pound monstrosity with its instructions for removing both wheels, pedals, handlebar, seat, chain, etc., and I realized there had to be a better way. Now, upon arrival at Fiumicino airport I won't have to lug a 50-pound wheeled box on and off the train, and when I reach my destination I won't have to spend 30 minutes reassembling my bike. Nor will I have to find storage space for the empty case while I travel -- and at my home. I'd like to hear from others who have traveled with uncrated bikes on airlines recently. Any horror stories ?
Steve Oakey

I flew round trip from Philadelphia to Eureka California last July. I did exactly as Steve Oakey mentioned - After calling United Airlines to check with them, I showed up at the ticket counter with bike and tools. Even though I had called that morning and checked that they did, in fact, have bike boxes, I was informed that they did not. After a 5 minute circular conversation, they then informed me that they did have a bike box for me and sold the flimsy cardboard bike box to me for $10. Happily, it was large enough to accommodate my 64cm Cannondale. I unclamped the bar from the stem, removed my left crank, put the bike in the box, and cocooned the whole thing with an outrageous amount of their tape. This part of the process was quite easy. While this involved about 10 minutes of work, I probably saved 20 minutes of walking and waiting for the bus by riding my bike from long term parking to the terminal.

This was just fine for getting to SFO. I saw my bike box being loaded in Philly, and unloaded in San Fran without any problems. However, while I made the transfer to my flight up the coast, my bike did not. It came in a few flights later and had obviously been man-handled by the ogres in SFO. There were pedals and bar ends sticking out of the crumpled cardboard box.

My advice is as follows :
1.) If you are flying direct and show up a bit early, your bike will probably be just fine. They'll just stand it up next to the plane while they load the normal luggage. It will be the last thing on, and the first thing off. No problem. You can ride your bike out of the airport if you want.

2.) If your trip involves transfers and you need your bike for a race or something, bear in mind that if there are any problems or delays in transferring baggage, your bike will be the first thing they leave behind. They will consider your bike an unusual thing, and will only attended to it in their free time AFTER dealing with all the normal luggage. For both legs of my trip, they had to deliver my bike the day after I arrived.

3.) If your trip involves transfers, it is quite possible your bike will get squashed. In fact, they might even be mad at your bike because it causes more work for them. Definitely remove the pedals - I would remove the cranks if they're the new Dura-Ace kind. Remove the rear derailleur as this is the one part of your bike that protrudes an undue amount and is not designed to be pushed and pulled upon. Remove the water bottle cages. After my trip, it took me a while to track down the loose water bottle cage as the source of squeaks when I pedaled hard. As someone who routinely snaps handlebars and stems, I have attempted to remove from my mind the squashing my bars took. - and realistically, while I cringe to think of the bad, bad luggage handlers tossing my bike around, I probably stress the thing far more on a typical training ride.
Rob Murray, Princeton, NJ

I've not had anything untoward occur with my own bike while flying, but I would definitely not leave its safety up to airline employees. I remember flying to Paris this April (Aaah, Paris in Springtime...). Looking out the window of the plane as we sat on the tarmac at De Gaulle, I watched with some interest as the conveyor was rolled up to the baggage hold. One of the first things rolling off was a corrugated cardboard bicycle box. As soon as it rolled within his reach, the goon in the orange vest grabbed it and unceremoniously threw it on the pavement to make room for other cartons rolling out. I pictured my own ride being banged about in that box, and flinched. It might be heavy and expensive to check as baggage, but that hard shell case might be a bit of worthwhile insurance.
Jim Hubbman, St. Peters, MO, USA

I have used a soft bag ala Sporting Tours between Singapore and London for two years now.

Wheels out and in their own bags. Some aircon foam on the stays and a front fork "bridge spacer". Two thin single mattresses form the cushioning - one in the U-shape , other upside down.

Package weighs 15 kg with tool bag and pedals in my back pack for easy security checks.

So far no problems.
John Andrews, Singapore

On the advice of a semi-pro racer colleague of mine, who transported his time-trial bike to Holland and then Australia sans bike box, I have tried the same, albeit on domestic flights only. So far, no problem. The only damage that I had was from the packing tape the airline used to tape my bars to the top tube, which ripped off the clear coat and decals on a mid-end bike.

The rational behind this shipping method is pretty logical. You are as likely to suffer damage with a bike box as without. When the bike is in a box, the baggage handlers do not care or think if it is a bike, a wardrobe, a dead body or 50 kilos of coke. They will treat it as roughly as a duffel bag of dirty laundry. If the bike case is a hard shell, then they will treat it as a personal challenge. Realistically, a baggage handler has no reason to be delicate with a 50 pounds piece of luggage, they will drag it, drop it and generally mishandle it. Also, it is just as likely to be deposited first into the cargo hold under several hundred pounds of other luggage.

When the bike is unprotected, the staff and baggage handlers take greater care, because it is quite apparently more delicate than a piece of luggage.

Also, it will be handled by hand and placed on the top and/or front of the cargo hold. Most people actually are not total idiots, so your bike has even odds of arriving at your destination in the same condition or better than if it were in a box.

One other note, is that the airline will probably deflate your tires as well.
Dave Anthony

I've flown to Frankfurt and Gatwick airports from the USA, both times using bike boxes that I got from the airlines when I checked in. It only took 10 minutes or so to reassemble, and I could leave the box next to the garbage cans at the airport. Very easy, no problems.
Greg Angell

I recently flew to Hawaii and back from the Midwest with my MTB in a travel case I borrowed from a friend. True I had to pull the stem and bars off the fork, pull the pedals, remove the rear derailleur leaving the cables all hooked up. The wheels pack in the box on the other side of the frame set separated by a foam barrier. This worked great and the bike made the trip safely.

I didn't get charged the whole way to Hawaii, two different airlines, and was expecting to pay $75.00 for each airline each way. Much to my surprise, I only got charged on the way back.

All I can figure is on the way over, they figured the Travel Case was considered a piece of my luggage. But on the way back, they identified it as a bike and wanted to make a little cash on the deal by charging the extra fee to cover insurance of marking it as "handle with care". You know if I had it my way, considering the bike was in a travel case, I wouldn't insure it and consider it a piece of my luggage.

Anyone have more experience traveling with a Travel case? I am pretty sure I wouldn't want my bike out in the open without some sort of protection. Ever see those people handle luggage ?
Kevin Burke, Lincoln, NE, USA

I have used UPS. No horror stories. On time, and intact. Haven't tried this to Europe, but domestically this sure as hell beats lugging a bike to and from the airport.
Jay Dwight, USA

My girlfriend and I have flown all over Europe and have only cheap, non-padded bike bags. My favoured technique involves minimum dismantling so that I can put both bikes together again in 15 minutes without many tools.

Right way up the bike sits foam round the saddle and handlebars, and only needs removal of foam and re-installation of derailleurs and wheels to ride. 'Duck' tape seems to be the best stuff to hold everything together as it's sticky enough to be peeled off and re-used on the way home on all the foam bits. I would love to have a hard case, but £2-300 for a nice one is too much. Also most require rotating the bars in the stem, which would mean either having rotating bars every time the bike hits a bump on your holiday or a large chance of requiring a replacement stem when the highly torqued Allen bolts holding the bars shear or strip the thread.

To avoid damage in my non-padded bag I do the following:
Put plumber's pipe insulation foam round all the frame tubes, seat post, saddle (Cut each piece of foam to cover as much of the frame as possible. Label the tube so that you can quickly put it back on the right tube on the way home).
Put the wheels in padded bags with closed QRs (I've given up removing QRs as the axles have a knack of punching holes in things). Put the derailleur and as much chain as possible in a plastic bag and tape between chainstays. Tape the chain round the big ring (avoids puncturing the bag and also bending teeth).
Put a plastic spacer in the rear dropouts.
Put pipe insulation covers over sticking out and expensive bits such as pedals and brake levers.
Put pipe insulation between top tube and handlebars, turn bars round and tape together.
Position bike in bag with wheels on each side to protect everything, tighten bag straps to hold everything together.

So far I've managed not to pay any baggage charges by refusing to do so, and pointing out that my luggage weight is within limits and baggage size restrictions. After all, I wouldn't have to pay anything if I had a picture frame in the large black nylon sack.

Hope that helps anyone planning to travel.
Andrew Salmon, London

I have used a hardshell case for three years in Europe. It looks a little scuffed up but once I learned how to pack it properly it has worked out very well. The only drawback is that it really is pretty heavy and quite awkward.

When I rode the Camino de Santiago in May, I traveled on some little Air France planes to Bayonne. All I had to do was reserve space. The travel agent told me that there was no rate for bikes but I would pay for overweight baggage at the rate of 10 Euros per kilo. I calculated that my case would weigh around 11 kilos and the bike 10, so when they asked I told them I had around 25 kilos in weight. No extra charge in either direction although the norm is only 20 kilos. In fact, when we weighed the case coming home, it was a lot closer to 35 kilos.

I had arranged with the hotel in Bayonne to leave the case there while I went off and did my two week ride. No charge for this either.

The case was not terribly expensive but I consider it cheap peace-of-mind.
Leslie Thomas Reissner, Embassy of Canada, Washington, D.C

If you fly, value your bike and want to be sure that it gets handled very well, pay the insurance from the airline for an over valued item (airlines are only required to pay up to a certain amount (I believe it is around a thousand dollars) for a single item. The fee isn't much, but the handling becomes top notch! You don't have to fully insure it, that is not the point (although do so if you feel the need). The point is that over valued items get clearly marked and unlike writing "fragile" or slapping a "First Class" sticker on it (which means nothing to the flight line guys), an over valued item is usually the first thing handled, transferred and delivered.
Charles Manantan , USA

I never would have imagined that, after spending major cash on their dream ride, someone would load it into a cardboard box, and willingly hand it over to those jump-suited goons at the airport ? What are you thinking ? I traveled to Europe this summer with my beater mountain bike, and I used a friend's hard case. It was one of those hard-shell plastic cases with foam padding inside and caster wheels on the bottom so you could roll it through airports, train stations, etc. Honestly, I never would have considered bringing my bike without a proper container. I mean, after all, I did plan on being able to RIDE it once I arrived at my destination !

Come on, folks. This is your bike we're talking about. Your ride, man. Show some respect. If you can't cough up the cash for a hard case, then check around. I'll bet one of your cycling buddies can hook you up.

And please, no more talk of crumpled cardboard boxes with pedals and handlebars sticking out of them... a little decorum, please.
Doug Cook

A few weeks ago I did both UPS and United Airlines, using a hard case. United treated the bike more considerately than UPS, and of course was faster. In the end, no damage going either direction.

United did not even flinch at charging to transport the bike. This may be very agent dependent, but my agent was clear that it was a bike (he recognized the case) and that I was going to pay to take it along. And, it was worth it!
Peter, Scotts Valley, CA

First off, I would never trust any bike to the airlines in anything other than a hard case. Maybe if you are flying from Western Europe, where they are more accustomed to handling bikes, something less would suffice, but certainly not in the US. I have been using a Trico case for longer than I can remember and it is probably one of the best investments I have ever made. Yes, it's true that you have to disassemble your bike, but the safety a hard case provides is worth the trouble. I have flown across the country countless times with nary a scratch to my bike. Further, I have flown to France, Singapore, Vietnam, Australia, and Japan, all without any damage to my bike.

Finally, I have found that when using a hard case, my bike invariably makes it to my destination with me (even when I flew to Vietnam and missed several flights and flew three different airlines to get there). I surmise that this is because they load a hard case with regular luggage due to its strength and stability. So, if you have any love or respect for your bike, go for a hard case.
Ben Stafford, California, USA

Simple rule: A high-quality road bike? Box and pack it carefully. MTBs and bikes you don't care too much about will travel OK in the airline provided box and you might even get away with checking it unpacked....I've even seen quality road bikes checked as luggage on domestic flights within France emerge at the other end in perfect condition.

Background: We've been traveling to Europe from the US for 15+ years. I can't even count the trans-Atlantic flights and various connections over the years with our own personal machines, not to mention those of our clients joining us for our cycling tours each year in Italy.

We include detailed packing instructions (and we'd be happy to email or FAX them to any cyclingnews.com readers) to our clients but remember this: A properly packed bike will travel much better than an improperly packed one, no matter if you use a cardboard box robbed from the trash at your local shop or a special travel case.

One observation about travel cases: the slippery plastic box types are difficult to grab when you care about the contents, let alone when you're a baggage handler trying to quickly load or unload an airplane!

We've found better results with the BikeProUSA RaceCase. Besides its ease of movement through the airport, we've observed baggage handlers loading them. The grab handles sewn on each end plus the sides offer these guys a much better chance to get a decent hold on the bike which reduces the chances of dropping them.

Of course, being a "soft" case you might think that protection is compromised when the baggage handler is having a bad day and dropkicks EVERYTHING on or off the plane! I once watched our double-wide case travel up the conveyor belt to the cargo hold one time as we were taking our seats on the plane. It slipped 90 digress and failed to squarely enter the cargo door.

You can guess what happened next. It spun around and fell off the conveyor and all the way back to the tarmac! I remarked to my wife that if the bikes emerged unscathed it was the perfect testimonial to the protection provided by the cordura nylon and foam padding that surrounds the bike(s).

The bikes were in perfect condition when we unpacked them at our destination.

Am I biased? Certainly! We sell the cases to our guests (at a miniscule profit I might add) because they're easy for us to handle too! Drawbacks? One. UPS will not take them for shipment. They work only when your bike travels with you as luggage.
Larry Theobald

Several times I've been able to get my huge Performance bike case on various US domestic flights by telling the desk agent that it was a "display case for a marketing meeting", or a "special suitcase". Apparently its up to the agent's discretion/mood. Interestingly, Newsweek mag just did a piece on airlines nickel-and-dimeing to make up for lost revenues: no more whole soda cans, 1 olive instead of 2 in the salad, and increased fees for paper tickets.

Last year, Alaska Airlines quietly collected $20 million in extra baggage charges and other levies. Apparently the airline told ticket agents it would dole out free DVD players and HDTVs to whoever could collect the most fees.
Bryan Hains, New Haven, CT

Thanks, everyone, for all the input. I'm using pipe insulation on the main tubes and plastic aquarium tubing on the stays, plus, as per advice here, I'll pad the rear derailleur as well as possible, plus pad and tape the handlebar to the top tube. My bike, incidentally, is a 2-year-old Hampsten Cinghiale Pro with a Chorus-10 gruppo. The bike is going to be checked Sunday with Frontier in San Diego, reclaimed at BWI, checked a week later with British Airways at Dulles and reclaimed the next day at Rome Fiumicino.

We fly back from Fiumicino on the 28th with an overnight at Gatwick, when I'll have to reclaim and recheck, and I'll finally reclaim in San Diego on the 29th, hopefully with an intact bike. I'll report back with my experiences. I'm going to be riding mainly in Tuscany, where we've ridden twice in the past on Andy Hampsten's tours (highly recommended), but we also have trips planned to the Cinque Terre (no riding) and Lake Como.

Thanks again,
Steve Oakey, La Mesa, CA

page mise à jour le 4 octobre 2002 par SVP

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