1/5/23 9:07 AM

I have serious anxiety about flying with my bike. I don't like people even looking at my bikes without setting up boundaries, expectations, and signing a damage liability contract but the thought of handing them over the barely sentient troglodytes (nope, not bitter or judgmental AT ALL) at TSA makes my blood pressure rise exponentially.

But I also plan on going to the UK this spring for a cycling clinic with my coach so this weekend will be a good test run. A friend feels the need to have the government recognize his relationship and I'm weirdly being supportive of this odd decision and going down to TX this weekend for some free food and NA beer.

Box is from Bike Box Alan, British company with a very British name. My coach recommended them as being the best of the best. Hard to say but it seems sturdy enough. Well built and relatively easy to use.

The one weird design issue...this may be standard but I don't know....is that you put the QR axle through a hole in the lid and attach the QR from the outside. So anyone can unscrew the cap and A- leave you without a QR cap when you get to your destination and B- allow your wheel to roam freely for the remainder the trip.

<img src="https://i.imgur.com/vDexyFY.jpg" width=1000px>

1/5/23 11:25 AM

Maybe get a QR set with 5mm allen. They sell them as anti theft devices.

More-so to combat a lost piece you'll need to use bike once unpacked, or need tohave extras on hand in the even, etc.

Seeing your road Strong, same era as my 2000 Foco frame, talk about amortizing well, eh?

I put 30mm tubulars on mine recently. :)

1/9/23 10:49 AM

Flying with the bike was pretty easy, but riding in TX was horrible and traumatizing.

The box was easy to use, though it gets a bit fussy lining up the tabs and holes on the clasps when closing. Cursory inspection showed no issues with bike and it rode/handled just fine. Despite putting zero extras in the case to make it clear to x-ray that it was just a bike TSA opened it on the way out and for some unknown reason unscrewed the nut from one of the spare QR skewers I brought. I had put it on as far as it would do so I find it unlikely that it came off without human intervention.

Now, let's talk about TX. I was in McKinney, NE of Dallas. I went east toward what were country roads. The roads themselves were not great but the surface was generally ridable. Shoulders were usually 3' or more so, on paper, that all seems good.

But what I didn't expect was that they carve rumble strips into the shoulders. WITAF???

So I was forced to ride just inside the lane of traffic on (usually) 55mph roads. Not fun. Add to that the, not entirely unexpected, hatred of my presence by the locals who gave no room, turned in front of me with no buffer zone, etc and it was one of the most, if not the most, stressful rides of my life. I ride on the road nearly 100% and don't get rattled easily. But I was was definitely rattled Saturday. I was grateful to get back to the hotel alive, with a functional bike, and without any road rash.

I realize TX is massively huge and there are likely better places to ride but I have no interest in searching them out. One and done, I think.

1/9/23 11:01 AM

I think I'd stick with Austin. Been twice DFW and I'd be fine if I never went again. Got family NE of DFW close in. As far as weather, it was like Nashville under a heat dome and 5x worse. This time of year would have to be better, extreme weather not withstanding.

I tell my brother the border wall should be on the north of TX, not south. I actually tell everybody that.

Did you ride among the cars? I wonder why I even have road bikes anymore. Riding on the 'road' have zero attraction. Well the ones with cars anyway. ;)

1/9/23 4:44 PM

FWIW I was at a conference in Austin last year and found it a great city to ride.

As a friend said “Austin……that’s near Texas, right?”

As to flying with a bike, I’ve done it many times and never had a problem, but it’s a hassle so, with the casual riding I do now, I generally just rent a bike at the destination. There are lots of places you can rent a good bike and get the fit pretty close. For a major event I might fly my bike, or if I was going somewhere with no decent rentals, but not otherwise.

1/10/23 11:16 AM

By all accounts Austin and San Antonio are not actually part of Texas.

1/10/23 2:52 PM

I'm with Dan. I used to fly a bit with my bike when I was racing a lot of duathlon. I bought a Performance hard shell case that mostly protected the bike, except when TSA opened the case and screwed with the contets and failed to get it packed properly back up 😩. Had the frame scratched and some parts damaged over the years due to RSA inspections. And YES, it's a PITA to break the bike down and put it back together at each end and that's not to mention what various airlines try to charge for obvious bike cases. I had to pay an extra $100 each way for the bike case on several flights and that was over a decade ago. Curious as to what they now charge for International flights?

The last two times I've visited the Pyrenees to watch the TdF and ride some of the lcategorized climbs, I arranged to rent a nice bike at a local French shop and bought all my pertinent dimensions with me. I was over this past July for the Tour and managed to rent a rather nice Scott Addict with compact crankset for very reasonable cost. . Never had an issue with bike fit.

1/10/23 6:57 PM

No charge to fly with it on Delta. I'm flying with it to the UK this spring and will be heading to AMS for a couple days after for work. The LHR-AMS leg is the only one I have to pay extra for but KLM is weird about bikes, you have to reserve a slot ahead of time.

1/11/23 7:34 AM

Rob, Wow, it's a new world out there!
I found this online, dated Oct 2021...

https://www.travelawaits.com/2702272/united-american-delta-no-charge-for-flying-with-bikes/

Back around 2010-2012, fees to check a bike box often ranged from $50-$200, each way. Hard (for me) to believe these airlines changed policy so to reduce revenues.

1/11/23 2:06 PM

Actually, I need to clarify. I have status on Delta and was flying first class. With the FC ticket you get two checked bags and if it's below a certain dimensional size and 50lb it's just another checked bag.

So if you're ticket requires you to pay for checked bags you'll still have to pay a fee for a bike, but it's just the checked bag fee which is usually $25-$35 IIRC.

1/11/23 6:38 PM

That sounds similar to what the link I provided above seems to report. At least 3 airlines have backed off their charges for bike cases.