How to pack your bike for air travel

There are many options for traveling on airlines with your bike. The most common options are:

Standard cardboard bike boxes available from your local bike shop. These are a cheap and effective way of transporting your bike. It is possible to get a Cannondale box as they are shorter than your standard box, this saves space but can be more time consuming to pack.

Bike Bags are manufactured by several companies to place you bike in, often these come with wheel compartments and some with frames to mount your bike to.

Hard Bike Cases are available, whilst expensive and heavier than cardboard boxes and bags they offer the most protection and come with wheels. Hard bike cases are susceptible to more damage by baggage handlers as they are heavier and generally not as easy to handle.

Whichever method you choose the preparation is similar. We recommend you follow the following steps to minimize your risk of damage in transit:

Release most of (but not all) air from tires
Remove rear derailleur from derailleur hanger
Remove handle bars from head stem
Remove your seat along with the seat post still attached
Remove wheels – for extra insurance you can remove your disc brake rotors as well if fitted
Remove quick release skewers
Remove pedals
Remove any projecting accessories such as mirrors, lights, fenders or training wheels
Fit fork and frame spacers – these are available from your local bike shop
If you have disc brakes, fit disc brake caliper spacers in between the brake pads so they do not get accidental compressed

Cardboard tubing can be placed around the frame to minimize the risk of scratches whilst packing and given extra piece of mind.

Tape the rear derailleur to the rear triangle out of harms way and tape the handle bars to the top tube being careful not to crimp your cables or hoses.

Place the frame in the box, bag or case and carefully place your wheels along side the fame with the cassette in towards the frame.

Don’t forget to put in your pedals, skewers and other loose items including tools to reassemble your bike on arrival.

Often you can pack your helmet, shoes and other items in the loose space and use this as additional protection for your bike.

Make sure you clearly label your luggage with name, destination and contact details. Adding an up arrow and Handle with Care or Fragile can sometimes help.

NOTE: Hard cases can incur transportation fees when not in use due to their size whilst cardboard boxes can be flattened or disposed of and replaced easily at your end destination.