[Yak] Packing my Tikit for a one way move

[Andy Heath]

Virgin carry bikes for free
I am currently in US having travelled here from UK on a virgin-atlantic flight with my tikit in it's case without charge

It's the large suitcase

Andy   

Sent from my iPad

On 12 Sep 2010, at 22:51, "Robert Keith" <rob at thermid.com> wrote:

> Thanks for the advice everyone.
> 
> I did not want to use a 71" suitcase because the biggest I am allowed is
> 61". The low rate on Virgin is specifically for sporting equipment so it
> needs to look like that. After a fair bit of disassembly I got it into a
> heavy walled box 950 x 470 x 262 mm; 66 baggage inches. Along with
> tools, spare parts, spare tires, a helmet and track pump it is a pretty
> snug fit. I used loads of bubble wrap and there is a big cardboard tube
> protecting the box from being crushed at the point where the rear forks.
> Now it looks something like sporting equipment and I can lift it easily.
> Now all I need is for some drone to tell me that a folding bike is not
> sporting equipment.
> 
> Thanks for the tips Bob. I know all about North American baggage
> handlers. I go there regularly. On the last trip, MEL - LAX - EUG - SLC
> - DFW - BOS - DTW - LAX - MEL with numerous transits, both mine and my
> wife's suitcases were utterly shattered. Now we are moving there. We
> lived in Edmonton for a while. Once I bought a new hard Samsonite in
> Edmonton. One direct flight to Vancouver and six of the corners (all but
> the wheels) were bashed in, to the extent that the material cracked, and
> there was a deep scratch across the front. The handlers must have been
> true artists to do all of that accidentally. I hate to think what would
> happen to a bike in a case subjected to that treatment.
> 
> Thanks and regards,
> 
> Rob
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On Sat, 11 Sep 2010 11:06:29 -0500, "ken preston"
> <secondwindctc at gmail.com> said:
>> Hi Rob
>> 
>> Why don't you pack your Tikit in a box that meets the airline guidelines
>> and
>> save the extra charge?  We've done that before on one way trips and it
>> has
>> worked well for us in the past.
>> 
>> I copied the outside dimensions of the hard case.  If you decide to do
>> this
>> make sure you use extra pieces of cardboard in between main pieces of the
>> bike.  Bike Friday used nylon ties to tie those pieces to secure them. 
>> That
>> works well.
>> 
>> Good luck, Ken P.
>> 
>> On Fri, Sep 10, 2010 at 4:54 PM, Robert Keith <rob at thermid.com> wrote:
>> 
>>> Hi All,
>>> 
>>> I am in the process of moving from Melbourne Australia to Boston. I have
>>> tickets booked MEL - LAX - BOS on Virgin, and they will take a bike
>>> through for A$67.50, so I want to bring my Tikit with me instead of
>>> sending it in the container.
>>> 
>>> I am thinking of getting a solid cardboard box and packing it well. I
>>> can't really get a feel for the size of the box I need. Does anyone know
>>> the dimensions of the box used by Bike Friday to ship these bikes?
>>> 
>>> Regards,
>>> 
>>> Rob
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Yak mailing list
>>> Yak at bikefriday.com
>>> http://store.bikefriday.com/mailman/listinfo/yak
>>> 
> _______________________________________________
> Yak mailing list
> Yak at bikefriday.com
> http://store.bikefriday.com/mailman/listinfo/yak