My train to France was NO BIKES ALLOWED.
But there was no other way so had to get a little creative… 🙂
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39 Comments
Nice one! Good to see someone getting the common sense approach right. Travelling with a bike has only become more difficult since companies such as Ryanair and then Easyjet started the trend for squeezing every pound out of every customer. Pretty much about at the same time as banks started to treat customers not so much as customers but as cash cows, a commodity to be used milked and drained.
Back in the late 1980's and early 90's it used to be easy to travel with a bike. On a train you simply put your bike into the guards van for no extra fee. Also racing all over Europe at the time airlines were happy to carry bikes for no fee as regular luggage provided they were packed etc. So it is a real shame that it has become so very difficult especially to countries like France, Spain or Italy etc.
Thanks for the video and highlighting this issue, flying to Spain for a training week it often now costs more to fly ones bike than it does to buy a return ticket, and this is on a plane that is flying there anyway. No wonder one well known Irish airline was making I think it was £8m pa pure profit from flying sports goods ( golf clubs, bikes, surfboards etc). Details need checking obvs but you get the picture.
K
Agent Kookaburra 👀
Why not smuggle it in the back of your van and save loads on money? 😀
Brilliant idea! Loved it. ❤
It’s the same here in Canada. Since COVID all coaches and trains do not accept bike, and only option is flight. I have a soft bag and also a hard case and both are quite obvious.
Thanks for this info, will look into it.
I imagine that somebody in Interpol is a subscriber, worldwide alert now issued for a women carrying a strange looking backpack.
that's very dangerous, they could easily confiscate your bike! luckly the train was not available that day! It is because a bike take up quite a bit of space when fully assembly!
"hero in a half shelf" seems very appropriate here.
Clever girl🌻🥳
I'm so impressed by your bike building skills, Katie! Well done!
I hear ya, I'm cycling to Sorrento this summer and have to figure out how I'm getting back to the ferry – most of the high speed trains restrict the size of a bike bag. I'm just gonna wing it as I have a "Transbag" that fits into a bottle holder
Did I hear that right, £404!! WTactualF! That's mad for a couple of hours on a train. Tell me I misheard that.
You need a Ritchey Breakaway 🤣
With you on the ridiculousness of making it hard to take bikes on trains. Bike & train should go together like salt & vinegar!
I used the Post Carry bag to fly my 56cm Specialized Diverge from the US to the UK and back again. It went on as my checked bag, with my tent, sleeping bag and all my clothes in it. Worked like a charm. For something a bit lighter I've also use the Ground Effect Tardis bag to fly with my bike to Iceland. That does not provide as much protection, but it's far less expensive and can be folded up for easy storage or even to mail to your final destination.
Brilliant 😂. It's all about the little wins and getting one over on the system. 👍
It is indeed a puzzle when you want to take your bicycle on the train.
I am leaving on May 20 for Never (FR) where I will follow the Loire to Nantes (FR), Eurovelo 6. In this case I cannot disassemble my bicycle and put it in a suitcase for the train journey and can therefore e.g. do not travel with the TGV.
Short description of my trip:
1. By bike from my home to Brussels South station 60km
2. Train from Brussels South (10:40) to Lille Flanders (FR) with 1 change in Kortrijk. €4 extra cost for bicycle (Hopefully there is room for my bicycle, not guaranteed)
3. TER train from Lille Flanders to Amiens. The bicycle "could" be placed on the train for free and not disassembled
4. TER train from Amiens to Paris Nord.
5. By bike from Paris Nord to Paris Gare Bercy (6 km)
6. Intercity from Paris Bercy to Nevers (19:56). Reserve a place for a bicycle that has not been dismantled.
A train journey of approximately (if everything goes well) 9:15 plus about 3 hours by bike from home to Brussels South station.
I’ve just bought one of these. It arrived today – so yes – you can still get them.
Going to use it to fly my 56 Gravel bike to Italy next month.
What a coincidence!!!
Clever Katie, on my recent Blue Mountains Australia MTB video there are limited spaces for bikes, apparently there will be more when the trains are upgraded in the future 🤞
Oh, the things we would do to have our bikes with us! Glad to see your Transfer Case back in action Katie!
Yes fully built bikes on trains always a bit hit and miss, also trains from Manchester. Hope you got refund
Traveling by train with a bike in the US can be equally difficult. I would have thought the UK/Europe would have this all dialed in as your rail system is lightyears ahead of us. I took my bike from San Francisco to Austin Texas in 2021. The route from SF to Los Angles to Texas was booked. So I had to go SF to the Midwest (near Chicago) and south to Austin. Only the route I was on didn't allow bikes. So my bike went the LA – Austin route and I went the other. Crazy. We both got there but I wasn't sure the whole 4-day train ride if I would get to Austin with a bike to actually ride.
That bag is a cracking idea 👌
Absolutely love this ❤👌👍👍👍👍
I very nearly bought one of these a year ago, back then they didn’t have any uk distribution, so you had to order it from the US which is a bit of a PITA. I ended up buying a ritchey breakaway second hand which fits in an even smaller bag ands ace bike too.
Another Brexit benefit! Following Brexit Eurostar first suspended their bike service and then reinstated it, but only to the terminus and not intermediate stations as the bike is held in a separate part of the train and delivered at the end to you. There's not enough time at the Lille stop to organise the logistics around that. Plus the limit on luggage size smaller than a standard bike box was introduced due to the pressure on getting everyone through passport and custom checks which are now such that Eurostar has actually had to reduce the number of trains it schedules daily…. It's not just France that's a destination either limiting cycling holidays via Eurostar – I'd love to bring my bike from Brussels to ride with mates in the UK without the shenanigans of the Dunkirk-Dover ferry!
Pleased you got there with your bike! I would say be careful with Easyjet trying to sneak a bike through, if you don't book it specifically as a bike and try to get away with just a normal 23kg bag for it… When they find out they will still charge you £45 per flight standard charge for the bike (on top of what you've already paid for the 23kg bag trying to smuggle it lol)
I miss the 80s when I could just sling my bike in the parcel/guard's van on a train, no problem. No booking, no extra charge. Sometimes I'd ride with it in there too.
Miss Katie, thank you for the post. Good way to travel.
The Eurostar website actually states quite clearly that it is possible to take your unmounted bike on the train from London to mainland Europe but that you have to hand it in at the luggage department. But I know from experience that taking a bike on the train is quite the challenge. I travelled from the Netherlands to the North of Spain last January taking a fully loaded touring bike. Since taking it apart was not really an option I had to come up with another way to get all the way to Spain. Most regional trains in the Netherlands, Belgium and France will accept taking your bike on board as long as it's not too busy. I took 10 trains (about two days of traveling) in total but I got there. So as long as you stick to regional trains it's doable. I understand that this won't get you across the channel though and that it's not really quick. It's also quite expensive if you compare it to flying.
I've got a video of a baggage handler watching my bike (in a hard case) just smash off the end of a conveyor belt. I'm going to stick with a hard case.
Kudos to you for being inventive. I don't get it either, what is so wrong with a bike that it is considered a problem. Same on trains her too.
This is the reason I got an Orucase. It even complies with TGV's baggage requirements in France!
Good work Katie. You can also claim that it's just bike parts if challenged 🙂
I've got a similar bag but it's not very well padded. It makes no sense to disallow people taking bikes in a bag or case.
This is amazing Katie! I’m going to to look into this! I’ve used a battered old canvas CRC bike bag which is massive and the airlines properly have your pants down charging for it!! I’ve used it a few times and the airport staff especially at Manchester are a nIgHTmArE!! They take 10times longer to put it through than the European airports at the other end!!
So thank you!! And yes bikes on public transport generally is a joke!!
I went on the train with my bike in a bike box to Inverness a couple year`s. Booked it on the train prior to travelling, they only have space for two bikes!!! Needles to say the connecting train from Sterling to Inverness was full and they would let me on, had to wait 4 hrs for the last train which was also full but the conductor bent the rules and let me on. So much for wanting to encourage more people off the roads onto public transport.
Class! Years ago I came back from a cycling holiday in France with more than the permitted amount of alcohol. I carefully wrapped each bottle in an item of clothing and I think my tent managed to hide two. It was heavy and I carefully adjusted the tyre pressure and made sure it did not chink when I went over a bump. And the goons in peaked caps didn't even give me a second glance.
I have a Richey Break-Away, and its bag is within airline size rules (I've taken it all over the world, so i know it works!). No stress, it has backpck straps, and the bike weighs 7kg built up. EZ!
I got caught out by the Eurostar bike ban 2 yrs ago, having only discovered i couldn't do it a week before I left! Having paid for the tickets months before and trying to find other options, I ended up begging for a cardboard bike box on my local club's Facebook page and posted the bike to my hotel in France. It should have arrived the day I arrived but I had to wait a further 4 days …. !! Grrr. Tense times. Luckily, I had a 3 week holibob. I got a ferry back to Blighty – no issue taking a bike, of course.
This is a long-winded way of saying I wish I was as clever as you – bl00dy well done!