How to pack a bike for a flight and travel - with pro-cyclist Sam Boardman

How to pack a bike for a flight to ensure it arrives safely and intact? Throughout the race season, countless videos and photo galleries from some of the biggest events in the world give on-lookers from the outside a peep into what it takes to keep the circus that is professional cycling moving smoothly. This guide covers essential tips on how to pack a bike for the plane and general travel, helping you protect your gear and simplify your journey.

How to pack a bike for travel - Behind the scenes of pro cycling

It won’t come as a shock that it requires a lot, and amidst all this content are sprinkled some of my favorite features are the tours revealing the mechanics’ trucks to provide behind-the-scenes access to their interiors that detail how the various teams store, maintain, and travel with their bikes as they weave their way around the world during the year.

A sneak peek into mechanics’ trucks

I’ve had the pleasure to sneak first-hand glimpses into some of these beautiful behemoths at races, and they are certainly a sight to behold. They are effectively moving service courses with more spare wheels and bikes than I can count, and enough tools for a minimum of three mechanics to fix any possible problem that could go wrong with any of their machines all at the same time.

Packing and traveling with a smaller team

As a smaller team based out of North America that travels to Europe for select races, Project Echelon Racing, the team I compete for, doesn’t have the budget or the infrastructure to have a fleet of bikes stationed overseas to be wrenched on by local mechanics and driven around in a specialized vehicle, so every time we race across the pond, we all pack and travel with our own bikes, and our single mechanic lugs his own tools, effectively compressing the entirety of a mechanic’s truck into a couple (very heavy) suitcases and bike packs.

How we make it work

We don’t own any big trucks or have an entire fleet of spares ready to go, but we are a scrappy team that has done a lot with a little, and I wanted to give you all some insight as to how we make that happen. So, with that, let’s go through how I pack my bike, and what I like to pack on trips!

Which bike bag do you use to pack your bike for travel?

Choosing the right bike bag for your travel

We don’t have a bike bag sponsor, so each rider on the team has used bags that they have used in the past. For me, this has been a Thule RoundTrip Pro semi-rigid bike bag that has been very durable and extremely practical for the last four seasons I’ve had it. What I love about this model is its built-in bike stand that doubles effectively as a mounting bracket that holds the bike in place inside the case. It makes building, breaking down, and working on my bike while away from my garage incredibly easy, and beats having to jerry-rig a makeshift bike stand in a cramped hotel room should I need to work on it.

Advice on bike bags with wheels

If I were to give one piece of advice to anyone traveling with a bike, it is to get a bag with wheels on it. It will save you time, energy, and a potential trip to the chiropractor because you threw out your back trying to carry it between hotels and airports.

Specific tips for packing your bike

1. Wrap your bike!

I am beyond paranoid about my bike getting damaged in transit, and I’m sure we’ve all seen the same kind of videos where the baggage handlers just chuck your luggage onto a cart or a conveyor belt without any regard for its care. It makes me shudder just thinking about it. Accordingly, I cover my entire bike in bubble wrap and pipe insulator foam, the latter of which is an excellent option for protecting tubing on your bike. Sure, it’s cumbersome to do and makes the packing process more involved than if I were to just place the bike in by itself, but the peace of mind that I get knowing my bike has that added layer of protection is well worth the time I spend taping it on. I would encourage anyone traveling with their bike to add some extra padding to their steed before giving it over to the hands of airport transit. It doesn’t add much weight to the bag, and I can assure whatever annoyance you may feel taking the extra time to wrap your bike, will be tenfold when you arrive at your destination to find out a seat stay has cracked because it fell out of the plane.

2. Remove your derailleur

This one may be a bit controversial, but I am a big proponent of removing the derailleur from the hanger before placing it in my bike case. One of the most common issues people encounter when they are assembling their bike after they have traveled is a bent derailleur hanger, and there are few things more annoying. Nine out of ten times, this is because the derailleur was attached and took impact, bending the hanger. By removing the derailleur (which usually only requires unscrewing a single bolt), you eliminate a large and lengthy point of contact and leverage that could bend your derailleur should something land on your bike back or hit it. I like to take the derailleur off, wrap it in bubble wrap, and then place it in the rear triangle. You also don’t have to remove the chain for this which is a plus!

3. Remove your batteries

Remember that airlines don’t allow lithium-ion batteries in checked luggage, so remember your eTap batteries from their respective derailleurs or your Shimano battery from the seat tube. Generally, most people get away with leaving them on their bike without any issue, but I have known friends who have had theirs removed, leaving them stranded at their destination with a bike that doesn’t shift. Disaster! If you’re taking your bike apart to pack it, you may as well take this small and simple extra step. The batteries are small and will easily fit in any carry-on.

4. Shim your brakes

With rim brake bikes becoming rarer and rarer these days, most cyclists are traveling with hydraulic disc brakes.

Traveling with hydraulic disc brakes? Here's what you need to know

I am a firm believer that this was an excellent move for the industry to make in virtually every regard (that’s a whole other blog), but the one caveat has been travel. When attended to, disc brakes are exceptionally reliable and require little maintenance, but when neglected when packing your bike, they can be a bit of a pain. Hydraulic brakes use fluid pressure to not only push pistons out when you squeeze the lever but also retract them inward when the pads make contact with the rotor. However, when you pack your bike, most bike bags require you to remove your wheels, meaning there is no longer a rotor between the pads to provide that pressure, so if your bike bag is knocked and one of your levers happens to be squeezed your pistons will push out, but not retract when the lever returns to a resting position.

How to replace disc brake pads | buycycle

If your bike is not braking efficiently it probably means your brakes pads are worn out and need replacing. Learn how to replace them here!

buycycle BlogSophia Willmes

How to avoid common pitfalls when packing your bike with disc brakes

This is why it’s important to shim your brake caliper when packing it. Any groupset with hydraulic brakes will come with shims that fit perfectly in the caliper and act as a spacer for the rotor when the wheel is removed. Most of the time, if you forget to put a shim in, you will find that your rotor is rubbing against your brake pads when you unpack the bike and rebuild it, and all you will need to do is remove the brake pads, reset the pistons by pushing them back into the caliper, and then re-install your brake pads. In the worst-case scenario, a piston could be pressed so far out that it pops out from the caliper, leaving a giant mess of brake fluid and you will need to re-bleed the entire brake system. Either way, both instances are time that you’d rather be spending getting out on your ride, so save yourself the worry and just use shims on your brakes. They are insanely easy to install and any local bike shop should have heaps lying around. 

Last thing to prevent brake issues during bike travel

If you have 12-speed Shimano and you want to go the extra mile like I do, You can use the little plastic bracing clip that comes installed on the underside of the lever when you first purchase the groupset. This clip prevents the lever from being pressed in at all, and can give a little extra security if you are really worried about your pistons pressing in accidentally.

5. Cover Your Rotors

While rotors can withstand a lot, they are still susceptible to bending, which is extremely common during transit. Many will remove their rotors and store them separately so they can’t be bent, but that requires you to carry a lockring tool, and those are either very heavy or very expensive. Instead, I purchased a set of Oru Case rotor protectors that protect the rotors with a plastic cover that is braced against the thru-axle, and I’ve found them to work great. They are fairly light and eliminate an extra step of disassembly and reassembly. Win win!

6. Protect your headset/headtube: use spacers!

This is a packing technique that I actually think is often overlooked, but one that is as essential as shimming your brakes. Most bike bags require you to remove your bars in order for the bike to fit. I have always preferred to remove the bars and stem as one unit as opposed to removing the bars only and leaving the stem on. For me, it’s simple math: most stem plates require you to unscrew four bolts to remove the bars, whereas removing the stem itself only requires unscrewing three bolts (the top cap, and the two clamp bolts on the steerer tube). Additionally, I am particular when it comes to my fit, and bar angle is at the top of my list. To me, making the stem straight with the fork/front wheel is way easier than trying to dial in the angle at which my bars sit. So, fewer bolts and less time spent readjusting means I remove my bar and stem as one. Also, with the proliferation of integrated cockpits, most people may not even have a choice whether they remove just the bars or the entire stem and bars as one.

When you remove the stem from the steerer tube, you leave the headset bearings exposed, and the last thing you want is for those bearings to get damaged or for the headset to become misaligned. I use spacers to fill the exposed steerer tube and act as a cover to prevent anything from entering or damaging my headset bearings, and make sure I tighten the top cap to ensure that the bearings remain tight and well-protected. This small step prevents bearing races from being damaged, which saves time and money in the long run.

Bonus tip: AirTag your bike!

This is not a packing tip per se, but it is one that I’ve found very useful and that I would highly recommend. Losing luggage is always a possibility, and tracking your bike is an excellent way to ensure that if it does go missing, you have an excellent idea of where it is and where to find it. I use an AirTag, and I have found it incredibly reliable. I place it on my saddle with a Stealth Tag, which ensures that it stays in place and is discreetly hidden so that no one will notice it. I don’t want to give anyone any ideas, but let’s just say it is the best way to track something without a big orange flag that screams “I’m valuable!” attached to it.

Packing tools for the road

You’ll remember earlier that I mentioned my team doesn’t have a mechanic truck, and we usually only have one mechanic who travels with the team on any given trip. This means that this single mechanic is responsible for 6-8 bikes depending on the race we go to, which is a lot for any single person to take on by themselves. Accordingly, I have always packed a basic toolbox to deal with issues that could arise on my own should the mechanic find themselves overwhelmed with half a dozen of steeds to clean and take care of. Luckily, I have never had to use this because the mechanics we hire are great, but in my mind, it’s a simple way to take the load off the plate of someone else and add a helping hand. Plus, I genuinely love working on my bike and take pride in being able to problem-solve mechanical issues. 

So, what tools do I carry with me? In general, it depends on the length, but let’s run through what the typical list looks like for trips two weeks or longer that have a race in it somewhere.

Saddle bag essentials

 I always travel with a saddle bag wherever I go. There will always be times when we are going out for a pre-race spin, or I am traveling for a training block, and I like the consistency of my on-the-go tool bag wherever I end up. 

• Tire boots (made from old tires I cut sections out of) 
• Dynaplug kit (both large and small plug bits) 
• Dynaplug Co2 adaptor 
• Multiple valve extendors 
• Spare valve cores
• Spare valve stem
• Chain pliers (for breaking master links) 
• Multiple spare masterlinks (for both Sram and Shimano) 
• Multi-tool that includes: hex wrenches, torx wrenches, chain breaker
• Bacon strips and bacon fork for tubeless
• 2032 coin cell batteries
• Tire lever 
• Tweezers 
• Patch kit
• Co2 adaptor*
• Two spare tubes with appropriate stem length for my wheel depth 
• Spare cash

With all of this I stuffed into my saddlebag, I know I can fix pretty much anything out on the road to a degree such that the bike will be rideable again. You’ll notice I don’t have a Co2 listed here, and that is because you should never fly with Co2. Some people have gotten away with it in the past (myself included), but it only took one instance of security pulling me from the line and taking me aside to sign a form basically saying, “We discovered compressed gas in your bag, please sign this document acknowledging that if we can you doing this again, we will put you on the no-fly list” for me to stop doing it. Plus, Co2 cartridges are expensive! Sure you could get them through, but if security confiscates them, you are easily out $5 a pop. Instead, I just travel with a small pump, and if there’s a bike shop where I’m going, I’ll buy some there if I really want them. 

You’ll notice that I packed masterlinks for both Sram and Shimano. You may be asking, “Why would you do that if you only ride Shimano?” and the answer is a philosophy a decade in this sport has helped teach me: don’t just think of yourself, think of others too. I pack all this stuff with the idea that I can not only fix and/or replace stuff on my bike but also other people’s too. If you see a fellow cyclist stranded on the side of the road, you want to be able to help them get going again without compromising your own ability to help yourself should you find yourself in trouble later in the ride too. 

Toolbox contents

Yes, you read that right, I travel with a toolbox. It ain’t huge, but, again, I am on the road a lot, and spend a lot of time in places without easy or quick access to shops or tools, and having everything I need with me at all times removes a lot of stress and saves a lot of time.

• A rag
• Shimano bleed kit (no fluid) 
• Sharpies
• Steel/brass teeth bristle brush 
• Scissors 
• A patch kit
• 8mm allen key (specifically for removing and installing pedals) 
• A tire lever 
• Presta mini traveler’s torque wrench kit with extra-length bits
• Hand pump
• Co2 adaptor
• Zip ties
• Measuring tape 
• Mini-crescent wrench
• Flathead screwdriver 
• Chain-checker 
• Electrical tape 
• Chain breaker
• 3-bit Allen key
• Extra dynaplugs 
• Brake rotor truing tool
• Shimano crankset pre-load tool 
• Shimano wire fork 
• Shimano Di2 charging cord
• Nail polish, black and clear (for touching up knicks and scratches)

Extra parts and miscellaneous items

When you’re traveling abroad and racing, there is always the risk of crashing, so you want to have spare parts. Our mechanic usually packs heaps, so we are not responsible most of the time, but if I am going on an extended training trip, I will pack the follow extra bits and bobs:

• Spare chainring
• Spare derailleurs, front and rear
• Bar tape 
• Sealant
• Grease
• Carbon paste 
• Tubular glue (it can be useful for more than just gluing tires!) 
• Spare chain 
• Specialty chain lube (I prefer cyclowax drip lube, so I always carry that with me) 
• Spare cleats, cleat bolts 
• Spare pedals 
• Grip spray (for making sure our aero socks stay up, because we are true bike nerds)

Conclusion: packing smart for success!

And believe it or not, all of this is able to fit into my bike bag and it remains bangs on 50 pounds (23 kilograms). So not only do I have the confidence that I can fix most of the mechanical issues I may come across, but I know that I’m not going to have to an overweight bag fee in the process! 

So, now that you know all of this: do I pack too much? Not enough? I am a practical traveler or a complete nut?! Let me know and tell us what you like to pack on your trips when you are bringing your bike!