Flying with your Bike

[Red Ryder]

My wife and I are headed to Maui on Sunday. I was going to go in and check out Island Biker. We plan to rent bikes for a couple of days. We'll see how it goes, its suppose to rain everyday we're there. But I gotta ride and it will be fun getting muddy with a bike that's not mine.

Originally Posted by danlorek

it's funny that you should ask this as i'm going to maui on friday. instead of bringing bike though, i'm just renting one through Island Biker...
http://www.islandbikermaui.com/rentals.asp

i just sent them an email to reserve the bike in my size, no payment was necessary.

They have spesh enduros which i'm already quite familiar with and it's $75 first day and $50 the next. this is comparable to bringing your own bike, but i get to wear and tear someone elses and not have to deal with bringing mine, worrying about it getting stolen, or breaking it down for boxing.

seems like the trail selection is a bit limited over there though.

I can't believe how many times I'm on the top of the second page

[Roger Rabbit]

I have flown to Hawaii with bikes and have also rented them while there. Here is what I learned:
The information about charges can be found on the airline's web site. It's buried in there but they will have a contract of carriage for sporting goods with a sub section on Bicycles. No one on the phone will know about this.
My only experience was with Hawaiian Airlines to Kona.
Your bike box is not part of your two bag allowance and all the stuff about excess baggage charges over 50lbs does not apply to bikes. They're separate. Your bike box cannot weigh more than 70lbs. They won't charge you excess if it does, they just won't put it on the plane. That said they never weighed mine. They charge $80 from the mainland and $25 inter-island, each way.
When I checked in, I must have been particularly charming and polite as the agent said she wasn't going to charge me here in San Diego. On the return flight I was charged $80.
The right bike box is critical. I believe the horror stories of baggage handling. However, it's not just baggage handlers you have to think about. It's TSA. They have to be able to open the case, search it and re close it securely. They will not take the care you did in packing all the parts. This is the problem I see with clam shell designs. Your wheels are packed underneath your frame and overlapped so that the hubs don't contact the frame on the other side of your foam sandwich. The frame must be removed from the box to search the wheel compartment.
I bought a Tri all 3 bike box. It's expensive but in my case we were taking two road bikes and they have a model that can accommodate both. The box weighs 35lbs and with bikes came to 69lbs. Obviously for mountain bikes you can only get one per box under the limit. The bike mounts to a fork mount and the wheels strap in next to the frame. You either remove the stem or just the bars. On the single carrier no need to remove pedals and just drop the seat post. TSA can lift the top off, look in, and not undo a thing. It rolls behind you on four wheels and you can pile other bags on top when in the airport.
In our case the investment was worth it as we were looking at renting two bikes for ten days. We came out about even on it's first trip.
Next January we are going to take them to Maui. Last time we were there we rented. The locals know where the trails are there. Many are on private land I'm told and you have to know someone.
I highly recommend Maui for road riding. There are some fantastic routes and where else can you ride from the beach to 10,300' in less than 40 miles?
gocyclingmaui.com Donnie Arnault has the scoop on mountain biking there as well as offering road tours.
Here's a pic of the box upon return home. You can see where the box frame was deformed by the baggage gorillas but no damage to bikes. If you don't want your frame scratched you must wrap every part of it in pipe insulation.

[art23rockpile]

There's an informative article on flying with a MB in the Feb.08 issue of MountainBike Action.
I've never flown with a bike personally, but I fly with surfboards twice (or more) a year. Aloha Airlines charges $50 for a board bag (I travel with 3-4 boards), and they've never damaged any of my surfboards. Be prepared for a thorough inspection from TSA when you leave the islands.
Have a great trip!