Maintenance, Packing and Other Fun Stuff

April 16, 2023

The Necessary Evils

Since it’s been 3 1/2 years since our last big tour, there were a few things that needed to be done with the bikes.

Right near the end of our 2019 CPH to Lecce tour, I had a complete ‘fender failure’ that required a roadside McGyver fix. Kirsten’s bike was in a very similar situation so a fender replacement was in order for both bikes. It’s not a difficult job but with front low rider racks and disc brakes, it’s a bit of a process to fit them properly.

I’m pretty happy with the end results!

The rest of the bike maintenance was pretty routine; oil change for the rear hubs, tire change (slick Marathon Supremes instead of nobby Marathon Extremes), brake check (pads and hydraulic line bleeding) a good clean and we’re ready for packing.

That’s where the fun starts!

When we came back from Lecce in 2019 we ended up having e-bike boxes that were larger than regular bike boxes. This meant that I was able to leave the front wheel, racks and fenders on, significantly simplifying the whole packing process. The boxes we had measured 300 cm total (L+W+D), which met Alitalia’s maximum size spec, but they were slightly larger than the Air Canada maximum of 292 cm.

Our first flight was Brindisi to Rome on Alitalia, so no problem. When we were checking in at Rome for our flight home with Air Canada nobody batted an eye at the boxes so we were home free.

We’re flying the ‘other’ Canadian Airline - WestJet, from Calgary to Paris for this trip (and then a direct flight home with WJ from Barcelona!). West Jet’s bike policy is very good; the bike is one of your regular checked bags with an extra $50 surcharge. However you get a 45 kg weight allowance, not the paltry 23 kg’s most other airlines give you for a bike (Air Canada gives you 32 kg’s). However, you are still limited to the 292 cm total measurement for your box, and they can be pretty rigid about this.

I was pretty sure I could fit our bikes ( and a lot of our gear) into that size of box without removing the front wheel, racks and fenders, but first I had to make the boxes.

Our LBS (Outside Ski and Bike in Canmore - great place!) had some VERY large Gazelle e-bike boxes that I cut down to exactly 292 cm, and with deflating the tires and compressing the new rear fender right up against the deflated tire - the bikes fit. Just!

Tires deflated, handlebars off and zip tied to the frame. We’re ready to go!

With all that done, we’re ready to fly tomorrow evening (17th April) and we’ll arrive in Paris mid-day on Tuesday 18th April.

Let the fun begin.

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Karin KaarsooLet the good times roll!
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1 year ago

Patrick ParnoThats some good airline info, thx. We are flying KLM, so might be bit tight for us. It looks like you fit almost everything into the boxes! No IKEA bags? I was thinking that was a good solution, but I do like this better!
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1 year ago

Lyle McLeodTo Patrick ParnoWe have our front panniers in the box along with locks & water bottles. We are still pretty close to the AC 32 kg weight limit and no where near the 45 kg WJ limit. Both of these airlines have some of the best bike policies in the industry. We make a point of being able to check in on an AC or WJ flight/plane at either end. We been screwed by the 23 kg limit before with an AC ticket but code shared with another Star Alliance airline who’s plane we would be flying on. Not fun.
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1 year ago

Chris NadeauI am playing catch up here. So now I see what you were up to those last 2 weeks - and why hockey was out of the question! Will jump on here from time to time to check in. Bon Voyage! By the way we are headed to Paris on June 16th for a month in France. Zero biking but a ton of walking, eating, drinking and discovery.
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1 year ago