Little boxes

August 29, 2023

Recycled Cycles has become our new go-to for procuring bike boxes. They always seem to have some lying around, and they're super cool about grabbing a couple from the back room. Or maybe it's a spot next to their recycling bin, because they've always flattened them. It's no bother -- a few swipes of tape makes them all boxy again.

Thanks to this fine shop, I have in my possession two very average bike boxes (54.5"L x 8.5"W x 29.5"H [138cm L x 21cm W x 75cm H] for those wondering). I think I'm up to the task of safely packing our steeds into these. Considering that we don't know what kind of boxes we're going to find in Rome for our return trip, this is good practice. One can get very complacent after a few rounds of packing bikes in huge e-bike boxes. After my chainring fiasco in France, I swore that I would never again remove the rear wheel when packing a bike. It seemed that big boxes were the only way to guarantee enough room to do this. So I had my doubts about these smaller boxes, and I just wanted to get this job over with. If I were to fail at this task, it wasn't too late to start hitting up e-bike shops in hopes of finding a couple of mondo-boxes.

I disassembled my bike enough to test things out. With the front wheel, front racks, and fender off, it just barely fit lengthwise. Whew! Height was another matter. I figured I'd have to remove the seatpost. What I wasn't counting on was having to remove the rear rack. Oh well, it's easy enough to do. I had to try a few different configurations of handlebar and front wheel positions before I found something that worked and looked safe.

On to the new bike. I expected the job to be much simpler. Simpler, yes, but not by much. I had to remove its seatpost and rear rack too. It's a pretty tall bike for being so petite! Luckily, it's also very light. With the heavier parts removed, I could easily lift it with one hand and hoist it into the box. Even so, I was exhausted after so much finagling.

We'll keep the boxes unsealed until we have all our gear packed. Our rule of thumb is to only put bike stuff in bike boxes, plus a sleeping bag in each for extra padding. My theory is that the lighter the box, the less likely luggage handlers will toss it around carelessly out of spite. But maybe I have that backwards.

As much as I love the concept of pedaling out of the airport, I think we might spring for a van taxi this time. It'll boil down to how we feel when we land.

It's finally beginning to feel we're about to head off on a new adventure!

Might as well take advantage of the bike stand now. I'm not going to have one in Fiumicino!

I held on to this fork protector from our last trip. Better safe than sorry.

Does bubble wrap do much to protect the drive train? Packing theater at its finest.

Here's what it looks like before putting all the junk I took off the bike into the box

...and with all the junk. I use cable ties to keep stuff from rattling around, and hopefully to keep TSA from moving things around willy-nilly while they do their inspection.

Another angle of the junk. The purple bag has all the loose odds and ends, as well as the contents of my trunk bag. I might swap the bag out for a pannier.

Looks just as crowded as my box, but it's a LOT lighter.

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