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Flying with Tandem

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hendrich:
We are considering a Thorn tandem and have general questions concerning flying with one having S&S couplers.  That is, the bike breaks into large and small pieces. I have not seen many comments on this subject specific to Thorn tandems, and baggage restrictions and fees are continually changing, so I would appreciate your experiences.

Do you usually box the two halves separately and is finding a box which fits the larger half a challenge?
Do baggage restrictions become problematic?
What are typical baggage fees for your configuration?

Thank You, Mike

Danneaux:
Hi Mike!

I'm a tandem owner who loves riding it, but mine has no couplers, so I'm afraid I can't answer your questions in any meaningful way.

I can only make some general observations about tandem travel abroad in the hope something in them might prove thought-provoking or helpful.

One thing to keep in mind if you plan to tour the European continent: If trains are to be an option, tandems of any sort without couplers could be a problem -- and with couplers, as well. Typically, the first corner at the top of the entry stairs on older trains (as found more commonly in Eastern Europe) is pretty sharp, as is the dog-leg into the area where the bike-hooks are located. These are assigned one hook per seated passenger, and the Raven Tour I used at the time just cleared the floor. If the train is full (and they fill up with more cyclists' bikes as you pass additional stops), then I don't think there would be room to hand a "second half" of an uncoupled tandem.

Newer trains are a dream by comparison with entry only about a curb-height hop at most above the station platform. However, once inside, the bike storage areas are comprised of folded-up seats and what amounts to seat-belts on reels with hooks coming out of the walls to secure the bikes. Again, there is a fairly sharp turn on entry and another dogleg this time around the toilets. Not in any way a problem even for a single tourer with fully loaded panniers, but would be problematic with a fully assembled tandem and I would think it might be a bit difficult to secure both uncoupled halves while underway. I was on a train that pulled out of the station leaving a couple with their tandem on the platform. It did not have couplers and try as they might, they could not figure a way to get it on the more modern train and 'round the corner...the bike made it about as far as the front of the chainstays. I think it could have been done if both wheels had been removed, but in the press of impending departure, they had not gotten that far.

I mention these restrictions not because they would affect air shipment, but because if you tour and find you really *need* to take a train, it could be a bit difficult if you don't have the time to disassemble and pack the bike in boxes that could then be checked in a baggage car. A similar situation hit a French tourist I met along the way. He was riding with a lot of stuff -- fully loaded bike hauling a fully loaded trailer. He got sick and needed to go home, but...the trailer presented allkindsa problems in that regard when he really needed to take the train. It was a real surprise, as he had planned to ride the entire trip. There were no flight options or airports near where he was when he got sick.

I also met an American couple outside Vienna who were riding a tandem produced by a firm located just a couple miles from my home. In their case, the bike had couplers. Her mother back home in the States took ill as the couple approached Vienna, and they told me how grateful they were to be a) near an airport and b) how lucky they were to have a coupled tandem. They did figure on an extra day for the disassembly and boxing before they could fly home. They depended on locally-sourced boxes and -- depending on what was available -- figured on either two or three for the frame (2) and fork (1, if it didn't fit in the other two boxes). They did not give details, but told me the airline baggage costs for the flight over were pretty steep and they expected the same on return. The man did mention they needed to engage a second baggage cart at the airport to haul the boxes containing the tandem and their panniers and also needed to engage a van-taxi rather than a car to bring the disassembled lot to the airport on departure. In this way, I wouldn't think it much different than if they had toured on two single bikes.

As for other resources, questions similar to yours were posted here:
https://tandem-club.org.uk/files/public_html/cgi-bin/db_config.pl?noframes;read=16441
Semi-specific comments here:
http://thorncyclesforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=2521.0
Directly relevant comments here:
http://thorncyclesforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=2521.msg15506#msg15506

All the best,

Dan.

hendrich:
Dan,
Thank you for the information. Your comments regarding train travel are useful since I had hoped that a break-apart would be ok for train travel in Europe. Our tandem does not break apart and we have managed for many years in the states, but that involves rental trucks if we need transport not associated with our car. At least, the 2 piece Thorn break would allow travel with rental cars. However, eventually we would like to fly with it and I have not be able to find much discussion regarding flying with a Thorn Tandem. Thank you for the threads.

Mike

anniesboy:
Does this help?

http://santanatandem.com/Events/BillsTips.html

percussionken:
Hi Mike!

We´ve had a Thorn tandem with couplings for 7 years and we live in Sweden. Been flying every year in Europe and ones to India. Used train in Europe several times.
Trains in Europe can be very different from country to country. In Sweden we are not even allowed to bring a bicycle on the train so thats why we dont do any touring here!
But we have been on trains in France, Germany Austria and Italy and the couplings have been very useful to shorten the length and make it easier to board. But I advise you to make your homework before leaving home. To use trains with bicycle, single or tandem, is stressful. A good resource is;
https://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query2.exe/en?ld=15094&country=DEU&protocol=https:&seqnr=1&ident=ic.0848094.1507880643&rt=1&newrequest=yes&&country=GBR
Remember to tick the box at the bottom"carrige of bicycle"  and you will only get trains with a possibility to bring a bicycle. This site covers big parts of Europe.

Regarding flying we put the front part and rear wheel and all the parts in the S&S soft bag. The rear with front wheel we put in this bag;
https://www.groundeffect.co.nz/collections/baggage/products/body-bag-compact-bike-bag
We cover the sides with card board taken from a bicycle card board box..
The frame is covered with pipe insulation and bubble wrap at rear and front. And, very important the bottom is protected with two of this ;
https://www.rosebikes.se/artikel/rose-bigblock/aid:21988
You put front and rear chain wheels in this blocks and the bottom is protected, they have never failed us.

We always fly in and out from the same place and keep our bags with packing materials at the same hotel, sleeping there coming in and going out.
We dont camp any more and now we only use one pannier each at the rear, we use this;
https://www.ortlieb.com/en/Back-Roller%20Pro%20Classic/
Thats 35 liters each plus handlebar bag.

The two first years we camped and then we used this trailer because it was easy to pack down for trains and flights;
https://www.radicaldesign.com/bicycle-trailers/cyclone-bicycle-trailers.html

Regarding cost for flying, the S&S soft bag goes as normal luggage and the rear as a bicycle.
Other than that one has to study all the fine prints regarding the rules and cost for each airline.

Here is another Thorn tandem crew who has been flying a lot, check them out;
http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/page/?o=1mr&page_id=487382&v=129
They have more couplings and pack everything in bubble wrap and put it in the self-made bag.
Advantage? They only need to keep there light self-made bag on the tour and can source bubble wrap at the other end before flying home.
Here ready at the airport.
http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/page/pic/?o=1mr&pic_id=3129964&size=large

I would recommend this way if you want to fly in at one place and fly out at another place.
This is how the tandem looks with extra couplings.
http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/page/?o=1mr&page_id=387758&v=en

Lastly we find it much funnier to use the tandem then singles on tour :)

Regards
Kenneth

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