In the future I will be having some extended leave from work and planning on having a touring holiday around England. I would be interested to know if it would be more economically viable to fly my bike from over Australia or buy a bike when I arrive and then sell it before I go home
1
philipd
In the majority of cases, it will be much cheaper and easier to take your bike from home. It is a tough squeeze sometimes, but most people will usually get their bike and kit onto the plane without excess charges. If you do a search through this branch you'll find a lot of discussions on how to bring a bike on a plane and keep everything within the allowable weight limits. Be careful to check the airlines baggage rules directly or via your travel agent before booking - some airlines are more liberal than others (in general, Asian or Middle Eastern airlines are easiest, American ones the worst).
Its also worth saying that bikes are particularly expensive in the UK. It would be quite a hassle to find a good bike second hand and then sell it again at a reasonable price. If you buy it new, there will always be a big hit in its second hand value, no matter how well you treat it.
2
simonhill
I agree with Phillip that it will be cheaper to fly over your own bike, cos it is usually free. If flying ex Oz, you will probably have to box your bike and may find that you don't have much of your 20kgs left for your other luggage.
Another idea may be to enquire on the CTC website (UK's main cycling organisation) re buying a second hand bike from one of their members. You never know, somebody may just have the very thing for you.
www.ctc.org.uk go to the message board.
3
dannyfrankszzz
I went from UK to Aus/NZ and took my own bike. IMO, better to have your own bike that you're familiar with and understand how it works. What you don't want to be doing is running around trying to find a better deal for a bike - complete waste of time! When you have to take it on board a flight, just go to the local bike shop the day before and ask for a spare bike box - they usually let you have one for free.
4
dotravel
Same. The most economical bike is the one you have already. Most everyone takes their own bike with them. Just ride to airport, strip it, check it in. Get off plane, and ride. Is set up to go, up and running already.
Very few pay extra for the bike. Even that be cheaper than buying and dumping. And
Take a long time to find and set up a bike in an unfamiliar place. Time wasted, best spent riding. Like hey, many have trouble finding way from airport to town even.
Is much easier than you are thinking. Even if you try to make it hard and complicated, it is easy.
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