Jaunted

Is it $200 roundtrip or each way?

Now I just need to know the best non-airline way to get my bike from the Midwest to NYC. Aside from riding it.

I've been flying with my bike for years, mostly by Southwest out of Baltimore. There are two KEY items here: 1) must weigh under 50 lbs (true for any bag or pay overweight) and I've found their scales to be a pound under my home scale, so 49 lbs is my limit weighing at home, and 2) under 62". This is the part that is impossible for most cyclists because you really can't pack a regular bike down to that size. There are "folding" bikes which are usually pretty limited and low-end, and then there are "take-apart" bikes which is what you really need. I've been using a Ritchey BreakAway for years which comes apart at the seat post and has a special coupler on the downtube. It is a very fine bike, comes in a variety of sizes to get your fit right. I can be riding in 15 minutes including changing clothes upon arrival! Packing to go takes a bit longer. It generally comes with the Ultegra component groupo which is just one-step down in the Shimano line and I never recommend going lower than this (105, Tiegra, etc are not worthy of the savings). The bike rides and looks just like a regular, high-end, steel bike. However, the canvas and plastic case that comes with it does NOT meet the 62" limit and after about 10 trips, the plastic "shell" starts breaking apart. It is a neat design where you could disassemble the case and put it in a locker at the airport, but at most airports, the lockers have been eliminated so this is a problem. Great idea for a pre-9/11 world. BTW, there is a Dahon model that uses exactly the same system and might even be the same bike, sometimes available for less. The Ritchey sells for about $2600 all together, often on Ebay for $1500-$1800 from people who use them on a trip and sell them. Every time I approached the counter with the Ritchey case I worried that a counter person would measure it and tell me I was 2" or 3" over and had to pay. It never happened but I was almost always asked what it was and often was required to sign a waiver absolving them of any blame for damaging it or even loosing it (insane that they can just make you sign away any rights, isn't it?). Eventually, I bought the S&S (sandsmachine.com) hard case which is EXACTLY 26" x 26" x 10" or 62" total. I can barely squeeze my 58cm into it with shoes, clothes (in space bags), and saddle & bar bags, hydration mix, bottles, tools; everything except my helmet and it weighs right at 49 lbs. Now, virtually all the time they ask nothing and just check it through as a regular suitcase. My two-cents is that if I show up with this as my suitcase, and it is under 62" and under 50 lbs, it shouldn't matter a hoot what is in it. Even for those airlines that charge for a bike, how can they charge you for a suitcase that meets standard bag requirements. They will try and many cannot be argued with because the print in their baggage policy specifically says what they charge for a bike. This is BS and the bike clubs and LAB should lobby to make this distinction. In any case, since Southwest allows first two bags free, I bought a lightweight giant (max size) roller and put ALL of my clothes for the week in that and take my bike as my second bag. With other's that charge for a second bag, I would argue that the regular charge is all I should pay. Finally, the other option is to get a bike retro-fit with, or built with the aforementioned S&S couplers. Many manufacturers use them (Seven, Co-Motion, etc). I recently bought a MOOTS Mootour with them made out of Titanium and it might become my travel bike. Ritchey now has a Ti version of theirs also. Ti is lighter, stronger and a great travel-bike material but it is expensive. Good luck. I take my Ritchey to LA several times a year and have taken it many, many other places. Sometimes I wish I had a higher-end bike when climbing mountains and especially descending at speed but having less than $3K at risk when checking it is a worthy advantage to the basic Ritchey!

@Dan - I think it's round trip, but it also appears that if you can get it under 50lbs and 62" it would just be the same fee as a first checked bag.

@Stuart - Awesome information! We need a clever way to remember that > 50 lbs & > 62" is the trick.