3 Ways to Fly with your Brompton Bike

Through many years of flying with bikes, we have found three methods that work the best for our folding bikes. We pack them as described in the video and always check them in.
0:00 Introduction
0:44 Hard Case
2:27 Cardboard box
3:34 IKEA Dimpa Bag
5:56 Trade-off Summary
#Brompton #2Bikes4Adventure
Music Copyrights: All is not lost, Audiomachine

[@CapoXProductions]

As a content creator, I'm super impressed with the thought and detail that went into putting this together. Amazing vid!

[@2Bikes4Adventure]

You are putting a lot of effort on your YT guitar channel as well. Well done.

[@CapoXProductions]

@@2Bikes4Adventure Thanks! It means a lot. Hoping to buy a brompton soon! looking forward to browsing your whole catalog of vids!

[@davidhunternyc1]

Agreed, I've watched several of their videos multiple times just because of the graphics and attention to details. Their knowledge of science, math, and engineering make this channel second to none.

[@Coe1303]

I find that Brompton users are inherently clever in so many ways. Thank-you for posting.

[@edf7711]

You should be a teacher, you are thorough in your presentation, much appreciated.

[@kenzirkel1584]

Brilliant and comprehensive. Thank you for posting.

[@jdshl8423]

I use the 3rd method. Double Dimpas and cut-to-size cardboard is the easiest to find, use and discard. The Dimpas fold flat and get stuffed at the bottom of the backpack until it is time to pack up to go home. Truly the lightest travel system for this bike. Stuffing soft items in all the gaps in the bag helps prevent serious damage to the bike.

[@2Bikes4Adventure]

We dread the day IKEA discontinues the DIMPA. Did you ever experience difficulties finding used cardboard in some countries?
We had some problems in Bergen, Norway.

[@jdshl8423]

@@2Bikes4Adventure, no more DIMPA is bad! LOL! I think it was just bad luck you had in Norway. I've never been there, but I have to say that I've not had trouble finding cardboard boxes to cut up. Convenience stores and supermarkets are bound to have some, so it is only a matter of cutting and taping the pieces up to fit.

[@amandaleigh3852]

Really useful and beautifully presented - thank you! 😁

[@rainydayswithdogs]

You are so organised. Great tips.

[@mk-lz2tv]

Thanks for your video. So helpful!

[@NoZenith]

Thank you so much for such informative content.

[@wtfusernamecrap]

The IKEA Dimpa is a great suggestion!

[@srimulyanti36]

Great video! Thanks you for posting 😊

[@GA-ko4ew]

Excellent Video! Thank you. ❤

[@StimParavane]

This is brilliantly comprehensive, thanks.

[@pablobuenomendoza9599]

This is excellent. Thank you.

[@teodoro1007]

Thank you! Very nice & useful tips 😁

[@reptoJane]

Gosh, this was super helpful. Thank you for sharing!

[@dreambig528]

Really useful video! Lots of insights. Thank you.

[@dqmya]

Very useful and interesting, especially in Dempa bag 👍

[@ImranShaikh-gh2wd]

thank you for creating these videos

[@nathasiaball7836]

Very informative, thank you. Happy travels..

[@MrEvitaerc]

You can apply a coat of wood sealant or some type of translucent varnish to the cardboard box, it vastly improves its water resistance as well as the resistance to physical abuse.

[@danielshin1984]

Bromtonolgy class!!! Wonderful job!!!

[@sorinpetrescu7574]

Excellent video! Thank you ! Greetings from Italy!

[@jonathanwong880]

Excellent presentation. Thank you so much.

[@danhoang6335]

Thank you! your Dimba bag and voting signs are very valuable tip.

[@thefloridamurphys6282]

amazing advice, the dimpa and cardboard is especially useful for biking right out of the airport. Thank you!

[@thomashosch930]

Excellent information based on experience. Very well done. Thank you.

[@helenevallee6ix]

Your videos are so informative, well thought out, and clearly presented. Please keep up this top-notch work!

[@alisonh874]

This is brilliant! Thanks

[@williamjflaherty]

Thank very much for your concise and informative post

[@nyan5677]

Excellent guide, very thoughtful

[@uniworkhorse]

Informative, concise, and professional. Thank you so much for sharing your experiences in such an accessible manner! Love the infographics as well!

[@carlvu7]

Excellent well thought out narrative. Thank you for your info. I have a Brompton and would love to travel like that.

[@MrSufi69]

All I can say that your content is just fantastic. Hats off to you ❤

[@voilier3000]

Très beau résumé pratique, présentant clairement le pour et le contre des différentes options. Merci !

[@normawingo5116]

Thank you for this video, it was very informative and helpful.

[@Cassiomm67]

Super detailed! Kudos!

[@markkennedy7404]

Excellent quality videography.

[@alexlouder]

what a nice video! great job.

[@peterwang4077]

Great Job! Very enjoyable to watch and learn. Now I want to get my own Brompton and get my travel shoes on. President & VP for sure!

[@neeleshkushte6023]

Nice piece of advice.👍 I, too feel the hardcase, though weighed down by price and weight serves better.

[@SkyManagerNYC]

Great video and very well put together

[@maripido]

this is FANTASTIC! Thank you so much

[@fabioveloso]

This is so thorough! Love this channel!

[@2Bikes4Adventure]

Stay tuned, more videos to come

[@flaviozarza1735]

Thanx for sharing. Cool tips! 😉

[@alannewman85]

Well done with the improvisation guys!!! Inspiring!!!

[@protoearth]

Great video comparing the alternatives, thank you!

[@2Bikes4Adventure]

This latest version covers two more options: 2 More Ways to Fly [ Vincita Sightseer & Cabin Carry-On ] kzbin.info/www/bejne/kJOvmYCnZryEa9E

[@why4256]

Great video! Kudos on being clear about the (minimal) amount of disassembly required and the dimensions to look for :D

[@2Bikes4Adventure]

Removing the seat post and the right pedal is not a big deal. However, beware the Brompton Tool “closed” 15mm wrench cannot be used to remove pedals. The “open” wrench coming with the Tern Tool us better suited for this job. An other option would be replace the standard Brompton pedals with MKS Removable Pedals. In such case, you would not need any tool to install/remove the right pedal.

[@murugnimai]

All your reviews are clear & detailed..very nice.. thanks from 🇮🇳

[@solarzoro]

Again you made an informative video. I hope one day I can travel like you. Happy cycling life. 👍🏻😊

[@DG1TAL]

I don’t have a folding bike, I don’t plan on buying one but your videos are incredibly well made so I enjoy them anyhow. 😁

[@ga20ha11]

Thank you for that great video ! Grüße aus Österreich !

[@bidanche3505]

Thank you for your sharing.

[@adamcorney1835]

Thank you for a great video. It is lovely to see creators combining effort and skill to produce such excellent content

[@2Bikes4Adventure]

Stay tuned for more!

[@kaustubhthapa5743]

Your videos are always helpful. Need to pack my brompton for a move in couple months time. Now, onto finding a good secondhand suitcase. Thanks!

[@2Bikes4Adventure]

Good luck in your search (it should not be too difficult to find one)

[@racheledwards3813]

I have feeling that you are a wonderful person and people love you everywhere you go 😊

[@2Bikes4Adventure]

... and Brompton bicycles are wonderful and people love them everywhere they go 😀

[@NoZenith]

Thank you very much. I'm looking at possibly going out to another state to pick up and bringing home a new Brompton finally!

[@2Bikes4Adventure]

Hope everything works out!

[@etops.flight]

Nice work and kudos to you!

[@chriswong2012]

Thank you so much for your sharing. It is a really good channel for Brompton cyclists. I just got my Brompton yesterday :)!

[@2Bikes4Adventure]

Congratulations for your new Brompton. You will enjoy it for a long time to come.

[@ExclusiveTravelReviews]

Great advices, thanks for those informations!

[@PIPSGuy]

What a great sharing.... thks for that. I think we can solve the box raining issue by wrapping it with food wrap type of plastic. If not mistaken major airport also now provide that kind of services.

[@talyfixed]

Amazing video thank you!

[@vickypedias]

Amazing, thank you!

[@Julia-gv3ng]

Much thanks. Really useful

[@SparksHealth]

Wonderful video

[@handsonbrompton7875]

🙏🏻 for sharing!!!

[@peterforde9513]

Great, thanks

[@tbear4291]

Excellent superb wonderful

[@seanyushi9096]

Quality content right here 👌

[@SuperTaymur]

That was an awesome video! I'm flying to Munich this month and really want to take my decathlon folding bike and you just gave me a pretty good idea of what I should do. Really appreciate your effort Here keep it up!! Hope I can afford buying a Pompton one day lol

[@2Bikes4Adventure]

Enjoy your trip in Munich 🍺

[@sheilastallard]

Brilliant!!!

[@digitalprisoner]

Thank you!!!!!! very useful

[@johnkim9642]

Thank you!!!

[@KyrosMoutsouris]

excellent!

[@Derenismo]

This was great advice

[@BULLDOGVII]

Love it!!

[@Ivandrago89]

It's so wholesome to see a married couple always enjoy each other's company even while pursing life's simpler pleasures. That's truly romantic! God bless you two! Even though we can't hear you converse with each other, you couldn't be doing this so much if didn't enjoy each other's company. Wish you both stay out of harm's way, stay healthy and enjoy many more adventures. This is how couple's should actually be, pursuing healthy hobbies while having fun. Wish my future wife will like this kinda stuff..😢😊

[@2Bikes4Adventure]

30+ years of tail winds!

[@kazansergei]

Very informative!!

[@verdysir]

Nice info with good animation. Very clear. Subscribed already :-)

[@DanielFonseca1]

4:54 that footage of the bins was taken in my home country Portugal! Great video, thanks for sharing such good information!

[@2Bikes4Adventure]

You are right, this footage was taken in Porto as we were looking for cardboard to pack our bikes for the flight back home. We really like Portugal 🇵🇹

[@DanielFonseca1]

@@2Bikes4Adventure Very happy you enjoy my country. I love your videos, found some more footage, one just outside the Trindade Metro station in Porto, my home town (I'm currently living in London - Brompton paradise!)

[@2Bikes4Adventure]

If you look at some of our other videos, you will find more “easter eggs” from Porto (inside the metro from Trindade to the Airport, the Dom Luis bridge...). We are often asked about our Bromptons while travelling, not the case in London. It seems 1/3 of all cyclists there have them :-)

[@ChrisbyBike]

Very well detailed. Great explanation! Another option is to take it inside the plane as a handbag. Just remove the seat that Brompton fits in the head bin. This is my favorite!

[@2Bikes4Adventure]

Were you successful with this strategy? On which airline(s)? Our recent flight experiences (pre-covid that is) usually involved full planes where carry-on storage was at a premium. More than once, we ended up having to shove our bags under the seat in front of us as no more space was available in the overhead bin. Post-covid could be different with less passengers to contend with. Experience with gate check-in wasn’t too enjoyable either, as we ended up having to pick up our baggage on the same conveyor belt as the checked-in luggage at the end of the flight (thus it had been tossed around as casually by baggage handlers as any other items). Successfully travelling with a “carry-on” Brompton is ideal, it is worthy of Instagram posts (ex.: Bromptonmafia) and offers some bragging rights to the lucky passenger/cyclist, but I would be reluctant to rely on such a strategy to begin a long-awaited enjoyable/trouble-free vacation.

[@ChrisbyBike]

@@2Bikes4Adventure United Airlines From Rio de Janeiro to New York and New York to Rio de Janeiro. It is great! You must confirm the weight allowed for hand luggage.

[@ChrisbyBike]

@@2Bikes4Adventure I was in Orlando when it happened. From Rio to Orlando I took the Brompton in a Delsy 29 and on the way back she came in Ikea Bag with a pillow at the base for protection

[@ChrisbyBike]

@@2Bikes4Adventure To Travel in side USA SouthWest is perfect.

[@davidrowe8747]

Ultra-helpful video! I'm about to become a Brompton owner, with the express purpose of having a bike to travel with. I'm just annoyed with myself, though - only yesterday, I recycled a corrugated plastic bike box I've been lugging around for years! It would have been perfect for cutting up and using in an Ikea bag. Here in the UK, we don't get those corrugated plastic yard signs during elections, in fact I don't think we even use that sort of corrugated plastic for anything! Lesson learned - never throw anything away! ;-)

[@2Bikes4Adventure]

The advantage of using cardboard over corrugated plastic is that you feel no guilt discarding it at the arrival airport. By the same token, you have to prevent the urge to discard it prior to your trip :-) Enjoy your new Brompton (and keep the box)

[@SingaporeUntold]

Amazing video❤

[@FrayAdjacentTX]

Very neat tip with the coroplast signs. I have in mind to go to London for a couple months next year and pick up a Brompton while I'm there. I'll have to fly back with it... so I figure a DIMPA bag and some cardboard should do the trick.

[@2Bikes4Adventure]

London is the Brompton Epicentre of the world. We never saw so many people cycling Bromptons. You will certainly enjoy the bike and the city. One or two Dimpa plus some cleverly folded cardboard should indeed to the trick in bringing your new friend back home.

[@chichoy21]

Hello i am proud that you you both tour with your lovely folding bikes, that Brompton is my dream bike but i can't afford to buy it, proud subscriber here from Philippines Keepsafe, ridesafe & Godbless 🙏😊

[@2Bikes4Adventure]

We hope to cycle in the Philippines one day.

[@chichoy21]

@@2Bikes4Adventure wow thats sounds good i wanna join you guys when you come here! i will shout out your channel for more friends thanks for the reply.

[@sadikicole3444]

Brilliant suggestions , Ive used the dimpa bags for last tens years.

[@remote3652]

I just did my first flight with my Brompton and used the dimpa from London to Istanbul yesterday. Do you usually put a big fragile sticker? I was worried that my bike would get damaged, especially when I just got It a few days back while visiting London.

[@2Bikes4Adventure]

@Remote365, We don’t bother putting stickers such as “This side UP” or “Fragile” on our Dimpas as we have little confidence it makes any difference for baggage handlers. One thing you can do to reduce damage risks is to remove the EzyWheels as they tend to concentrate impact forces in a smaller area of the frame (or rack).

[@remote3652]

@@2Bikes4Adventure thanks for the advice! I'll do that. awesome videos BTW!

[@remote3652]

also wondering if it's normal for the real wheel to rub the frame when folded? I see it's touching the frame when I fold my bike and I couldn't find much online. thanks in advance!

[@2Bikes4Adventure]

@@remote3652 The rear wheel will touch the top tube (and down tube) when the bike is folded at rest. A small gap will likely appear when carrying the bike.

[@user-yishtabachshmo]

I loved this, even though I don't even have a Brompton

[@1y167]

Fly business ! The brompton will fit-in as a cabin luggage

[@2Bikes4Adventure]

Ref this follow-up video discussing carry-on legal dimension 2 More Ways to Fly [ Vincita Sightseer & Cabin Carry-On ] kzbin.info/www/bejne/kJOvmYCnZryEa9E

[@mariomota9075]

Great information channel about brompton. Thinking buy a brompton I'm watching a lot of videos on your channel. Thanks

[@2Bikes4Adventure]

Hope your Brompton dreams come true

[@roxrud]

Amazing :)

[@tommytaufik9050]

Windstar cruises , windsurf biggest sailing ship in the world.. love the sail

[@2Bikes4Adventure]

Indeed, it was the Windsurf. The short video of that sailing/cycling trip is here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pKe9XmyNfKiejac

[@tbear4291]

Love your videos and....accent!

[@2Bikes4Adventure]

Stay tuned for more accented videos :-)

[@tbear4291]

@@2Bikes4Adventure it looks like I am not going anywhere!

[@yogavnture1]

OMG U HIT A HOME RUN. AMAZING U MUST BE FROM IOWA . SALT OF THE EARTH

[@antlee0618]

Good

[@Juke172]

Seems though the designated box has most of these positive traits like; lightweight, foldability, durability and weather resistance. It seems kinda hassle to do all those things rather than paying extra premium for the supposed case. Of course if you don't travel often, you won't see the need for it that much.

[@apilgrim8715]

You can build a wooden frame with bolts for inside of your Dimpa that can be taken apart with a wrench and compacted. It is about $20 in wood and another $10 or so if you want to add caster wheels.

[@2Bikes4Adventure]

PVC tubing could also be used

[@apilgrim8715]

@@2Bikes4AdventureYes it can. The reason I chose a wooden frame over PVC was that the wooden frame was fastener with bolts and wingnuts which were easier to assemble and disassemble quickly than PVC pipers which are hard to pull apart for some people.

[@Sudovest8]

Do you have a tutorial?

[@subspaceanomaly]

Interesting to see. I have been travelling with a fold up bike but it's a dahon that I modified to have drop bars. I evolved a system similar to yours. I have a tarp I lay out on the floor, take the wheels off the bike and the rack and pedals. The bike is around 9kg. I then get my small tent and sleeping bag and inflatable mattress and wrap the bike or fill gaps. Your politics signs are a good idea, I did something very similar with twin wall polycarbonate I had lying around which is very strong and light, I use less of it but have folded corners to create more of a box, and then wrap it all up and use a few tie down straps and also use them to create a handle for the bag. It works as a system, but it's not an easy bag to lift and move around.. as something of a product designer there is definitely a better option. I think something like one bit of a hard case, with the little wheels, as a base, with flexible sides that can fold flat ish, but also works as a bag but at half the volume, to keep all the other stuff you're travelling with on the back of the bike. I feel a really elegant solution exists.. or could exist, by making your own specialist bag. Certainly easier for the Bromptons. Thanks for the video

[@2Bikes4Adventure]

Ideally, the air travel container/bag should serve a second purpose while touring. For some (BikeFriday, Radical Design Chubby), it transforms into a trailer to carry stuff. We would like it instead to transform into front and/or rear bag(s)/pannier(s). Some DIY ingenuity will likely be required to achieve that goal.

[@subspaceanomaly]

@@2Bikes4Adventure something that forms two panniers would be great. Wouldn't be that complicated to design I don't think, but would be nice to use quite hard wearing waterproof stuff. each side would need to be folded to or layered a couple of times and you'd need some nice strong zips. Using a pvc welder like how they put together rubber dinghies would probably be the way to go.

[@williamlane9844]

The samsonite case is the best

[@LePVdestructeur]

Hi Pam and Gilbert! Many thanks for your insightful video. Could you provide the exact dimensions of the Samsonite luggage you’re using please? A lot of deals are available on the online marketplaces right now, and I want to make sure to not buy the wrong suitcase. Again, many thanks ! And well done for cycling through the Tarroko gorges!

[@2Bikes4Adventure]

The Samsonite model we use is not perfectly rectangular (somewhat larger at the bottom and tapering at the top). The rough dimensions are 29” x 21” x 12” or 74cm x 53 cm x 30cm. Good luck in your search. PS We went down the gorge, not up :-)

[@q80aziz]

Brompton Politics 🤔 that’s interesting . On a more serious note I am a firm believer in the B&W hard case after years of use and never gave much thought about the aesthetics of the case as it provides total protection without even removing the seat post or the pedal ( folding pedals on both sides ) 👍🏽

[@2Bikes4Adventure]

@q80aziz, We agree, the B&W hard case remains the gold standard as far as total protection is concerned. Other solutions are basically compromise between portability and protection.