HSLD

Traveling with an expensive bike - a hard shell case is a must! Most bike shops have hard case rentals, I've also had success finding one to rent/borrow on Craigslist.

uvuflier

I've flown quite a bit with my bike in a Trico hard case but always as a paying passenger. I can't imagine traveling standby with my case though.

I have a friend that just got an Ibis Tranny with a smaller travel case. Apparently he can get it down to regular bag dimensions and under fifty pounds. I also know someone who used to travel with his wife all over Asia with his Co-Motion tandem. It had S&S couplers to keep everything down to a reasonable size.

Copperhed51

Yeah, the only times I've rented a bike was on a trip to Maui (rode up Haleakala which was pretty effing epic/painful for this fatty non-climber). Renting a decent bike is a pretty expensive prospect, but it could be done occasionally if you were really jonesing on an overnight.

As for traveling with a bike, I have a hard case that I've taken back and forth to/from KC/Colorado/Hawaii and it did fine, but after doing a lot of researching, most people recommend a soft case these days. If you pack the bike properly, it is still well protected, and supposedly there are some soft-cases that can pass for a regular checked bag and bypass the bag fees (now that I have to worry about those sorts of things). Other than avoiding bag fees, I think the soft case would just be way less cumbersome to travel with.

dspilot

Corporate guy chiming in here. I travel with my road bike when I can (if I'm going to a good cycling destination). I have no issues with a soft case, but it is in my control 100 percent of the time. If it is a day trip with no luggage, I don't even bother packing it in the case. I just take a wheel off and it fits fine in the baggage compartment of the LR45. It is a great way to kill a couple of hours on a layover.

Cubdriver

Been riding this Schwinn since about 1999, got my moneys worth out of it. The larger tire size make punctures a thing of the past, but it's a bit heavy. Once upon a time Schwinn made bikes like Trek, Cannondale, etc. but went downhill after they were sold in about 2000. Broke my collarbone in 2010 in a crash and got it pinned, but stayed off the bike for a year. Ready to get back out there!

9kBud

^+1 Since I've never been a road cycling type of guy, I remember wanting a Schwinn Rocket 88 in the worst way. Funny enough, the object of my desire was around back then as well, the Santa Cruz Superlight.

Tom a Hawk

atp and type ride complete, waiting for oe, but sooo glad to have some time off.

LeineLodge

I've done this a few times. It's been over 5 years, but my RJ crew rented 3 mtn bikes (cool FA) and we did a pretty tame 20 miles near the Garden of the Gods on a COS layover. Said FA later tried to embarass me in the crew room by saying loudly "Oh great. We're flying together? After our last layover, my a## hurt for a week" Never thought I'd reminisce about flying for the regionals, but the layovers (from a fun crew, camaraderie perspective) were much more fun. Nowadays it's mostly guys talking about prostate exams and melanoma, crying into their beer about how their ex-wife took what was left of their retirement

More recently (2 weeks ago) on a SLC layover we rented a car for $15 and drove up to Park City (30-40 minutes). 4 hour rental of a nice Trek road bike was $40. We did 35-40 miles and were back to the hotel with plenty of time to spare before an evening pickup.

Point is, it can be done reasonably cheap (relative to a ski day I guess), but it's been worth it every time I've made the effort. I love getting out and away from the hotel and finding stuff to do outside. We travel all over the country, but rarely see more than the hotel or local bars/restaurants.

I've found calling the local bike shop will usually yield good info on who's renting what kind of bikes and where the best roads/trails are. Have fun!

CaptainCarl

It's been a busy week for me and thread resurrections. Might have to change my name to CaptainNecromancer.

Anyway, after not riding for a couple of months, I knocked out 17 miles in the rain, sleet, and snow. Feels good.