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Travel Advice
Hi everyone,
I am two weeks away from heading over to Rotorua for a week of cycling!
We are curious if anyone has any advice; we are thinking that we should we deflate/empty anything with air in it? Shocks, seat post, tyres, etc.
Would the tyres be ok if we left them seated but with only 15psi or such, to keep them in place and with the stans inside?
Also, CO2 canisters. My guess is not to take any?
Your opinions, facts, etc would be appreciated.
Alberto
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correct on both counts, they will want the air out of the tyres but leave a bit in there and gas cartridges are a no no. shocks are fine as is
I'd also recommend getting one of the trail maps on a cloth they sell at bike shops, it is cheap and will save a lot of screwing around
have fun
Leave the shocks. They'll be fine.
Tyres - I'd let them down a bit, but leave maybe 10-15psi in them so they dont 'pop' off the rim.
Gas cartridges (cant use the 'b' word near a place) are not permitted. However, if you were to forget you ever packed them, you would probably be ok.
Lets not forget that every seat on the plane has a life jacket with a C02 in it.
Rotorua is VERY well stocked with bike shops, so if you forget anything, there are more than enough people to help you out.
Enjoy - its an amazing place to ride.
While not necessary for travel in terms of keeping the airlines happy I find that this can help getting your bike in a bag if it's a tight fit.
For me dropping the fork height makes a big difference.
Dont take canisters, even if you leave in your bag there is a good chance they wont get through leaving Australia. Just take a pump. (or u can buy some when you get there)
I found deflating the front shocks helped fit the bike into the box. Deflate your tyres, it will give you more room in the box.
When I went I chucked my gear in the one box with my bike and then took a small backpack carry on with my carry on.
The best advice I can give for Rotorua is: Tighten up every nut and bolt after EVERY ride - we had all sorts of stuff rattling off along the way. Its not fun being half way up a mountain to have a crank come loose in the middle of nowhere - even worse when you loose a bolt. Prepare for broken spokes. (my wheel almost disintegrated after 3 days of intense riding). Be prepared.
...enjoy some of the best riding in the world!
Thanks guys, for the advice!
There's only so much as far as extra parts we can bring with us, but we thought we'd bring the following:
-spare tire
-tubes
-chain + quick links
-chain pins
-brake pads
-derailleur hangar
-a set of bike tools + torque wrench
-(new) spare spokes
Anything else important that you can think of?
Mt Tongariro on North Island has gone boom!
The bastards at Air NZ have secretly increased the charges for our bikes on their flights.
They’ve just discontinued the 50% discount on sporting goods and it’s now full rate $75 out of Sydney if you pay at the airport (this is for tickets booked before tomorrow, otherwise it’s $ 120 from 22 November at the airport).
http://www.airnewzealand.com.au/oversized-items
They’ve brought in a Prepaid Extra Bags option for $55 from Sydney and $NZ 55 ($43) from Rotorua.
http://www.airnewzealand.com.au/prepaid-extra-bags
Don’t go through the telephone service centre they’ll charge a $35 per flight fee for doing it, instead buy it online (up to 3 hrs just before departure). The prepaid booking feature started a few days ago.
It’s still a max of 23kg for the bike, so I might put all my clothes on for the flight, wear my riding shoes and carry runners and helmet in my carry-on bag plus wear my stinky clothes for the whole trip!.
Alternatively, I’ll pay the $55, take a suitcase, load my bike box up to 32kgs with spares/tools etc and take heaps of clothes.
Chris
for our Rotorua trip three of us were able to take our bikes and plenty of gear and tools within 3x22kg boxes and then just took carry on. it was quite tight with lots of weighing of boxes in the hotel room but made life easier and cheaper
I just got back from my third trip MTBing in Rotorua so here are some tips
- Dont bother letting air out of anything (unless you need to for packing)
- Make sure your tyres and riding shoes are clean
- Remove your derailleur / hanger and wrap it in something
- Dont take CO2 canisters
- Better to ensure lube is non flammable eg teflon or wax based although we've never been checked on this
- Make sure that your multitools are in your bike bag as they'll be confiscated at security (this has happened a couple of times)
- Our group of 7 managed of get away without paying extra luggage both ways by making sure the bike bag was not more than about 23.5 kgs, we also had a 7kg carry-on bag and in addition they also let us take a small backpack / camelbak as a "handbag". Also apparently if you have a laptop or ipad this is allowed in addition to the standard 7kg carry on. We only go there for 4 days so don't need too much stuff. A couple of the guys had to wear a few extra layers of jumpers / jackets when they went to check in but afterwards put these clothes back in their carry on bags...
Have fun its awesome. Some great new tracks have also been cut in this year