Taking an Odd Bike on a Plane?

Here’s What to Know

Traveling with a “regular” bike is hard enough, especially if you plan on flying with it. Bicycles are bulky and heavy to begin with.

An odd bike like a penny farthing bicycle? Now that’s a different story. Fortunately we have an expert in our camp who is also an experienced rider - and he’s flown with penny farthing bikes before.

Here’s what you need to know if you’re planning on flying with yours.

Preparing This Odd Bike for the Long Haul

The first thing you’ll need to do to take your penny on a plane is take it apart and make sure you have everything.

You should be looking at:

• The wheel
• The front fork
• Rear fork (leave the wheel in place, no need to take it off)
• The cranks (bring spare cranks too)
• The frame
• The saddle
• The handlebars
• Brakes 

You’ll also want to make sure you have any necessary mounts. It might also help you if you remove the step from the rear fork (it’ll be easier to pack).

Given the large size of the front wheel, one way to pack these odd bikes up is to pack most of the parts inside the wheel.

To do so, remove some of the spokes and then you can place the rear wheel, handlebars, and most of the other components inside.

You may find, however, that given the small nature of some of the components, it’s easier to pack some of the parts inside and wheel and carry the rest in a separate bag.

If following this protocol, place the handlebars and seat inside of the spokes. There’s a lot of space in there, so if you want to cut down on your overall packing, use the spare space inside the front wheel to pack your riding clothes as well. You can also use these to cushion the other components.

One insider trick courtesy of a veteran insider penny farthing rider is to use cable ties to hold these parts in place so that they don’t rattle around inside the wheel. Just zip tie them tightly to the spokes to keep them from moving.

Now here’s where the tricky part comes in. You need to protect the wheel. There’s more than one way you could conceivably do this, but our suggestion is to get a moving blanket and cut it to the size of the tire, plus a few inches to make sure it fits.

Making sure you give yourself this extra room is critical to the wheel being able to fit. If you cut a circular shape from the moving blanket of the same diameter of the wheel, it will not fit inside as a result of the bulge at the hub.

For the frame, cut out another semicircle that’s large enough to fit it and stitch this to the outside of the case you’ve thus far made.

(Alternatively, and this is easier: you could also fit the frame inside the front wheel as you did with the handlebars and saddle and zip tie it in place.)

You’ll also want to stitch some socks/sleeves from the moving blanket and use these to protect the crank arms, which are prone to damage in transit. Make one for the top of the rear fork as well, to protect it.

You can also make an outer bag for the whole ensemble, out of heavy canvas cloth. Make sure you cut this a few inches wider than the inner bag made from the moving blanket. Stitch canvas tape cloth to this in order to furnish yourself with handles/straps for carrying the bag.

Put the split in the middle of the canvas outer bag or else you’re going to have a hard time getting the whole thing inside - learn from our experience. You can use either velcro or a zipper to secure the two flaps.

If you follow this method, you’ll also need another suitcase, large enough to house the front fork, which is by now the largest remaining piece of this odd bike.

Wedge the rear fork and wheel inside of the front fork and place it in the suitcase, followed by the rest of the parts and whatever bike tools and safety gear you’ll be bringing along.

As for packing up the rest of it, cling wrap is a great material. You can use it to wrap together all your small parts (that aren’t zip-tied to the spokes of the front wheel).

What Else Not to Forget with Your Odd Bike

One of the most important things to remember when packing up an odd bike is that this thing is, in the first place, odd.

That means there’s slim to no chance that if you don’t bring what you need with you, including spares, you won’t be able to get them where you’re going.

It also means you need to remember to bring all the bike tools you need: allen keys, the pedal wrench, a spoke key and a crank extractor. It doesn’t hurt to bring a tire pump, either.

It doesn’t hurt to bring along spare cranks and pedals, either, and you’ll also want to make sure you bring all the safety gear you need. A helmet, at minimum, but you should also bring knee, elbow, and wrist pads.

Looking for a New Penny Farthing?

Whether you’re interested in your first or your third penny farthing, Unicycle.com is the place to get it.

We carry a wide range of odd bikes (including minibikes and clown bikes) and penny farthings are no exception.

In fact, we carry several sizes of penny farthing bikes from 29” to 54”, which is important because, since these bikes lack a chain drive and speed is largely a product of wheel diameter, not all riders can ride all penny farthing bikes.

Either way, we have the bikes, parts, and bike tools you need for a successful ride. Check out what we have on our site and if you have questions, get in touch with us!