Help! Shipping an Ebike/ Taking it on holiday (2) - Pile in

[Emanresu]

As the title suggests, I'd like to use my eBike on holiday in Spain. So far I've got the following

1. Flying it out is off as airlines don't like batteries (and I want to take 2)

2. I can take it on a ferry e.g Santander (but not Bilbao at present) and take local trains (not high speed)

3. I can drive it across.

4. I can hire one instead.

What is odd with the last one, is I can get a Portuguese hire company to provide one in Spain (not expensive) so commercial transport of ebikes is possible.

I've also shipped non ebikes in the other direction (pre-Brexit) for €90 one way so bike shipping is OK.

Has anyone looked at this in detail (post-Brexit) and had any success?

 

[Scorpio]

Beware of shipping anything from UK to Europe . Since Brexit this is classed as "Importing in EU" and needs all kinds of paperwork, I'm in Southern Europe and had a parcel of personal goods - not commercial - sent from UK on June 18, it arrived at my national depot a week later and is still stuck there ! 2 months so far and there's no sign of customs releasing it anytime soon.
Travelling with the bike on ferry / train might be ok, I have no experience. For info, a lot of trains have a guards van with racks to hang cycles from, a very good system but I'd not want to leave my Ebike unattended for several hours. Expect no problems but you never know...

Shipping from Europe back to UK sounds a lot easier but I've not tried it.

A lot of the tourist areas in Europe have Ebikes for hire, expect that to be a lot cheaper (and less hassle) than shipping yours.

Guards van bike-racks & build thread https://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/threads/yose-350-rear-hub-kit-onto-spanish-mtb-by-mondraker.37899/post-592471

Curent bike with some photos to persuade you - you needf to do it ! https://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/threads/yose-350-rear-hub-kit-transplanted-onto-scott.40186/

Let us know how you get on, cycling here is fantastic, enjoy it !

 

[Emanresu]

Had a bit of help with this just to understand the logistics. The good news is you can take your bike to Spain but ...

1. Sending it ahead means you've got customs paperwork to do. Batteries can be sent but in special packaging and even more expensive customs paperwork. (Both ways)

2. Ferry to Northern Spain possible but only to Santander at the moment as Bilbao not taking bikes. Then you are onto slow trains (Regional Express or Media Distancia)

3. At the time of posting the question, you could go through France quite quickly using their TGV lines. Paris to the Spanish border at Irun would only be 5 hours. But Covid got in the way.

So to get an ebike to Southern Spain would be 2 days on a ferry; 8 hours to Madrid (overnight stay); about 8 hours/multiple trains to Seville or Corboba the next day. So perhaps 4/5 days getting there and the same back - plus holiday time.

May try this when I have a lot of time / money to do it.

 

[camarint]

Renting a bicycle would be the most reasonable and appropriate decision. If you weigh all the pros and cons, you can immediately understand that this solution has several advantages over those that you have suggested. First, you do not have to carry as much stuff, so it is more convenient. Second, you get a proven bike that rides well and in good working order. But with the equipment, it is not so easy. Try to look for clothes on different sites. For example, I buy clothes for travel on this site thefemaleprofessional.com. I subscribe to a newsletter of clothes, and they send it to me in special boxes with clothes. It's very convenient.

 

[sjpt]

Second, you get a proven bike that rides well and in good working order.

Memory of renting in Bangladesh (Sylhet, the hiller part); Do you want the bike with the brakes or the bike with the saddle?

 

[matthewslack]

As the title suggests, I'd like to use my eBike on holiday in Spain. So far I've got the following

1. Flying it out is off as airlines don't like batteries (and I want to take 2)

2. I can take it on a ferry e.g Santander (but not Bilbao at present) and take local trains (not high speed)

3. I can drive it across.

4. I can hire one instead.

What is odd with the last one, is I can get a Portuguese hire company to provide one in Spain (not expensive) so commercial transport of ebikes is possible.

I've also shipped non ebikes in the other direction (pre-Brexit) for €90 one way so bike shipping is OK.

Has anyone looked at this in detail (post-Brexit) and had any success?

5. Buy new batteries in destination country, sell before leaving.
6. Buy Ligo sub 100Wh packs, designed to sneak under the 100Wh threshold, and hope airline accept that 6 or 8 or 10 98Wh packs are less risk than one or two bigger batteries. Ebikes.ca.

 

[Scorpio]

A friend visited Portugal recently to follow to road race cycle route, she had good expereinces hiring a road bike for a few days, moving to a different town, and hiring again at the new place.

A lot cheaper than shipping your bikes from the UK, and zero chance of customs fees to pay / import & export costs & delays, etc...