Eurostar and bikes (again!)

[PompeyJoe]

Four of us are cycling Loire a Velo this summer. The plan is to travel to Paris on Eurostar and then on another train to Nevers to start the tour. Taking bikes on the Nevers train does not seem to be a problem.

I called the Euro Dispatch office and inquired about booking four bikes, to be told "you can only take 2 assembled bikes, the other two have to be dismantled and put in a box. We will supply the boxes."
With fully laden panniers to cope with as well, we are beginning to think the Eurostar option is too much hassle and are now considering taking the ferry from Portsmouth particularly since presumably we will have the same routine on the way home via Gare du Nord.

Question: from your experience, what is the chances we will be able to get away with 4 fully assembled bikes when we turn up for Eurostar or will be required to dismantle 2 of them?

Many Thanks

[Isotonicake]

Dismantling just requires rotating the handlebars and removing pedals though. Should only take a moment to do.

[robgul]

Lateral thinking - 4 people - 2 fully assembled bikes per train* = take 2 trains (they run every 30 minutes) - with all passengers going together on the same train - and wait for the second train to arrive ... we did this for a group of 13 (when they used to take 8 bikes per train) - painless.

The EuroDespatch people are really helpful and will hold a bike booking while you make the passenger booking.

Rob

* it is not a pre-requisite that passengers and bikes travel on the same train - you hand your bike in at St Pancras in the depths of the station and at Gare du Nord collect them about 200 yards up the side of the far left platform.

[andymiller]

What Isotonicake said (sort of - I thought you had to remove the front wheel rather than the pedals - removing the pedals would be a major hassle). I'm guessing that you may also need to lower the saddle.

It's a minor issue, and unless you live near Portsmouth, or you're planning on touring in Normandy or Brittany, taking the ferry sounds like not only cutting your nose off to spite your face but an arm and a leg as well. EDIT: just noticed your username - so maybe you do live in Portsmouth!

Actually the major major hassle is carrying your panniers from the train to the SERNAM office when you get to Paris, as there are never luggage trolleys at the Gare du Nord. But as there are four of you that really should be pretty easy: dump your panniers, at a convenient place once you have exited the security barriers and then send two or three people to fetch the bikes while one or two of you mind the bags.

Book seats at the head of the train if you can (I think that's low numbers going into Paris but the chart on the booking pages should show you).

Another theoretical option, if you have the time would be to book the other two bikes on an earlier train and then collect, on arrival but really I'm not sure it's worth it.

Seriously, it's easier than a really easy thing. The speed and comfort of the journey more than makes up for any initial hurdles you have to jump.

FWIW my bet is that if you did turn up with undismantled bikes when you had box spaces booked then you would probably either have the choice of putting them in boxes, or the bikes travelling on the next available train with available bike spaces: not an inviting prospect if you have an onward connection to make.

[Psamathe]

I thought this issue had "been sorted" last year.

Ian

[robgul]

I thought this issue had "been sorted" last year.

Ian

CTC HQ made a big song and dance about altering the course of history, and carriage of bikes on Eurostar ... that was just hype and PR puffery.

What Eurostar is apparently doing a is a sort of compromise in that there will be a mix of services (boxed and wheel-on - i.e. not dismantled) while the new rolling stock is phased in over the next, I believe, 12 months or so. The existing stuff takes the bikes hanging up, the new carriages do not, hence the boxing up.

We've made a number of trips to/from Paris and Brussels with the current bike service - excellent : takes the bags off, give them the bike that they hang in a special truck that takes them to/from the platform and the train - some pretty smart and expensive bikes, no problems at all.

Having experienced the staff at St Pancras with bikes on a number of occasions I would have every confidence in them doing a good job with the boxing up etc and caring for bikes .... and also the staff at Brussels ... but I would have concerns about the rather disinterested chaps at Gare du Nord that seem to just stand around puffing on their Gitanes.

Rob

[PompeyJoe]

You guessed right, Andy. The clue to where I live is in the Username! So, living near Portsmouth Ferry Port does make life easy for us, but equally a train up to Waterloo and a peddle across to St Pancreas is almost just as easy.

Thanks for all the replies: I think you have persuaded us to go for the Eurostar option.

[PRL]

We are booked for the end of April but could only get the boxed places. The advice was to allow 30mins for boxing. Does anyone have a definitive idea if pedals have to be removed ? That tends to need a BIG spanner.

[cycleruk]

We are booked for the end of April but could only get the boxed places. The advice was to allow 30mins for boxing. Does anyone have a definitive idea if pedals have to be removed ? That tends to need a BIG spanner.

Some pedals can only be removed using an Allen Key. Some pedals can be removed by either spanner or Allen key and some pedals spanner only.
Do a check before you go and also remove and grease the pedal threads in preparation. Carry a plastic bag to put the pedals in and either tie to frame or put in your packs. You could put the pedals in the reverse side of the cranks while boxed but there is the risk of the frame being scratched.

[andymiller]

This thread prompted me to email the ever helpful people at eurodespatch, and I got this reply this morning:

When dismantling your bicycle we need you take off the pedals, wheels, seat and sometimes the handlebars. The boxes we provide fit most bicycles apart from Tandems & Dutch bicycles, hopefully this answers all your questions.

So apologies to the person who said you needed to take the pedals off - you were right (although I suspect this bit might go by the board when things settle down).

The bit about the pedals did concern me (I like to carry everything I need, but a 9mm allen key is a bit much, even for me), so I asked if they had given any consideration to providing tools - maybe chained to the wall outside the office. The reply came back almost immediately:

We've already taken this into consideration and have a bicycle tool box with every bicycle tool you could ever possibly need.

So really this shouldn't be a showstopper - but I'd check before you set out whether you can undo your pedals. And carry some baby wipes or disposable gloves (depending on how mucky your chain is).

EDIT: Oh and for the benefit of all my fellow Doubting Thomas's, eurodespatch also confirmed that they have a toolkit at the SERNAM office/collection point in the Gare du Nord