Getting your Bike to Japan
Choose your method wisely -
There are a few things you have to consider when you are taking your Bike to another Country. First of all you need to check the Bike policy of the airline you are taking. Some like Air Canada will charge you $50 per bike and that is all. Others like Japan Airlines haven't really gotten on the biking bandwagon and will charge you an arm and a leg for your bike. Air Canada, ANA(All Nippon Airlines) and United Airlines all have reasonable Bike policies. I have heard some bad things about United's baggage people though, so you might want to stay away.
Here is a list of links to Airline Bike policy pages.
Delta(Northwest) - They have a policy for Antlers!
It is important to know that shipping to and from Japan is ridiculously expensive, so make sure you've picked the right airline as shipping isn't a good option. The average cost to ship a Bike from Japan to North America is $1500. Japanese companies are extremely inflexible, so don't expect this to change on your behalf.
Bike Luggage -
We've all heard stories of baggage handlers mangling someones luggage to the point of destruction. Thats why it's important to choose your case wisely.
Bigger hard cases will protect your bike but they annoy baggage handlers, they're heavy, hard to handle, and on international flights where space is at a premium, frequently lost or left behind. On some airlines big cases can also lead to substantial additional freight costs. Most soft cases do not give enough protection to get your expensive Bike through the trip undamaged.
I ended up choosing the BIKND Helium (http://www.biknd.com), it provides pretty good protection, doesn't weigh too much. I can usually get my bike and accessories in the case and weigh under 23kg. The case actually looks smaller than it is, I've had it on 3 different airlines and no one gives me any hassles and the bike makes it though each time without a scratch.
Transporting/Maintaining bikes in Japan
Transport -
When transporting a bike on the train in Japan it has to be in a bag. You can pick up a cheap bike bag at any sports store. They are intended to hold those beastly huge granny bikes everyone rides, so your road bike should fit. Depending on the bag you may have to take a tire off.
I actually use the BIKND case for anything more than a day trip. It protects the bike better, and has wheels. However, due to the amount of assembly involved, I'll opt for the simple bag when I just want to go.
The majority of Japanese people don't associate any real value to bikes. They're transportation and they cost a few hundred bucks. So don't expect any mercy from the locals while lugging around your big awkward bike.
That being said, Japanese people are among the nicest I've ever met, so it's really not too bad.
Maintaining -
Bring a valve adapter if you have presta valves. The Japanese call them French valves and no one has a pump. I actually bought a CO2 pump when I got there ( You can't take cartridges on a plane) for road repair.
Decent parts can also be hard to find. Even though Shimano is a Japanese company, it's obvious Japan is not a big market for their high end parts. I broke a shifter on my frist ride and it was like pulling expensive teeth finding an Ultegra shifter.
Riding in Japan
Coming from North America I never expected to be able to ride my Bike in the city like I did in Japan (Without Fear of Raging SUV drivers). It was a bit scary at first, they drive on the left in Japan, and there are a lot of cars. The drivers are super nice, the Japanese style of driving is not that agressive, they are used to bikes and a decent rider on a decent bike will have no problem keeping up with traffic in the slow lane.
It was really nice, I went there to do several planned rides but I found myself riding everywhere. It was comfortable, safe and the other cyclists (Road Cycling is starting to catch on in Japan) were so friendly and enthusiastic about cycling.
In my next post I will be writing about bike shops in Osaka and Cycling the Shiminami Express Way between Onomichi and Shikoku. Check back soon!
