How to move a bike when you move house

The bike is the last thing anyone thinks about. For weeks it stays in the hall or in the cellar, and when the van arrives it is still there, fully assembled, with the handlebars sideways and the pedals sticking out. Nobody knows where to put it. It ends up leaning against a piece of furniture, with the gears against a corner, and the first time the van brakes it moves.

Getting it ready is quick, and you don't need to be a mechanic: a spanner, a few rags, a box. What matters is deciding first how it will travel, because that decides what you take off.

First, decide how it travels

There are three ways, and the simplest one often doesn't come to mind.

1. You ride it there. If the new home is in the same city, the bike can get there the day before, with you on it. That is one thing less in the van, and on the evening of the move it is already waiting in its place. All you need is a way to get back.
2. By car, on a bike rack. This works if you follow the van by car and you already have a rack. Check the fittings before you set off, not at the first traffic light.
3. In the van, with everything else. This is the most common way, and it needs more preparation than the other two: the bike shares the space with furniture and boxes, and every bend pushes them against it.

If the bike lives in the cellar, go down and look at it a few days before: if it has a flat tyre and a rusty chain, ask yourself whether it is really coming with you. For the rest of the cellar there is a separate article.

Getting it ready for the van

Do it the evening before, not with the van already in the street. You need a pedal spanner or an Allen key, depending on the model, and a few old rags.

1. Take the pedals off. They stick out more than any other part, and they are what scratches the furniture. The right pedal unscrews like a normal screw, anticlockwise. The left one has a reverse thread and unscrews clockwise. There is usually an R and an L stamped on the axle: check them before you force anything.
2. Turn the handlebars. Loosen the bolts on the stem and set the bars parallel to the frame. The bike becomes narrow and leans against a wall without the handlebars sticking out sideways.
3. Protect the gears. The rear derailleur is on the right side, next to the wheel, and it is the part that bends if the bike rests on it. Wrap it in a rag held with an elastic band. From now on, the bike never lies down on that side.
4. Cover the chain. A rag around the chain and the chainrings keeps the oil off the sofa cushions. The bottle of chain oil does not go in a box with the rest: it is a chemical, like paints and solvents, and it is on the list of what stays out of the boxes.
5. Take off everything that comes off. Lights, bike computer, water bottle, pump, basket, child seat. The only thing left on the bike is the bike.
6. If it is electric, take the battery out. If the model allows it, it slides out of the frame. It goes with you rather than in the van, and the manufacturer's manual tells you how to carry it.

The loose parts, in one place

The trouble with a bike in pieces is not the bike. It is the parts you took off it. The pedals end up in a pocket, the lights in a drawer, the lock key in another bag, the Allen key who knows where. In the new home the bike is there and you can't use it, because a pedal is missing.

The rule is the same one that applies to furniture you take apart: the parts you remove all stay together, in a place you can find again. For the bike, that place can be a single box with everything you need to ride it again: the pedals wrapped in a rag, the lights, the pump, the helmet, the shoes, the lock key and the tool you used to take it apart.

With a Cangubox it works like this. Its lid is made of two hinged halves that fit together, so no tape is needed: in the weeks before, you open it each time a part comes to mind, and shut it again without cutting anything. The grips are in the two short sides, and the product sheet says it can be stacked when full and closed: in the van it goes into the wall of boxes with the rest. What comes with the rental is listed in the kit.

In the van: upright, along the side, strapped

The bike goes in after the furniture and the heavy boxes. Its place is against a side wall, standing on its wheels, with the gear side facing into the van and nothing resting on it. Put a blanket between the frame and the wall. If the van has rings for securing the load, run a strap around the frame: on bends the bike stays put. How to build the rest of the load is explained in the article on how to load a moving van.

In the new home the pedals go back on the opposite way to how they came off: the right one screws in clockwise, the left one anticlockwise, and both need to be tight. Before the first ride, check that the handlebars are straight with the wheel, that the stem bolts are done up and that the brakes actually brake.

So, before the move: decide how the bike travels. If it goes in the van, the evening before take off the pedals and the battery, turn the handlebars, wrap the gears and the chain, and put all the parts in one box.