figbat
Slippery scientist
- Location
- South Oxfordshire, UK
I think this is it - there is a maximum rim profile rather than diameter. Badly-worded brochure leads to unhelpful confusion.
Bikes on a train
- Thread starter Julia9054
- Start date
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I think this is it - there is a maximum rim profile rather than diameter. Badly-worded brochure leads to unhelpful confusion.
ColinJ
Puzzle game procrastinator!
- Location
- Todmorden - Yorks/Lancs border
That's good to know. I was hoping to start catching trains from Exeter to other parts of Devon, Cornwall, Somerset and Dorset with my bike, then cycling back to my sister's place.
I prefer to keep an eye on the weather forecast and make a last minute decision so needing a bike reservation could have been an issue.
All uphill
Still rolling along
- Location
- Somerset
My experience of GWR staff, once you get west of Bristol, is that they are very helpful and really want to get you to where you are going. They respond well to a smile and a request. Less well to snotty customers.
Last week I needed to get me and my bike from the Exeter ticket office to a distant platform. I had 5 minutes. Then I was told the lift was out of order.
One of the GWR staff told me not to rush. He called ahead and they held the London train for a couple of minutes while I manhandled my bike up and down the stairs.
mjr
Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
- Location
- mostly Norfolk, sometimes Somerset
Not GWR but I have booked bikes on Greater Anglia on arrival at a station, shortly before the train arrives there, after it had started its journey. Like GWR, they say in some places to reserve 24h ahead, but it's not required, but it may help that some of their trains have 18 bike spaces instead of GWR's 2 or 4.
matticus
Guru
I travel on GWR with my bike on an almost daily basis. I can confirm the IET trains will take a 700c wheel of normal depth- not a 45mm deep section. Nor is it easy to manhandle my 42mm tyres onto the hook. I normally don't bother hanging it as if I make the IET service, I only travel one stop. I never have a reservation and don't have a problem getting on the train. If I'm travelling further afield (and not commuting)with my bike, I do make a reservation.
presta
Guru
Most of my cycling by train was done on a turn up & go basis, outbound was weather determined, and homebound was a spontaneous decision based on when I'd run out of energy and had enough. Sometimes it was a bit of a hassle, but I never got stranded anywhere.
The last time was 15 years ago now, though.
I remember getting on at Garsdale Head once, and the guard didn't have Braintree on his ticket machine, so I had to get a ticket to Leeds and then trade it in for a Braintree one at the Customer Services desk.
ColinJ
Puzzle game procrastinator!
- Location
- Todmorden - Yorks/Lancs border
Back home (trains to/from Calderdale) I am used to hopping and off Northern trains with my bike and only failed once at about 17:15 out of Leeds on a weekday when the train was crammed with commuters. The next train was fine.
A bit further afield, I tried doing the same on a Transpennine train and got the disdainful glare of death from the guard when I admitted to not having a reservation!
A bit further afield, I tried doing the same on a Transpennine train and got the disdainful glare of death from the guard when I admitted to not having a reservation!
Gwylan
Veteran
- Location
- All at sea⛵
Why do you want to leave Exeter? Do you know something?
ColinJ
Puzzle game procrastinator!
- Location
- Todmorden - Yorks/Lancs border
Ha ha!
I have been exploring round here several times a week, several times a year, since my sister moved down here 4 years ago. I just thought that I could cover a much bigger area if I took a train out and cycled back.
Slick
Guru
So, I wish I read this thread even a day earlier.
I wish I took pictures, but the panic was on me as I tried to wrestle my bike back off the hook on the LNER Edinburgh to London train at Newcastle today.
I arrived nice and early and got myself lined up with carriage K to load the bike, and waited for the train to arrive. I was lucky enough to suss out the numbered hooks, and had loads of time to try and figure out how to hang both mine and Mrs Slicks bikes without causing any damage. A really nice foreign couple came at my back and started to load, which was fine but there isn't a lot of space in there to load both cupboards at the same time. I helped a few other passengers with heavy luggage and then went to my seat with Mrs Slick.
The issue started when that nice couple started unloading at Newcastle, meaning I couldn't get near my bikes until they gathered everything and left, then I'm sure you could see the colour drain from my face as I realised I couldn't get my bike back off the hook.
There was some more panic and drama before I realised I could just let some air out, which did the trick, but you just don't need the drama.
It probably says in the T&C's somewhere about the size, but given it took 3 months for someone to claim that nice wine, maybe restrictions like that should be highlighted.
