Any advice on transporting my e bike to France..possibly courrier service?

[Corelate]

Hi there.. I've been cycling on & off for quite a number of years. Had a bad ankle break, so got a Specialized Creo lightweight e bike, which I'm using mainly now, just starting to biuld up my fitness again after an ankle replacenment a few months ago. I did LEJOG with an organised group last year (ebike) and am hoping to join them next year to do St Malo to Nice. The company do hire out heavy e bikes, but I think I'd struggle, as I'm quite small and really dont want to fall, so would prefer to use my own. There's the problem: I don't really know how I'm going to transport my lightweight e bike, which has an integrated battery, there & back (Brittany ferries won't allow e bikes with non removable batteries). The idea of travelling on the French trains is very offputting too, as I think I'll struggle, especially changing at Gare de Nord as I'll be almost 75 by then. SNCF offer a luggage tranfer system, but don't take e bikes.

I think there are various carriers, but I've no idea which ones to try. I also heard that there is some sort of minibus transfer company. Any ideas/ advice? Thanks

 

[PaulSB]

First thing to say is it's a great route. I've ridden more than half solo but ran out of time to complete the journey. Long story.

The "mini bus" you mentioned is probably European Bike Express. I don't know if EBE goes to St Malo. There may be other companies, I don't know.

I can't think of any reason why you shouldn't send the bike with a courier service. Obviously it comes with risks but so does life!!

Two questions for you. Are you certain Brittany Ferries won't allow your bike? If so would this rule out other possibilities that would involve a ferry, EBE and couriers? I imagine the ferry company sees the battery as a potential fire risk. That risk is no greater or smaller with say EBE than with you.

 

[steveindenmark]

Brittany Ferries welcomes electric bikes (e-bikes) on all their routes to France and Spain, treating them similarly to conventional bicycles. You can bring them as a foot passenger or with a vehicle, but you must select the "with bicycle" option during the booking process to ensure space.

Brittany Ferries +4

 

[Moodyman]

Though I ride a normal bike, I’ve seen several other riders with e-bikes. They rolled on and off just like me. No questions were asked by staff. This was on multiple boat crossings.

 

[Corelate]

Thanks for reply, but i rang them up last week and they told me that if I can't remove the battery, they won't transport the bike. The guy checked with his manager. I'm wondering if they might have changed their policy after recent reports of e bikes self combusting? The cheap imports have given e bikes a bad name.

 

[Dogtrousers]

Thanks for reply, but i rang them up last week and they told me that if I can't remove the battery, they won't transport the bike. The guy checked with his manager. I'm wondering if they might have changed their policy after recent reports of e bikes self combusting? The cheap imports have given e bikes a bad name.

That's a big shame.

You could have asked them if they can remove the battery from their ship

Brittany Ferries is talking about the largest battery ever installed in a ship worldwide. ... 12 MWh battery is housed in four battery compartments, which were installed on the ferry by AYK Energy, a company based in Europe and China.
https://www.electrive.com/2024/12/09/brittany-ferries-to-launch-hybrid-ferry-in-the-english-channel/

 

[mjr]

I hope all those electric car and van drivers also have to take their batteries to their cabins!

 

[mjr]

The idea of travelling on the French trains is very offputting too, as I think I'll struggle, especially changing at Gare de Nord as I'll be almost 75 by then.

A small note on this: I think it's possible to do Calais to Saint-Malo avoiding Paris by changing in Amiens, Rouen, Le Mans and Rennes. Of course, taking a ferry to Dieppe (which is DFDS, isn't it? So not the Brittany Ferries problem with e-bikes) would remove the Amiens change.

Gare du Nord is also not too bad as a change, as it's a terminal station, so you usually walk around the ends of the trains between them... but more likely you'd walk on out to the street and need to cross Paris to another terminal, which isn't awful any more with all the cycle lanes, but it's still riding in a big city.

But what really discourages me is that most of the trains seem to need bike reservations in summer and SNCF seem not keen on helping delayed passengers out, unlike UK National Rail where there's National Terms of Carriage and more leeway. It used to be easy to hop on regional rail (TER) but as cycling is being adopted in France faster than they will replace or refit regional trains, restrictions have been imposed. So even if you can book bike spaces all through, you have to pad all connections more, or take a chance on getting friendly train crew if delayed.