Hello all.
I thought I'd post this as searching for 'Megabus' and 'cycles' brought up inconclusive results. so I thought my concrete experience might help others decide whether to attempt to take their bikes on the MEGABUS.
Last weekend I decided to take my bike to Manchester from London as I was attending a music festival and also visiting family in different parts of the city so I thought I'd save on Manchester's bus prices and take my bike. The train was just too expensive so I thought I'd take a coach.
A National Express driver told me most drivers are willing to take unboxed bikes if there is space but I didn't test this theory as NE tickets were pretty pricey too! So I looked at getting some Megabus tickets.
I called Stagecoach customer services and the gentleman on the phone told me a FULL SIZE BIKE is acceptable as long as it is in a bike bag. Megabus coaches are bound by the StageCoach conditions of carriage which does not prohibit bikes, but allows them 'at owners risk' if space is available. The phone operator did warn me though that it is ultimately up to the driver.
Now I thought I'd pick a late coach (11pm to 3am!!!) thinking that no one would be on it. MISTAKE!! The coach was PACKED with every seat taken. The luggage hold was HEAVING with hardly any space. The driver was in a hurry to go and didn’t even check my ticket or look at my MASSIVE BACKPAK so I just put my bike on the back of the hold on top of the engine (it's too small a space for regulare luggage but a bike on its side fits easily. My bike was in a Cinelli bike bag with my clothing and some bubblewrap used as padding.
The above experience proves that even in a full coach you should be ok as there is always space in the back of the coach above the engine (if you don't mind getting your bike a bit warm).
On the way back I had some trouble from the coach driver who asked what was in my bag and refused it when I said it was a disassembled bike.
I showed him a printout of Stagecoach T&C and told him I phoned customer services. He still refused but then a manager came and okay'd it. When I offered to load the bike myself the driver dropped his complaints.
So it looks like that it is up to the driver and if you do everything to limit his workload i.e loading the bike yourself and you pack your bike you should be fine. Also printing out the T&C and mentioning you phoned customer services invited intervention from another manager who insisted it was fine.
So to summarise:
Get a bike bag
print out stagecoach T&C
be very polite
offer to put the bike in yourself
put it away from luggage (like the back shelf)
and you should be able to benefit from cheap travel with your bike.
The only problem I had was putting the bike back together at the destination. When I got to Manchester at 3am I couldn't untangle my chain from the derailleur (bad packing on my part) and needed to call a cab to my hosts and sort it out there!
Otherwise I loved the feeling of finishing my shift at work, riding down the bank to Victoria, (spend an hour packing my bike to bewildered onlookers), jumping off the other end and riding away! (despite the niggles).
Hope this helps someone!
I thought I'd post this as searching for 'Megabus' and 'cycles' brought up inconclusive results. so I thought my concrete experience might help others decide whether to attempt to take their bikes on the MEGABUS.
Last weekend I decided to take my bike to Manchester from London as I was attending a music festival and also visiting family in different parts of the city so I thought I'd save on Manchester's bus prices and take my bike. The train was just too expensive so I thought I'd take a coach.
A National Express driver told me most drivers are willing to take unboxed bikes if there is space but I didn't test this theory as NE tickets were pretty pricey too! So I looked at getting some Megabus tickets.
I called Stagecoach customer services and the gentleman on the phone told me a FULL SIZE BIKE is acceptable as long as it is in a bike bag. Megabus coaches are bound by the StageCoach conditions of carriage which does not prohibit bikes, but allows them 'at owners risk' if space is available. The phone operator did warn me though that it is ultimately up to the driver.
Now I thought I'd pick a late coach (11pm to 3am!!!) thinking that no one would be on it. MISTAKE!! The coach was PACKED with every seat taken. The luggage hold was HEAVING with hardly any space. The driver was in a hurry to go and didn’t even check my ticket or look at my MASSIVE BACKPAK so I just put my bike on the back of the hold on top of the engine (it's too small a space for regulare luggage but a bike on its side fits easily. My bike was in a Cinelli bike bag with my clothing and some bubblewrap used as padding.
The above experience proves that even in a full coach you should be ok as there is always space in the back of the coach above the engine (if you don't mind getting your bike a bit warm).
On the way back I had some trouble from the coach driver who asked what was in my bag and refused it when I said it was a disassembled bike.
I showed him a printout of Stagecoach T&C and told him I phoned customer services. He still refused but then a manager came and okay'd it. When I offered to load the bike myself the driver dropped his complaints.
So it looks like that it is up to the driver and if you do everything to limit his workload i.e loading the bike yourself and you pack your bike you should be fine. Also printing out the T&C and mentioning you phoned customer services invited intervention from another manager who insisted it was fine.
So to summarise:
Get a bike bag
print out stagecoach T&C
be very polite
offer to put the bike in yourself
put it away from luggage (like the back shelf)
and you should be able to benefit from cheap travel with your bike.
The only problem I had was putting the bike back together at the destination. When I got to Manchester at 3am I couldn't untangle my chain from the derailleur (bad packing on my part) and needed to call a cab to my hosts and sort it out there!
Otherwise I loved the feeling of finishing my shift at work, riding down the bank to Victoria, (spend an hour packing my bike to bewildered onlookers), jumping off the other end and riding away! (despite the niggles).
Hope this helps someone!
