When packing the bike in one of the hard sided plastic boxes, is it proper to install a piece of allthread or a couple of old hubs in the front and rear to prevent the frame and fork from getting squeezed?

When packing the bike in one of the hard sided plastic boxes, is it proper to install a piece of allthread or a couple of old hubs in the front and rear to prevent the frame and fork from getting squeezed?


I put a threaded rod with wing nuts on the inside and outside of the frame and fork where the wheels go to prevent squeezing. This is what my LBS recommended when I bought my box several years ago and my bike has survived three round trips across the Atlantic Ocean and several trips in the US without harm.

When packing the bike in one of the hard sided plastic boxes, is it proper to install a piece of allthread or a couple of old hubs in the front and rear to prevent the frame and fork from getting squeezed?
The hard case should provide enough protection to prevent the frame/fork dropouts from being crushed. A substatial force would be required to compress a hard case near the area of the dropouts. The plastic spacer that is shipped with many new bikes probably wouldn't make a difference in this case. An old hub or other old axles would provide some add protection. It won't hurt anything.

I had a steel fork bent during shipping. It takes no time to install and may just save you some heart ache in the long run.

I use the threaded rods and wingnuts approach too. I also use some rubber washers between the wingnuts and rods. I've found that foam plumbing pipe insulation works to keep the paint safe. Wrap it around the fork and bike tubes.

As someone suggested, the case is probably strong enough, but better safe than sorry. A few bucks at Home Depot could save an otherwise ruined bike vacation.