Hello!
My friends and I are going to travel from Tokyo to Osaka by bicycles. However we have no enough time to make it back by bicycles too, so we are looking for a way to travel with bicycles on public transport from Osaka to Tokyo.
I've checked out night buses, trains and planes – some don't allow travelling with bicycles, some are extremely expensive.
Can anyone advice the best way to do it? I suppose there must be some suburban trains and we could make it to Tokyo using several trains connections.
Thanks in advance.
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first in japon you must lways pack your bicyle in a rinko bag except in cycle trains
http://japan-cycling.com/cycle-trains-in-japan/
https://japan-cycling.com/bike-carrying-bag-review-doppelganger/
https://japan-cycling.com/trains-bike/
for bus there is very few spaces and they cannot takes bikes ( even more so you are with friends )
for the bullet train ( shinkensen)
Please note that the official rule in shinkansen allow you to have only two luggage ( weight max : 30 kg). The total of height+width+depth of each item must be under 250cm.
As there is a special space behind the last raw, do not hesitate to ask a seat near the end of the car when you do your seat reservation
New : From May 2020, a seat reservation near the storage area will be required in the Tokaido, Sanyo and Kyushu shinkansen lines if the sum of the dimensions of your luggage exceeds 160 cm.
if you want only local train ( bikes in a bag also) but much more space
look on hyperdia http://www.hyperdia.com/
and click on local trains limites express and express only
osaka kyoto it is 8h train 5 changes and 14,940 yens !!
maybe consider plane : be carreful you can not acces kansai airport by raod with bike you need to take train (avoid preak period )
last solution takkyubin http://www.kuronekoyamato.co.jp/en/
ask before if bicycle is OK ( I know some do it)
For a very reasonable price, you can have your luggage delivered to your next accommodation the next day (with variations depending on the distance). For example from Tokyo, a suitcase can be delivered the next day in Kyoto for only 1900 yen, and in Kyushu for 2200 yen.
To have your luggage delivered, you can:
If you are staying in a hotel, of course, the staff will take care of all this for you.
Thank you for this info Marie and Philippe! We are going to NZ then to Vietnam/China/Japan - so it may be handywhen we get to Japan - I do love getting a train sometimes and having a rest from cycling!! Your journey to Korea/Taiwan looks interesting.... maybe post about it on the forum...? If you cycle in the UK (hey I didn't vote for brexit - or boris!!) come and visit! cheers, jo
All of Marie et Phillipe's post of Mon, 2020-01-06 22:56 is correct. We travelled for 6 weeks from Osaka to the southe by local and Shinkansen (reserved seats, last row of car). We made bike bags from ripstop nylon (ripstopbytheroll.com) remnants (very light), with the wheels velcro strapped to the frame and a cord with a 1 footlong, 2" webbing shoulder strap fixed to the bike frame. Try to get on first to get the space behind the last seat, or relocate luggage so that you can stand your bikes on end to fit them in. We also used Kuroneko (Black Cat) for shipping in-flight bike boxes (66x66x25cm) that fly as luggage. We have SNS couplers on the frames.
Thanks Bill , this is really useful info - especially the ripstop site - so much easier to make a bag the right dimensions.... I have looked at bike bag but they are usually too big to carry or cost too much!! Its the racks that make them an awkward shape! Great having couplers - my US mate has them and she can pack her bike down real small - we still fill a cardboard bike box each.... We cycled in Asia last year and she brought her Brompton folder with a rucksack on the back.... it meant she was finally slower than me - cycling, but she just leapt on trains and ferries with one bag in each hand and always got her bike in a room... for flatlands ideal...!
Thanks for the info - just hope the coronavirus tails off soon...! cheers, jo
Attached is a picture of my bike without the ripstop nylon very lightweight cover. The wheels are velcro strapped to the frame, handlebars turned. Note the cord with webbing shoulder strap. Ideally one could carry panniers in each hand and bike over shoulder. for a longer carry, remove the pedal on the inside to save your ankle. https://photos.app.goo.gl/7bzhdVMzM3oQvkMP7
yes it was very interesting easy going and quite cheap for developed country
lots of free camp and cheap motel when the weather wasn't good ( 3 typhons in korea !!)
good food ( esp taiwan ) nice bike path ( in korea it was just amazing )
we prefer taiwan for the mix sea / moutain and also for the taiwanese people so welcoming