Bicycles - Rent vs. Own
Taking your own bike
Cost:
The first question of course is what does it cost to take a bike. I can only speak from experience. I, or other members of our party have at one time or another transported bikes on international flights (and connecting domestic and European flights) for free on the following air lines:
KLM, Continental, Swiss Air, Iberia, Air France, US Airways.
In addition, a call to United indicated that bikes also go free. In my experience, the only airline to charge a fee was Delta's $98 (I don't remember whether it was $98 one way or round trip). Twice - KLM & Swiss Air- when checking in for the return flight, they wanted to charge us for the bikes. Both times I was able to talk them out of it. I suspect the problem arose because I was not checking-in for an inter-continental flight, but connecting flights to Amsterdam and Zurich, respectively. All airlines seem to charge for domestic, and apparently, European, flights. I recommend trying to get the agent to put a remark into the computer record ahead of time.
The best advice before selecting an airline is calling to find out their policy.
Containers:
In all cases, except for a return trip from Vienna on Air France, we used boxes to carry the bikes; and with one exception, they all arrived undamaged. The only problem was logistical: how to get it from the Amtrak station in Chicago or Lagrange Road to the airport. Although the Chicago subway line from the Amtrak station to Ohare Airport permits bicycles except during rush hour, I did not think it practical to lug boxes on board. Several times we called taxis at the Lagrange Road suburban station. One time we even hauled boxes onto the PACE Manheim Road bus that goes by the Lagrange station to the airport. The return trips from the Airport to Lagrange Road were nail-biters because of traffic jams.
The return flight is always a question mark because, with the exception of the time we stored the boxes at a privatzimmer (private home) in Salzburg where we spent the night before flying back, we had to throw them away upon arrival in Europe. In two cases we returned from Zurich where Swiss Air sells heavy plastic bags for about $7. The bikes and bags arrived undamaged.
The forth case, when we returned from Vienna, was a bit confused and deserves its own story.
Moral: the odds are good that your bike will arrive undamaged; but wrapping the tubs with foam pipe insulation is cheap insurance
Renting
The first three years we rented bicycles from the Austrian Federal Railroad. At that time they could be rented from almost 200 stations, and returned to any of those stations. Since they could not be reserved via email, I wrote to the particular stationmaster. Although I never received confirmation, the bikes were always ready. In one case 6 bikes were lined up on the platform of the small station when we arrived.
The bikes were standard "bike shop" hybrids containing racks for panniers, lights, and locks, and served the purpose well. They cost about $45 per week if you had arrived by train or had an Austrian rail pass. The only mechanical difficulty was a tendency of the rear brake cable to break, usually when squeezing the brake lever while stopped.
The fourth year we began our tour in the far west of Austria where there were no stations that rent bikes. I believe the railroad had downsized its rental program to under 100 stations. I had investigated renting them from the Swiss Railroad since we were flying into Zurich. But the cost was high enough that I began investigating bringing our own.
Conclusion
While we were riding, bringing our own bicycles seemed the way to go. During the trip planning, getting them to or from the airport, and assembling or disassembling them, renting looked good. Take your pick.