Our story
It started with one box and an idea.
Bike Box Hire began with one cyclist's spare bike box in the UK. This is how it got from there to Manly, Sydney.
One box, and a good idea
Charlie, the founder of Bike Box Hire UK, is an Ironman triathlete. He had a bike box of his own, and rather than let it gather dust between races he started hiring it out to other cyclists who needed one for a trip.
Word spread and demand picked up, so he got another box. And then another.
From one box to a network of bike shops
Bike Box Hire UK was founded in 2021. Its boxes are now collected from 30+ bike-shop hubs across the UK: local bike shops and cycling businesses that keep the boxes on site and hand them to riders before a trip.
A booking system built for the job
Charlie's brother James built the booking platform. The reasoning was simple: turning up on the morning of a flight to find your box isn't there is a ruined trip, so the system has to know where every box is and which booking it belongs to.
It manages availability, bookings, reminders and the handover at each hub. Bike Box Hire Aus runs on the same platform.
Now in Australia
Bike Box Hire Aus is the Australian sister business of Bike Box Hire UK, run by a local team. We're based in Manly, Sydney, and hire boxes from there today, with collection by appointment.
We're building a network of bike-shop hubs in other Australian cities the same way the UK network grew: one local shop at a time. If you run a bike shop, we'd like to hear from you.
Why hire rather than buy
A good hard-shell bike box is expensive to buy and takes up a lot of room. Most riders use one a few times a year at most, and the rest of the time it sits in a garage or a hallway.
Hiring makes more sense. Collect a box, fly with your own bike set up the way you like it, and hand the box back when you're home.
How hiring a bike box works
Choose your collection point and dates online and pay by card. There's no deposit. We email a confirmation with a QR code for your booking.
Collect the box on your collection date and pack your bike using the packing guide we send, or add the packing service where the hub offers it. When you're back, return the box, and add the rebuild service if you'd like your bike built back up.
Cancellation is free up to 14 days before collection, and if your trip runs long you can extend your hire from your account.
The boxes
We hire hard-shell bike boxes. Today that's the Bike Box Alan Triathlon Aero EasyFit, which takes TT, gravel, road and mountain bikes.
Flying soon? Check your airline's bike policy, then find your nearest collection point for current prices and dates.
