Thanks for letting me know. I have to ask, do the Swiss charge you to breathe the air here too? Just in case I need insurance for that as well. Geez I have never had to spend so much money on everything I have.. What about my Kayak? Do I need insurance on that as well? Might as well find it all out now and go buy 100 stickers to put on everything I own so as to not get in trouble..

Thank you mary for giving me the answer though.

Yes, in some places you do have to pay a tax on breathing the air. I think most, if not all, of Graubunden is like that. Luckily it's ussually added in the price of the hotel.

Now thats funny! Thanks Mary!

Get the Bike Insurance certificates from Aldi, they have the cheapest one for 4.49 CHF.

Just to clarify, the sticker you need is called a vignette (in French and German), the "insurance" is just third-party liability insurance. Insurance from theft should be covered under your home property insurance, but check this with your policy or provider. There's lots of info on it around the forum, especially in this thread: Velo Vignette: A few questions....

I wouldn't call this "registering" your bike. Once you've stuck the vignette on your bike, you are finished (until the next year, when you need to buy a new sticker). There is another sticker that comes with the vignette that says BikeRefinder. You can pay an extra fee to use this and register your bike so that if it gets stolen and recovered then it is more likely to find it's way back to you. However, I wouldn't bother with that part, just write down your frame's ID number (written underneath the bottom bracket) and that should be sufficient for this purpose.

Fortunately, there aren't that many ICN trains, and they only run on specific routes, so you normally don't need to make a reservation. The reason is that they designed those trains without enough bike spaces and didn't allow any additional space where extra bikes could be put, so now they try to limit the number of bikes by requiring you to make a reservation. It is a complete headache, and causes me not to use those trains very much during the summer. I make a specific effort to do rides in the part of the country that is only easily accessible from Lausanne with ICN trains (basically the area between Neuchatel to Solothurn) during the winter months when no reservation is needed. All other parts of the country are easily accessible by train with a bike without any hassle (except for the suburbs of Zurich being off-limits during rush hours).

Thank you for the thread from 2006 as well, In reading I saw that they are valid May to May, is this still true and if so, If I buy now, will I have to buy another one in May, or do you have a grace period? Like registering my car in advance...

They started selling the 2010 vignettes around the start of the year. You can buy one now, stick it on the bike, and it's valid straightaway then until May 2011.

kodokan

It's valid the beginning of January the year that you buy it until the end of May in the next year, so for 17 months. Buy a 2010 one now and it will be valid until the end of May 2011. If you live here permanently, it still means that you need to buy a new one every 12 months on average.

I guess you could always try pedelling to where you want to go if you want to save paying for taking youer bike on the train

Great information I didnt realize that you could actually buy a year pass for the bike. For those who fill out your tax then some of this could then also be reclaimed as part of your travel expenses. In my personal experience I have found that the majority of conductors show a blind eye to the bike ticket. However sods law always dictates that you will get the most hassle when it is the least convienent for you.

Will have to look into the bike bag suggestion...

There are several ways to transport a bike on the train in Switzerland:

1) Buy it a ticket
2) Buy a Bike GA (about 200CHF)
3) Take your bike on the train as hand luggage. (Free)

http://mct.sbb.ch/mct/en/reisemarkt/...getasche.htm?=

The last option appeals to me since it gives me the option to go for a bike ride along the Rhine in Eglisau for example, or simply flee the city before starting my bike ride.

However, option 3 requires that the bike is kept in a special bag such as

TRANSIT Velotransporttasche von VELO PLUS

https://www.veloplus.ch/veloartikel/...l.asp?grp=4799

Which I find a bit steep at 90CHF (since I will be sure to lose, tear or forget the bag with 1 month or 3 trips whichever comes first).

What I would like is a minimalist bag, something almost free which would cover my racing bike (with the front wheel removed) and then fold up into my rucksack.

Can anyone suggest a material for making this? My first idea is 4 blue ikea bags, double stitched together. Industrial grain sacks would be another option. Any other ideas?

How about this one ?

CHF 61 incl. shipping to CH.

I have a small fold-up bike and have used it on the trains, trams and buses many times without the requirement for a ticket. On one occasion and one occasion only a ticket inspector stop and told me that I should have the bike in a bag but would check with the other inspectors. He came back and said that for bikes to be free they should be in a carry bag..but did let me off this time....I thought this odd, that a fold-up bike must be in a bag as it defeats the practicality of having a fold-up bike.
So I checked..

http://www.sbb.ch/en/station-services/car-bike/on-the-move-by-bike/bring-your-bike-along-for-the-trip.html

Bu**er it does say on the website…but why in a bag..??

It does actually say "If your bike can be folded up and stored in a suitable carry case, you can even take it along free of charge as hand luggage".

It takes up the same space in the train and the point of having a fold up it to get off the train unfold it and cycle off…why would I want to carry a another bag with me while cycling.??

I will however continue to use the bike without a bag as it does not make sense...oooo rebel...

Ah, you're new here, aren't you?

The point, as with small dogs (other threads, passim), is that if your bike/dog is small enough and in a bag then it's regarded as "hand luggage which happens to contain a bike/dog".

No bag -> not hand luggage -> ticket required -> no ticket -> fines.


Simples. And Inevitables.

The reason for the bag is related to potential additional cleaning and maintainence costs associated with carrying bikes. (e.g mud, grease and oil from the bike, damage to fabrics and fittings from exposed pedals and chainrings etc.)

If you carry our bike out of the bag, you pay a fee to cover these costs (and the additional space taken up). Maybe a little unfair on riders of foldables but you have to make the differentiation somehow.

Cheers

Jekyll

Then be prepared to pay the fine for not having a ticket, about Fr 80 or Fr 100.

Re: buying a ticket, do you just buy a normal 1/2 price ticket as if it were a person, or is there a special 'bike' ticket? i don't want to buy a 1/2 price ticket and then get fined anyhow...

there is a bike day card for 12 CHF if you have a halftax, GA or another reduction card, if not its 18 CHF