Bikes on the TGV trains in France

[myrtlespokes]

Hoping someone can give me sone tips and advice.
I will be flying into Paris CDG airport. My plan is to take a train from there to Basel as I am heading to Oberallpass to start the Rhine cycle route. I will be travelling with my bicycle. The bike will be in a plastic bag (issued from the airlines). The pedals will be removed and the handlebars turned. Other than that I don't want to dismantle it. Has anyone successfully boarded a TGV with a bike packaged in this manner?
From the reading I have done on the train websites it looks like they want a special bag. Also some of the trains have a bike compartment but there is no way of knowing which train has this a facility.
I want to book my ticket in advance as it is much cheaper. However if I book in advance and am denied boarding with my bike I loose all the money spent on the train ticket.
Any help you can give me would be much appreciated.
Thanks

[robgul]

The Captain Train website will let you book a ticket for the journey AND tell you where there are bike compartments on TGV train routes AND let you book (for a modest charge) a bike (just wheeled on) space. Some TGV routes (especially going south from Paris don't take bikes)

We've done it a few times and it works.

Rob

[tim_f]

The Lyria TGV trains on the line to Basel do have reservable bike spaces.

On TGV lines with out spaces then the bike needs to be bagged no larger than 1.2 by 0.8 meters. Does not need to be a special bike bag. Have wrapped in plastic sheeting and parcel tape in the past. Need to be able to place on baggage rack.

So a bike in a airline bag with the wheels on will be too big to fit in the rack and you will not be permitted on the train.

You can book a space for a a bike when buying a ticket on the SNCF website if you choose the french language version.

see https://www.voyages-sncf.com/services-train/velo-a-bord

Some times trainline.eu (new name for capatain ) will let you book a bike space but it is a bit flakey.

Otherwise call SNCF in the UK 0844 848 5 848 details and other agencies listed here https://www.seat61.com/Europe-train-tickets-by-phone.htm

[birkhead]

I am struggling with the new systems! Trainline.eu [ex CapitaineTrain] was a bit shaky, and Oui.sncf kept falling over too.
We want to go to Mulhouse from gai Paris with 2 assembled bikes in June, to begin the next horizontal journey west.
I have just committed to trains to London and then Paris, tho I am beginning to wonder if Lille might have been a better option.
I really dont want the faff of taking bikes apart, if there is an easier option available for a tenner.
It was suggested above that the TGV-Lyria line to Basel takes bikes, but that does not show on the websites, and trainline have just asserted by email that it does not carry assembled bikes.
In the good old days one could find a spreadsheet-style timetable with a bike symbol where trains took bikes.
Does anyone know how to find that?
Or if there is no TGV bike option available, are there slower trains? All I could find on sncf was local lined arouind strasbourg, nothing reaching as far as the capital.

[robgul]

If you have booked Eurostar with bikes I may be wrong but I don't think you can get off at Lille (even if the train stops there - most do)

Rob

[mjr]

The ever great bahn.de allows one to deselect ICE and avoid TGV trains (which it regards as equivalent), revealing that you could wheel a bike onto an old intercity from Paris Est to Belfort or Mulhouse, then TER to Basel, changing Mulhouse if you left the intercity at Belfort. Only four connections a day and takes about six hours, though.

[mjr]

https://www.seat61.com/bike-by-train.htm#Switzerland includes the Belfort route and a slower one via Lyon, plus mentions that Lyria stopped taking bikes in December

[Audax67]

Pardon me, but the T in TGV stands for "train", so "TGV trains" is a wee bit phunny.

[mjr]

Pardon me, but the T in TGV stands for "train", so "TGV trains" is a wee bit phunny.

And yet, "CTC club" still makes fairly frequent appearances on this site... if people don't want the repetition, stop them including the noun in the abbreviation

[LinusR]

Pardon me, but the T in TGV stands for "train", so "TGV trains" is a wee bit phunny.

Better tell this lot, then...

[birkhead]

Thanks for all your advice, and apologies for the tautology in the title.
bahn.de was most helpful, having a bike option if you click the Change other data tab.
Looks like the favourite is the 1333 from Paris-Bercy a mere 7hrs and 3 changes.
Or maybe we need to reconsider the starting point? Perhaps taking into account the train routes?