I’m looking at a couple of options for a good way to pack and fly my bike a couple of times a year. Last time I flew, I packed everything into a card box Virgin provided, but I’d rather something I can use more consistently that also fits a little easier into someone’s car.
I’d love a hardcase, but I feel like the protection benefits are a bit outweighed by the weight and bulk of them. Also, they’re pretty pricey. I’ve looking at bags on Wiggle for the last few weeks and the ones around the $300-$500 mark all seem pretty decent and I don’t really know enough to discern what’s going to make one better than another.
Any advice? I’ve seen horrendous damage done to guitar boats worth upwards of $1500 made of galvanised steel, but I’ve also seen bodyboards and loose golf bags and surfboards come through without a scratch. It’s like the more bulletproof something looks, the more likely it is to get run over by a forklift or something ridiculous in handling. I feel like a good quality, well-packed soft bag with protection for the dropouts and bottom bracket, headset and wheels would be ample if it’s very clearly only going to stand up one way.
I know your looking for a bag but I reckon just a box is the go.
+free
+its obviously a bike and usually gets treated as such, oversize baggage is usually gentler than normal luggage - you seen stuff go down the chute onto the conveyor belt?
+if you travel/tour with it you can throw it away at the airport and just get another later, nothing to carry. (just keep the dropout spacers/axle end thingys)
+there is heaps more space for your clothes etc so you don’t need a 2nd bag and so don’t get charged for a 2nd piece (and most airlines don’t charge excess for a box)
+fast to pack a bike into it, cos heaps of room.
The last few times i have flown with a bike, i just used the Qantas boxes… they are so big that I left both wheels on, half deflated the tyres, and I didn’t even have to rotate the bars as they were the perfect width to keep the bike steady in the box.
Got to the other end, opened the box, pulled the bike out, pumped the tyres, and rolled out leaving the box at o/size.
if it’s only a couple of times a year, this is what i’d continue to do.
However, i have a few friends with the BO Gear royd bag and have taken their bikes internationally no worries. I also follow a guy on the gram who had his bike run over by virgin, and they will not honour the damage incurred as it was a soft bike bag. Complete bike is a total loss.
It really depends on the bike. I have flown internationally/domestically many times over the last 5 years with my bike in a Ground Effect tardis. It’s a steel polo bike and is designed to take a beating. The only damage has been that I have lost a few millimetres in my drop outs (more from me being lazy and not putting anything in to stop them being compressed). The benefit of the bags is that they fold up small and you can strap them to your back pack and just ride with all your stuff.
I fly 3-4 times a year with a bike and after struggling with a box the first couple of times decide to give a bag a go. I got a CRC branded one cheap but that ended up torn somehow by the gorillas in baggage (fork leg through the bottom corner and a couple of other abrasion scraps through the outer layer) the bike was unmarked apart from a slightly bent rotor. Also the zip tabs on the CRC one was made of butter, I broke one off the first time I tried to zip it up and ended up looping a small padlock through the loops.
Decided bags were the way to go and stumped up for an EVOC. It’s an awesome piece of kit, rolls up easily, easy to pack (swallows a large 29 dually plus helmet, hydropack and all my other gear/cloths. I usually fly Emirates because their 30kg limit means no surprises at check in, it’s easy to get this thing heavy.
Have used both extensively domestically and internationally.
Royd took the good stuff from the tardis (amongst others) and made it better/stronger/tougher.
Plus it comes in way radder colours so its easier to see.
Dave puts an amazing amount of thought into the details of his bags. It shows.
His packing tips are also excellent.
Boxes are great but if you want to pack your bike before you get to the airport, you are reliant on finding a friendly bike shop or keeping the old one. Rain on the boxes also creates some real issues if the bikes are in transit, handled further. Plus it’s very difficult to achieve airport ninja status with one. I’ve repeatedly done so with both of my bags.
AS I’m travelling with a carbonium bike more often now I"m finding my thoughts turning to a hard bike box… but for now the royd with extra packing suffices.
I’ve only flown with bike boxes (just cardboard ones from shops) and the difficulty of getting to and from the airport on taxis / public transport is a pain in the arse. We had two station wagon taxis refuse to pick us up at Melbourne Airport because the boxes “won’t fit”. When we finally got one to help us, they did fit.
I’d love to be able to build up my bike at the airport and ride to and from there.
Cardboard Bike Boxes:
Pros: Low Cost, Easy to use
Cons: Hard to reuse, Incredibly bulky (don’t easily fit in a car boot), hard to store once you get to your destination.
Best use: For point to point bike tours where you don’t have to come back to the start point, and where you know you will be able to get another at your finish/final destination
Hard Cases:
Pros: Incredibly easy to use, virtually indestructible
Cons: Expensive, Incredibly bulky, take up a lot of room
Best use: For super expensive bikes, or for round trip type tours where you know there is somewhere you can stash it.
Bike Bags:
Pros: Lightweight, easily packable, can be posted, allows you to ride to/from airport.
Cons: Moderately expensive comparatively, provides the least amount of protection (the onus is on you to be careful so read up on how to pack like a pro)
Best use: For touring bikes which are rugged, and for most touring styles (leave it at the airport, or post it to your next destination if you don’t want to carry it).
The Royd and Tardis both look good, thanks for the tips guys. I was leaning towards the Evoc because of it’s design and the hard parts around the base to protect the dropouts and so forth. It seems like you can get a bit more into it as well. I feel like the fact that it’s a bit more bottom-heavy and shelled means it’s less likely to be put down flat as it’s quite obvious it shouldn’t go that way. I don’t really like making assumptions about the way handlers do things though.
The Royd and Tardis are obviously cheaper options, but would the Evoc here be worth the extra cost for something I want to use for many years to come, and for different bikes over that time too? I’m not fussed with the cost really, I’d rather get something that will do the job, but if the cheaper two options aren’t going to be significantly worse-off, then I’m happy to go that way.
I’d prefer something that has more of a chance of getting to the other end safely rather than the convenience of being able to ride out of the airport, if it comes down to it.
If you’re going to have wheels, get 4. That’s my opinion as a heavy bag with a bike and fully loaded with other junk is a pain to drag around if it just has 2 wheels. Might not be an issue but I’ve used that Evoc and a 4 wheeled Scicon TSA. They both seem similar in terms of protection but the 4 wheels make it so easy to push around
I’m leaning really hard towards the Royd, having spoken to a few other people about a couple of things discussed in here. The ability to fold it down and clip it to a backpack or the bike is probably going to be more useful than the slightly better protection. Like a few posts in here say, it’s all about packing the bike properly and not just chucking things all over the place. Worse comes to worse with a bag, can always chuck some cardboard in either side to give it a bit of structure I guess! Having had a good research of the BOgear page, they definitely seem to know what’s up.
We took 2 steel bikes with gazillion spoke wheels in soft bags to Italy. Only minor damage (slight wheel true, small ding, few scratches). Plus elleventy for an Evoc - that thing shizzled, worth the money. Cheaper soft bag (Jet Black) was a bit of a hassle. You do gets what you pay for. I was a hard case user before. If the bikes were more modern/fragile etc I would go a hard case. Airlines don’t give a fuck.
I considered asking you about borrowing a bike bag to go to Tassie with my carbonium bicycle, but I decided a cardboard box and a well padded bike would have less chance of getting damaged. Bike boxes are awkward, it’s not easy for a baggage handler to pick it up and throw it. Went to Bunnings and got that foam pipe insulation stuff and some bubble wrap. And I only needed a backpack as the box had enough space for most of my clothes and shoes.
Cons
packing the bike well is time consuming (Ally has a well padded soft bag and takes half the amount of time to pack)
I’m too much of a tightarse to spend $5 on a trolley at the airport and boxes are awkward to carry
transport
If I was going to travel regularly, I’d buy an Evoc.
FWIW I use pipe insulation and cardboard pieces with my Royd when I’m travelling longer distances (thus more connections) or want a bit more protection. Even with those it still packs down pretty small/takes up a minimal space.
With some judicious packing and use of soft items for padding you don’t need to protect every part of the frame. And the cardboard can come in handy when building the bike or repacking your bag in crappy/wet locations (hello whitehorse airport). plus that stuff is easily replaced.
again… if its a high end dually/roadie the % of your bikes cost that the bag represents means its more worthwhile.
also ol’ mate prolly swears by the cardboard box and he sure as heck travels a lot (but has mad bike industry bros so boxes are likely easily sourced/kept for him).