i have used a Thule for 20 years now traveling between 4 and 6 times per year with a bike - tri, gravel and road. Yes i have to take the wheels and bars off and for protection i take of the rear der however i have never had an issue with damage - takes me about 20 to 30 mins to both pack and un pack. I place plumbing pipe insulation over the tubes for additional protection

That's an interesting point about wireless versus cabled cockpits.

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Live long and surf!

I bought a buxumbox. My xl speed concept fits easily and I found it really straightforward to pack and unpack; drop handlebars and depending on bike size maybe the seat. I found it very well protected. Downside: this is a big and heavy box. Definitely had overweight issues and depending on type/ size of plane I can see box size issue as well.

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Let me be that I am and seek not to alter me

I have the PremierBike case (previous version with the zipper). A big selling point for me was that the zipper (or buckles with the new version) makes it hard to mess up closing the case after the security inspection. I also considered Bike Box Alan, but wanted something a little smaller for rental cars, even if it means removing the seatpost.

I've used the case with road and track bikes (size 52, though there was plenty of room for a bigger frame). The handlebar cutouts on the Premier case seem to be optimized more for tri than road bikes, so for a road bike I loosen the brake levers to tilt them inwards (this is with 36-38cm bars). What I've found works best is also turning the bars 90 degrees to create a bit more room. I also only put 2 wheels in the case, leaving the wheel position near the handlebars empty to minimize contact there.

https://www.slowtwitch.com/...nspections_7430.html

Never done it myself, but apparently you can call ahead and request it. The comments of this have a few accounts of people being told no though... I wouldn't count on it.

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~Zac

X2 for the Buxumbox. Expensive but bombproof and easy to steer through an airport.

you can always stick a firearm in the bike box and declare it. that way you have to be present when TSA inspect how you've packed it

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the world's still turning? >>>>>>> the world's still turning

Nice one. Even better, don't put a firearm in there, declare it anyway, and when they inspect it suddenly remember that you're not going on a hunting trip but a triathlon. Then dryly comment to the agent that those things are the same thing to you.

I've got a scicon version 2.0, great bag. used it many times.
I did notice at Kona (while waiting for ever for my bag) that the two most popular cases were the scicon and the ABB. The scicon's clearly outnumbered the ABB

Bought the Thule transition hardcase last year. Love it. Travelled/flew 3 times last year and never had any problems/issues. I wrap the carbon tubing in foam and remove the RD AND the hanger. It is a heavy case and will be difficult to get it under 50 lbs. I fly delta and its an extra $130 per flight (that part kinda sucks).

I will need a case for Oceanside in April. I am flying Alaska and their policy states they will "waive the oversize fee or overweight fee for the items listed in this section," which includes bikes. If I got their policy wrong and they don't waive fees, they charge for bags that are oversize ($150, linear dimensions of 63-115") and overweight ($100, 51-100 lb). I'd be grateful to hear about anyone's experience when flying Alaska with a bike.

Below are my notes on different cases. I'm surprised that the soft cases don't seem much smaller than the hard cases.


Bike Box Alan Triathlon Aero Easyfit - $949
Hard case
52.4 x 37.0 x 19.7 in
30 lb
Notes - do not need to remove cockpit. Now taking orders.


Thule RoundTrip Transition - $1000
Hard case
54 x 37 x 15.5 in
39 lb
Notes - includes bike stand


Premier Tactical Bike Travel Case - $735
Hard case
No dimensions listed on website
22 lb
Notes - website says available in 60 days


Evoc Road Bike Pro - $995
Hybrid hard / soft case
55.9 x 36.2 x 20.9 in
25.8 lb
Notes - do not need to remove cockpit


Scion AEROCOMFORT 3.0 TRIATHLON BIKE TRAVEL BAG - $600
Soft case
52.0 x 40.6 X 19.7 in
25.4 lb
Notes - rolls up to save space when not in use


Evoc Travel Bag Pro - $795
Soft case
57.9 x 33.5 x 14.2 in
21.2 lb


Evoc Bike Travel Bag - $595
Soft case
54.3 x 33.5 x 15.4 in
19 lb

surely that BBA cost is without shipping? their US website has them shipped for $1200

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the world's still turning? >>>>>>> the world's still turning

The evoc bike bag pro folds down to about the same size as the scicon

How many more North Americans would buy BBA if their "distributor" in Florida had some actual stock?

Basic black with no stickers is fine with me.

Shipping cost is outrageous but they must great because I rarely see them for sale second hand.

I last flew on Alaska in 2022 and was free and having a BofA Alaska card also waives one more bag fee.

As far as bags goes, if I was buying today I’d get the Evoc Pro case. I have the SciCon and not had any damage in maybe a dozen flights ver the years. But then I use wraps and bumpers for the bike.

Cardboard all the way.....33 years of flights to races and still counting.

Notable absence in your list is the Canyon bag. I got one last year after moving to a smaller place where I didn't have the room to store two hard cases anymore. Plus I wanted something where no bar removal is necessary.

It has tube framing and some protection plates making it basically a semi-hardcase. Feels well protected from all angles.

Used it last November for a race and I'll never be able to go back to cases that require cockpit disassembly. Wheels, seat post, pedals, and off I went for a ride, within 15 minutes of arriving at the hotel.

100% I would get one.

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the world's still turning? >>>>>>> the world's still turning

Whenever I see a cardboard bike box sitting in the rain outside of a plane I'm glad I have a travel bag.

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As I said, 33 years and counting without an issue. I just wrap them with packing tape and they are good to go.

Me too. I tried to get one on a current trip to The Netherlands. However, as UK is not in the EU it would have been the same cost to but it and have it shipped to the US. I'd love to have one, but I'm waiting for Dan of Premier to have his in stock. In the meantime, my old 2000 vintage Triall3 case is golden and has many foreign trips and is going strong....

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Kiwami Racing Team

I too considered the BBA, but the cost to ship/import into North America, plus just the sheer bulkiness of it, I decided to go with the Evoc Road Pro case on the advice of a friend who loves theirs. They used it for Kona this past year and it worked very well, no removal of base bars, and the bag collapses down nicely when not in use. It is sold by lots of retailers so not too difficult to find on sale, or somewhere that has a discount code. It ended up being at least 500 Cad cheaper than the BBA for me.

I’m really struggling to figure out all the glowingly positive reviews on the Evoc Road Bike Bag Pro. Yes, you can fit most road/gravel bikes without taking off the handlebars (although for larger frames you’ll likely have to take off the saddle). Yes, it’s lightweight, and it collapses down so that it can be stored in a smaller space (although it’s awkward to carry around in that collapsed state). But that’s about where the positives end.

Firstly the rod system. Setting up the bag by inserting the provided rods is cumbersome, but arguably an acceptable cost to pay for the collapsibility. There is however a critical design flaw whereby for some reason they haven’t numerically labeled the rods and the respective pockets they go into. So instead of simply looking at a numerical label and matching each rod to its numbered location, one must instead drag out the instruction manual, lay out all the rods on the floor, visually compare the sizes, and then proceed to decide which rods to put in each slot. Perhaps users have memorized the insertion order of the rods and therefore this issue is not a big deal. But for me, this adds material time and effort every time you have to build the collapsed bag back up for use.

Secondly, the wheel setup, whereby a single removable front wheel can be added to supplement two permanent rear wheels, makes the bag unstable and difficult to pull around in real life situations. If you’re on a perfectly smooth airport floor, it will be OK. Perhaps this is the environment in which some have used the bag. But try taking it outside onto a sidewalk, down a ramp, down a small curb, around a sharp turn, or on any sort of uneven terrain, and it simply won’t stay upright. It will tend to fall to one side or another extraordinarily easily. To make matters worse, the only front handle provided is awkwardly low, not centered, and is vertical, which does not allow the user to easily stabilize the bag to prevent lateral falling without having two hands on the bag at all times. This renders the “front wheel on” setup untenable for most real world conditions. The only viable alternative is to not use the front wheel at all and instead use the front bottom handle and pull it on just its two rear wheels (which is not perfectly ideal but is simolar to many other bike bags and works OK).

Now of course, perhaps these design flaws would be acceptable if the bag was otherwise functional, protective, and durable. The bag is marketed as highly protective and as featuring "impact and pressure resistant polycarbonate shells," and at a $995 price tag, I would at least expect the bag to do its basic job and have some level of durability. However, after only one round trip flight, the protective plastic at the top front corner of my bag developed a large crack running up and down, around 10” in length, rendering the bag largely useless (the hard shell at the top is key to its protective ability, as the rest of the bag is soft). Admittedly, I don’t know exactly when this damage happened, as I didn’t notice it until I pulled it out to use it a 2nd time. But, I don’t know, the hard shell on a $995 bike case probably shouldn’t easily crack like that. My other bike bag, a full hard case from a different brand, has completed 25+ flights, and has survived many falls, drops, and collisions. It’s been though a lot. While there’s some normal wear and tear, the protective casing itself on that bag, the most important part, has never cracked at all. Unfortunately, Evoc provides only a limited warranty that very clearly (and confirmed with customer service) does NOT offer any sort of replacement if “damaged in transit." Furthermore, Evoc customer service declined to even offer so much as a discount on a new bag.

All I personally got out of the Evoc Road Bike Bag Pro was a relatively unimpressive user experience and just a single use before it broke. Call me naive, but my view is that at a $995 price tag, this bag severely underdelivers. Rest assured I’ll be looking elsewhere for my next bike bag purchase.

I don't think the perfect bike bag/box exists. You have to make a sacrifice with each.

BBA - big, heavy and expensive.
Thule hard case - big, heavy, have to remove handlebar
Scicon aero - all soft case, so questionable protection (though I know one couple who have used them for their bikes to travel all around the world over the past several years with no damage.....)
Evoc - I can only speak to the experience of my friend who so far loves it, has used it for several trips now, no damage to bike or bag and no complaints about placement of the rods.

I have yet to use mine, but I bought it from MEC here in Canada, which is kind of like Costco......something breaks, take it back...