The major thing holding me back from doing triathlons more than 400 miles from home is concern about transporting my bike on a plane (less than 400 and I’ll drive – from Chicago that gets me to Minneapolis and Louisville, but I want more!).
I have a $1000 bike. I don’t know if it makes sense to purchase a $500 bike box to transport it. A $300 investment some how doesn’t seem as ridiculous.
Have any of you had any experience with this Bike Bag product?
Or buy a new frame with S&S couplers and fly for free. I figure in six trips the frame is free. My bike is new and I should have three down by December. G
I used one for a trip to spain and it worked FANTASTIC. I put my bike, all my gear and clothes in the bag. The bag fit in taxis, pushed through cities and subways no problem, and generally made travalling with a bike a hell of alot easier. As well there wasn’t the slightest bit of damage, the bag is very well designed. Another plus is that you don’t have to disasemble at all, just take front and rear wheel off and you are good to go, you don’t even have to lower the seat. I would highly reccomend the bag.
I use the Sci Con soft sided bag. It is virtually the same thing, except it uses a tubular steel frame instead of the aluminum plate. I have used it several times and it works really well. The best part about it is, you do not have to disassemble the bike…just rotate the handlebars or remove the stem and handlebar assembly. It takes like 4 minutes to pack and it protects the bike well.
that bike bag looks pretty good. I’ve been in the sport for 21 years and have been flying with my bike for most of those years and have had 3 different cases. First case was a hard shell case, the predessor to the Tri-All-3 case and after 4 flights the bottom broke through. I had it rebuilt with two sheets of aluminum and sold it. Then I got a soft case, a BikePro that I still have, and used it up until 3 years ago. Now I just about completely strip my bike down to the frame and put it in a padded garment bag and put the wheels and bars etc in a Wheel Safe case and it flies free every time because it is at 62", the airline size requirement for free travel. Probably done about 20 flights like this and not a single scratch on the frame, or damage. In fact I have had airline counter people tell me that this probably one of the safest ways to travel with a bike. Reason being is even a weak baggage handler can lift the bag up and load it. The bigger the case, the heavier the case and the more awkward the case is to handle, the more likely it is to be damaged. They don’t always have 2 or 3 guys around to lift a big huge heavy bike case onto the plane, and when they don’t there is one guy trying to do it himself. Good luck with that.
Or buy a new frame with S&S couplers and fly for free. I figure in six trips the frame is free. My bike is new and I should have three down by December. G
Thanks to everyone for your feedback.
I do not know what S&S couplers are.
I think I would like to avoid stripping the whole bike down (I am far from proficient in bike mechanics), but I sure like the flying for free option.
I know I can contact the airlines myself, but y’all are such a great resource: what do they charge extra for a bike? Is the price different between a bike bag compared to a hard bike box?
If I can transport my bike, TRIATHLONS ACROSS THE GLOBE are my oyster.
i’ve only flown with a soft bike bag-------i do around 4 air trips a year, been doing so since around 1994. i’ve made my own bags (on the second now) and learned along the way just how to pack it. i do a general amount of disassembly/assembly, but am enormously careful in the packing.
i, too, am unwilling to give up the ease of transport. being able to fit the bag in any car or taxi, and able to move myself and all my worldly goods at one time (i.e., not move some, go back for the bike, etc.) is worth it to me.
peggy
Hey Action, you may think i’m a bit biased, but we sell both hard and soft travel cases. About 10 years ago I designed the first version of the bikebag.com, which I think some of the people here are talking about. http://www.bikebag.com
I stopped trying to convince people years ago that this is the only way to travel (yes, even with expensive carbon biikes), so we also now sell very nice German engineered bike cases from B&W international. http://www.b-w-international.com/
I travel several times a year overseas and around the country with my full-sized bike. The light weight convenience of the bag is what I like most. There is almost nothing to disassemble and if you pack things correctly with your clothing, neo, some pipe insulation and rags, nothing will get damaged. I travel with Zentis wheels and a Trek Carbon frame most of the time.
There is nothing for sure about what the airlines will charge you. Lately, they have reduced the allowable weight to 50lbs, which makes it very hard to use a hard case (30) and bike (20) without going over. The bag sure helps here. International travel is generally free if you only have two pieces (bike and luggage), unless you fly delta or us air, who still charge. Flying domestically, they usually charge you $80 each way. It doesn’t matter if you are using a huge hard case or the smaller soft case…it’s a bike. I have gotten away with taking the bikebag.com with me and telling them there is a trade show display in it (there really was) and they didn’t charge me a thing.
Hard cases will protect your bike and the 4 wheels make them a breeze to push around, but when they get damaged (and they will), it can be almost impossible to move them around without a luggage dolly or cart. Most hard cases will survive a number of trips, but I’ve seen every case out in the market eventually get destroyed. You never know, it could be on the first trip or the 10th, just the luck of the draw (and flying through NY).
There is so much more to say, I could write a book, so have fun and travel safe.
stephen
for my bike bag. I made this decision based on advise from a wrench on the women’s pro MTB tour. He said his athletes traveled all over the world with this bag and never encountered problems…
Having just travelled from Montreal to IMFL with my bike, I’d be reluctant to use anything other than a hard-shell box. I saw what the porters, security agents, and baggage handlers did with the box, and I’m not sure the bike would have faired well in a soft bag.
Can you rent a box? I rented mine for two weeks for $40…
S&S couplers are like the Ritchey Breakaway (www.ritcheylogic.com). I have one, and it works really, really well. The bike folds down into a 26"X26" suitcase that meets all baggage dimension requirements. When I start travelling again alot in the Spring, I will be toting it with me. The only issue that I’ve found is the couplers are aluminium, and so I’ve broken one already by not having the frame perfectly straight. I’m going to pick up a few extras!
for my bike bag. I made this decision based on advise from a wrench on the women’s pro MTB tour. He said his athletes traveled all over the world with this bag and never encountered problems…
I looked into those a while back, but it’s damn near impossible to find out anything about them on the web. I may have emailed them as well… I ended up picking up an AKona soft case which worked really well for my ratbike fixie. Not sure I’d be quite as comfortable using it for an expensive frame though…
I have the Triall3sports Compact Velo Safe Pro Series. Several years ago I had packed my bike in it and shipped it via UPS. First time ever used. Getting there was no problem. However, on the return shipment, the bike case was cracked and my bike scratched, damaged. I called the bike case manufacturer and they replaced it with the new and improved polyethylene. Since then, I have been scared to use it and it sits in my basement collecting dust. Has anyone else experienced this problem with their triall3sports bike case?
