With the demise of TBT I’m finally going to get a bike case. I had used TDT and RDT for many years because of a disastrous experience with one of the old-style clam-shell bike cases about 20 years ago (ended up with a broken frame). I understand that newer cases are much better engineered and a lot more user friendly and TSA friendly. Are there cases that accommodate both tri bikes and road bikes? I don’t want to buy two cases if that can be avoided. Also, I see that some brands sell oversized cases for larger bike frames, but others do not. I’m riding a size 58 Cervelo P3, my road bike is a size 58 C3, if that helps. Thanks in advance!
I use a Bike Box Alan Triathlon-Aero Easyfit. I am a big fan. It is a hard case with an anti-crush pole down the middle (unless you put a disc wheel in there). The hard case makes me feel a whole lot better and at this point I really don’t stress while flying with it. Talking with soft case users while waiting at the oversized luggage area, it sounds like those often come with some level of stress that luggage handlers won’t be so kind. There is an open soft vs hard debate, some claim baggage handlers are gentler with soft cases because they feel fragile… I just know if I had a soft case and had an issue, I would blame myself for not having a hard case.
For an XL Speed Concept I:
- Remove aero bars and velcro them into the case (leave base bar attached)
- Remove wheels and velcro them into the wheel spots
- Remove rear mech and chain and velcro it inside
- Slam seatpost
- Remove pedals and velcro them in
For a size 60 Madone or 61 Boone I:
- Remove wheels and velcro them into the wheel spots
- Remove rear mech and chain and velcro it inside
- Slam seatpost
- Remove pedals and velcro them in
Pros:
- Hard case
- Easily fits large bikes
- Works with a disc wheel
- Wheels on the case work great
Cons:
- Case is heavy 13.5kg empty (not a concern for me, as I fly enough to get free 70lb bags with my airline of choice, but worth considering)
- It is big all the time, big in your garage when not in use, big in the uber, big in the rental car…
- No internal compartments you may find on a soft bag, its just one large open space with velcro, I find there are velcro spots for most things I remove (rear mech, chain) but you may want a padded accessory bag to prevent them from jumbling around in there.
I have the process pretty dialed at this point, my road and gravel bikes only take 10 minutes to load and unload/rebuild, so I bring this thing with me even if I only get a ride or two on the trip. It has probably flown 20ish times at this point as only has a few scuffs, no major damage.
The Tri bike is a bit more involved with reattaching the aero bars, it ends up taking me a bit longer, and I don’t bring it with me as often just out on convenience.
Generic advice: hard case, and airport security friendly. Where you go from there is up to you.
Avoid: soft cases, and complicated closure mechanisms.
Edit: one more thing. Make sure the combined weight of the case + bike + spare parts and tools if any is under 23 Kg / 50 lbs. Some airlines will charge oversize and overweight separately. I have the trico ironcase it’s right on the limit because the empty case is so heavy, A pedal wrench packed in the case will push it over the limit.
A second for BBA . . . we have two of them. For our 54 P5 and 51 QR just remove wheels and pedals, and that is it!! 10 minute (at most) pack job. Very TSA friendly. For it’s size I am amazing how easy it is to maneuver and load in a rental vehicle. GET A HARD CASE!!
A second for BBA . . . we have two of them. For our 54 P5 and 51 QR just remove wheels and pedals, and that is it!! 10 minute (at most) pack job. Very TSA friendly. For it’s size I am amazing how easy it is to maneuver and load in a rental vehicle. GET A HARD CASE!!
This…
Just make sure you rent a truck / mini van / hatchback at the destination. The BBA aero will not fit in a “normal sedan” (i.e. ford fusion)
Anyone have experience with both the Bike Box Alan and the EVOC Pro Road Bike case? I have the latter, which I like, but the Alan is completely hard sided and seems more compact. The EVOC case is difficult to fit anything other than a pickup truck.
Anyone have experience with both the Bike Box Alan and the EVOC Pro Road Bike case? I have the latter, which I like, but the Alan is completely hard sided and seems more compact. The EVOC case is difficult to fit anything other than a pickup truck.
The BBA aero is bigger than the EVOC. I had the EVOC and my bike got a cracked frame the last time I used it.
The EVOC case is difficult to fit anything other than a pickup truck.
Not sure if this is hyperbole, but by contrast, I have fit 2 BBAs in a 4Runner at once, and even fit one in a 2022 Mazda 3 Hatch (which is a tight squeeze).
I absolutely love my Bike Box Alan Triathlon-Aero Easyfit. It was certainly expensive, but worth it to protect an expensive tribike. It looks like they finally have a US distributor, although they don’t currently show any boxes in stock:
https://fullsendcycle.com
The only thing to be aware of, is if you are flying with Southwest, the BBA is larger than their policy allows. You might get away with it, or they might turn you away at check-in. I’d encourage everyone to send Southwest an e-mail and politely ask they increase their linear dimension allowance to 115 inches, to follow suit with all the other airlines.
-Steve
The new evoc?
I had pretty good results with it.
We looked at bba, but at the end of the day (In an apartment), the evoc folded up fit under our spare bed
The EVOC case is difficult to fit anything other than a pickup truck.
Not sure if this is hyperbole, but by contrast, I have fit 2 BBAs in a 4Runner at once, and even fit one in a 2022 Mazda 3 Hatch (which is a tight squeeze).
Not hyperbole … it fit in my 4Runner without 3rd row, but that vehicle has about the best cargo height of anything not a van. Otherwise it needs to be tilted or put on its side to put in a regular SUV (such as a highlander) . IGood bag, just huge.
Anyone have experience with both the Bike Box Alan and the EVOC Pro Road Bike case? I have the latter, which I like, but the Alan is completely hard sided and seems more compact. The EVOC case is difficult to fit anything other than a pickup truck.
The BBA aero is bigger than the EVOC. I had the EVOC and my bike got a cracked frame the last time I used it.
Good to know, thanks. Sorry your frame was cracked … where/how did the crack happen? I know the evoc isn’t hard sided except the handlebar region, but it still seems as if it’d take a hell of a hit to damage a frame in there.
The EVOC case is difficult to fit anything other than a pickup truck.
Not sure if this is hyperbole, but by contrast, I have fit 2 BBAs in a 4Runner at once, and even fit one in a 2022 Mazda 3 Hatch (which is a tight squeeze).
Not hyperbole … it fit in my 4Runner without 3rd row, but that vehicle has about the best cargo height of anything not a van. Otherwise it needs to be tilted or put on its side to put in a regular SUV (such as a highlander) . IGood bag, just huge.
I see. I suppose this uncovered another pro of the BBA, it’s designed to go on its side, so laying it down doesn’t feel like a bad thing to do. My BBA is always on its side for transport, even in a 4Runner, and when I had two in there, they were both on their sides, stacked.
BBa is awesome but as others have said, hard to find. I wanted to get one while I was in the Netherlands and bring it back, but as it’s out of the UK shipping was insane. I know Dan here of Premier has some cases coming that look amazing. Hopefully he’ll chime in. I want one of his.
Just put my new BBA Aero Easy in the Expedition Max tonight for a trip tomorrow. I was shocked at how much of the vehicle it consumed. I’ll play later with it to see the best options with tilting etc. But it’s no picnic.
I always book SUVs or minivans (preferred) when I travel to races but it’s got me wondering if some of those smaller subs will even handle it! It really feels like ideal for a passengar van, cargo van, minvan, or a truck.
You can get it in an SUV but it will consume the entire back of most that aren’t suburban/Expedia size. I wish SUVs were a little taller inside.
The EVOC case is difficult to fit anything other than a pickup truck.
Taking off my bars takes an extra 5min, so I don’t understand using bar-on bike cases unless you have some wack proprietary integrated BS on your bike.
I have fit 2 of the regular EVOC bags, plus two pieces of luggage into a Prius C before. If your bag needs a van or a truck, it sucks.
My observation at Kona airport in 2022 was that the Scion Tri bag (aero comfort 3.0 tsa) and Evoc were by far the most popular bags. I own the Scicon.
It holds a triathlon bike fine and can be used for a road bike also.
I’ve been thinking of switching to a BBA for a long time but haven’t because of the cost, it’s even more expensive outside the UK for the additional taxes and duties. If I were to buy a new bike I’d finally get the BBA.
Also, it’s useful to know that it’s bigger and heavier than any other bag. Some airlines (including Hawaiian) do limit checked luggage at 50 pounds/23kg so you’ve got to be careful how you load it. When the BBA box is already over 13kg and the typical triathlon bike is 9.5kg you will always be at the limit.
I’ve been quite happy with my Scicon bag so far. If loaded correctly, it protects the bike quite well and I always add additional foam.
When not in use the Scicon folds down quite a bit which is convenient both for long term storage and for not using an enormous amount of space at hotel/Airbnb.
The occasional reports of issues with bike transport in soft bags do make me wonder what are the odds of something like that happening. Is it because it wasn’t loaded correctly, because a TSA officer opened it and didn’t put it back as it was, just bad luck, something else? There’s probably 20 soft bags for every BBA out there.
There’s also the possibility of using bike specific travel insurance with a soft bag (make sure the insurance covers that) although it’s probably more expensive than the hard case without insurance.
Obviously the hard case brings piece of mind for the bike but may bring additional costs and logistics.
Anyone have experience with both the Bike Box Alan and the EVOC Pro Road Bike case? I have the latter, which I like, but the Alan is completely hard sided and seems more compact. The EVOC case is difficult to fit anything other than a pickup truck.
The BBA aero is bigger than the EVOC. I had the EVOC and my bike got a cracked frame the last time I used it.
Good to know, thanks. Sorry your frame was cracked … where/how did the crack happen? I know the evoc isn’t hard sided except the handlebar region, but it still seems as if it’d take a hell of a hit to damage a frame in there.
Pre-covid. Dominican Republic to NYC. Chain stay. Didn’t realize it until a few days later so I was SOL.
I have bike box Alan. I bought one of their bigger ones & only have to take my wheels off to travel. It’s super easy. With how much money we already spend on the sport, I think it’s worth it to not have to worry about your bike when traveling & to make it easier to build your bike when you land. Some of the soft shell cases are pretty close in price anyways.
I’m curious about this as well. I just used the Bike Box Alan for the first time and had a horrible experience with it, broken Di2 shifters, scratched bike frame, broken rear bottle cage and dented Zipp disc. When TSA inspected the bike they failed to close it properly and my bike was essentially moving around inside the box. The same thing used to happen with my old Trico Iron Case many years ago. If TSA closed it adequately after inspecting the bike I’m sure there’d be no issues but there’s no way to guarantee that that happens!
I used an Evoc Road Bike Bag Pro as well before the BBA and the plastic cracked in multiple places the first time I used it, Evoc were awful to deal with and basically did nothing for me.
Not much luck here with bike cases which is unfortunate because I have 6 planned flights in 2024 and need something reliable.