I’m about to buy me a case to lug around with me during my travels. I was wondering what has worked well for ya’ll and what hasn’t. Or maybe something in particular I should consider in buying a bike case. I was looking at the Serfas case and I found it online for $260. I plan to spend around $300 or so.
Thanks!
Edited to add $260 site http://shop.store.yahoo.com/penncyclebuy/bikecases.html
Wow alb, I was going to start a simialr thread asking for feedback on flight cases.
Here are my opinions and impressions:
Serfas: Probably best overall. A little tough to pack since it lays on its side when you pack it. Just awkward. Pretty durable although the airlines have consistently torn the wheels off several of our cases. The latches (very important)holding the case shut are excellent and have never failed for us. We have never (knock on wood) sustained bike damage with this case. In the last nine weeks I have used one with the equivalent air mileage of one and a half laps around the globe. $260 is a good price. We get $299.99. As with all flight cases the burden of protecting the bike falls largely on how carefully it is packed. Fits in the back seat (sideways) of most normal taxis.
Tri All 3 “Pro” (?). I think that is what they call it. A top half, bottom half clamshell design with an anchor system on the floor for the front quick release skewer and the bottom bracket shell. Very easy to pack. Add some pipe insulation around your frame tubes and zip ties and you are done. You can pack a ton of stuff in here but beware of airline “overweight” charges (65 lb.s?). My experience is the latches blow out every other trip. Tri All 3 provides replacements which are easy to pop-rivet on but you have to buy the pop-rivet gun. This is a large case that does not always fit easily in ground vehicles. Even some small SUV’s cannot swallow this monster. It would require a very big hit or very poor packing job to really damage a bike in this case, it is highly protective. We have had cases destroyed, one with the entire floor ripped out and the bike was undamaged. The Tri All 3 is more expensive, price slips my mind.
Those are a few of my experiences FWIW. Good luck!
I’ve used the Tri-All-3 case and the Trico Iron Case and much prefer the Trico. The TA3 is easier to roll on 4 wheels through the airport, but a huge hassle if you have to go up/down stairs or get it onto an airport shuttle bus. And Tom is right about it not fitting into many cars. The Trico fits into the back/trunk of most cars.