On the Subject of Travel

Up until this year, with the exception of one trip to Chicago, I’ve always done races close enough that bike transport was easy (put it on or in the vehicle). The year I went to Chicago I had my bike shipped. Fortunately I didn’t have a lot of love for my bike then, so I was willing to roll the dice. This year I’m doing 2 races that this is not an option for, as I have a new bike and a lot of love for it. Any suggestions on what type of box/carrier/etc. I should buy? I would prefer a carrier that required as little assembling/taking a part of my bike as possible. Your thoughts are appreciated.

I have tried a lot of flight cases and done a lot of flying with a bike. I’ve tried a lot of cases. A lot! My current favorite is the Serfas flight case. It is easy to pack and has very good latches, all four lockable. Also, it will fit in most rental cars and is pretty inconspicuous. Not too big either. Good case.

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. The Trico fits into the back/trunk of most cars.

I use the SCICON case. You use the skewers to hold the wheels to the side of the case so they don’t move about and I can throw everything I need in the box as well.

Cheers,

dt.

I have a Tri-all-3 and love it. Lots of room, secure bike connection, lots of extra room for extra stuff like a floor pump, tools, etc… After a trip to California, and some serious abuse from the baggage handlers a couple of locks broke and a hole was punched thru. I sent it back and with no questions asked, they repaired it at no charge.

There are a few draw backs. It is rather bulky, so when you are not using it it takes up a fair amount of room. The single or double unit, are not UPS able due to it overall size.

Neither of those drawbacks have effected me, THUMBS UP!!

i have the trice bike case and love it—i ride a 62 cm bike and it fits but i do need to take off the large chainring among other things like pedals, VT’s and ofcourse wheels. But i also have the tri all 3 Wheel case which holds three wheels and is really sweet, i love that wheel case, virtually unbreakable.

Tri-All-3 are great cases.

All you need to do is take off the wheels and you are ready to go. No need to take off the handle bar, seat post, pedals and so forth.

They seems to take a beating well and protect the bike very well.

Customer service is first rate. They will send you replacement latches or other parts for free if they break.

The case is well designed with great rolling wheels for easy carrying around the airport and has great locks.

Only drawback is that you can’t fit the case in most sedans- you will most likely need to rent an SUV at the race or open the case and put the top cover in the trunk and the bottom cover with the bike in the back seat.

I have a Tri-All 3, which has served me very well. If you use a case like this, especially one with whees, do yourself a favor and put a clear plastic bag around your headset and tape it off tightly around the headtube. I learned this the hardway when they sent my bike out upside down, and had to find reassemble all my spacers and caps and whatnot. I have the bigger on e (non-UPSable) so dissasembly is minimal.

One really good thing about the Tri-All 3 is that you can definately fit a lot of stuff in there. The sucker getas pretty heavy when you load up all your geat though, and it was a whale to wrestle through the airport. I still have that case somewhere, but I have since switched to a little more compact case that still works great.

On my trip to GFT. after searching endlessly for pariking at Newark airport, I ended up on the 4th level of the deck. Wouldn’t you know that the damned elevator was out and I had to carry that thing (with ALL my gear in it) down 4 flights of stairs. A whale indeed! You should’ve seen the letter the Port Authority got about that one.

Oh, and it was out when I got back as well. :frowning: