Bike case

Hi, I'm sure this has been discussed but I couldn't find anything on a search.

I'm looking for a case that is suitable for shipping the bikes. Rather, I guess, two cases for two bikes. I work for an airline and we travel tons and there are times I'd like to bring the bikes along! Plus, my parents live in Southern Calif (where I'm from) and it would be fantastic to go do the centuries I used to do.

Safety of the bikes is the number one concern and then it goes to ease of use (I know there is a bit of disassembly) and then cost. I'm thinking that hard sided is better, especially because I see what happens to bags :o

Does anyone have any experience in this? And if so, what do you recommend?? Thanks!

Here's where I wrote about our case.

http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showt...ight=velo+safe

http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showt...ight=velo+safe

V.

Oooo ooo ooo! Me me!

I looooove our case that we just baught. When we went back to the States in Feb, we got my hubby a bike and a case for me to take my bike when I travel. We fit his bike ( I forget what size) plus his shoes, and a bunch of other random gear (clothing, souvenirs, etc) in the case. With my tiny XS sized bike I'll be able to fit my helmet, shoes, clothes, some tools, and replacement tubes, etc).

We got the performance bike case, which was the cheapest we've found. Now, being the cheapest it has some downsides:

*only 1 handle (another handle could be used on either side of the case)
*hard to manuever

But we solved this by adding luggage straps that would make it stand out anyway. I love the case, and have had good experiences with it so far. I know a lot of people don't like it, but we do.

Ooh, ooh, ooh! And, the Performance bike case is on sale for $189 right now!!!

We have this Thule case, works great:

http://www.thuleracks.com/thule/prod...t_id=8&sku=699

I also have the performance case. I've only used it once, but it worked great.

I have this one from Tri-Zone:

http://www.tri-zone.com/Details.html?cat=61&item=T3CSC

It's gone on the plane with me, surviving baggage handlers, and shipped via UPS showing up unscathed.

spazz

Since you work for an airline, can you do us all a favour and go have a chat with the guys in the baggage handling department to see what they recommend?

I've had more than one airport employee (including one cyclist with an amazing bike) recommend to me a "big clear plastic bag" as the best strategy. For many reasons, it makes sense to me, but I still haven't convinced my sweetie, so we have big soft nylon bags with some padding. I'm totally against cardboard boxes and hard cases are not suitable for the type of travel I'm going to do with my bike.

But I'd be curious to know what you gather from your guys!! (and gals, who knows)

One of our supervisors is an avid cyclist so I will ask him. And d'oh, I suppose I could've asked him the original question also!!!

Re what's best....the ramp handling the bag (or bike) is only half of it. Obviously it wouldn't go down the traditional bag belt but realize if it does, there are things called "kickers" that basically kick the bag onto the correct belt. The force of these things is pretty strong. When the item is on the aircraft, there is shifting. While, granted, a plastic bag might make someone think twice before heaving it onto the plane or back onto the baggage cart, you will sometimes have people who simply don't care. It always makes me laugh when I see boxes marked as "fragile" because the people can take all the care in the world but once it gets on a plane with things piled on it, things are all different.

So I guess in a perfect world a plastic bag wouldn't be bad but if there were any errors at all, the bike could be damaged. Not to mention that if it is a Nice Bike, the possibility of theft always comes up. If you have anything too valuable, it isn't such a good idea to advertise the fact.

Keep in mind this is worst case scenario and not the norm. They would be things I'd think about though!!!

I'll keep my eye out in the bagwell as I walk through and see how the airlines are stacking up things like that in the baggage carts. I have to say I've never seen a bike in a plastic bag but I've seen a lot of cardboard boxes and hardsided cases.

Well...after all my asking, the view was "no way in &*^% would I ever put my bike in anything less than hardsided". This came from an ex-ramper who turned supervisor.

Hardsided it is, and now it's time to go shopping!!! :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by teigyr

Well...after all my asking, the view was "no way in &*^% would I ever put my bike in anything less than hardsided". This came from an ex-ramper who turned supervisor.

Hardsided it is, and now it's time to go shopping!!! :D

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Good to know thanks :D

Grog,

What kind of traveling do you do with your bike? The argument FOR softsided would be maybe you could ride from the airport? Maybe...though the only softsided case I ever had wouldn't work so well in that regard. See...that is the huge flaw we're finding with going hardsided. While that's what we'll do, it also means we need to get a cab (or rental car) from the airport to the hotel despite the fact that some of the destinations have wonderful bike trails or decent roads into town!!

Our plan isn't perfect but it'll have to do for now.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by teigyr

What kind of traveling do you do with your bike? The argument FOR softsided would be maybe you could ride from the airport? Maybe...though the only softsided case I ever had wouldn't work so well in that regard. See...that is the huge flaw we're finding with going hardsided. While that's what we'll do, it also means we need to get a cab (or rental car) from the airport to the hotel despite the fact that some of the destinations have wonderful bike trails or decent roads into town!!

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A soft case is still too big and bulky to ride out of the airport with it. You could roll it and put it in a locker at the airport though, but I don't think any airport still has those post-9/11.

The big + of the soft case over the hard one is that it can be rolled and it can be bullied into fitting into XYZ space (even with the bike in) while the hard case just can't. With my partner we had a very hard time finding a cab that could fit the two of us, our bikes and our suitcases arriving in Montreal. Even in a minivan it can be tricky. I could fit everything in our 2 door hatchback Honda Civic but it meant about 30 minutes of struggle and using every cubic square centimeter of space. Hard cases would not have fitted the Civic!!! When renting a car abroad, we could do with a very small vehicle.

The US and Canada have quite modern airports, and so do most European cities, but once out of the airport, not all buildings and public transport stations have elevators, wide doors, etc. Many, many European hotels do not have elevators. Etc. For me it's important to be able to carry all of my own luggage on my own, on all sorts of terrain. The soft case is bulky, but less heavy than a hard case, and I can somewhat easily carry it on one shoulder while carrying another suitcase/bag with my other hand. If I was 6' tall it might be a different story, but I'm 5'4".

Following your advice, I'd be a little more wary of travelling with that in the US. However when I've flown in Canada I've found that they were really careful with our bike bags. Once, from the waiting area, we could even see two employees carry them into the plane and they were more careful than I am with it!!! On Air Canada planes at least they have a special container for sports equipment, in which they don't put suitcases and regular bags.

Ideally, I think we would have both types of cases, plus clear plastic bags for those occasions when we'd want to ride directly out of the airport (loaded touring). :D But considering the price of the cases (our soft cases are well padded and were expensive), that's not an option for now! Maybe in the future....