Bike transportation suggestions please...

[David Findlay]

Was talking to Daren L yesterday about the best method for protecting your bike when transporting by air.

We had both heard that the Neil Pryde soft bag received good reviews but not sure if it is still a compromise on a hard case. (Also do not want to spend a fortune on something that is rarely used)

Can anyone advise?

[Marek]

Alright Dave, check out Ebay, there are at least a few on there at the moment. Just search for Bike Bag and you should get a few up. I think they tend to go for about £50 on Ebay, so half the price of what you would pay in the shops.

If you are unsure of the make etc then you can probably look up its spec on another site.

Cheers

Marek....

[Will]

Another option to consider is using a cardboard bike box, picked up for free (hopefully) from a bike shop.

A bike that is well-packed in a cardboard bike box will probably fare better than one that is in a soft bike bag.

The main problem with cardboard boxes is that they are difficult to carry around, whereas hard-shell boxes and bags tend to have wheels, carrying straps, etc.

[Rob]

if your only going on holiday then why dont you just rent a hardcase!!!

gb's rent them out, or find a member of ACC with one and ask them to rent

or is this a permanent air trip?

[David Findlay]

GB's stopped hiring due to frequent damage incurred with hard cases.

Looking for something for use 4 or 5 times a year.

[Alan B]

hey Dave

I have a soft bike bag type arrangement - it is in the garage at the min, so can't remember what kind. But i used it 5 or 6 times last yr with no probs at all - what i do is:

- take off pedals
- take off rear mech and tape to inside of seat stays
- get a pair of those plastic things that you get when you get a new frame to fit between your forks and stays to stop them getting crushed (or just use old hubs)
- turn bars and loosen clamp to hook under crossbar
- put seat down
- i also wrap the main tubes and fork blades in pipe lagging

all a bit of a fag, but worth the effort, as i say have had no problems at all (other than leaving my ksyrium front skewer in long grass in Italy when packing up last year sometime.... )

there was an article in cycling weekly not so long ago about packing bikes up for plane trips - meybe Huw could get a back copy?

[Tamar]

I have a hard box that you can borrow - takes 10-15 mins to pack - easy.