recommendations for bike cases?

[andy mac]

i'm going to be flying with my rig a bit and would welcome any recommendations for bike cases.

cheers + beers in advance of all replys,

:beer:

andy.

[Bruce K]

I'm happy with my BikePro case.

Numerous trips, various airlines, no problems so far.

BK

[Rich_W]

I second the BikeProUSA Race Case (https://www.bikeprousa.com/) case. Best case for flight travel. Trico Iron case is still the best for shipping, though I have seen many a bike get damaged in them.

Depends on where you are going.... Cinch straps can reduce the BPUSA case to a 12" roll, but it still takes up considerable space in a vehicle.

For trips to Europe, believe it or not, a reinforced cardboard box is sometimes the way to go because it can be folded flat.

[quattro]

I have the SERFAS bike case and like it very much. It is smaller than some and doesn't cost as much as some when you ship it via FEd-X or UPS also.

[RHD]

Might try looking at Air Caddy. I am ordering one for my trip and I seem to remember some one saying that Hampsten Bikes sends out all their bikes in them. I believe it's aircaddy.com or of course you can Google it

[stevep]

For trips to Europe, believe it or not, a reinforced cardboard box is sometimes the way to go because it can be folded flat.

straight right. free, easy to put in the car flattened, plenty of room to put extra stuff in.
have always used a reinforced bike box. easy to replace if necessary.
the premium atmo.

[Lincoln]

When I used to travel to races with my bike I used one of these:
Pika Packworks (http://www.pikapackworks.com)
He calls it the "exercise equipment pack" because it is so compact that many check-in people don't immediately assume it's a bike. You just say "it's exercise equipment." I used it for many domestic trips and a couple time to europe and never had any damage to my bike and was only charged an extra fee once. Of course the regulations are a lot more of a pain these days.

[aLexis]

Pika Packworks -- this case has now been flown on 16 different flight legs and only been charged once. A little fibbing has been involved - model airplane, art supplies, and the always successful, yet purposely vague "display".

No damage to the bike. Easy to pack. Kind of a pain to carry, if you have a lot of other bags or a long journey to the airport (like a 1k walk to the train station, two trains and a trek through the Philadelphia airport.)

[BoulderGeek]

The Performance plastic clamshell case sucks.

But, for some reason (because I have one) I still use it.

On the upside, no damage, yet.

[MadRocketSci]

check out the pedal pack pro cases if you want a hard case...same manufacturer as the bikepro race cases. there are straps and loops on the case interior that should prevent any banging if the case is dropped...i don't remember if the other hard cases like the trico have this feature.

downside...doesn't break down.

[BoulderGeek]

Crappy Performance case also has 4 interior straps with fastex buckles to keep the frame isolated in four directions.

If it closed as securely as a Trico, I wouldn't be so negative on it.