Soft Carrying Cases

[Jim Braley]

Does anyone have any experience with soft carrying cases such as the Aero-Comfort Plus by Sci-Com. I am looking for something that will allow me to carry my bike via planes without having to tear the bike down. I also want a case that does not take up tons of room in a car or van when I get to the destiantion. My understanding is that this case can be folded once you get to your destination and also that despite its softness it protects the bike quite well. Any comments or other suggestions would be apprciated. I have considered the coupling idea but I really am likely not mechanically inclined enough to have to take the bike apart and get it back together in order to ship it.

[TMB]

I use a soft case.

It has wheels on the bottom, and there is a "frame" inside for attaching the fork and rear dropouts.

The wheels go in the side pockets.

I have never had any trouble with it and it is much easier to deal with than the hard cases. Easy to get into hotel rooms, taxis, etc.

I throw a strap in the bag so that when I unpack it I can roll it up, put the strap around it and either put it under the bed or in a closet.

The only additional thing I have done is to pick up a couple of sheets of 4 mm corrugated plastic at Home depot.

Once the bag is packed I stick them down inside the side pockets.

A little extra protection.


The plastic cost me $10.

I have never had any damage to the bike. Much easier to pack than an S&S .......

[bocarider]

I had 2 Sci-Con Aero cases and liked them very much. It was easy to pull the wheels, mount the bike on the frame and zip up the case. We used them on 2 trips and had no problem on a total of 4 flights with the Sci-Con cases.

When I got my Ottrott, I just had to switch to a hard case as I ultimately did not trust the soft case. The Trico required considerably more work to break down the bikes for packing, but I have a lot more piece of mind. Ten flights later, I have not had any issues.

The Sci-Con works fine (I was able to sell them on e-bay pretty quickly). It just does not provide the same protection of the Trico hard case.

[11.4]

I've tried the SciCon bags, but they only protect against general crowding by other luggage and gentle falls. If something with an edge jams into it, it goes against the frame or wheels. If I was shipping bikes for a whole team, they would probably be OK together.

I prefer the BikePro Race Case and several people have tried mine and bought their own, with uniformly good results. It's densely padded and protects a frame against just about anything. TSA can unzip it in seconds, examine, and rezip. The case is big, but bring a couple webbing straps, roll it up around the base, and cinch it tight -- it turns into a 4 foot long by 18 inch wide roll that easily fits in the middle of a back seat (so two people can still sit) or can be lashed to a rear bumper, or put in a trunk, or whatever.

A few tricks with the bag: First, get some vinyl paint and spray over the whole outside. I did mine in fluorescent lime green, and then stenciled "emergency equipment" on the outside. I've never been charged, never had a problem with it. And it makes it very easy to identify. I also have my company name and phone number in 4-inch high stenciled letters on it as well. You mostly just want to get rid of the stuff that labels it as a bike.

Inside, I epoxied some d-rings with fabric tabs (bought from a sea kayak shop) to the inside wall of the case. Then get some Eagle Creek transparent plastic bags (actually a fabric weave with about 1/4" spacing with a clear covering plastic and a zipper opening). These have d-rings on them that can be fastened with some small swivel fasteners to the d-rings on the inside of the case. This way all the loose parts can be examined by security but aren't floating loose.

I zip-tie a footpump to the metal frame at the bottom so I have something to pump tires with regularly (I use tubulars so I need regular pumping and don't want to have to use a frame pump every day for this). Take off the derailleur from the frame (leave it attached to the cable and housing) and ideally use external bottom bracket and a 7800-style crankset so you can take the whole crankset off quickly. Use a connector link on the chain and remove it. And remove the stem faceplate to remove the bars (easier and better than removing the stem). All these get ziptied to the frame with padding underneath. Then add foam pipe insulation cut to each piece of tubing and get some high-density 1/2" foam sheets (sleeping bag pads are good and inexpensive) for extra padding between frame and wheels, etc. Carry spare miscellaneous bolts (like for the stem), spare brake and derailleur cables and housings, lots of extra zipties for repacking, and a small pair of diagonal cutters to cut zipties and to install new cables/housing if needed (because they got kinked in transit). That's all that's needed. Works like a charm. I can get a bike ready to ride in 10 minutes and pack it in the same amount of time. No need to use the supplied wheel bags -- the big sheets of foam work better and make it easier for the inspectors to see everything. Don't clutter up the bag with helmet, clothing, shoes, etc. -- these you can carry on so you don't risk losing them, and if you overstuff the bag the inspectors just have to dig it all out and then don't repack it correctly.

Carry a small hand pump in case you can't find CO2 cartridges handily wherever you're headed (be sure to remove them from saddle bags, etc., before hitting the airport). That's about it. Great case. Mine has made 60-70 trips, a third at least of them overseas, and (knock on wood) has never been lost, never pilfered, and never had any equipment damaged. The ugly color and stenciling really helps dissuade others from touching it.

[fierte58]

Does anyone remember that old Peanuts cartoon where all the kids are lying on the side of a hill looking up the sky and saying what they saw in the clouds?

You know, the one where Schroeder says "That formation reminds me of the biblical scene of the stoning of St Stephen, as depicted in the gospel of St Matthew.." and Linus says "Well, I was going to say I could see a ducky and a horsey, but I changed my mind."

Well, I was going to post something about my two trips to Europe, one with a hard case and one with a soft case, but then I just read 11.4's post, and I changed my mind.

[Bruce K]

+1 on 11.4 assessment of the Bike Pro.

I'll have to try the d-ring and clear bag trick. Thanks. :D

My only difference is that I use padded wheels bags instead of the foam sheets he uses to protect the wheels.

2 other hints:

It helps if you put small paint marks or tape marks on your bars and seatpost to ease aligning them correctly.

When you remove the seatpost and saddle it helps to protect the frame if you put an old seatpost with no saddle back in the hole and all the way down. This way if anything comes in contact with the top of the case there is no way for the seatpost to get dinged or cracked.

BK

[dave1215]

I've tried the SciCon bags....


if there were a publisher on this forum, 11.4's posts would be in book form by now. what would that be called?

understanding cycling, the collected wisdom of a pro, volume 1?

[barry1021]

Does anyone remember that old Peanuts cartoon where all the kids are lying on the side of a hill looking up the sky and saying what they saw in the clouds?

You know, the one where Schroeder says "That formation reminds me of the biblical scene of the stoning of St Stephen, as depicted in the gospel of St Matthew.." and Linus says "Well, I was going to say I could see a ducky and a horsey, but I changed my mind."

Well, I was going to post something about my two trips to Europe, one with a hard case and one with a soft case, but then I just read 11.4's post, and I changed my mind.

great analogy for following 11.4 in a thread!

b21