Bike Travel Cases

[drbob]

Any suggestions on travel cases. I'm looking for a case that I could bring on a plane or ship via UPS. Are the performance/nashbar cases as good as the trico? Any comments on any others?

[BumbleBeeDave]

. . . so you could probably do a search. I love my Trico case and you can get one now for about $250. My one worry is that it all goes together *just*so* and if the security people do not put it back together that way after opening, then there can easily be damage.

I'd suggest that finding out how to best work with the security people is just as important as what kind of case you have.

BBDave

[Rich_W]

Bike Pro USA Race Case (https://www.bikeprousa.com/construction.php?UID=2004081311492168.193.17.211)

I've used the Trico case ... but hated smashing my bike down to fit it into the damn thing.

I originally got the idea for the BikeProUSA Race Case when I saw both the Mapei and Saeco teams at the hotel with a stack of them at the 2000 philly USPRO. I even saw Hans Rey travelling with a double bike race case a few years back.

I traveled a bit with mine, and my bike always made the trip unscathed.

Anyway... check them out. One of the featues I like about the Race Case is that you can remove the internal rack, and roll it up with some Thule-style cinch straps into a 12" x 3.5' roll to fit in the trunk of a car.

Oh, and speaking of Thule cinch straps... always good to take a half dozen with you when you travel. We're attached multiple Bike Pro Cases to roofs and trunk lids of rental cars with those suckers.

[LowCel]

Rich, how much are those cases? For some reason I can't find a price on the site.

[Rich_W]

300 ish

[davep]

Here's the price page

https://www.bikeprousa.com/race_case.php?UID=2004081311492168.193.17.211

$430 for the standard Race Case

[MarinRider]

I got mine in '96 or '97 and have use it serveral trips per year including the yearly European trip. No damage what so ever in 8 years.

[Serotta PETE]

Bike Pro case works very well. I also have a Tirco and agree with other comments that were made. Problem is that I do not use mine enough.

Pete

[drbob]

Anybody have any experience with this case? I am deciding between this and the trico. I like the Bike Pro but I need to be able to UPS the bike.

[MadRocketSci]

I've seen all these cases on the trip to france i just went on...

trico
pro: the simplest, very widely used, and very protective. Not too big.
con: easy for TSA people to screw up the repacking process from its more complicated cinching scheme. No other handles besides the tether you use to drag the thing on its two end wheels.

bike pro race
pro: tons of padding, very protective, tons of space. Can easily over pack. Breaks down when empty, apparently.
con: with all that space people stuff EVERYTHING in there. It will all get personally inspected and stuffed back in by TSA. Not ups-able, and pretty bulky too.

Tri-all
pro: very simple to pack, very little disassembly. Great protection, easy to wheel through an airport, easy for TSA to inspect.
con: HUGE. Dunno if it would fit into anything besides an SUV or van. Could not fit these into the airport shuttle without them hanging out the back, making for two very nervous people whenever a bump hit. We even got pulled over by the cops. No handles besides the tether...needs two people to lift the thing...important for getting it through a french train station.

Pedal Pack Pro (my case)
Pro: handles, embedded rollers, removable wheels, works like regular luggage, 5 clamps. Good if you need to travel around town with it. Smallest size of all the cases.
Con: higher maintenence...all the features (handles, wheels) mean more things can go wrong. Mine came back with a cracked roller, two clamps that wouldn't stay shut. The case was at least still closed. Can either fix it yourself for free with parts sent to you by the manufacturer, or pay to ship it (about 30 bucks) where they will fix it free (at least if it's your first trip with it).

Let us know how whatever you decide on works out for you!

[BikerGrl]

I was curious also. Haven't seen anyone comment on the crateworks case:
www.crateworks.com. Does anyone know about it? Thanks.

[fishylittlethin]

I was curious also. Haven't seen anyone comment on the crateworks case:
www.crateworks.com. Does anyone know about it? Thanks.

I have 2 of them, and like them alot. Brought my bike safely on at least 5 round trips between Europe and Asia. In fact I just came back from Italy. Relatively lighter compared with the rest of the bike cases and this is important when I want to get the check-in baggage down.

I will still buy them again if I had to do it all over again. This time however, I would buy the caddy as well. Pretty heavy to be lugging the bikes around airports.

cheers, fishy
ps. Btw, I am in Germany so I had to order them in the UK and had them ship the boxes to me from there.