Best bike bags or cases for flying

[Jan Myburgh]

I am interested in buying a bike bag or box to fly my bike. It is a 29 inch full suspension xc bike. 

Has anyone used these: http://www.bikesafe.co.za

Does anyone have advice or experience as to the best options? I dont want my bike destroyed in the proces. 

[Rob Mortimer]

I got one of these and my bike (hardtail) was fine, Building and packing the is a little finiky but not difficult, lots of videos to check

https://bikebox.company/

[Dusty]

10 minutes ago, Rob Mortimer said:

I got one of these and my bike (hardtail) was fine, Building and packing the is a little finiky but not difficult, lots of videos to check

https://bikebox.company/

I've used the same ones and full sus (size L) bikes have fitted and been fine on a couple of overseas trips.

[bolt67]

Evoc

 

[Mopkop]

A bit of a revival.

I'll be flying to Perth and I've got 1 bike to take with. I won't be coming back soon or traveling once there.

Do i get a proper bike bag/box ie Thule/Evoc or do I just use a cardboard bikebox? Issue I have with cardboard box is the transport both here and there as those boxes are huge and you'll need a bakkie to transport comfortably.

There are some good 2nd Thules/Evocs on the market but saving 4k Vs a cardboard box is massive

What are your thoughts?

[Zebra]

one way trip, and not likely to need the box again? That would be cardboard, for the win, surely! I have used cardboard BOTH ways, to TdF, no problems, turned pedals wrong-way IN, handlebars out and taped, seat dropped, air out of tyres, etc.

[guidodg]

Evoc for multiple trips...cardboard box for single trip...[can be made quite small if you trim and pack carefully since it is just for the one trip.]

[Barry]

I have a Scicon Aerotech box. Got the box off Bike Hub it had a crack at the bottom but was repaired buy a kit car manufacturer can let it go around R2500 if interested.

The Scicon is TSA approved size so it can go with normal luggage and not shipped off to oversized. 

Edited December 6, 2022 by Barry

[TheAntoine1]

Ive got a Bikesafe box. Been using it for years and travelled plenty with it when I worked I the Middle East. Solid, cheap, lockable and simple to pack my road bike. Don't even need to remove handle bars, saddle, peddles. Cost is probably less than half of the show off "look at my expensive bike box"versions that are marketed as the only viable option.  

[Mopkop]

Thank you for the replies. 

If i get a good box then it wont be a waste, i just dont see using it within the next 2 years. Theres a Evoc for under R3500 which i feel is a good deal for that level of box. Looks like theres a few options that I've got to weigh up

[Meezo]

Box box box

Get one that fits ie there are road bike and MTB specific box's. Revolution Cycles was a winner for me in getting exactly what i wanted, in 2019 it was R250 for the box... 

[droo]

3 hours ago, Mopkop said:

A bit of a revival.

I'll be flying to Perth and I've got 1 bike to take with. I won't be coming back soon or traveling once there.

Do i get a proper bike bag/box ie Thule/Evoc or do I just use a cardboard bikebox? Issue I have with cardboard box is the transport both here and there as those boxes are huge and you'll need a bakkie to transport comfortably.

There are some good 2nd Thules/Evocs on the market but saving 4k Vs a cardboard box is massive

What are your thoughts?

Depends on the bike. Anything under 15kg it's worth getting a proper bag - I'd go with EVOC cos I like their stuff, but I'm not an expert - other people may have better suggestions.

As soon as you hit trail bike territory a box is the only thing that'll keep the whole thing under the 23kg limit, especially if you want to chuck some kit or tools in there as well.

One way - cardboard FTW. Even if you pay your LBS to pack it for you you're saving 9k. That's a lot of beer. Or most of an AXS upgrade.

[michaelbiker]

Have done 20-25 international flights with my Evoc bag. Had it since 2014 and it's still going strong. Never had an issue or damage. Paid R2500 for it back then. I use it with my mountain bike mostly but I have flown with my road bike a couple of times. When this bag eventually dies, I will replace it with exactly the same one.

Takes me approximately 30 minutes to pack a bike.

If you go cardboard box, use lots of foam and zip tie everything together. I have had some pretty bad damage done to a carbon frame which was caused by the end of the wheel hub rubbing against it. The bike was packed by a bike shop too...

[capediver]

13 hours ago, michaelbiker said:

Have done 20-25 international flights with my Evoc bag. Had it since 2014 and it's still going strong. Never had an issue or damage. Paid R2500 for it back then. I use it with my mountain bike mostly but I have flown with my road bike a couple of times. When this bag eventually dies, I will replace it with exactly the same one.

Takes me approximately 30 minutes to pack a bike.

If you go cardboard box, use lots of foam and zip tie everything together. I have had some pretty bad damage done to a carbon frame which was caused by the end of the wheel hub rubbing against it. The bike was packed by a bike shop too...

Agreed, Proper big bag for long term use, ideally with fixed rear wheels and steerable trolley-type front wheels to get around the airport easily...for one-off flights, bike cardboard box from bike shop, well-padded and secured parts especially the ends of the front fork, and reinforce the corners with duct or Gorilla tape.

[Simon123]

Evoc without a doubt.    Boxes and **** are cool, but wheels and a handle and it's just miles easier.  

I use an Evoc bag, but my friend bought a bag off Takealot for our Morzine trip this year and it was basically an Evoc rip off for R4k.  It was perfect.   Only difference is that the wheels were spaced a little closer together so in our run through Geneva airport it tipped over on high speed corners.  But I think this was a unique usage scenario. LOL

 

https://www.takealot.com/outdoor-elements-bike-travel-bag/PLID53118705

Here they are together in a pic.

 

 

 

[capediver]

If you can get your hands on one of these for road or MTB...it has been beaten by baggage handlers on 10-12 international flights a year for the last 5 years and still going strong...TBH I have replaced the front castors with more industrial strength ones...cause SAA once....once...