Bike Bags - Recommendations for Carbon Frame
Guys,
Looking for some advice on travelling abroad with my bike. I'm hopefully heading off to Girona for a relaxing week at a relatives house, and plan on taking a bike to get out during the day (given that it is a quiet little fishing port).
Undecided as to whether to take a mountain bike or road bike, but would rather a road bike on account of the climbs and coastal roads.
My concern is that my road bike is a Colnago and it is my pride and joy - i am unsure about trusting baggage handlers to get it there safely.
I'm presuming some folk will have experience of bike bags - is it too risky to go for a decent soft bag? Or do i need to splash the cash on a hard case to be sure?
Thoughts, advice and opinions are most welcome.
Merci.
Looking for some advice on travelling abroad with my bike. I'm hopefully heading off to Girona for a relaxing week at a relatives house, and plan on taking a bike to get out during the day (given that it is a quiet little fishing port).
Undecided as to whether to take a mountain bike or road bike, but would rather a road bike on account of the climbs and coastal roads.
My concern is that my road bike is a Colnago and it is my pride and joy - i am unsure about trusting baggage handlers to get it there safely.
I'm presuming some folk will have experience of bike bags - is it too risky to go for a decent soft bag? Or do i need to splash the cash on a hard case to be sure?
Thoughts, advice and opinions are most welcome.
Merci.
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Comments
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If it's your pride and joy then I'd look at a box first. Some bike shops hire them out on a weekly basis so that is cheaper than buying a box yourself, which is only really worthwhile if you plan on travelling with a bike quite frequently. Where are you based (so those who know can point out a bike shop in your area which hires out boxes)?
I've ridden in the Girona area a couple of times and highly recommend it as there is a great choice of routes and some amazing roads, such as the coast road between Lloret de Mar and San Feliu. You must ride that!0 -
boyfriday ...
a really good option is the Bikepod. It's fairly hard but not a proper hard case if that makes sense. ... nearer a hard case than soft though, and has served me well carrying a carbon frame and bars, seatpost etc. several times.
two big plusses to it ... it's much lighter than a full hard case, and it's much cheaper than the good hardcases (Scicon)
It also has lots of room for clothes etc., which add padding.
I think scicon is probably about best in absolute protection if you can afford it, but i opted for bikepod as it was less than half the price.
don't buy monoc / DHB ... poor quality construction and too small to fit two wheels IME0 -
Thank you guys for taking the time to respond.
I think it may be a worthwhile investment to splash the cash on a decent hard case (or the hybrid of sorts that you mention).
I am hoping to go to Girona in the next few weeks (freebie holiday), then if things work out over the summer, follow the Tour for a week in the Alps, and then if things work out even better towards the end of summer, take the mountain bike to Whistler.
So, three journeys in the space of a few months would probably justify it.
I have found a place in Fife that hires hard cases for a week at a time (Hardies i think they were called) . I am based in Glasgow/Edinburgh so that might be an option for a quick fix to allow me time to look at hard-cases.
Finally, thank you for the route advice. I was especially pleased to see a mention of Sant Feliu in there given that's where i will be staying for my trip - a fantastic and highly recommended route on the doorstep is always a bonus!0
