Best bike bag

doughty2002
doughty2002 Posts: 17
edited June 2018 in Road buying advice
Just bought myself a new bike bag for airline travel in the hope that it will spur me to venture to sunnier climes this winter. I did loads of research and then chanced upon the Ultix SAS bag. This is an English company ( based in Essex) and the bag strongly resembles a cross between the biknd helium and jet pack. The construction of the case is A1 and it looks as though it will endure a large amount of mishandling and the expected rigours of airline travel. The air bladders are very well constructed and tough and Ultix even supplies a battery operated pump. The bike clamps into the case by the front forks and there about 5 storage pockets too. The case is a miserly £177 on the Ultix website at the moment and I'd recommend this case to anyone looking for a robust case which can be folded and stored away after use.

I am not related to or connected with ultix in any way ( other than being a purchaser of their bag).

http://www.ultixoutdoors.com

Comments

  • KnightOfTheLongTights
    KnightOfTheLongTights Posts: 1,415
    had you used the EVOC bags before? Looks similar - but less expensive ....
  • bigcgilmour
    bigcgilmour Posts: 106
    Just purchased the scicon one based on a post I put here last week, this looks as good, defo a good price too. Not got my case yet but it's sposed to arrive tomorrow
  • doughty2002
    doughty2002 Posts: 17
    I've not used the Scicon or Evoc bags but I did research both before my purchase which included looking at various videos showing how to load up your bike. The Scicon definitely has the advantage of requiring less disassembly than the Ultix but my personal preference was for a bag that had air bladders which would offer some protection to the bike if large heavy objects were loaded on top of it or it was unfortunately dropped in the process of being shunted on or off aircraft. Only the biknd and the Ultix offered this feature. Clearly the Ultix can't prevent the risk of all damage but my assessment was that it affords a really good level of protection. The Evoc bag also suffered in my comparison of the bags in that it has only 2 wheels rather than the 4 of the Ultix or Scicon. I note that the Scicon is currently for sale at circa £290 at Wiggle. Whilst the price of the Ultix clearly influenced my decision too, I would still have purchased it had it been the same price as the on sale Scicon or the Evoc due to the features I've noted above.

    Hope this helps.
  • bigcgilmour
    bigcgilmour Posts: 106
    I managed to pick the scicon up for 230 via probike kit outlet on ebay, got a further 20 off via ebay...
  • adamtaylor
    adamtaylor Posts: 10
    I borrowed one of the Wiggle DHB ones. It's clunky, heavy but most importably tough. Bikes made it both ways unscathed.
    http://cowbellhq.com
  • maddog 2
    maddog 2 Posts: 8,114
    +1 Evoc
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  • bobinski
    bobinski Posts: 570
    Thread resurrection!

    Doughty, how you getting on with the bag? still happy with it? Its a choice between this and the Scicon 2 but the Ultix is £100 cheaper wich is a flight to a warm place to cycle come the autumn.
    cheers
    Bob
  • doughty2002
    doughty2002 Posts: 17
    The bag has been great. I've just come back from the Dolomites where I completed (in a fashion) the Maratona dles Dolomites. The bag has held up really well for the 3 trips i've taken it on since purchase. Packing it has been a doddle ( I don't even bother to take the pedals off anymore as the bag is wide enough and secure enough to leave them on quite safely). The bag is really manoeuverable given its roller casters at the front which makes it really easy to navigate through the crowds at airports. Added to that the bag has a really small profile.On the last trip with it at Venice Airport the airport security machine was too small to accommodate most bikes in their hard cases. The Ultix fitted on to the machine easily.Its small size also makes it really easy to fit into the boot of most cars and taxi's without needing to fold down rear seats etc. Being able to store the bag folded is also useful if space is at a premium at home or at your destination.

    My bag has kept my bike unscathed on the 3 trips i"ve done and i thoroughly endorse the bag. I think you'd be really happy with it. I got it off the ebay shop the seller has for £150 and see they are selling it direct for £179 at the moment.

    Sorry I took so long to reply to your question but I only just saw this post as I hadn't set up the option to receive a notification of any new posts to this forum subject. I've corrected that now.
  • bobinski
    bobinski Posts: 570
    [url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19648126#p19648126]doughty2002[/url] wrote:
    The bag has been great. I've just come back from the Dolomites where I completed (in a fashion) the Maratona dles Dolomites. The bag has held up really well for the 3 trips i've taken it on since purchase. Packing it has been a doddle ( I don't even bother to take the pedals off anymore as the bag is wide enough and secure enough to leave them on quite safely). The bag is really manoeuverable given its roller casters at the front which makes it really easy to navigate through the crowds at airports. Added to that the bag has a really small profile.On the last trip with it at Venice Airport the airport security machine was too small to accommodate most bikes in their hard cases. The Ultix fitted on to the machine easily.Its small size also makes it really easy to fit into the boot of most cars and taxi's without needing to fold down rear seats etc. Being able to store the bag folded is also useful if space is at a premium at home or at your destination.

    My bag has kept my bike unscathed on the 3 trips i"ve done and i thoroughly endorse the bag. I think you'd be really happy with it. I got it off the ebay shop the seller has for £150 and see they are selling it direct for £179 at the moment.

    Sorry I took so long to reply to your question but I only just saw this post as I hadn't set up the option to receive a notification of any new posts to this forum subject. I've corrected that now.

    No worries. Good to know you are happy with the bag. I got mine off EBay too and will use in a few weeks to go to the Alps. Really glad it's small enough not to trouble French taxi drivers who seemed to take great glee in forcing my older much larger bag into the back of their cabs!
  • sloppyschleckonds
    sloppyschleckonds Posts: 8,019
    Can you load this up with bike gear, floor pump etc or is there no room to secure anything?
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  • bobinski
    bobinski Posts: 570
    [url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19648788#p19648788]SloppySchleckonds[/url] wrote:
    Can you load this up with bike gear, floor pump etc or is there no room to secure anything?

    There is certainly space to add gear such as clothing, tools but there is less space than say the Scion bags. It's about same space as the Evoc. A flood pump might just fit especially the smaller lezyne micro floor pump.
  • Kadi123
    Kadi123 Posts: 1
    I noticed that they have a new bag recently

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