Bike travel bags - here is one i made eariler...

fudgey

Afternoon all, i am planning on taking my bike on holiday this year and got massively outbid on a titan hard case on ebay, then i stumbled across a soft carry case from rutland cycles and came up with a plan.

Dont buy through ebay, as it was £35 on there, i paid £25 direct from their website!

http://www.rutlandcycling.com/157681/pr ... e-bag.aspx

ok, its a floppy bag so i wanted to make it a bit more protective, and using some foam packaging pad this is how i done it:

first off was to cut the sheet to the size of the bag, the sheets are 50mm thick and the bag just over 200mm deep, so 4 sheets were cut to size, i then drew a rough template around the frame.



and then cut out half the depth for the top tube and down tube, and all the way through for the rear triangle and forks, cranks and bars.
and then a little more cutting to where the wider parts of the frame and bars needed to the next sheet until the frame was about half the depth into the foam.



once that was done, carefully lined up another sheet on top and flipped the lot over, then drew round and repeated the cutting out.
then had a go at fitting it all in.







this was where i was hoping to then fit the wheels between layers 1-2 and 3-4 but i dont think that would have been possible, well not for the rear wheel anyway so this was how i fitted the wheels in:





and all zipped up



the whole lot weighs in at 16kg so happy with that, but having never taken a bike on a plane before, im not so sure the wheels will be ok like this?

if i get chance i might look into getting then in how i had planned originally if anyone thinks ill run into problems with other suitcases piled on top/the lot being thrown about etc.

as it is, its pretty solid, the foam does not compress much so fingers crossed it will be ok.
i have also cut up some steel tube and put between the forks/rear dropouts using the skewers so they cannot be crushed

next is to fit some suitcase wheels as its a bit of a pain lugging about...

cheers

sloppyschleckonds

I'd be concerned about the wheels, you have to make sure everything is bolted down and cannot move.

mercia_man

I think that's brilliant. You are obviously very handy at DIY. You could improve protection, particularly for your wheels, with a crush protector such as those supplied by Bike Friday which makes performance bikes which fit into a suitcase.

Bike Friday sells them for seven dollars. But I understand it's simple to assemble some yourself from a DIY store electrical department with half inch PVC tubing cut to size and single hole lampholder covers. This makes a sort of dumb-bell shaped protector with the flat covers on each end of the tubing. Look at www.valdodge.com/tag/bike-friday to see what I mean.

Man Of Lard

You could perhaps construct a lightweight but strong enough anti-crush frame using 1¼ inch white plastic waste pipe (and the relevant joints)

fudgey

Thanks for the input guys.

And to mercia man for the link.

The foam i am using is very good, it does not compress or deform much even with me standing on it, but still, using an idea from MM's link i can just make some holes all the way through in strategic points and simply insert some waste pipe between the outer most foam layers, i even have some at home.
Then use a larger piece of foam to cover the wheels.

So thanks again!

smiley_boy2501

Very interesting and clever. I'm planning on taking my bike on a plane soon.
Good results with the ctc bag, which I've used several times leads me to think being able to see the bike does help. But you're design looks great.
Have you tried standing on the packaged bike (carefully) to see the impact? I doubt you'd get more pressure than that in real life.

Btw, where did you get the foam/what type is it?

fudgey

I sat on it, it doesnt really move much but i think ill go with some tube inserts to protect the wheels a bit more.

the foam is supplied by mcfarlane, but i cant see it on their website nor do i know what it is called so sorry for not being much use on that front!

ill see if i can find out more

smiley_boy2501

Cheers. Looks like a good project though!

dodgy

I applaud the ingenuity and creativity. But I honestly think a cardboard bike box free of charge from your LBS would give similar if not better protection, it is after all how bikes are delivered to the shops.

cornerblock

dodgy wrote:

I applaud the ingenuity and creativity. But I honestly think a cardboard bike box free of charge from your LBS would give similar if not better protection, it is after all how bikes are delivered to the shops.

It is, but thankfully not by airport baggage handlers.

whoof

Looks really good.
One thing I would suggest is something to go over the ends of your hubs. They tend to dig into things and can go right through a soft bag. This is the best picture I could find.

http://33.media.tumblr.com/5653c969af3b ... sifhvb.jpg

They have little spikes that jam into the axle and a round flat disk on the other end. Bike shops throw them away as each new bike comes with a pair to stop the axle going through the box or damaging the frame when delivered.

dodgy

Cornerblock wrote:

dodgy wrote:

I applaud the ingenuity and creativity. But I honestly think a cardboard bike box free of charge from your LBS would give similar if not better protection, it is after all how bikes are delivered to the shops.

It is, but thankfully not by airport baggage handlers.

My bike has gone by RAF air several times in a cardboard box, RAF movers aren't known for their finesse

We used to duct tape a 6 pack to each box with instructions that they are for the movers with a note saying there's more on the return trip if you look after our kit!

fudgey

smiley_boy2501 wrote:

Cheers. Looks like a good project though!

Its called stratocell - but quite expensive!

whoof, the foam is pretty tough and 50mm thick over the hubs, if the ends of the hubs poke though, the wheels will be scrap!

fudgey

dodgy wrote:

Cornerblock wrote:

dodgy wrote:

I applaud the ingenuity and creativity. But I honestly think a cardboard bike box free of charge from your LBS would give similar if not better protection, it is after all how bikes are delivered to the shops.

It is, but thankfully not by airport baggage handlers.

My bike has gone by RAF air several times in a cardboard box, RAF movers aren't known for their finesse

We used to duct tape a 6 pack to each box with instructions that they are for the movers with a note saying there's more on the return trip if you look after our kit!

ha, thing is at the airport, the handlers wont see the beer, they wont make it through departures as they will be more than 150ml...

dodgy

Fudgey wrote:

dodgy wrote:

Cornerblock wrote:

dodgy wrote:

I applaud the ingenuity and creativity. But I honestly think a cardboard bike box free of charge from your LBS would give similar if not better protection, it is after all how bikes are delivered to the shops.

It is, but thankfully not by airport baggage handlers.

My bike has gone by RAF air several times in a cardboard box, RAF movers aren't known for their finesse

We used to duct tape a 6 pack to each box with instructions that they are for the movers with a note saying there's more on the return trip if you look after our kit!

ha, thing is at the airport, the handlers wont see the beer, they wont make it through departures as they will be more than 150ml...

This was pre 9/11

meanredspider

I'd be tempted to put a bit of plastic tube between each of the dropouts held in place by the QRs just to give it a bit of crush protection - it is, after all, what the bike manufacturers do (in one form or another). I think it's one of the more vulnerable bits of the bike.

fudgey

meanredspider wrote:

I'd be tempted to put a bit of plastic tube between each of the dropouts held in place by the QRs just to give it a bit of crush protection - it is, after all, what the bike manufacturers do (in one form or another). I think it's one of the more vulnerable bits of the bike.

You missed the bit where i mentioned i cut some steel tube to clamp the fork and drop outs ha, but yes, already on that one cheers

meanredspider

Fudgey wrote:

meanredspider wrote:

I'd be tempted to put a bit of plastic tube between each of the dropouts held in place by the QRs just to give it a bit of crush protection - it is, after all, what the bike manufacturers do (in one form or another). I think it's one of the more vulnerable bits of the bike.

You missed the bit where i mentioned i cut some steel tube to clamp the fork and drop outs ha, but yes, already on that one cheers

You're right, I did - didn't see them in the pics. Good job.