Hard Bike Case Recommendations

AshleyF73
AshleyF73 Posts: 7
edited February 2014 in Road buying advice
Evening all,

I am the proud owner of a brand new carbon road bike and I am planning a few overseas cycling weekends in the coming months (Majorca, Jersey and Ireland) which all require flights and of course best ways to protect my pride and joy.

I have read lots of threads from people using card bike boxes, to soft cases to hard cases. I have decided after spending a fair few quid on my bike I am going to protect it the best I can and use a hard shell case.

I have narrowed down to the following three. All of a similar weight and size, and I wondered if anyone had used any of these and seen/used the other that could offer a good comparison recommendation. Would need to be ISP compatible which I am told the top two in my list are. The Scicon of course is an additional £200, so I wondered if it is technically better protection than the BikeBoxAlan?

Another factor is getting it in my car, I have a small Alfa Mito, again if anyone can offer advice if they have used any of these and got into the back of a small car.

Scicon AeroTech Evolution TSA Hardshell Bike Case
BikeBoxAlan
Polaris Bike Pod Pro

Thanks, Ashley.

Comments

  • dancing
    dancing Posts: 16
    I would look on ebay there are always people moving their cases on.
    I bought a hardcase version cost £100 new £250 so instant saving, and reason for the hard case even though its quite heavy 12kg was when it gets loaded on to a plane its even if its man handled by the airport handlers (what bag isn't) the bike was unaffected.
  • GB Cycles have a good range on there website! Pretty cheap too
  • Grill
    Grill Posts: 5,610
    I bought a BBA after my clamshell hard case was opened by TSA and improperly closed resulting in a cracked frame. It's already done 20,000 miles an still going strong.
    English Cycles V3 | Cervelo P5 | Cervelo T4 | Trek Domane Koppenberg
  • i purchased two bikebox alan cases last year.. i've travelled by air to france,spain and tenerife since then and i would definately recommend them.
  • Also check out the DHB Elsted hard case. Very good box and value for money.
  • Grill
    Grill Posts: 5,610
    Also check out the DHB Elsted hard case. Very good box and value for money.

    My bike was in this one when the frame cracked...
    English Cycles V3 | Cervelo P5 | Cervelo T4 | Trek Domane Koppenberg
  • Grill wrote:
    Also check out the DHB Elsted hard case. Very good box and value for money.

    My bike was in this one when the frame cracked...

    Not really a fault of the box itself though surely?

    Ah well, mine survived the gentle touch of South African baggage handlers without fuss.
  • Thanks all,

    I was leaning towards the BikeBoxAlan purely on the cost saving, but I do like the look of the Scicon and how you can use it for normal seatpost bike or ISP bike simply by loading the bike in the different way around. However I have a £80 discount voucher to be used in a couple of days for an online bike store so that is now pushing me towards the Scicon whilst I can get it for £540.

    Anyone anything bad to say about the Scicon?

    Ashley.
  • rayjay
    rayjay Posts: 1,384
    My friend bought a hard case and he still had some damage to his bike.

    I have a well padded bag. But I spend 30 minutes bubble wrapping my bike to death.
    Everything gets bubble wrapped nothing can move or spin. My wheels go in to wheel bags and are put into the bag.

    I have seen my bag thrown through the air at Stansted and not one mark when I get the bubble wrap off.

    It's the only way I know to full proof your bike. Its is a pain putting on and getting off but it's worth it.