Touring - Lightest, most compact housse (bike transport bag)???

I am not talking about panniers or bags that mount onto your bike. I am talking about a big bag that you put your bike into when you need to pack your bike for a bus or a high-speed train.

I am looking for the lightest, most foldable, smallest bike bag (housse) to be found. I got one good lead already, but I was hoping a Bike Forums member would know of others as well.

Thanks in advance.

I posted this thread on the roadbike forum but it didnt arouse any interest.
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I'm wondering what is the best way to package up your bike for shipping or checking as baggage on a plane. Cardboard boxes are free from most bike shops, but can be pretty inconvenient to save for the return flight, unless you know someone you can leave the box with. What about Bike Travel bags, do they offer much protection for the bike and fold up small when not being used?

What would you use to take your bike to Europe, assuming that you would need to travel on a few trains, etc. while there?

Some of the bags listed on ebay look pretty fancy, but if they have a solid bottom they can't possibly fold up very small. Also I wonder what the airlines think about them? Some might insist that you use their box or bag for it to be accepted as checked baggage.

A box or bag for an airline is patently, exactly, NOT the kind of bag I'm looking for. Quite the opposite. I want someting I can ride around with. Thanx anyway though.

There isn't a lot of diff cept for the plastic bottoms in some bags,
I bought one in Berlin, has no name on it, but I can fold it and put it into a VERY small stuff sack strapped it to the top of my rear rack, I had total wgt off 33lbs 2 rear panniers and a handle bar bag can't imagine the bag weighed more than 2 lbs,33lbs was plenty for nearly 4 months in Europe and there were things I never used

I preferred the bag cause I could put the straps on my shoulder and carry 2 panniers in the other hand, never a problem getting onto and off trains, metros, into and up stairs in hotels and B n Bs

Ground Effect have the Tardis with folds into A4 size bag and weighs in at 2.2lb It slips down the back of a front pannier nicely. We have put the front of the tandem and 2 wheels in it on planes and it has worked fine. It may not be as small and light as you are looking for.
Cheers Brian

I was kicking around the idea of making a housse as well, but then I found the perfect one for sale. It is super light and rolls up tiny so it is absolutely no problem to carry around in your panniers no matter how long you are on the road. I found it here: http://www.veloplus.ch/AlleProdukte/Transport/Taschen/TRAVELLIGHTVelotransporttaschevonBACH.aspx

I bought two, and I love them. You only need to pop off the front wheel, and take off the pedals, and you are good to go. They are a god-send. You can also see how small it packs up in the second photo.

Let me start my saying when I began touring I had to have my bike in a box so I had to drag or carry it around until I could re-assemble it. It's stressful, time consuming and usually unneccessary.

I now ride my bike to the airport and buy 2 bike bags from the airline. I put one in the pannier (for the trip home) and the bike goes in the other. I buy the bags in Toronto so I won't need to worry if the airport rep will have any on the way back. Folded, a bag is about a half inch deep and 8x12 inches in diameter. It is thick grade transparent plastic and fits into the back pouch of the pannier.

I don't know of any railways that require bikes to be in bags. I roll mine on and off but have a couple of bungees to fasten the frame to a pole or tie-down. I also tie the front wheel straight to prevent a slide.

Is this what you are talking about?

I don't know of any railways that require bikes to be in bags. I roll mine on and off but have a couple of bungees to fasten the frame to a pole or tie-down. Is this what you are talking about?

All trains in Spain, most in Sweden and Denmark, and all high-speed trains in Germany, France, Britain, Benelux, Switzerland and Italy require bikes to be bagged. Nobody wants bike grease on their suitcases or trousers.

All trains in Spain, most in Sweden and Denmark, and all high-speed trains in Germany, France, Britain, Benelux, Switzerland and Italy require bikes to be bagged. Nobody wants bike grease on their suitcases or trousers.

I noticed the European train timetable (http://www.raileurope.com/us/faq/trains_general_info.htm) says bikes have to be boxed and may even have to travel on a separate train, but my experience says different, granted I'm not planning on taking the Eurostar.

I've never had any trouble in England, Wales or Scotland. National Rail (http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/system/galleries/download/misc/CyclingbyTrain.pdf)have a great PDF expaining things.

In Netherlands (http://www.ns.nl/servlet/Satellite?cid=1083234338250&pagename=www.ns.nl%2FPage%2FArtikelPage_www.ns.nl&lang=en&c=Page) and Belgium you just hop on any train including Inter-City and Schnell (fast trains). You do have to pay extra unless it is a folding type.

In Germany only one kind of train (http://bicyclegermany.com/trains.htm) doesn't take bikes.

If you check out these links, you'll see that they don't talk about boxes and bags because Europeans bike more than North Americans and since both cycling and trains are sustainable transportation, bikes are welcome more places.

This is only from my experience in the countries mentioned, other members may like to comment.