I'm heading to Colorado in September for some riding with my old team and possibly a stage race, then Moab next April, and France next summer for rides around the TdF. I want to take my own bike, so I thought I'd look into a hard bike case. Does anyone have any knowledge about which to get and if any are more or less acceptable to airlines - though I will probably ship the bike to Colorado, I'd still like to get a case.

Can one rent them?

Incycle rents them. I've used their hard Serfas case for two trips to Pittsburgh and one trip to Milwaukee. I was able to fit two sets of wheels and my bike on this last trip.

If you are going to be taking that many trips you might just want to purchase a case.

http://www.triall3sports.com/

These are the best that I have found.

I was thinking the same thing after I left the last post. I don't know what Incycle charges to rent them because I get to borrow it, but for three trips you could probably buy one for almost as cheap and then you'd have it.

I've been looking at this one http://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?category=6000122&subcategory=60001134&brand=&sku=21032&storetype=&estoreid=&pagename=Shop%20by%20Subcat%3A%20Travel%20Case I have a trip on Sept. 26 in Maui. Not sure how good the rides are there but I'll see.

Thanks for the tips. Any of you know if airlines, or which airlines, will take these any any idea what they charge?

I agree a rental doesn't make much sense if I'm pretty sure they're be several trips in the next couple of years.

I have both the Serfas bike armor case and the Ironcase. I've also used a performance bike case. Personally I would forget the performance case. I didn't care for the way the two halves come together. The serfas case and Ironcase are both very nice. If I had to pick one over the other it would probably be the Ironcase because I like the safety of all the straps that hold it together vs the clasps on the Serfas case.

You will want to check with the specific airlines you plan to use for cost and weight limit on the case. Expect to pay $75 to $100 each way. Also get there extra early. Man handling the bike case and all your luggage around the airport will slow you down as well as when you checkin. Also expect security to open your case and go through it without you there. Because of this I like to wrap my frame in bubble wrap and keep the case as neat as possible so they don't have to dig around in there much.

A little story not meant to scare anyone off from traveling with their own bike. Traveled to New Zealand 2 years ago with some friends. They had a 2 bike hard shell case to hold both of their mountain bikes. When we got to the checking counter, Quantis refused to take the case as they had a weight limit of 75lbs. They had been travelling all year to different race venues in the states with no problem. Luckily we had gotten to the airport 3 hrs before out flight just to be safe. My buddy had time to run to Performance, pick up a case. We repacked one of the bikes into the new case and saved our 2 week vacation.

May sound like a hassle, but to have your own bike under you in a strange country is worth it.

I have both the Serfas bike armor case and the Ironcase. I've also used a performance bike case. Personally I would forget the performance case. I didn't care for the way the two halves come together. The serfas case and Ironcase are both very nice. If I had to pick one over the other it would probably be the Ironcase because I like the safety of all the straps that hold it together vs the clasps on the Serfas case.

You will want to check with the specific airlines you plan to use for cost and weight limit on the case. Expect to pay $75 to $100 each way. Also get there extra early. Man handling the bike case and all your luggage around the airport will slow you down as well as when you checkin. Also expect security to open your case and go through it without you there. Because of this I like to wrap my frame in bubble wrap and keep the case as neat as possible so they don't have to dig around in there much.

A little story not meant to scare anyone off from traveling with their own bike. Traveled to New Zealand 2 years ago with some friends. They had a 2 bike hard shell case to hold both of their mountain bikes. When we got to the checking counter, Quantis refused to take the case as they had a weight limit of 75lbs. They had been travelling all year to different race venues in the states with no problem. Luckily we had gotten to the airport 3 hrs before out flight just to be safe. My buddy had time to run to Performance, pick up a case. We repacked one of the bikes into the new case and saved our 2 week vacation.

May sound like a hassle, but to have your own bike under you in a strange country is worth it.

Thanks for the tips. I called Southwest and they charge $50 each way for over 50# or over 62" (H+L+W). That's not too bad.

My bad experience was a long time ago flying with my bike in a cardboard bike box. It was raining and I saw the baggage handlers come up with my bike on top of the luggage cart (in the rain). As they approached the plane, they hit the brakes and the bike slide off the cart. The guy picked the box up and THREW it back on top, only to have it shoot off the other side, bust open and my bike and parts flying out across the tarmac. The handlers just crammed the bike back in the wet broken box and threw it on the converyor. It was sickening. I haven't flown with a bike since.

Incycle rents them. I've used their hard Serfas case for two trips to Pittsburgh and one trip to Milwaukee. I was able to fit two sets of wheels and my bike on this last trip.

Hey, redal...have a trip to South Carolina this June. How do I go about looking into Incycle's case rental? Just call them? Or do I need to be a club member? Or go through a 3rd person who knows somebody? Would it make sense to join the club and borrow a case as opposed to renting for a week?

Some airlines charge $50 simply because it's a bike case - I accidentally got charged $25 on the way back from Portland last July because the agent thought the case was just a piece of oversized luggage. The agent was being chewed out by her supervisor because she was new and didn't recognize it was a bike case. I went to her defense, and in the process found out that even if there was absolutely NOTHING in the bike case, or if you put clothes, etc. in it, it is still $50 of whatever the airline charges for a bike case.

I had borrowed a case from a gracious member on this site - it was a Performance case, and it did the job fine - there was plenty of room for not only the bike but helmet/bottles/accessories/etc. - don't be shy about using loads of bubble wrap, towels, etc., etc. - the way baggage is handled, you can't be too cautious.

Just remember that some/many airports will open and search the container after check in. You cannot lock it and don't be so cleaver about cramming stuff into it that the handlers can't figure out how to put it all back in after they search it. I had the pleasure of being able to see them search mine at Ontario last summer - one bumbling guy trips and stumbles into the open container just missing landing on the CF frame:mad: The other two guys just laughed. I wish I hadn't been able to see. I still have nightmares.

Oh yeah and if you forget you have a CO2 cartridge in your saddle bag (they're banned)... DON'T TELL THEM - like I did. They would have never looked in the bag. Several forms and a few "concerned" supervisors latter and I'm now registered on "the list". Great:rolleyes:

I've been looking at this one http://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?category=6000122&subcategory=60001134&brand=&sku=21032&storetype=&estoreid=&pagename=Shop%20by%20Subcat%3A%20Travel%20Case I have a trip on Sept. 26 in Maui. Not sure how good the rides are there but I'll see.
i have two of those and they work great. used them on a trip to europe last year and they were worth every penny. no probs packing the bikes, and there's lots of extra room for clothes helmets etc.

Oh yeah and if you forget you have a CO2 cartridge in your saddle bag (they're banned)... DON'T TELL THEM - like I did. They would have never looked in the bag. Several forms and a few "concerned" supervisors latter and I'm now registered on "the list". Great:rolleyes:


The silly thing about that is that they used to be (and probably still are) fully FAA approved for flying in cargo areas of passenger aircraft. A guy I sometimes work with told me that when I asked about what qualification tests he had to go through to fly some on space station (which he did). Turned out he didn't have to do much of anything. It's probably just TSA that decided they're evil.

I've been flying with just a soft, unpadded performance case lately and it's been fine. Here's details of how I pack it: http://bitingduck.com/?q=node/19

It looks more complicated than it is. It's actually easier than packing in an ironcase, but not as easy as the Tri-All3 case. I've used a large variety of the available cases... (and I also dislike how the performance hard case goes together. The strap system on the iron case is better).

I use a soft case, bike pro peloton from Excelsports. It is much easier to move around at a destination (a hard case is tough to fit into taxis etc). It has an internal frame the bike attaches to and I've had no problems traveling in the US and Europe with it. If you plan on traveling a lot, I'd suggest a 'travel' bike--a backup bike for rain etc. In the event of damage to your bike or loss by an airline, they won't reimburse a nice bike's full value....

I read someplace that if you tell the passenger agent that the box contains "sports equipment", rather than a bike, they might not charge you the full amount.

Sheldon

I read someplace that if you tell the passenger agent that the box contains "sports equipment", rather than a bike, they might not charge you the full amount.


That was probably a previous post of mine...

I've probably paid the bike fee about half the time or less-- the people who inspect the boxes are generally completely separate from the people who decide whether you should pay extra, so sometimes you can get one past.

I just flew to Austin over new years. I borrowed a sefas. Pretty nice. Lots of padding. I thought the locking mech could have been designed a bit better. But I did it's job, so no complaints. Southwest charged me $50 each way for oversized.

I have a Trico Iron Case that I used to use before 9/11. It got more use for my international travel, and at that time there was no fee for that. For domestic flights, most of the agents could tell it was a bike case, so I couldn't get out of getting charged the $50 fee.

Post-9/11, the fees are typically $70 each way for a bike. Southwest is cheapest at $50 each way. The real killer is the reduced weight limit from 70 pounds to 50 pounds, which reduces the amount of junk you can throw in with the bike - and there's always the risk the security people won't repack everything the way you want it.

Not wanting to spend a lot of money flying bikes around I searched for alternatives. When my family was still living in New England, I bought a bike there that I left it in my folks' garage. I had a another bike retrofitted with S&S couplers, which allow you to split the frame and pack it smaller, but the packing and unpacking time was too long to justify taking the bike on short trips. I ended up getting a Bike Friday Pocket Rocket folding bike for my airline travel. It fits into a standard sized suitcase and no one ever asks if there's a bike in there. Even if they do, most of my travel is on Southwest, and their customer service folks sent me something saying that their policy is that folding bike fly free if they're under the LxWxH limit of 62" - and the policy even uses Bike Fridays as an example.

Also, what I've heard of some people doing is to check the case and pay the fee on the first leg of the trip, but mail the bike and case UPS for the trip back home to save a little money.

Somebody just told me in OC Cali that "Hank" rents the tri 500 dollar box for 5 dollars a day.

Sorry, don't know Hank, maybe a well known shop owner?

We plan to carry on the two front wheels on in a garment bag, (gate check?) and box two bikes, sans pedals together in double cardboard bike boxes. (One big, one small)

have not done it yet though. I was just told some credit card perks will ship your gear at no charge once a year ahead to your destination. Am X platinum or Citibank? I forget..... Certain international flights are free if first class (I was told)

I have underwater camera gear, strobes, housings and dive gear so it really gets ugly fast.

Somebody just told me in OC Cali that "Hank" rents the tri 500 dollar box for 5 dollars a day.

Sorry, don't know Hank, maybe a well known shop owner?
Yes, Edge Cycle Sport in Laguna Hills, CA. I know there's other shops that will rent the cases, but I think it's more than $5 per day.