So I am getting things ready for my trip to Portugal and Spain. I have several friends with hard cases willing to lend them. However, after doing an extensive search here, it seems there are tons of very happy and satisfied people here traveling frequently with their soft cases. The Sci Con seems to get a pretty good reputation, so it is the one I am looking at the most. Its price is not nasty either given this is an item I will get to use rather infrequently. $268 shipping included from Costo.com

One thing I am concerned about though is the fact that my bike has tons of carbon everywhere: wheels, handlebars, stem, cranks, seat, entire frame, fork, etc. The thing that concerns me the most really is the handlebar.

Are you guys using the soft cases also using it with bikes with this many carbon parts? If I had another bike to take or parts to substitute, I would. However, that is not an option here, nor is it to rent a bike there. My main issue with taking a hard case is the amount of assemble/disassembly necessary and the difficulty getting the case in small european cars. Not to mention we tend to walk around to find hotels or use public transportation when traveling. Also, we are going to be moving a lot from town to town there using either trains or buses. Hard case = bigger pain in the arz.