Bike Box Wheels 3.0
 

Hello,

I guess that this is version 3.0 as I called my first iteration 2.0.

I have had a chance to travel on several more tours and found some issues with the current design that could be improved. The main issue is keeping the wheels attached to the box. The corners (where the wheels sit) takes a beating from airline handling making them soft. This wasn't a problem on the Mallorca and next tour since the box that I used I had waterproofed (and stiffened) with old polyurethane varnish. Recent tours used just bare cardboard boxes and showed some issues.

So it was time to make some modifications...

1. Switch to bigger 76mm (3.0") roller blade wheels to make going over pavement cracks and door thresholds easier.
2. Relocate the wheels further inboard (now 45mm) from the box corner for better support UNDER the box.
3. Adjust the wheels strap yoke cord to increase the horizontal holding force to hold the wheels on the box.
4. The "extenders" got changed to angle stock to allow better attachment points for the yoke cord.

Here are a few photos of the updates:


https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...399bbb9c81.jpg
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...62e5401428.jpg

love my bikes too mucho to transport them in a weak bike carton. I do that only if I have a one way flight and cycle back home. for all other EVOC BIKE BAG PRO is a great bag! Use it since around 15 years, works top and still is in top shape.

I have looked into these as well. However, most are too heavy to fly under the 50lb limit so you can end up with some rather large overweight fees. Then there is the issue with tour companies not able to transport these large bike boxes during the tour. Did the Great Divide last year and had this issue. Cardboard box was recycled at the beginning and picked up a bike shop recycled box at the end. Same thing with end-to-end New Zealand.

I am not really concerned with damage as everything is tightly tied to the frame. They would literally have to run over the box to damage anything. On the other hand I have been on tours where other participants have had a frame or bars damaged by the airline when using these cases (not specifically the EVOC). The other issue is that some of these cases are odd shaped so don't pack well so the airline puts them aside till the end and sometimes runs out of space or forgets about them. This happened to a participant on my central Europe tour. He made it on time but the bike didn't. Luckily he decided to show up a few days early.

If one does a one way A to B route a carbon is the way to go, yes! I did not though of that for a moment. ;)
My feeling is that the advantage of the EVOC bag is that it is a flexible bag, everything can move inside the bag, even if they treat it bad while transporting it. As weight I never had a problem to stay under 23kg / 50lb, even with some panniers, shoes and other stuff inside.

If you have transportation to get you to an airport/train station entrance with your pre-boxed bike, wouldn't a SmarteCarte be a lot easier?

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...b0d5d4df77.jpg
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...957af0d5b0.jpg

My heavy duty touring bike, tool bag, and the S&S case that I use add up to a bit over 50 pounds. The saddle, rear rack, pedals and maybe a few other things moved to my other baggage are enough to get my total down below 50 pounds. I always check with a luggage scale. The rear rack is not very heavy, but its shape makes it too hard to fit in the S&S case, thus it gets packed elsewhere. The Brooks saddle and the pedals are small and dense, easy to pack with my camping gear or in a carry on.

A friend of mine had his carbon frame inspected after it had been on several airline trips. There were several cracks in the downtube. I am not sure exactly how it was inspected, but it did involve a tv camera in the tubes. Frame went in the dumpster, but was hack sawed first to make sure nobody grabbed it and was injured. He now travels with his aluminum frame bike that replaced it.

These are like $10 a pop. It adds up fast. Then you also have to drag the bike box to the cart vend line which may or may not be on the way to the ticket counter where the bike box gets checked.

I've flown with my bike in cardboard boxes a lot of times, and generally haven't had problems getting airport trolleys at various airports, nothing that really stands out.
I've pushed a box along a slider floor a few times, but I guess the manhandling hasn't been the end of the world for me.

I be like the ingenuity and glad it works for you. If a circle tour it’s a EVOC Pro for me and there is no question that it provides better protection than a home packed cardboard box.

When on a point to point tour I cardboard box it one way and carry the box around or use an airport cart. Upon arrival I usually ride directly from the airport. Return is the same or I just bag the bike and yet to have an issue. The handlers see it’s a bike and treat it more gently. That story that a bike bag such as a EVOC is loaded last thus perhaps left behind is a new one and call me skeptical.

I have one rule over others when touring and that is to keep things as simple and light as possible. That wheel system would definitely not make the cut. A very limited time of convenience followed my a month or more of dead weight and space.

For what it's worth:
- In my experience charging for carts seems to be more a US thing than overseas where I can often nab a cart for free and then politely decline the "helpers" that take interest in my cart (for a presumed tip)
- At least 1/3 of the time I can find a cart with a quick search. People abandon them and they don't always return them to the right spots. For example if I'm flying in, picking up from baggage claim and intending to go to a rental car - I don't look for carts at baggage claim but make a quick walk up/over to departures to see who left a cart (or at the curbs where arrivals people board buses/ground transport). It takes a bit for luggage to arrive anyways.

So I will pay if needed but perhaps not as often as you think.

In any case, glad it works for you.

I think str meant "cardboard" or "carton" when they typed carbon. That fits the context of a one-way.

In 1991, I brought my 700c racer to Europe for two weeks of business. Back then, the airline provided a box for $10 I think, and it was big enough to just remove the pedals, turn the handlebars 90 degrees, and roll it right in with both wheels attached. It was HUGE. At the airport in Germany, they had those carts (I think they may have been free at that time) but that big a box didn't fit well, sideways, which didn't fit on escalators on the cart (which was designed for escalators), plus the escalators were all stopped for some reason, and didn't go in the elevator unless stood up on end. So there was a lot of manhandling. Carted to the airport train station, then had to switch trains to get to my small town destination, fortunately the cars were deserted (Sunday) and I had a coworker with me and we just brought the box into the local train which had subway-style seating. Then at my destination, I hired a taxi-wagon, the bike fit with the rear seat down, and front seating was buckets ('Benz), so my co-worker went to the hotel and I jogged there. Coming home was the reverse. NEVER AGAIN. If it was that bike, I would semi-rinko it in an OEM shipping box like pictured above, wheels off and beside frame, handlebars turned, but leaving the fork on. But these days, even that is well above checked bag limits, so either a big fee, or some airlines just plain won't take it! Only a few have limited exemption for sports equipment.

But these days it would be my 20" wheel bifold folding bike, an order of magnitude easier. Would still be just slightly over checked size limits, so I would get there plenty early, see if it checked fine with no fee, if not, I'd remove and put the handlepost and bars, seatpost and seat, and racks, in a second bag along with the panniers and other stuff.

For mega-heavy touring, I've never used a dedicated 700c touring bike, I'm sure designed for the task. But 20" folders have come a long way, what feels agile and a bit too twitchy unladen, stabilizes well with a heavy load, whereas a big-wheel bike may feel too heavy in the steering. The smaller wheels are stronger, and provide more space above them for bulky cargo, and the total C.G. stays lower, giving me more lateral leverage against that load, with long handlepost and seatpost putting my hands and butt well above the mass-dense cargo load.

A folding bike certainly sidesteps the issues.

Boxes being large and transfer to different places is an issue I find sometimes independent if I had wheels on the box. For example first photo taken in Delhi where I flew into the airport, took this taxi to the bus station and then an overnight bus to Manali. There is a box there for the bike and a second box underneath with an extrawheel trailer.

The second photo in Dili where we hired a small pickup to carry both bike and myself to the airport from the hotel.

My brother was also on both trips where he brought full frame folding bicycles he had designed and then had manufactured. So his part of the transport was easier.
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...b7dc7496b5.jpg
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...a3ceab429a.jpg

Mostly. I still need to worry about damage enroute, and need to box at both ends if a one-way trip or no storage for a case. And the bike is not light with racks and tools and aero bars and such, so I'd be either cart-wheeling, or assemble to bike from the airport.

The ultimate folder-easy is train with no plane; Amtrak allows folders on the luggage rack inside the passenger car. Rode to the train*, took off panniers, folded bike, put on shelf:
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...b24ef28193.jpg
Train was deserted due to very end of covid. If needed, I could have stood it up on end and put a garbage bag over it.

At train destination, shuttle bus had promised a front rack, yes, but my front rack blocked the arm that holds the front wheel and bike. No problem, just folded the bike again and brought on board the bus.

* I had just recently completed my 2X conversion, with a claw-mount rear derailleur as this folder lacked a proper hanger. Bouncing down the apartment stairs, a bit late, to get to the train, and the rear derailleur (under the axle nut) comes off. Rapidly dig into my kit to get the axle wrench. "Don't look at the time, work the problem. Don't look at the time, work the problem." Arrived too late to put anything in the baggage car, didn't matter, just brought it all on board.

Darned little it can't do so far. This was light packing for a week visiting a house:
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...aac7aa725b.jpg

Self contained touring will be a lot more gear; A small duffel crosswise in place of the trunk bag, and light/bulky stuff between the front rack and handlebars, that's a big space.

Rollaboard suitcase from goodwill:

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...23fb59e773.jpg

Medium cooler from goodwill:

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...3043a39f73.jpg

Yep, it'll tour. Join the revolution.

My dream is that the airlines will clue into this, and if you have a small folder, they'll have small, well-padded bags to just fold and slip into with deposit, no one-way issues. It would help them two ways, 1) win more biker business, and 2) incentivize bikers to use a folder, and this saves them luggage space on the plane, and easier handling.

This discussion of the advantage of folding bikes reminds me of the discussion several years ago when American Airlines, Delta, and United dropped their oversize fees for bicycles. At that time, everyone saw any advantage that S&S couplers offered as no longer pertinent. I however disagreed, as it is so much more convenient to be able to use a taxi to take me to and from the airport.

I do not mean to hijack this thread, but since alternatives like folding bikes are being discussed, I thought I would point out that couplers on a frame are another option.

I still will use my S&S coupler fitted bike on any trip where I fly, even if it no longer saves me money. I however did pay for the couplers and the case with savings on airline flights before they dropped the oversize fees for bikes. I use the S&S Backpack case. Photo below, I am carrying by bike in the S&S Backpack on my back.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...c999716323.jpg

Different trip below, I used a cart. S&S Backpack case is the big black case.

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...7ee72eaad2.jpg

The bike in the case (a few items were pulled out of the case to achieve the 50 pound limit), photo below. The wooden center support was a DIY project, not included with the S&S case.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...129c5ae4bc.jpg

For those of you not familiar with S&S couplers, they allow the downtube and top tube to be split apart, you can see the coupler on the top tube, just forward of the seat tube. The coupler on the downtube is mostly hidden behind the crankset.

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...b559d462ff.jpg

It can take me an hour and a half to pack my bike in the S&S case and just as much time to reassemble at the other end, complete disassembly is needed. But the ease of transport to and from airports can be worth it for me. But this only works if I do a loop trip, store the case at my start and end point. Some on this forum have said they shipped their case from the start point to the end point, but I have not done that.

Ritchey Break Away is another similar coupler method to split the frame in half too. Ritchey cases are slightly oversize, but have wheels.

I apologize for being off topic here. Just adding to the discussion of alternatives for those that were unaware.

Back in the day I would also use the HUGE airline supplied box, almost every airline had them for $10 or so. I never disassembled the bike to fit a shop box. At trip's end, I'd ceremoniously ride through the terminal doors and roll the bike loaded to the ticket desk using it as my "SmarteCarte"! I'd check rear bags lashed together as one, carry on the front bags as one, 10 minutes to pack the bike after removing pedals and rotating bars. Was good to go!

At departure I wouldn't pick up the HUGE box until the ticket/baggage desk so no need to move it anywhere, the luggage handlers took it from there. At arrival I'd quickly reassemble the bike at the terminal and ride away!

That's a 10" wide bike shop length box from REI pictured by Steve back at post 22. No problem manuevering them on a SmarteCarte as pictured above at my previous post. Doug64 has posted many photos of him & his wife moving through airports with rental carts.

Couplers: Valid post.

My bifold is just enough of a pain to fold, with hinge latches properly tight, so hard on my hands to undo, that I call it an "occasional folder".

Daily commutes with folding, I tell people to get a "frequent folder", meaning fast and easy folding. Trifold like a Brompton or other fast and compact folder.

The fellow that family-toured with 4 folders, 1 was a bifold 20" for it's superior set up for a substantial rear rack, which stayed on top when folded. The 3 other bikes were all trifold clones of Bromptons, either C-line (349) or G-line (406). And he stated that the trifolds definitely folded more compact for taxi transits.

A Bike Friday, I do not consider to be a folding bike, though those on here have shown how to just swing the rear triangle in, and it makes for a compact, vertical standing package for standing-room trains. But for going on an airplane, a BF is a "travel bike", requiring significant teardown and reassembly time.

Same for the coupler bike; Asssembling or disassembling at either end of your trip, not bad. But if you need to compact it fully even once in the middle of a trip, that's a big hassle. However, a compact traveler, turning into a real, full-size, "serious" bike, that you have taken WAY off the map lines in North Elbonia, and probably unlikely to need to compact it mid-trip, where there are no taxis.

We are blessed with a plethora of choices these days, to put it mildly. Good times for finding whatever floats your boat, with fewer and fewer compromises required.