• This topic has 12 replies, 9 voices, and was last updated 9 years ago by beej.
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  • Bike Bags – Padded vs. Lightweight
  • Kahurangi
    Full Member

    Thinking of what sort of bike bag to buy and the strategies needed for different carriers and I’d like your thoughts…

    Lightweight bike bag
    http://www.groundeffect.co.nz/product/BAG/TAR

    + cheaper
    + more weight allowance for kit
    + easier to pack away and store
    – less protection
    – harder to carry

    Heavy-weight bike bag
    like http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/nz/en/chain-reaction-cycles-pro-bike-bag/rp-prod114204

    – expensiver
    + more protective
    – less kit before you’re overweight
    + does that even matter on most carriers where you pay for an extra 25 kg item?
    – storage hassle
    + wheels 🙂

    I know that speaking specifics it’s a common enough topic, but I’m trying to decide which general route to take on this one. Recommendaitons are very welcome!

    mikewsmith
    Free Member

    Evoc owner & used other cheaper/lightweight ones.
    By the time I had put enough stuff in the light one to protect the bike it would weight the same.
    Proper wheels are worth having, it makes life a lot easier
    Proper protection is worth having.
    Proper handles mean it gets lifted better some of the time by the handlers.
    Evoc is 9kg rounded up so I can take a 14kg bike for a 23kg limit (Oz rules)
    If your going up to 32kg then saving a few kg on the bag doesn’t seem worth it.

    Kahurangi
    Full Member

    cheers mike. *bump* for the working week 🙂

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    Pawsy_Bear
    Free Member

    Plus one Evoc.

    downhilldave
    Full Member

    I have a CRC lightweight bag and an Evoc and agree with Mike totally.The Evoc folds into itself for storage. The last flight I had saw the bike upright going up the ramp onto the plane as it will stand up on it’s own. You get what you pay for with the Evoc, protection,ease of packing and MUCH easier to move about. Take your rotors off though, the video they have shows them on but I think they are too vulnerable.

    BadlyWiredDog
    Full Member

    I’d go with the plastic version of the Crateworks box. It looks expensive on the face of it for what’s basically a glorified box made from a sort of plastic corrugated cardboard alternative, but it’s brilliantly thought out, impressively tough in all directions and designed so that the bike is really well protected. I’ve used padded bags for years, but I’ve borrowed a friend’s Crateworks box several times to fly with my road bike and would happily buy my own as a result.

    They also fold down for storage, small enough to live in a T5 camper for a fortnight without being excessively intrusive.

    I don’t think the issue with bike damage is how it goes up the ramp, it’s when it gets other luggage dumped on top of it, gets flying around out of sight by baggage handlers etc.

    Northwind
    Full Member

    I went the other way- got an inexpensive but decent soft bag, added a free cardboard bike box and a bunch of recovered packaging, it’s a pain in the arse to pack a bike in so it’d get old fast if I was doing it more than once a year but I don’t fear the slingers much any more. And the box takes away the biggest downside of soft cases, they’re normally horrible to maneuvre as they flop around.

    TBH if I was doing it again I’d be tempted to just get a good solid cardboard bike box (Apollo ones are good- very strong, they have to be to contain the weight of an apollo full suss) and laminate the **** out of it with rolls of parcel tape for durability and water resistance.

    downhilldave
    Full Member

    It’s not about the ramp Bwd, just that it stands up on it’s own and is very stable when you have to wheel it anywhere which is the point I was trying to make. Any large bag is normally at the bottom of pile in an aircraft hold. I fly with the bike five or six times a year and the cheaper bag even has rips in where it’s been slid along on it’s side. The Enve has none. You can pack a bike in the Enve bag in 10 mins.It would be a strange old word if we all made the same choice and Jon was asking for advice which I gave. Seen some very soggy looking cardboard contraptions over the years as well 😉

    geoffj
    Full Member

    I have the CRC Evoc copy. I had the lightweight CRC/Planet X one before.
    The CRC Evoc copy doesn’t offer any more protection, but it is much nicer to pack and wheel around.
    If protection is paramount go for a box otherwise go with the evoc copy if you can afford it.

    BadlyWiredDog
    Full Member

    It’s not about the ramp Bwd, just that it stands up on it’s own and is very stable when you have to wheel it anywhere which is the point I was trying to make. Any large bag is normally at the bottom of pile in an aircraft hold. I fly with the bike five or six times a year and the cheaper bag even has rips in where it’s been slid along on it’s side. The Enve has none. You can pack a bike in the Enve bag in 10 mins.It would be a strange old word if we all made the same choice and Jon was asking for advice which I gave. Seen some very soggy looking cardboard contraptions over the years as well

    What’s the Enve bag, I guess you meant Evoc? I wasn’t saying that it was rubbish, just that the Crateworks one, which is plastic btw, not cardboard, works really well and is probably more protective than a soft-sided bag of any design. I am sure you’re right and I’m wrong. Or it could be that both of us have opinions based on our own experience, which is what the OP asked for.

    downhilldave
    Full Member

    Yeh, Evoc 😳

    vondally
    Free Member

    We have used the Ground effect no issues at all BUT we packed the frame massively

    beej
    Full Member

    I’m on my third bike bag now – first was a basic padded thing, no wheels. Then a larger/wider CRC bag with little wheels, like this:

    http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/chain-reaction-cycles-complete-bike-wheel-bags-crc-logo/rp-prod106851

    Finally upgraded to the EVOC one and it’s brilliant. Packing/unpacking in 10 minutes, wide wheels for stability, ease to drag, good protection and not too heavy. I’ve used it for 10-12 flights and not had any issues.

    The last time I used it (with poncey carbon road bike) the handlers put it flat on the luggage truck first and loaded everything else on top of it. On a previous trip it fell off the luggage truck between the plane and the terminal and was found by two flight crew coming back… they picked it up and delivered it to the lost luggage window, just as I was filing my claim.

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