For an alps trip…
Thanks

Mrs has an evoc and I’ve got one of the rose bikes ones, both good

I got the CRC one. been away 3 times. Customs pulled the zip tab off, and baggage ‘handlers’ managed to crack one of the rails off the bottom.

First trip out I got a bent disc (lesson learned) other than that no damage……

Bike is a Large Spesh Enduro and it just fit in.

Evoc, 12 flights so far so good

yeap you need one of these….

Just get a cardboard bike box from Halfords for free. That’s what I took my bike to the alps in and it was fine. It’s what I’ll be taking my bike in to Israel too. Apply common sense by protecting the vulnerable bits with bubble wrap and spacers where the axles go and it’ll be fine. You don’t need to spend loads of money on an EVOC bag. But if you want to then you will I suppose and that’s your choice. That is why life is great. Because we have choices!

The DHB bags get good reviews with some cardboard reinforcement inside – much cheaper than the evoc which are the bees knees apparently. I too have used cardboard bike box but these do get damaged but it is cheap. There are some dhbs on ebay at the moment..

Rent one.. I found it somewhere ..google it 😉

18 bikes on hope have two evocs they rent out.

I eventually bought one. They are not cheap but they work well and are easy to get about too.

+1 for the evoc bag.. Worth the extra cash and saves buying another later..

+1 Evoc

evoc bag is awesome, Pete at Summit to Sea offers a rental service.

EVOC for the win, you can get shit loads in them, but they do weigh 8 kilos empty.

I spent some years struggling with a cheap one. It worked and everything, never had a bike damaged. Then I spent a day struggling in a hurry Bristol – London – Stanstead by taxi, tube and train, lugging the thing around. It took my shoulder the rest of the week to recover from that, and when I came back I bought an Evoc.

I (sort-of) see it as a common resource. I had the cash and wanted it, I’ll doubtless end up lending it to mates who are going away if I’m not using it.

I bought an Evoc the other week. Not used it in anger yet but very happy so far 🙂

Evoc bag is very impressive when I saw one last summer in France. I would.

How good are the evoc bags compared to other bike bags? I have a Planet X bag which has a load of nice little pockets etc inside, but doesn’t offer too much protection. Is the evoc bag better at protecting the bike?

Each “wheel” section have 2 plastic (hard and stiff 😯 )tubes to enforce the area also 2 plastic strips at each end to enforce the ends.
And as you see in the above pic, the bike sits on a thick pad to keep the chainring, drop out off the bottom of the bag and strapping the bike to it and extra protection for where the forks go as well.

The tubes/rods can be removed so the bag can be packed down for storing the bag

Thanks – sounds a bit better than the planet x one, esp the wheels. But having thought about it, ideally i guess it would still need a bit of cardboard or padding in there for the frame

The wheels effectively splint/protect the frame in an evoc. You don’t need anything else – just soft cloth or kit to prevent scratches from any other stuff in the bag

100% agree with RAGGATIP , we at bikingandalucia.com in Spain see about 100 bikes a year coming through Malaga airport. A cardboard bike box from Halfords or LBS is free. Use bubble wrap, spacers, remove the rear mech, take a spare mech hanger. You can reinforce the corners with gaffer tape, and if you think there is a chance of rain use cling film. The box is sacrificial and is a good as most bike bags.

I have a big DHB one, used it 4-5 times now. Pretty happy with it and no intention to ‘upgrade’ to the EVOC one for 4 times the price. It’s huge – I can fit my XC bike in without taking the bars off (just turn them 90º).

But bike boxes do work just as well – and are free! They’re a bit harder to pack, though.

Another vote for the EVOC 😀

Cheers, Rich

Thanks for the tips, inevitably leaning towards the Evoc! If anyone has one to sell, let me know