I am hoping to travel abroad with my new bike, and would be interested in hearing about others’ experiences of doing the same. Do you use a hard case (probably huge, heavy, bulky and expensive in excess baggage charges), or a soft case (vulnerable to ‘enthusiastic’ baggage handlers and other damage)? I understand most if not all airlines demand the bike be boxed up in some way before it can be transported.

What’s on the market, and does anyone have any recommendations?

I bought a Brand X soft bag (same ad the crc one and have used that several times.
Get a bike box from Halfords or an lbs & use it to line the bag. It will give it some rigidity making it easier for you & the baggage handlers to handle and provide a bit more protection.
Make sure you use the plastic inserts to support the fork & rear triangle at the drop-outs.

I then go crazy with the bubble wrap & pipe lagging holding it in place with making tape.

Cardboard box.

I used a “soft” Evoc bike bag with Easyjet and it was fine, I used my knee and skin pads to protect any unprotected bits. My bag, bike (A robustly specced Orange alpine 160) helmets, pads, shoes and a couple of tools came to exactly 32kg which is easyjet’s limit.

Cardboard box

+1. Free and works well at protecting the bike. A bag will get dragged around and squashed

Cardboard box, pipe lagging ,bubble wrap and cable ties. Use once and throw away.

Hard box.
Took one to Oz, my bike was fine. 6 other in our group, all in bags, 5 of them got there OK…
Anything else just not worth the risk, as wella s potential for ruined trip there is several thousand pounds worth of kit in there, protect it as best you can. Got my box for £50 off fleabay.
Only downside is that it does eat into your luggage allowance a bit.
.
Two friends just travelled to US, they use bags. One fine (but late) the other damaged.

On the caring scale ,I know that baggage handlers have a reputation one notch above Attila the Hun ,but I have a theory that they won’t launch\stack soft bags the same way they do with hard cases.
I have only ever used soft bags or cardboard boxes and never had any issues ( maybe I am just very lucky), I do always use dropout braces and unbolt the rear mech.

Thanks, some interesting responses. A cardboard box won’t survive repeated trips unfortunately, so it looks as though it will be an expensive solution!

Our LBS used to do a rental scheme .

my cardboard box has been away 6 times. 😀
my theory goes that an unwieldy box, with taped up handholds, takes two people to move easily, and it’s hard throwing something that size effectively between two. use other small boxes as bracing across ends, saddle lowered and turned to brace the top/sides, wheels either side , box across inside triangle to further brace the middle and prevent crushing, spares box and boots either end, pipe lagging and luggage straps. no problems so far.
thousands of pieces of delicate electronic consumer goods and manufacturing equipment gets shipped worldwide routinely without it becoming a problem.
you’re going to ship your bike abroad, put it back together, then throw it down mountains ( i presume ) 😀

my cardboard box has been away 6 times

It must be a particularly sturdy cardboard box! I am concerned about damage to the bike inside rather than the case itself though. And a cardboard box would look less desirable to thieves I suppose.

Our LBS used to do a rental scheme .

Could you explain more please?

You have to remember and add a good few Kilo with a hard case 😯

When you say travelling with your bike, do you mean multiple stops, or just to Alps and back?

If multiple, may be worth a hard case, or a good soft case. If just one stop, a cardboard box (reinforced where necessary) or simple soft bag should be fine.

Our LBS would hire out hard cases ( think it was £50 ),to local club folk.
Ask round your LBS ,they may do the same thing,or if you know someone that you could borrow one from.
The people in my cycling club share their cases with other club folk.

When you say travelling with your bike, do you mean multiple stops, or just to Alps and back?

Possible multiple stops, and repeated visits over time. I am hoping to find a solution that will serve me well for several years.

Our LBS would hire out hard cases ( think it was £50 ),to local club folk.

I would prefer to buy one as this will probably work out more economical for me, over time. But I will look into joining a bike club as well, thanks for the tip.

I had a teepee bike bag and it came round the conveyor belt with the forks sticking out the bag 🙄
Spoke to the airline rep. Opened the bag in front of him. He said I had packed the bike well. Got £400 compensation from them for the new fork legs and a new bag. Got told not to fly with them again. Was a german airline and name begins with a lufth and has an ansa in it too. Cardboard box has been the means of travel ever since and cost nothing. The only issue I had was when the mad cows outbreak and I was told they wanted my tyres to wash them before putting them on the plane. They wouldnt except the pair of folded road tyres in my box as new in their boxes, so had to unpack, but luckily I had put the roll of tape in the box to retape up after they realised there were no other tyres. 😆

all of the above methods work but IMO there is usually an equation, the more you spend, i.e. hardcase, the more peace of mind you have.

hardcase – I used to fly a lot and so bought a hardcase, it was heavier and would have cost some excess baggage with some airlines but over the many flights my bike, my precious, survived without damage.
softcase – i’ve flown with these a couple of times and lent my old one out, typically you’ll end up protecting your frame and mech with pipe lagging and bubblewrap.
cardboard box – see softcase answer but increase packing material for protection.

if i was flying again like i used to then I’d be looking at one of the EVOC ones or maybe a hardcase, but my bikes are my preccciooousss 😉

Just bought this from CRC reduced to £209 for a trip to the alps in the summer
http://road.cc/content/review/66589-evoc-280l-bike-travel-bag-and-road-bike-adaptor

Evoc + pipe lagging for me. Have used cardboard boxes in the past (OK but less space inside and no wheels are a PITA) as well as a hardcase (again less room inside + weight of case got me close to the Easyjet limit).

Carboard box is not gonna last long if it sitting on thr runway waiting to be loaded on and its P***ing with rain.. 🙄 dont be a tight arse and buy at least a soft bag. 🙄

the bike chain in edinburgh rent out the proper polaris boxes, they are pretty good though I had to do quite a bit of dismantling to get my big slack bike in, smaller xc go in much easier. bombproof, easy to move around and everyone in the airport looks at you.

Carboard box is not gonna last long if it sitting on thr runway waiting to be loaded on and its P***ing with rain.. dont be a tight arse and buy at least a soft bag

It’s not about being tight. A cardboard box is better than a soft bag if you don’t want your bike damaged. Mine has been on many trips so it has pretty much a full covering of parcel and gaffa tape so it is more or less waterproof

I used to travel routinely with a big plastic hard shell case.

Upside – much better protection, way easier and quicker to pack the bike, don’t even have to take the rear mech off (although I usually did)

Downside – the airlines weigh bikes now, they never used to bother. Decent boxes weigh 10kgs. You need the person picking you up at the other end to have a BIG car. Annoying people coming up to you constantly at airports “what’s in the HUGE box ?”. I used to say “my ex-husband” or “all my make-up and hair-dryers for a weekend away”. Oh yes, and if your flight is properly late via USA you have to collect it and lug it across the airport when they decide even checked through baggage has to be re-checked in. Yay.

I risk it these days with a soft bag, only damage (that I have spotted) from the last trip 10 days ago was loose mech hanger (which I should have taken off) and the last chain ring on the back a bit bent.

Great advice and info. I think maybe a soft bag with some cardboard inside to reinforce it might be a good way forward. Those hard cases certainly look huge, and some cost a fortune!

Annoying people coming up to you constantly at airports “what’s in the HUGE box ?”. I used to say “my ex-husband” or “all my make-up and hair-dryers for a weekend away”.

Might be worth it just for the comedy value!

Off to Spain in July, and though it may cost me more in excess baggage and hire costs, I may well hire one of these, purely to save on worry during the trip, not to mention the hassle of getting it sorted should it all go pear shaped.

I’m going for a holiday and a relaxing time, I don’t want a headache just trying to get everything there in one piece.

http://bikeboxalan.co.uk/#hire

It’s not about being tight. A cardboard box is better than a soft bag if you don’t want your bike damaged. Mine has been on many trips so it has pretty much a full covering of parcel and gaffa tape so it is more or less waterproof

A soft bag ie crc or brandx with pipe lagging is still a better option than a cardboard box IMO and probally a lot more convenient to pack,I wouldnt be happy to put my pride and joy in a cardboard box and throw it a plane..

Lots and lots of options and I´ve seen pretty much all of them!
Soft Bag – Works well but to avoid damage you need to disassemble and protect your bike. There´s various online guides including one on my site. One with wheels is great.
Cardboard Box – Again disassembly required. You need to do some padding or else I´ve seen some parts damaged when the cardboard is ripped. It is more of a hassle to carry these as there´s no wheels.
QUICK EDIT: Cardboard bike box inside a wheeled soft bag works fantastically.
Hard Box – These are heavy and it´s pretty tight to get a modern long and slack bike in there often. They´re awkward to fit in the van on the airport run too but that´s not your worry!
Evok Soft Bag, (I believe copies are available) – Great. Minimal disassembly required due to the excellent protection. The wheels on the bag are a cut above the rest making the bag a lot less likely to tip over. If I was flying with my bike I would buy one of these.

FWIW I´ve had hundreds of people out here and the only time I´ve seen damage is when people cut corners packing the bike. Not to say it doesn´t happen but it´s rare. Things like removing brake calipers so there´s not a lever acting on the frame mounts only take a few minutes and really are worth doing.

Trailofdestruction… I think Ed said you´re comming to us. Looking forward to it and drop me a line if you need any packing advice.