Bike travel boxes....

Yeah, I know, and he's taken cranks off before.....he's running an Ultegra compact with Di2 (I haven't even looked to see what BB)....and it's just one more thing.  With school, he's pressed for time some races.  For Instance.....this spring he will race 3 times on Saturdays/Sundays after flying in on Friday....and then fly home immediately after the race. It has to be that way because he'd miss too much school between swim meets and triathlon if he left a day earlier/later in either direction.  I'm just trying to keep putting his bike together and breaking it down as simple as I can for him.  On another note....he travels with a back pack and a bike.....there isn't much room for more tools.

You're killing me, brother.

I thought I would never go with a soft case until I discovered the scicon. I have since flown 6 times with it this year (and shipped it twice) with zero issues. FWIW I traveled countless times over a 21 year period with triall3 hard cases and they are great, but also had a bike destroyed in one by TSA when they repacked it after inspection and put the cassette against my seat tube, which it then sawed almost in half. No case is going to protect against that, but that experience left me with the belief that the simpler the breakdown and the easier for TSA to inspect the contents without pulling the stuff in the case apart the better.

61 cm?!  That's a huge bike!

I read your review....thanks.  How big is your bike?  Also......do you get charged extra bike fees with that bag since it is well oversized or is it just standard bike fees.  I read where the pads you have on the bike were extra.....how much?

Thanks again.....I'm not in a place where I can look that up right now.

You should see the grocery bill.

My Bike is only a medium, but there is lots of extra vertical room in the bag (you can see in the pictures how "baggy" it is). I have my extensions maxed out and it fits well length wise. Folks I know with very long bikes that use this bag do have to slide their extensions back a bit, which is simple enough with an allen wrench on most integrated front ends. Never heard of anyone having issues with fitting a tall bike in it - lots of pro teams use this bag to travel with - that is where I first heard of it. I have never been charged extra fees other than the regular bike fee. the airlines that I have flown do not charge oversize for a bike, and they allow a greater weight within the regular bike fee. Packed this one has always been well under 50 pounds though. The couple of times we shipped them we used Bike Flights, and I think that cost around $120 door-to-door.

Thanks!!!

Oh, and if you are talking about a road bike - you may be able to go with the regular bag (that is the one my wife's bike is packed in in the review)  - no need for the triathlon-specific bag. Scicon does have dimensions on their site, but I too am posting on my phone so don't want to look it up - heh.

and sorry - missed you question about the extra padding - the Albopads  were given to me by a friend that makes it, but I think the complete set runs about 100 bucks or so. The extra scicon pads were probably another 50 bucks retail.

Yep, road bike......his tri bike will fit in a hard case, if needed, but he only races it a few times per year.....this year all of his fly in racing is on a road bike..

You know the airlines fly planes every day...  

As the coolest tri-dad, fly out a day early, assemble the bike, scout out the area, pick up last minute supplies, then pick him up at the airport the next day when he jets in.  After he's done, he gets on the plane while you repack the bike and fly back the next day.  

Not sure which airlines he flies most, but pay attention to total weight...there is one charge for oversize luggage (i.e. a bike in a box weighing less than 50#) and a substantially higher fee for an oversize and overweight box.  My 54 cm Klein Aeolus in a standard box with helmet and wetsuit was right at 50#.  I think I packed my shoes separately in case they checked the weight.  

Nah - this is the year he starts traveling mostly on his own.  Unfortunately, my days with him are starting to get numbered.....I've got a job.

And yeah, the airlines have always weighed the bike box like you say.  I think we have flown most major carriers......we fly Frontier whenever we can as they sometimes don't charge for a bike at all and just check us through.

Maybe:

http://rustersports.com/product/coop/

You'd have to give them dimensions with the integrated seat post though... looks like it would be close.

As a public service announcement, in case anyone is interested......probikekit.com has this case on sale for 50% off.