The best bike bags, boxes and cases for travelling

When you head abroad on vacation with your bike, you put a lot of thought into where you'll go, which company you'll fly with, and which hotel you'll stay at, but how do you ensure your bike travels to your destination safely? It's scary to send your bike down the conveyor belt at the oversized baggage check-in and put it in someone else's hands for an extended period of time.

No matter how cautious you are with your pride and joy, time-pressed baggage handlers and automated baggage systems may not be quite as gentle: there are horror stories of airlines destroying bikes to attest to that.

But bike bags and boxes are pretty well-designed these days, and do a great job of delivering your bike to your destination and back unscathed.

What to look for in a bike travel case

To help you choose the best travel case for you and your bike, here are some of the most important factors to consider.

Hard or soft shell

Hardshell case bike bags were the best way to travel with a bike for quite some time; however, engineers at bike brands are pretty clever and softshell bags are nearly on par for protection, weigh less, and often have removable ribbing so they can be neatly rolled up for storage. 

Empty weight

With a plastic base, wheels, internal skeleton, and robust materials, bike bags are heavy before you put anything inside, and some are pudgier than others. Most airlines will give you 23kg / 50lbs before they hit you with an exorbitant overweight baggage fee, and if your bag weighs 12kg empty, when you pack a 6.8kg lightweight road bike, shoes, helmet and a track pump you'll be nudging up against that limit. 

Size

Are you just looking to travel with just your road bikes, or will you be taking trips with your mountain bike too? Are you riding an aero road bike with integrated handlebars or TT bars? Are you riding an XL frame? These are all things to take into account when shopping for a bike travel case because some of the more compact options are simply too small for certain bikes and frame sizes.

Some disassembly required

No bike bag will take your bike fully assembled, but some require considerably more disassembly and mechanical acumen than others. At the very least you’ll have to pop your wheels off, but some bags also require you to remove your seat post, handlebars, and even the fork. 

Wheels and handles

For something designed to help you move around with a bike in tow, bike travel cases are unsurprisingly awkward and cumbersome to move around with. If you want to avoid a back injury, a set of wheels should be a minimum requirement, especially if you'll be walking much after you land - some even use easily replaceable roller blade wheels. In addition, you'll want plenty of handles to help you hoist your bag onto a conveyor belt or into the back of a car.