Originally Posted by
mattm
I like the "BikND" Jetpack I ended up getting, since it's a soft-shell but with a frame, and inflated donuts on both sides to protect the wheels. Not sure about #1, but I'm pretty confident with it around #2 & #3. There's a video of it being dropped from a 2nd story and the bike is fine.
packing is everything.
i have a pretty solid amount of confidence my bike would be ok in any soft pack -- if it landed on the side. if you dropped it from 2 stories and it landed on the HT, not so much -- but i haven't seen a case where that would not have an unpleasant outcome.
the reason i did not choose the biknd is that a few friends had them and they each had problems with the bladder losing air; they reached their destination and several times the wheels were totally exposed. neither suffered damage, but it is troubling.
each to his own.
Originally Posted by mattm
And in the 4-5 times I've used it, TSA has opened it up but they don't need to unpack anything since it's pretty open inside and they can get in to it from both sides.
TSA have told me they need to see/feel the seams of the bag. those cases that affix the parts (or require minimal disassembly) are super nice for that.
any case that REQUIRES stuff to be put in in one specific way or all bets are off represents a liability.
Originally Posted by mattm
The downside of course is that it's bigger, hard to get away with the "it's not a bike" thing. Even if you convince them it's "art" it's still obviously oversized. At least it comes in under 50 lbs when packed, so you don't get dinged twice.
not sure if it has changed, but it used to have "BIK(nd") right there. you're getting hit with the cost immediately. if you travel back and forth to europe that is a huge fee on most airlines.
50# is still pretty damn heavy. a 15# bike + orucase stuffed with clothing is like 25, 30. 50 and bulky is an issue if you need to take it on a train to the city center, or do connections, or fit in a european car. in fact, you might not get one of those bags that requires little/no disassembly on a train in europe.
obviously not an issue for every traveler/destination.
Originally Posted by mattm
The trick is to fly out of smaller airports - 3 out of 4 times at Mobile Regional they just check it like normal baggage, no questions asked. At SFO, ATL, SJC it's a little trickier. Sometimes you can talk them down a bit from the bigger fees though.
"it depends."
i've been in small airports (where the gate agents can see you walk in) and have heard them say "here's a guy with a bike" (when i used a Pika) as soon as the doors slid open.
Originally Posted by mattm
I'm just amazed every time I travel with the carbon-everything bike and it comes out on the other end unscathed.
at one point you were amazed that you would ever race a carbon-everything bike.
when they break, they're easy and cheap to repair, too.