nun

I'm touring aboard this summer and so needed a bag to transport my bike on the plane. I've used the Groundeffect Tardis in the past, but it has no padding and so I've always added cardboard and foam which is a bit of a pain. I looked at Bikeflights but the two way cost was over $700 and then there's the issue of having someone to accept delivery. So I looked for soft sided bags that didn't take up too much of the 50lb baggage allowance. The choice was between the Orucase Airport Ninja or the Post Carry Transfer Case. I went with the Post Carry bag because it was $100 cheaper and they were far more detailed about the bike dimensions that would fit in the bag. They also included some nice covers for the chain ring and stay and the top tube. I got the smaller of the two sizes of bags they make and my 56cm Specialized Diverge fits inside just fine. The bag requires the fork to be removed, but that's a 5 min job even on the Diverge with it's Future Shock system. My 700c with 32mm deflated tires fit easily into the wheels cases. There are plenty of pockets for tools. The bag alone weighs 12lbs and with the bike and a few tools it weighs 34 lbs. I will put a few more things inside that aren't allowed in hand luggage and take the rest of my stuff on as hand baggage. The only issues I have a small ones; the wheels on the bottom stick out a bit and I wonder how well they will survive baggage handling; a shoulder strap along the top would be nice as carrying it like a backpack with the two straps on the case its a bit tricky...I'll use one at most.

Here are a couple of pictures with a 56cm Cervelo for scale

staehpj1

Looks like a nice bag if the built in padding suits your needs. The funny thing is that the flaw you find with the Tardis GroundEffect bag I always considered a major plus. I have used the cheap (~$50) TransIt Soft Bike Case and considered the lack of padding one of it's best features for my use. It allows for easy folding up into a small bundle and easy mailing or even carrying along on the bike. Since my tours never start and end in the same place I always have to either ship the bag home or to and end point. Adding cardboard is easy enough and discarding it to ship the bag is a plus.

I always thought the Tardis looked like the ideal bag, but since I already had the Transit I stuck with it. Otoh, at $52 current price I might buy another Transit if I needed a bag right now. It isn't super durable looking, but at the price it wouldn't have to last too long to get your money's worth and mine is holding up better than expected.

djb

Well, I figure that as always, the main thing is to imagine all and any possible scenarios of it either falling over or having other luggage stacked on top of it, to previsualize where possible extra padding would be good to add in strategic spots.

after that, its the usual case of trying not to worry at that point because its out of our hands when it disappears from view at the check in counter....

are you thinking of doing the LEJOG as you mentioned as a possibility at one point? I'm still mulling over this summer, older parent stuff here may be a factor so its hard to pin down decisions right now. Would be nice to do the "fly to London then bike up to Inverness area" idea, but who knows.

have you been able to ride at all on the new bike, made changes? I imagine its still all snowy and salty in the tea party town.

djb

probably not perhaps really representative, but keep this in mind

https://www.welovecycling.com/wide/2...iolent-crimes/

most likely the usual urban thing, but probably good to be aware of anyway

Tourist in MSN

Thanks for posting, a reminder to be careful when touring can be quite useful. Especially when I am trying to figure out where to go this year and the UK was on my possibles list.

nun

Yes LEJOG this summer, or as much as I can get done anyway.Drive to lands End and then rent a car in Wick to drive back

nun

The reasons you give are why I've used the Tardis in the past. This time I can leave the bag with friends and the Post Carry definitely does a better job at protecting the bike.

Tourist in MSN

I am looking at options for a trip this year, do you know if there is a shuttle that runs to the north end, or is a rental car the only option? No, I have not googled it yet, just curious if you know. If you do not know, just say that and I can do the research myself.

My current plans are Selkirk loop in western USA and Canada, but the friend I was thinking of going with might not be able to go this year. If I do a solo trip I am thinking of something a bit longer than that and something in the UK might work well.

nun

There's a van shuttle that leaves from Inverness and then there's the train. I looked at both options. I'm dubious about UK train service right now as there are horror stories of cancellations and difficulties getting bike spaces and the van was expensive unless you are in a group or manage to get a spare place and then you have to do something about travel from Inverness. So I just opted for the car rental so I can drive to see some family easily.

Tourist in MSN

Thanks.

djb

neat Nun. Would look forward to reading up one day about how it goes. What dates are you looking at?

Im still playing around with the idea of flying to London, visiting relatives there, and then riding up to near Inverness where my sister and mother live. Quite a hike though, and I have to juggle other family obligations here, which are a bit up in the air at this moment.
I kind of figure that starting in the south and working my way up as the summer goes along would mean less cold up north.

lots of unknowns for me, so lots of researching and asking things.
All the best with your plans. cheers

nun

I'm planning on doing LEJOG in June. The UK blogs have people who treat it like a sprint and do it in a short vacation break - taking around 7 days. My goal is two or three weeks. I've also got to fit in visits to family and friends and so a car is a necessity.

nun

it’s been pretty cold and it’s taken me 3 weeks to fully get over the flu, but I’ve been out a couple of times. I’m using 32 mm gator skins which with the future shock make the ride very comfortable, very smooth compared to 25mm tires on the Cervelo RS. I’ve put a Nitto Aluminum seat post and a Brooks saddle on the bike so I can use the Carradice saddlebag. The Camper fits well. Everything else is stock. The gearing is just fine as is.

one annoying thing is the matte black gets scuffed very easily. I should have got the white

djb

neat.
I'm telling ya though, you have to try some wider tires sometime. Over rough surfaces the speed difference and rider comfort becomes very apparent very quickly.
three weeks of getting over flu is never fun, but c'est la vie, this stuff happens.
Looking at the frame, it looks like if you needed, you could even put on one of those shallow frame bags, the ones that are maybe 5-6inches tall and run from front to back.
happy riding
watch those front brakes in the wet--hey, do you ride your bikes brake wise UK style, ie front brake on right? Ive set up all my bikes except one like this now, became convinced of it from riding my Scottish mtb for nearly 20 years now (it came over here from Scotland, and I just kept it like that after I bought it off my brother in law)
Not as an easy change with hydro setup I imagine.

nun

The 32mm tires feel like balloons right now and as most of my time is on roads it's as wide as I'll go for now.

Yes there's probably room even with 1 liter water bottles, but the Ortlieb front bag and the Camper work fine so I'm set.

Brake levers are set up as they came from the bike shop...so US style. The discs do have more stopping power when I really pull on the levers, but most of the time under gentle braking they feel much like the old rim brakes.

The ride is far more comfortable than on the Cervelo RS, but the disc brakes and the future shock and fork set up are a bit more complicated

djb

well at least it has thru axles, which probably makes things easier for always keeping proper rotor position re the pads. My qr wheels on my Troll are fine in this regard, but one has to be more attentive when putting the wheels in to avoid pad rub (which I hate).
I'm sure you'll find the hydro setup to be very reliable, shimano has been doing this for a long time now, and they must be very well developed now.

have fun with the bike when and if you do some more dirt riding, and I presume you still have the stock dirt tires, so you can play around on it with those.

re brake position, remember I come from a motorcycle background, so instinctively still go for right lever for front brake, and like I always say, when an actual "no time to think" emergency braking situation happens, I wang on the right lever hard for front brake, so am glad my bikes are setup this way. Doing my disc bike was easy because its mechanical.

nun

The thru axles are just fine and it's easy to get the wheels and discs positioned. The whole hydro system is still a mystery to me so it better be reliable. One day it might swap it out for a cable system. The 105 11 speed shifts very nicely and the stock bar position is very relaxed and good for touring. The hoods and shifters are at a bit of an angle as the bars are flared, that's a bit weird, but not uncomfortable.

djb

re the hydro 105. One thing about shimano is that their products certainly are engineered well, and given the requirements to even think about changing to mechanical (cost) I am sure you will find that the 105 shifters and hydro brakes just work and work and work over many many years.
I got used to the slightly weirdly positioned hoods on my 12 degree flare bar bike, and when I go on my other dropbar bike the non flared bars seem weird now...

re hydro brakes, my neighbour has a bit higher than mid range disc braked hybrid, with flat bars and deore hydro brakes/levers etc. A few times he asked me to look at his brakes as the levers would come to teh bars once in a while , and then be perfectly fine. I also do not know hydro systems, but did the logical troubleshooting, looked and felt around for any brake fluid leaks at the caliper area, at the reservoir area near the levers....nothing, not a smudge or collected dirt or anything (mind you his bike was covered in sawdust from cutting wood in his garage, but hey)
Couldnt give him a reason, and the brakes seemed to be fine, although when he first took the bike down I did see the lever go "long" and then be fine.

weeks later I finally figured out that he hangs his bike vertically on a large hook from the ceiling of his garage, and my theory was that somehow a bubble of air was moving around due to the bike position, but then being displaced and moved or at elast going to the right spot after the bike was level again. We tried testing out the theory, and when he keeps the bike level on its wheels, he doesnt have a problem, but it would appear that the vertical position for a long period seems to do it......keep this in mind, and although I could be wrong on this, he never has it happen when level. And besides, it takes just one pump of the lever to solve it.
A real problem, probably not, but it was a curious one to try to come up with a "why".
I should ask the mechanics in the bike mechanics section if they have seen this happen.

Tourist in MSN

I have a couple different Carradice saddle bags like that. Initially I put a sheet of cardboard cut from a pizza box in them to stiffen them up and keep the middle of the bag from sagging, later bought some Corroplast at Home Depot and replaced the cardboard.

Matte black, not sure how big your scuff spots are but if they are small you could look for some matching fingernail polish. I bought some black fingernail polish to touch up wear spots on my racks, was bummed when I found that I bought matte instead of glossy, but they were racks which are supposed to show some wear so kept using the matte.

nun

I like to go old school with my Carradice and tuck them as close to the seat post as possible. As I have clearance to the back wheel I don't need/use any internal or external supports.
The scuffs are purely on the surface and disappear with a bit of polishing, but they are annoying.