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Vincita 4-Wheel Transport Bags for Brompton

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Vincita 4-Wheel Transport Bags for Brompton

Old 10-14-18, 07:14 PM
  #76  
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I posted on this forum asking for advice on purchasing these travel bags which we did in May 2018.
My wife and I have traveled around the world a few times with our Bromptons, this time we went from New Zealand to 2 places in the US, one stop in Canada then on to Greece and Vietnam then back to New Zealand
In total we used the bags for 2 months and probably about 12 flights in total.
The bags held up really well except for the pull handle where the stitching came loose.
I wrote to Vincita about the problem and they said they would provide replacements but I said I would rather wait until they have modified the stitching.
I just received my new bags and they have reinforced the stitching really well
I am so pleased with the service and I think the bags are so much easier to travel with than anything we've had before. Highly recommended!!
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Old 10-25-18, 09:51 AM
  #77  
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Originally Posted by gordonz
I posted on this forum asking for advice on purchasing these travel bags which we did in May 2018.
My wife and I have traveled around the world a few times with our Bromptons, this time we went from New Zealand to 2 places in the US, one stop in Canada then on to Greece and Vietnam then back to New Zealand
In total we used the bags for 2 months and probably about 12 flights in total.
The bags held up really well except for the pull handle where the stitching came loose.
I wrote to Vincita about the problem and they said they would provide replacements but I said I would rather wait until they have modified the stitching.
I just received my new bags and they have reinforced the stitching really well
I am so pleased with the service and I think the bags are so much easier to travel with than anything we've had before. Highly recommended!!

Here's how I packed my Vincita case. I did not want the carrying straps hanging out of the zippered pockets, so I purchased a velcro carrying handle and ran it thru the bottom carrying handle, which also failed as yours did.


This is the carrying handle of the velcro strap



Wheels off, carrying strap passing thru lower handle



Upon arrival, the lower carrying handle's stitches failed. I removed it. For me, it served no purpose.




I had this done to the case: 1 piece of thick red cordura sewn on, with a slot for my carrying handle strap to pass thru. It serves two purposes: To prevent the carrying strap from sliding off the bag, and the red helps me identify my bad sliding down to the luggage carousel.
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Old 10-25-18, 09:59 AM
  #78  
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The Canadian airline that I used weighed my bag: Exactly 23 kg (50 lbs) as I kept adding stuff and weighing it till I hit 50 lbs.

Much to my surprise, in addition to the scale, they also had this bar running over the scale / belt: if the suitcase didn't fit under this bar, it's oversized. $$$ Without the wheels, the Vincita passed. I'm not sure if the B&W case would pass as it exceeds the 62 linear inches rule.


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Old 10-26-18, 07:15 AM
  #79  
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Originally Posted by mingo
Much to my surprise, in addition to the scale, they also had this bar running over the scale / belt: if the suitcase didn't fit under this bar, it's oversized. $$$ Without the wheels, the Vincita passed. I'm not sure if the B&W case would pass as it exceeds the 62 linear inches rule.
Give the day and age I wonder when they are going to have 3D cameras to assess the dimensions. On a recent trip back to US, the US immigrations and customs was taking place on foreign soil. They had 2D photos of our checked luggage on screens and were questioning us about content in each.
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Old 10-28-18, 08:46 PM
  #80  
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It was the pull handle that failed on ours. We too packed them to the full 23kg. The first 3 flights I removed the wheels after that I left them on without a problem, no damage and no one trying to charge for oversize. We had traveled round the world the previous 2 years with B&W hard cases, these were a big improvement on our previous Brompton cases which did not have wheels but we like the Vincita cases as they are lighter and because they are not so wide you can negotiate crowds easier (I often pulled both my wife's case and mine side by-side!!). The B&W cases do offer more protection but our Bromptons are very well used so we are not so bothered about cosmetic damage as you maybe would be for a new bike.
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Old 10-30-18, 05:46 PM
  #81  
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That's the reason I sold my B&W Brompton case: too heavy and too damn wide. It's fine at the airport, but then you get to the tube in London or the metro in Paris, its width makes pulling it to the turnstiles and onto the trains a big issue for me, and my storage space at home is at a premium too. I can see from the corrugated plastic sheeting that the Vincita case took a few impacts along the way, but the bike was unscathed.
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Old 02-10-19, 03:35 PM
  #82  
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Originally Posted by 2_i
Give the day and age I wonder when they are going to have 3D cameras to assess the dimensions. On a recent trip back to US, the US immigrations and customs was taking place on foreign soil. They had 2D photos of our checked luggage on screens and were questioning us about content in each.
Well, you'll be glad to know that when you check in your bag at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, you present your boarding pass to the baggage check machine, it prints your luggage tag, then the machine weighs your bag and shows on screen with a green check mark that the bag is not over the 23 kg limit, then the machine scans the dimensions of the bag and puts a green check mark if its within limits, once these parameters are met, a transparent door comes down over the bag and the bag is flipped down on its way. I just went through this process. I don't know what happens if it's oversized or overweight. My guess is it won't accept it and an agent will come to deal with you.
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Old 02-10-19, 03:51 PM
  #83  
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Originally Posted by mingo
Well, you'll be glad to know that when you check in your bag at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, you present your boarding pass to the baggage check machine, it prints your luggage tag, then the machine weighs your bag and shows on screen with a green check mark that the bag is not over the 23 kg limit, then the machine scans the dimensions of the bag and puts a green check mark if its within limits, once these parameters are met, a transparent door comes down over the bag and the bag is flipped down on its way. I just went through this process. I don't know what happens if it's oversized or overweight. My guess is it won't accept it and an agent will come to deal with you.
I measured my Vincita bag ahead of my current trip and it was 1-2" over the limit in my count but the machine must be going with some sensible compromise. A hinge clamp bolt got bent in my set of flights, but it is still usable. It was a lesson though to screw it in limiting exposure to such damage. Tomorrow I'll go shopping locally to find a replacement bolt - good way to check out the local infrastructure

P.S. This is not necessarily such a great news. Exploiting the weaknesses of a system ran by humans I managed here and there to pull such stunts as checking in luggage that was 6kg above limit without triggering any alarms. This might not be possible with a machine, until one maybe learns the new ropes

Last edited by 2_i; 02-10-19 at 05:59 PM.
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Old 02-12-19, 09:59 AM
  #84  
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Which Vincita bag do you have? Mine pictured above is the newest model B132H with the detachable wheels removed is EXACTLY 62 linear inches overall. I removed both hinge clamps bolts and used my internal PVC tube frame and corrugated plastic sheets to give the bike more protection and so far, so good.
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Old 02-12-19, 03:42 PM
  #85  
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We have two B132Hs separated in age by about a year or so. The older one has excessive amounts of velcro for attaching wheels. Vincita sensibly lightened this in the newer, last year's model. I did not noticed a difference in size between the two, but in this trip I am using the older B132H. We also had a B132B that basically ran out its course of life. I think my bag can yield a higher dimension because I use no protection of any kind that might straighten the sides and the bike inside may lean pushing one side out. In addition I may fail to push the saddle forward to prevent it sticking in the back and might even not push the saddle mast completely down, leaving the bike in a rollable state. I.e. by being more thorough. I might be able to take an inch off from what I claimed.

In any case, so far we have not used any precautions to protect the bikes and so, after about of a dozen two-way trips in the Vincita bags for all bikes, the only problem we had was with the racks getting shifted to the drive side. (This shoving was in the past also there with B&W bag and the latter was generally more pain.) The bent bolt is the first escalation beyond that. The bent developed very clearly at the position where the bolt was sticking out from the frame, so from now on I will be screwing it in when taking off.

Regarding the protection, I like the fact that I can toss the bike in and just go. Also when I use the bike, it is abused in all kinds of way - very often I cannot afford any better - so I am sort of hesitant to do something special for the bag. As to the ways of applying protection, I got some surplus bags from a friend, used to protect unusually shaped equipment in transport, for a trial. After you activate some chemical reaction inside, a foam fills up the bag and you put it over your equipment and the filled bag sets its shape to fit the space between the equipment and packaging. I have not tried them yet and I do not know how long they last, but certainly they seem attractive. Apparently they are available on Ebay, but I have done nothing yet in that direction - just planning to try them out with the Bromptons.

P.S. In a sense it would have been better if your Vincita bag passed the muster of the 3D camera system if it were sticking out slightly out of the rigid 62" limit. I push the envelope of the stock Brompton with roller wheels sticking out to the side, with multispeed gear system and in the handlebar area. Each increase is slight but if I ended up being unable the bike along it would have been a major blow. On the other hand there is a human interaction factor somewhere, as you speculate about not meeting the machine expectations. I can usually talk my way out , but some day, some place, you might meet an agent having a very bad day that spills onto you.

Last edited by 2_i; 02-13-19 at 01:16 AM. Reason: P.S.
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Old 03-31-19, 12:51 AM
  #86  
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Hey Folks,
what are you doing with the wheels when checking the bike at the airport?
Stuffing them in the bag somehow?
Carrying them about?
Sticking them into carry-on luggage?

We've had the B&W Foldon Box. Decent for rolling.. but a pain in the @#$& for most other things. EG: had to carry them up 174 stairs at an Airbnb in an attic in Copenhagen. Also generated a lot of questions when we were trying to check as regular luggage.

My wife's base broke on the Copenhagen trip and I didn't notice the crack until we were jamming those massive boxes sideways into the boot of a taxi on our next trip to the airport..
I would have bought the Vincita bag when we were first looking at the B&W, but they were out of stock at the time with no indication of replenishment.
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Old 03-31-19, 10:23 AM
  #87  
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Originally Posted by fyreblayde
what are you doing with the wheels when checking the bike at the airport?
Stuffing them in the bag somehow?
Carrying them about?
Sticking them into carry-on luggage?

We've had the B&W Foldon Box.

My wife's base broke on the Copenhagen trip and I didn't notice the crack until we were jamming those massive boxes sideways into the boot of a taxi on our next trip to the airport..
Sorry about the crack. The wheels of B132H detach. You put them into triangle shaped pouch that keeps them together and mildly protects them. I normally take the wheels off when I am close to the check-in counter and drop the pouch into the B132H somewhere where i can easily fish it out. I extend the pull on the zipper slider with a piece of cord that I tie up to the bag so that the bag does not unzip accidentally. TSA usually tie that all up again if they open the bag. Questions regarding content of Vincita are rare at the check-in counter and if they ask I say that is conference equipment, which is generally true as I take Brompton along if I go to a conference, and which they understand as some sort of display equipment - everybody is happy. Some people, even maybe in this thread, say that they do not bother to take the wheels off Vincita.

Vincita is not immune to damage, but when it happens it is in the form of a small cut in the cloth, sort of like on a ski bag, I just sew up such a cut so that it does not grow, just as with a ski bag.
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Old 03-31-19, 07:17 PM
  #88  
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Removing the wheels

Last winter I did a round -the -world trip with 2 Bromtons in the Vinicta bags, the first 3 flights, I removed the wheels the next 8 or so flights I left the wheels in place without a problem. . OK they are oversize but I was not pulled up on it and it is a lot easier at check- in and no damage to the wheels.
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Old 04-02-19, 10:13 AM
  #89  
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Originally Posted by fyreblayde
We've had the B&W Foldon Box. Decent for rolling.. but a pain in the @#$& for most other things. EG: had to carry them up 174 stairs at an Airbnb in an attic in Copenhagen. Also generated a lot of questions when we were trying to check as regular luggage.

My wife's base broke on the Copenhagen trip and I didn't notice the crack until we were jamming those massive boxes sideways into the boot of a taxi on our next trip to the airport.
In case you still have your cracked box, maybe I should mention that I had some success in fixing plastic containers by using thin sheet metal and rivets. It has not been pretty, you need to be careful not to extend the damage, but they operate in practice as if nothing ever happened, including one suitcase.
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Old 05-08-19, 09:35 AM
  #90  
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Originally Posted by 2_i
We have two B132Hs separated in age by about a year or so. The older one has excessive amounts of velcro for attaching wheels. Vincita sensibly lightened this in the newer, last year's model.
Yea, removing the wheels was kinda of a pain, didn't know they cut down on the amount of velcro in newer version.

Have you washed your bags? I've only lightly cleaned with a damp cloth on the exterior. However, after couple years of usage mine is getting pretty dirt, kinda smells & needs a deep clean.
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Old 05-08-19, 09:49 AM
  #91  
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Originally Posted by Hisamatsu
Have you washed your bags? I've only lightly cleaned with a damp cloth on the exterior. However, after couple years of usage mine is getting pretty dirt, kinda smells & needs a deep clean.
No, I have not yet. I guess you have done more travel with yours than I. My suggestion would be to pick a warm sunny day and put the bag under a shower. I have done the last few times with the Brompton, when riding in the mud and having to protect the hotel room or other lodging. (On the occasion I learned the hard way to protect lights with plastic bags.) The most serious issue is to get the bags dry quickly before it gets any idea to rot. Don't try to put the bag into a dryer even if you managed to fit it in a laundromat or something - it is likely to end up badly both for the bag and machine. Hang it outside and turn it around to let water drip down.
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Old 05-08-19, 10:50 AM
  #92  
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Instead of putting my brompton in the hotel shower I just use my waterbottle and squirt water on it then dry off with a towel.

My bag has been soaking wet many times while traveling. Hasn't rot yet I think. Good thing it is black color.
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Old 05-08-19, 01:57 PM
  #93  
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Originally Posted by Hisamatsu
Instead of putting my brompton in the hotel shower I just use my waterbottle and squirt water on it then dry off with a towel.
We are clearly talking about different amounts of mud calling for a cleaning. In my case there might be so much packed that wheels could only turn if you pushed them hard and a squirt bottle might suffice to clean spokes in one wheel.
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Old 05-13-19, 07:22 PM
  #94  
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https://i.imgur.com/AHxQEGI.jpg

Anyone tried attaching something like this to carry the B132H on the carrier block?
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Old 05-13-19, 08:24 PM
  #95  
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Originally Posted by Hisamatsu
Anyone tried attaching something like this to carry the B132H on the carrier block?
This is definitely an idea. I rode with the folded bag strapped to the rear carrier and sticking out transversely, but this was only for a couple of kilometers.
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Old 05-13-19, 08:29 PM
  #96  
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Vincita has a revised version coming out in a month which has an extra sleeve area to insert the carrier frame into. But, I want something that doesn't use the frame.
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Old 05-13-19, 09:00 PM
  #97  
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So are you supposed to slip some Brompton bag frame into a pocket with the bottom? Indeed, this is not convenient. Maybe they worry that the bag's bottom is not stiff enough for attaching the mount directly. However, they placed the wheels on metal sheets and they could do so with the mount. Myself I replaced the metal with plastic sheets and they work well and such a sheet would work fine for the mount, spreading the strain.
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Old 05-25-19, 03:06 AM
  #98  
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Yea, you slip the brompton frame into the pocket/sleeve

Wish they just integrated the mount into the bottom with a plate of some sort. Inconvenient to take the frame off and store elsewhere if checking the bags in for flights.
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