Best bike case. interested in comparisons between the two

[trex021]

I have a Ruster Armored Hen House, which is actually two cases; one for the wheels and one for the frame, etc. It is designed to get around the airline size limitations and therefore allow you to avoid inflated bicycle charges. Unfortunately most airlines now do not distinguish by size and will charge you the inflated bike fee no matter how small the case. That being said I have yet to be asked if it's a bike and if they did ask I'd say it's a power meter. The biggest downside of the Ruster case is you have to totally break down the bike including removing the fork. I can disassemble and reassemble pretty quickly now but I have to admit I'm jealous of the guys with the big cases, just not jealous of how much they pay to fly with them!

[grover]

The Thule stand is great. But obsolete when looking at the sci con as all it requires is removal of wheels. I unpacked and packed 16 bikes last week for a tour group. 6 had the sci con. They each took 10 minutes. By far the quickest. Also great to move around the airport with 4 wheels on the ground.

Personally I use the bikend helium. Room for Two sets of wheels is a godsend. 4 wheels on the ground with a comfortable handle to easily manouveur is fantastic. I regularly fly with my cross bike, two sets of wheels and tools at exactly 23kg.


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[eaglejackson]

I have a Pika Packworks and more recently an Evoc Bike Travel Pro. I ship my bike frequently (6+ times a year) and looked enviously at the Scicon Aerocomfort TSA 2.0 for its ease of packing. So I bought one last Fall and used it to ship my bike from Seattle to Tucson and then back.

Yes it's quick to pack. You don't need to remove handlebars or pedals.

I was concerned that the handlebars would be vulnerable to damage and padded them really well on the trip down. The bike arrived with the brake/shifter levers turned in probably 30 degrees, maybe 45; the bike had clearly taken hard hits to the side.

For the trip home, I loosened the handlebar and rotated it down, so as to put the levers in a more protected position, and padded them even more heavily. The bike arrived with a broken (carbon) handlebar and the levers again turned in.

I'd never had damage before and now, on the first two shipments with the Scicon, damage on both, and serious damage on the second shipment. I don't trust that bag anymore and was able to return it to the dealer.

Yeah, you could say, don't travel with carbon handlebars, and loosen the levers so they turn in without resistance if hit from the side, but thanks but no thanks. I won't get peace of mind using a Scicon soft case so it's gone.

I don't see how the handlebars / brake levers in the Scicon soft case don't get damaged; and my experience is 2 for 2. I've gone back to the Evoc.

[eaglejackson]

Biknd Helium! Very satisfied

+1 Biknd Helium is by far the best of the soft cases, allows you carry 4 wheels and the air bags offer superior crush protection. It's more compact form factor and the lower shape easier to manoeuvre around a busy airport.

I can fit reassembly tools, pumps, helmet and shoes in the bag with no problems, there is a lot of room.
40 airline trips so far without a single problem. 9.5kg empty weight by itself helps with the baggage allowance.

http://biknd.com/en/products/bike-travel-case/helium

Have you had any trouble with the inflated padding deflating? Being punctured? I've been tempted by the Helium but concerned about deflation / puncturing of the padding.

[rmerka]

I have a Pika Packworks and more recently an Evoc Bike Travel Pro. I ship my bike frequently (6+ times a year) and looked enviously at the Scicon Aerocomfort TSA 2.0 for its ease of packing. So I bought one last Fall and used it to ship my bike from Seattle to Tucson and then back.

Yes it's quick to pack. You don't need to remove handlebars or pedals.

I was concerned that the handlebars would be vulnerable to damage and padded them really well on the trip down. The bike arrived with the brake/shifter levers turned in probably 30 degrees, maybe 45; the bike had clearly taken hard hits to the side.

For the trip home, I loosened the handlebar and rotated it down, so as to put the levers in a more protected position, and padded them even more heavily. The bike arrived with a broken (carbon) handlebar and the levers again turned in.

I'd never had damage before and now, on the first two shipments with the Scicon, damage on both, and serious damage on the second shipment. I don't trust that bag anymore and was able to return it to the dealer.

Yeah, you could say, don't travel with carbon handlebars, and loosen the levers so they turn in without resistance if hit from the side, but thanks but no thanks. I won't get peace of mind using a Scicon soft case so it's gone.

I don't see how the handlebars / brake levers in the Scicon soft case don't get damaged; and my experience is 2 for 2. I've gone back to the Evoc.

That was precisely my fear of the Aerocomfort. Glad I didn't go that route.

[eaglejackson]

That was precisely my fear of the Aerocomfort. Glad I didn't go that route.

Yep, I had the same fear before buying it. I talked myself into it, thinking, heck Scicon is a company with a good reputation, I'm sure they thought of this and engineered the design so it wouldn't be a problem.

I was wrong.

I'm happy the handlebars were busted on the return trip, not on the outbound, or my bike trip would have been ruined.

[lannes]

Biknd Helium! Very satisfied

+1 Biknd Helium is by far the best of the soft cases, allows you carry 4 wheels and the air bags offer superior crush protection. It's more compact form factor and the lower shape easier to manoeuvre around a busy airport.

I can fit reassembly tools, pumps, helmet and shoes in the bag with no problems, there is a lot of room.
40 airline trips so far without a single problem. 9.5kg empty weight by itself helps with the baggage allowance.

http://biknd.com/en/products/bike-travel-case/helium

Have you had any trouble with the inflated padding deflating? Being punctured? I've been tempted by the Helium but concerned about deflation / puncturing of the padding.

No problems at all with the air bags so far , the design of the biknd has them in their own compartment (strong material sleeve), the air bags then sit inside these.

Check out this video at 3min for the a view of the sleeves

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XG3dux4C6BI

I also like the hard cover for the nose which protects the bars and forks, this would have protected the bars some of the other posters have had damaged using other less structured bags.

[grover]

Have you had any trouble with the inflated padding deflating? Being punctured? I've been tempted by the Helium but concerned about deflation / puncturing of the padding.

I haven't.

Although I've taken to not using them and am yet to have any damage. In fact I use none of the provided packing materials. I just attached the dropouts to the case's frame, remove bars from stem and turn sideways in front of fork, place all 4 wheels in padded wheelbags I already owned and place them on each side of the frame then do the bag up. Almost as quick as the scicon, it's just the bar removal that slows me.

[goodboyr]

I've found with mine, that in fact deflation occurs at the valves. There's a rubber flap that may not seat correctly and thus cause leakage. I've fixed this by using a tiny amount of silicon o ring grease to lubricate the sealing surfaces. That's eliminated the issue. (The deflation only occurred once).

[eaglejackson]

BTW, Goodboyr, that is a beautiful bike. I saw an RCA last fall and I was smitten. Even nicer than my Parlee Z5 SLi, which gets lots of compliments.

[goodboyr]

Thank you! It's a great ride.
My riding buddy has the Parlee. It's a beaut too.

[zev]

If you can check multiple bags you may want to look into the Ruster Sports Armored Hen house. It is two bags just under the maximum limit for normal sized luggage. You have to remove your fork and it won't fit a bike with an integrated seat post but can't beat free!

[zev]

Buster Sports Armored Hen House will save you overage fees each way, otherwise the Scicon cases are great.

[dmp]

Its not on your list, but I would look at the Pika Packworks case. I have flown both domestically and overseas with it, and its been great. Very protective and well designed/ built, yet light weight. You can carry it over your shoulder. The airlines used to not recognize it as a bike case, and I was able to avoid extra charges, too, but the last time I used it they had caught on, so that benefit might not hold up any longer. http://www.pikapackworks.com