PROBLEMS - Travelling with a bike that has fully internal hidden cables e.g. Venge, new SuperSix etc.

[GeeTee]

I travel abroad with my bike two or three times each year. I have a hardcase bike box (bike box Alan), which requires me to remove the seatpost wheels, pedals and bars/stem.

I’ve attached a picture which illustrates what I’m talking about.

I’m looking to buy a new road bike and I’m leaning towards one which has fully hidden cables, like the new SuperSix, Venge or BMC. However, I’m not sure how I would be able to travel with this given the internal cabling – especially as it would also involve the Di2 and hydraulic discs.

Does anybody have any advice or can talk me through how they deal with such issues?

Thanks!

[Stueys]

I've a BBA and a bike with internal DI2, it's no real issue as I have sufficient flex in the DI2 cable to enable me to take the handlebars off as the box requires. I've not tried with internal hydraulics though. I'm assuming the same deal would apply providing you have sufficient cable, though it's harder to achieve that with hydraulics than DI2. Be interested to see what other people say.

One other thing to be aware of. The Dale bikes pass the cables through the middle of the headsets and so have limited the fork/handlebar movement to protect the cables. You certainly wouldn't be able to get the fork flat in a BBA, I suspect the maximum angle allowed would be a problem.

[TobinHatesYou]

Easiest "solution" is to buy a new travel case.

https://bikeboxalan.com/product/triathlon-easyfit/

[Stueys]

Easiest "solution" is to buy a new travel case.

https://bikeboxalan.com/product/triathlon-easyfit/

Nice, missed that they had released that. Can't immediately see dimensions on the site but that looks a fair bit bigger than the original BBA. Which for me would be a problem, I get enough 'rental car nerves' with the original version.

[iamraymond]

Not ideal, but if I had to travel with my bike (BMC SLR01 disc) I would need to partially unwrap the bars, remove the shifters, and detach the handlebar. I’d much rather deal with rewrapping tape than bleeding the brakes.

Granted I have my hydraulic lines and di2 cables run outside the bars so this makes it a bit easier. If you have a completely integrated system with the cables run internally inside the bars, then maybe ask your builder to leave a bit of excess line/cable on the bike so you can undo the stem and/or bars if possible.

[bas]

Scicon bike bag. Only need to remove the wheels.


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[willmac]

I have an SLR01 and had to replace by scicon aerotech due to it. I have a douchebags savage now instead. To pack it down, I remove the small plate under the stem and the fasterner for the two hydraulic lines then loosen the stem. I can then twist the bars and put them horizontal to the top tube and wrap one bar end inside the frame, nearly where a traditional set up would go but since the cables aren’t as long they used to be, I have more handlebar sticking forward than I would have previously had and hence the reason for a longer bag.

The bag is shorter though so it can stand up in a rental if I lower one seat in the rear whereas the scicon has to lay down since it was so tall.

Not sure if that is clear or not? Simpler to do in practice than on paper.

[cunn1n9]

I travel abroad with my bike two or three times each year. I have a hardcase bike box (bike box Alan), which requires me to remove the seatpost wheels, pedals and bars/stem.

I’ve attached a picture which illustrates what I’m talking about.

I’m looking to buy a new road bike and I’m leaning towards one which has fully hidden cables, like the new SuperSix, Venge or BMC. However, I’m not sure how I would be able to travel with this given the internal cabling – especially as it would also involve the Di2 and hydraulic discs.

Does anybody have any advice or can talk me through how they deal with such issues?

Thanks!

Hi there I have a question for you.

I have a Bike Box Alan which I have had for a while. Great case. It is set up for my rim brake bike where the skewers lock the wheel into the lid of the box. I’ve bought a disc brake bike as well and have tried to fit it in yet but obviously will require mods to fit I assume. Your box shows a disc bike. Did you have to buy this specifically or does it somehow fit? Would love to be able to use it. Thanks.


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[dolophonic]

Scicon bike bag. Only need to remove the wheels.


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this .. have used one of these a lot.. super bag.

[willmac]

If you are using the aerocomfort, aren’t you concerned using di2 or etap? I would be ok using it with mechanical shifting since the levers can move onwards if pushed from outside the bag but with electronic shifting they are rigid and I was concerned they could get damaged during transit.

[jlok]

If you are using the aerocomfort, aren’t you concerned using di2 or etap? I would be ok using it with mechanical shifting since the levers can move onwards if pushed from outside the bag but with electronic shifting they are rigid and I was concerned they could get damaged during transit.

That's not a concern for me. To break the lever the bag has to be pushed to fall at specific angle and hit right at the lever (The hit has to clear the bar drop bend).

Out of five travels, only had the whole shifter moved inward once, obviously caused by a fall. Since then I wrap some high density foams around the shifters just to dissipate the force / pressure when hit. Avoid Scicon if you feel uncomfortable with it.

[whatleytom]

Travelled a number of times with my Venge in a BBA. The design of the venge is well thought out enough such that you can remove handlebars with ease, and have enough cable slack to move them around off the frame, inside the bike box. Personally I remove cranks, and leave seatpost in situ, but no reason why you couldn't remove the seatpost easily too.

[Stueys]

Travelled a number of times with my Venge in a BBA. The design of the venge is well thought out enough such that you can remove handlebars with ease, and have enough cable slack to move them around off the frame, inside the bike box. Personally I remove cranks, and leave seatpost in situ, but no reason why you couldn't remove the seatpost easily too.

Good to know. Rotors off the wheels and the wheels secured to the box using QR's?

[Dan Gerous]

Scicon bike bag. Only need to remove the wheels.


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this .. have used one of these a lot.. super bag.

I worked two years with a cycling tour company and have seen soooooo many customers arriving with damaged bikes with these bags that I would never consider it myself. Broken frames, bars, chainrings, derailleurs... I would only put my bikes in rigid boxes personally.

I'm using a Scicon Aerotech... not sure if I could with a bike with fully internal routing though. SuperSix/SystemSix can probably work as the bars are separate from the stem and the brake hoses/Di2 wires can be taken off the stem without disconnecting them, giving you a bit of slack. Basically, you't take the stem off, wrap the bars with some bubble wrap or something and tie that around the frame. If the box has the wheels fixed using QR and putting a bike with thru-axles, I'd just put them in padded wheel bags, rotors off.

[Calnago]

@Dan Gerous: sort of off topic a bit but since you’ve got some good experience seeing a lot of different bags I’d like to ask you if you’ve had any experience with people flying with Biknd Helium V4 bags. I have mostly flown with the Crateworks box, or even just a cardboard bike box if I’m arriving and leaving from different airports. The Crateworks is pretty utilitarian but spacious. Kind of hard to lug around at airports too. It works but now I’ve got a fancy Biknd Helium V4 but haven’t experienced flying internationally with it yet. I love the bag and I can fit two sets of wheels, but I’m concerned about the inflatable opaque bladders. I just can’t imagine TSA not defalting them during inspection before it even gets on the plane, then of course not reinflating them. As such, I’m considering cutting some kind of firm foam inserts to replace the air bladders. But would love to hear from others about their flying experiences with these bags.