Flying with bikes
16/04/23 19:01 Filed in: Gear
Starting back in the 90s, I really only travelled with a road bike. I had a Tri-All-3 hard case. It was very protective of the bike, but the box itself often got damaged by airline handling. Because it used a quick-release font axle device to hold the bike securely centred in the box, it would only work with a standard 100mm QR front fork. And even a mountain bike with such a wheel could be a problem due to the wheelbase being too long for the box. It was also relatively difficult to pack the bike into, a bit like an advanced Tetris level; you were never quite sure where to put the next couple of pieces.
For my first trip to Whistler in 2011, I purchased an Evoc soft bike bag that easily swallowed my Extra-Large size Santa Cruz V10 DH bike. Unfortunately, mountain bikes kept evolving and 29" wheels were too large for the wheel pockets on that original Evoc bag. I purchased a second generation bag that had 29" friendly wheel pockets. And mountain bikes kept evolving.
The longest wheelbase that Evoc suggests will fit in the bag is 125 cm. The length of my recently-sold Trek Slash. It only just fit. Now I have a new Slash with a 131 cm wheelbase. There is no way I can see to get this bike in that bag. Looks like I am buying a third bike bag for my upcoming week in Tassie.
Evoc now makes an XL bag with extra-large wheel pockets (think fat bikes) but they only increased the wheelbase capacity of the bag by 1 cm to 126. That is no use to me at all. Enter Australian bag maker Albek. Their Atlas sports a 136 cm capacity. There are bikes longer than that, but my two long wheelbase bikes are shorter than this by a little bit (the Canyon Sender CFR is 133 cm).
I was thinking, initially, of taking the trail bike to Derby. Loads of their trails are XC oriented and the Ripley is perfect for that. But if you've paid attention you know that there have been 3 Enduro world rounds in Derby and they have some really gnarly trails to ride. I'm also going to St Helens and it sounds like they have less gnarly terrain than Derby, but still some good rough stuff to play on, and some jumps tracks. It really has to be the Slash that I take. It will be a little bit extra work on the ascents, but a lot more fun and security on the descents.
And so I need an Atlas bag.
You can count on a review after my trip…
For my first trip to Whistler in 2011, I purchased an Evoc soft bike bag that easily swallowed my Extra-Large size Santa Cruz V10 DH bike. Unfortunately, mountain bikes kept evolving and 29" wheels were too large for the wheel pockets on that original Evoc bag. I purchased a second generation bag that had 29" friendly wheel pockets. And mountain bikes kept evolving.
The longest wheelbase that Evoc suggests will fit in the bag is 125 cm. The length of my recently-sold Trek Slash. It only just fit. Now I have a new Slash with a 131 cm wheelbase. There is no way I can see to get this bike in that bag. Looks like I am buying a third bike bag for my upcoming week in Tassie.
Evoc now makes an XL bag with extra-large wheel pockets (think fat bikes) but they only increased the wheelbase capacity of the bag by 1 cm to 126. That is no use to me at all. Enter Australian bag maker Albek. Their Atlas sports a 136 cm capacity. There are bikes longer than that, but my two long wheelbase bikes are shorter than this by a little bit (the Canyon Sender CFR is 133 cm).
I was thinking, initially, of taking the trail bike to Derby. Loads of their trails are XC oriented and the Ripley is perfect for that. But if you've paid attention you know that there have been 3 Enduro world rounds in Derby and they have some really gnarly trails to ride. I'm also going to St Helens and it sounds like they have less gnarly terrain than Derby, but still some good rough stuff to play on, and some jumps tracks. It really has to be the Slash that I take. It will be a little bit extra work on the ascents, but a lot more fun and security on the descents.
And so I need an Atlas bag.
You can count on a review after my trip…