Best Bike Transport Bags
Most mountain bikers are adventurous in nature and love traveling to far-flung places. Even though there are loads of great trails you can find locally, nothing can beat an international or even inter-state mountain bike trip. The sheer adventure of biking the Alps, or traveling to Africa to do the Cape Epic, there is a certain glamour and romanticism of biking those exotic trails. But the problem we all face is how to take our mountain bike with you on your trip.
You could always rent a bike on the other side, but it becomes costly if you’re on a longer trip, and nowadays carrying your own bike on the plane has become so much simpler and we now have a plethora of great mountain bike transport bag and carrier bag options available to us.
So our team of intrepid explorers took some of those bike carriers on some test trips to bring you this review of the best bike transport bags available on the market today.
EVOC Pro Bike Bag
Editor’s choice for best bike bag
If you’re looking for an efficient way to transport your mountain bike, you may well have come across the EVOC brand. EVOC have always impressed with the quality of their mountain bike cases, and with the release of the EVOC PRO bike bag they have stepped up from the EVOC standard bike case which has been one of their best selling bags around the world.
The aim of the EVOC PRO bag was to be lighter, sturdier and more comfortable to use than the EVOC Standard bike case, and the company really gets close to perfection on all 3 fronts. What we really liked about the latest EVOC PRO bag was just how structurally sound it was. This is a definite improvement over the predecessor. Structural improvements come in the form of the new chassis base which is reinforced with aluminium runs and the moulded undercarriage just feels stronger when loaded up.
Transporting the bag is now even easier thanks to a set of handles (aluminium handle at the front and the durable plastic handle at the back). Rolling the bag around is fairly silent with the included skate wheels (can be removed) and was pretty effortless in test. The reason we love the EVOC PRO is that it now makes transporting your mountain bike so simple!
Just remove the wheels, pedals and the handlebar and place the pieces into the EVOC PRO bag. The bag comes with multiple pockets to carry loose items, and has a set of heavy duty straps to tie up your bike so it doesn’t shift around when transporting it. Another improvement with the EVOC Pro bike bag is the padded wheel compartments which ensures your bike arrives undamaged even with some rough handling.
Now you may have also heard about EVOC’s little clip-on front wheel which attaches to the aluminium bar in the front of the bag. Some other reviewers have found this to be a little gimmicky, but we loved it!
Clip it on and transform the bag into a free-wheeling bag that then becomes super effortless to wheel around, even in tight spaces around airports. Weighing in at a paltry 8kb (unloaded), with a large 280L volume, the EVOC Pro will comfortably fit most mountain bikes including 29″ bikes. The size of the bag is:
- Outer: 130cm x 80cm x 27cm
- Inner: 128cm x 78cm x 25cm
There is no doubt that the EVOC Pro is an improvement on the previous EVOC bike case, and we highly recommend it.
Thule Roundtrip PRO
Best soft shell mountain bike travel case with integrated bike stand
THULE are well known for making a range of bike carriers, roof racks, panniers and even some mountain bike backpacks. They even produce some solid and sturdy bike cases, with the Thule Roundtrip Traveler being one of their best selling mountain bike travel cases, whilst the Thule Roundtrip Pro bike case is considered the next model up in their travel bag line-up.
Unpacked, the Thule Roundtrip PRO weighs a hefty 19 lb, and this is mainly due to a removable internal frame upon which you can clamp your fork. Once removed from the bag, the internal frame actually converts into a workstand so packing and unpacking becomes a breeze.
One packed, you can move the Thule Pro around using the handle at one end and glide the bag on the wheels at the other end, so it becomes like a pull-on piece of luggae. Inside the bag you can slip your wheels into the included wheel bags which sit next to the frame, and whilst the exterior of the bag is made from nylon, your bike is still protected during transport thanks to the THULE PRO’s rugged nylon exterior soft shell reinforced with collapsible core flute style sheets., which then expands around the aluminum Click-Rail.
Massive enough to store a 29 incher with ease, the Thule Roundtrip Pro sizing is as follows:
- Outer: 49.5 x 11.8 x 35 in
- Inner: 49.5 x 11.75 x 35 in
If you’re looking for a bike bag with an integrated bike stand for quick packing and unpacking, then look no further then the Thule Roundtrip PRO!
Scicon AeroComfort MTB 3.0 TSA
Easiest bike bag for travel
Hands-down the easiest bike bag to travel with has got to be the Scicon AeroComfort MTB 3.0 TSA bike bag. When reviewing bike bags, we look at 3 factors in particular:
- How easy is it to pack the bike
- How effortless is transporting the packed bag
- How quick and easy it is to build your bike again
The Scicon AeroComfort MTB 3.0 TSA bike bag excels in all 3 areas, and offers solid protection and effortless transit. The Scicon range of bike bags offers a good compromise between strong, easy-rolling hard cases, and lighter reinforced soft cases like the kind Thule and EVOC are known for. Our team have always held the Scicon brand in high regard, mainly due to their reputation and broad portfolio of products, but specifically how they have listened to customer feedback when updating their products.
Scicon have designed the AeroComfort MTB 3.0 around a mountain bikes’ larger dimensions, but you’ll find a number of road bike users using this particular model particularly due to the larger capacity and that it can just fit more in.
Scicon’s rationale in creating a dedicated MTB travel bag is obious, with larger endurance race bikes and sizeable 29ers needing way more space than their skinny road cousins. In fact, the Scicon AeroComfort MTB 3.0 TSA bike bag can easily swallow an XXL 29er, which most road bike oriented bike boxes would struggle with. What we love about the Scicon is that it is explicitly custom-made to fit the dimensions of mountain bikes.
Inside the AeroComfort MTB 3.0, your bike locks into a steel frame that fixes it in place and holds it upright. The frame is designed to hold most sized mountain bikes, but if you are unsure, you can check the Scicon website to check whether your bike would fit. The wheel pockets are huuuge!!! (they measure over 14cm is width) and quite comfortably would fit fully inflated 29x 2.2″ tires. What we really love about the Scicon bag is that it zips down the middle so you can stand on the inside of the bags sides and either pack or unpack as you see fit.
Look, lets not kid ourselves, the Scicon AeroComfort is not the cheapest bag on the market – but if you are travelling frequently the cost of the bag would be quickly justified. A nice little extra is the TSA padlock which ensures the safety of the bike as well as access to the bike travel bag to customs authorities in the USA, Canada and many other international airports.
