After years of traveling with various bike boxes, carefully cramming wheels in around the frame and spending a good chunk of preparation time padding everything up, it was time to try something developed specifically for the task. On recent travels from Canada to Australia and New Zealand, my bike was thrown into Evoc’s latest version of their Bike Travel Bag Pro.
The bag itself is designed to work with anything from a road bike to DH bikes, accepting wheels up to 29”. The max wheelbase that it can fit is 1,240mm, which should be adequate for a lot of riders, though newer, longer bikes and a lot of size large and bigger DH bikes may be a problem. The stock bag comes with a plastic box that the rear of the bike rests on, but we’re also testing Evoc’s new Bike Stand. The stand can mount to any current axle combination and adds an additional 1,400g to the 8kg bag.
Bag and Stand Details Bag:
• Fits Tri, road, XC, AM and DH bikes
• Accepts up to a 29” wheel
• Eight Internal straps secure bike within bag
• Eight plastic rods support case structure
• Large, durable wheels
• 136cm x 80cm x 39cm
• Max wheelbase: 1,240mm
• Bag weight: 8kg
• MSRP: $599.99 USD
Stand:
• Fits Tri, road, XC, AM and DH bikes
• Front Mounts: QR 5 mm, Thru axle: 12/15/20 mm, Boost
• Rear Mounts: QR 5 x 130 mm, Thru axle: 12 x 135/142/148/150/157 mm
• Adjustable length, alloy base
• Max wheelbase: 1,240mm
• Stand weight: 1,400g
• MSRP: $139.99 USD
•
www.evocsports.com The bag is collapsible for ease of storage, achieved by removing the hard plastic rods from the fitted slots strategically placed around it—two at each end and another two on each side, over the wheel pockets. The base of the bag is constructed of a hard plastic, with two alloy sliders attached in an effort to add more durability to the bag. An update to earlier Evoc Bike Travel Bags is around the brake rotors within the wheel pockets. These now include a hard plastic pouch of sorts, which provides protection around the rotor. There is also an included third wheel that attaches to the alloy handle at the front of the bag, which is supposed to make rolling the bag around without lifting anything, easy.
The alloy stand features a poplock pin style system to adjust the length and once locked to the size that your bike is going to work with, determining the axle mount location and style at both the front and rear is required. Once this has all been determined the mounting process is very easy and straightforward. Mounting the bike is best done with the stand removed from the bag, and attaching the front, before even removing the rear wheel, I found to work best. From here, using the stand to hold the bike up while the rear wheel is pulled out makes life easy.
Once both the front and rear axles are attached to the stand remove the bars, wrap the front of the frame with the supplied pad, and secure the bar with the velcro loops on the pad. At this point I found it super simple to place the bike in the bag. Obviously pedals need to be off before the bike is put in the bag, but otherwise, this is it. I found that the stand makes it simple to prepare everything and get the bike into the bag itself. There is a pouch on the inside of the bag for pedals, small tools and other bits and pieces.
Performance The bike that was used with the bag was an XL Transition Patrol, which contains a wheelbase bang on the max that the Evoc Bike Travel Bag is listed as being able to accept, at 1,240mm. With the fork deflated the bike just fit to the stand and within the bag. If your bike has a longer wheelbase you will likely be stuck with the usual, large cardboard box, especially if you’re a rider on a size large or bigger DH bike, with a number of current, popular DH bikes in a size large containing wheelbases of more than 1,240mm.
As it was, I found that my XT derailleur made some contact with the rear of the bag, so I removed it and let it lay in the bag with the cable still attached. This takes five seconds to do and there were no issues with it like this. Throwing a pair of socks or rags around it, or at least between the derailleur and the frame isn’t a bad idea either.
The strapping system inside the bag is well designed and the straps for the seatpost and stem are adjustable through three different positions—beneficial for different bikes and frame sizes. With the bike mounted in the stand and all of the straps secured everything is very well locked into place. Toss in any extras (I threw in some tools, my riding shoes, and two riding kits) zip it up and move to mounting the wheels into the side pockets. The bag only opens up from one side, but I found this to be plenty and it also held the bag upright while trying to place the bike within the bag.
With the updated rotor protection in the wheel pockets, I ran the gamble and threw both wheels in with the rotors attached—one 180mm and the other 200mm. The rotors remained straight throughout my travels with no issues. Lucky? Perhaps, but they are sturdy boxes surrounding the rotors. The Patrol runs on 27.5” wheels and with the tires deflated, it’s an easy fit into the side pockets, but there isn’t a lot of room to spare.
All packed up with some small tools and some riding gear, the bag weighed in at around 30kg. The max weight allowed for an oversized piece of luggage, like a bike bag, is generally 32kg—there isn’t a lot of room for movement on the scale. Flying with a DH bike would be a different story and would likely result in only the bike being in the bag, though I haven't had a chance to try with one.
The included third wheel attachment was the only let down with the bag. The wheel mounts with a clip over the alloy handle at the front of the bag, and lining up two pins in the clip with holes provided in the alloy handle keep it in place… until the pins break off. I lost the first pin before checking the bag in on my first flight and the second disappeared shortly after landing in Australia. It’s a nice option to have with the bag, but how it attaches needs to be rethought. I also found that placing the hard plastic support rods at the front and rear of the bag was cumbersome and as a result won't be taking them out, which results in the bag not being so collapsable.
Pinkbike’s Thoughts | The Evoc Bike Travel Bag Pro with the Bike Stand made packing and unpacking the bike a quick and painless process. Traveling with it was pain-free and the bike made it through all travels unscathed, as did the bag. There's no denying that they're a larger investment than some will be willing to front, but if you travel with a bike regularly enough, having something like this is a no-brainer.—AJ Barlas |
MENTIONS:
@evocsports
4/10
If you're a mere mortal, cardboard and tape does the job
I've had a bike bag, and it mostly just took up space......
I had a cardboard box and I was able to set that on fire.....
About halfway down:
fat-bike.com/2017/04/2017-sea-otter-classic-report-part-2
What bike do you have to have a wheelbase over 1300mm? even the xxl v10 is not that long
I'm riding a large Pole Evolink 140. Fits in a bike bag with a few tricks.
Yeah the cost is a bit high for a bag that small, i don't get why they made it that small, increase the size by 6cm is not really an issue...
Thanks for the tips i assume that if your bike fits my xl nomad will fit too
One rotor did get bent, so you are still better off removing the rotors if you do not want to risk damage on arrival.
The attachment points for the third wheel are weak, as is the whole area around that wheel. The third wheel is nice for the few hours that it works before collapsing/breaking. :/
If your bike has an asymmetric R triangle it is not going to sit too great on the back. The bag will want to lean over.
It is incredibly expensive to use this bag domestically on some US airlines. $150 PER TRIP on United and Delta.
If you overpack and get it over 75 pounds, it goes to $200.
I used this bike on BikeFlights shipping service once also (within US). That was fine, but they use Fed-Ex ground. If you read the fine print for Fed-Ex ground they say they do not accept packages with wheels. I got lucky, but there is no guarantee you will also be lucky. Just something to be aware of.
The bottom line: flying with a bike is painfully expensive.
If you have a pretty decent trail/AM bike - 30lbs = 13.6kg, plus 8kg for the bag + 1.4kg for the bike stand = bang on 23kg. Have to do bike only though, no stuffing your shoes in there
In the USA, bikes get inspected 100% of the time.
I have a Thule hard-case, and it's absolutely the worst possible option for flying. They require a lot of finesse to pack, and Security can never get it back together—resulting in a loose pack when it actually gets on the plane.
Pro-tip: check in online or at a self serve kiosk. Don't declare as a bike and get luggage tags and go straight to oversize to put your luggage in. Airline insurance only covers $1000 anyway, so you're better self insuring as any damage will be beyond that, and save yourself the $100 bike fee. If anyone asks what is in the bag: "work materials"
loose items (like riding kit) i put into plastic bags, just so they weren't so loose. like @RONDAL said, it's as easy as you make it.
• MSRP: $599.99 USD
hey? today is 2017- a lot of enduro bike in size large have longer wheelbase, not saying XL or DH bikes
The EVOC bag doesn't handle baggage trucks though. nsmb.com/articles/air-canada-destroys-bike
Even with a wheelie board bag with a massive red fragile logo on the nose my boards were badly damaged this winter...
It's an awesome bag but really sucks that I can't squeeze anything else in with it...
Its all good but the 29inch wheels with Magic Mary tyres have to be deflated and forced in, but it works.
The third wheel is a joke. I lost both pins in about 2hours. Got it replaced under warranty but only had it for few minutes before it broke too..
Great Bag, needs more space for 29er wheels and cheap plastic third wheel attachment need some alloy/steel version.
Come on Evoc !!
Had to get a new one this year because my Yeti has been replaced with a 29" trail bike and the big wheels didn't fit in the old bag wheel pockets - and the airlines has nearly removed one side handle from my original bag (otherwise it still functions fine).
With 2 climbing quickdraws I can lash pairs of Evoc bag handles together and pull all four through the airport (2 with each hand).
They're good bags and they protect the bikes well.
(Lastly making the bag transparent would also help prevent my travel mates filling up my bag with household collectables which can be embarrassing when removing stuff in public with a 'it's-not-mine' look on your face)
Signed,
Just 'cause the bag is big doesn't mean you can fill it up for free.
How could you fit in considering the bike shouldn't accept a wheelbase bigger than 1240 ?
nsmb.com/articles/air-canada-destroys-bike
Westjet's bike limit is also 100lbs, and is generally fairly cheap. Just flew two bikes Ottawa-Vancouver for $56 (for the pair).
I had flown WestJet with a bulkier cardboard box from Vancouver to Orange County CA before getting a proper bike bag and it was $75 each way. That trip I only got 3 rides in but it was still cheaper than renting a bike.