B&W Bike Case II review

[Tor Hovland]

Now that I have my very own B&W bike box, I thought I'd follow in Larry's footsteps and post a review.

Last year I travelled to France with the Vendetta in a cardboard box. This worked well, but I was a little nervous about how the box would be handled at the airports. When I collected it at home on the return trip, it was already pretty battered and definitely not up for another trip. Of course there were also no straps or anything to keep things in place inside the box.

I wanted a box somewhat smaller than Larry's monstrosity, though still big enough to accomodate a Vendetta. When I found this particular box for just 1500 NOK ($169), I just had to buy it.

For some reason I thought this was a smaller box, but as I collected it, I realized it was pretty substantial:



Actually, if I needed to bring two bikes with me, this cardboard box could certainly take one of them. The quality was tested and found to be adequate:



Unpacking the box uncovered three layers of foam, two wheel bags and another box with stuff:



That box included the case wheels, some instructions, as well as some protection for chainring, chain, chain stays, handlebar, and forks:



Sure, it's a big box, but not big enough to accomodate the bike without some disassembly:





That's better, but the handlebar is of course too wide also. I will need to unscrew the boom:



That all fits nicely. I had to disconnect the front gear cable, and I had to either disconnect the rear gear cable too or unmount the rear derailleur. But brakes and all cable housing is left intact.

If I was packing for a real trip, I would put some bubble wrap around parts that make contact with each other.

The foam and wheels go on top:



There is enough room to add some luggage here and there:

 

[Tor Hovland]

The straps hold everything in place pretty well:



Locked up and ready to go:



Now all that remains is to find out whether any airline or railroad will as much as let me think about taking this box aboard..

 

[LarryOz]

Great report Tor - I have a smaller B&W case as well, but it is not hinged. The airlines always take it apart and put it back together wrong. Yours is much nicer!

 

[Greg S]

Nice report Tor. This is a case I've considered getting for travel, the one thing that really puts me off is the weight: almost 36 pounds empty. An S40 plus accessories (bottle cages, pedals, ...) would take the total weight above 60 pounds. That will certainly incur the airline weight overcharge (50 pound limit).

As anyone who has traveled with a bike knows, it's all about the "first mile and last mile" i.e., getting the case into the car, going to the airport, unloading it, getting it to the gate and then the reverse on arrival. The wheels look pretty good so rolling it through airports probably would be OK, only the lifting in/out of cars, cabs, etc., would be problematic. Also, finding a taxi big enough to haul a case like that plus whatever other luggage you have would be a challenge in a lot of places.

At any rate, I'm not sure any of that is avoidable. I don't know of any case other than perhaps a simple cardboard box that won't go over the weight limit.

Thanks for the report and I'll be interested in hearing more once you've traveled with it.

 

[Tor Hovland]

As anyone who has traveled with a bike knows, it's all about the "first mile and last mile" i.e., getting the case into the car, going to the airport, unloading it, getting it to the gate and then the reverse on arrival. The wheels look pretty good so rolling it through airports probably would be OK, only the lifting in/out of cars, cabs, etc., would be problematic. Also, finding a taxi big enough to haul a case like that plus whatever other luggage you have would be a challenge in a lot of places.

I know what you mean. Here's the Vendetta and I in our Parisian rental car:

 

[Greg S]

I was in Australia (Melbourne to be specific) with a fairly large bike case (a SciCon AeroTech II hard case) several years ago and needed to transport it and me 3K from the bike shop I'd left it at to the hotel I was staying at. I called a "maxi taxi" but it was a busy day and they likely had other more lucrative fares so they never came. After waiting 3 hours and repeated calls I finally gave it up and pushed the case and my rolling suitcase the 3K. It was harder than the 1000K I'd just done.

 

[Tor Hovland]

After waiting 3 hours and repeated calls I finally gave it up and pushed the case and my rolling suitcase the 3K. It was harder than the 1000K I'd just done.

Ouch, that sounds awful. I have a long event coming up next year, and I haven't worked out how to get my stuff to the rather remote start location as well as home from the finish line. Luckily, the organizer will transport my bike case from start to finish, but as you say, the first and last miles can be tricky.

 

[3bs]

very nice. that must be the modern version of the old one. i have the old one. i think i postion the boom a little different, and as i said before, i use the thing as my suitcase too, so i have just one bag.

i am still working on the portable v20.

Hopefully when the new v20 comes out, everyone will immediately want them and buy them and then donate their old v20 framesets to me so i have something to work with. (wishful thinking in the holiday season.)

 

[Tor Hovland]

I'll take one of those donated framesets too, please!

 

[benphyr]

I'll take one of those donated framesets too, please!

Before or after @3bs “improves” it? - either way is fine by me.

 

[DavidCH]

Ouch, that sounds awful. I have a long event coming up next year, and I haven't worked out how to get my stuff to the rather remote start location as well as home from the finish line. Luckily, the organizer will transport my bike case from start to finish, but as you say, the first and last miles can be tricky.

If you go by train it's a little more forgiving. As long as it's in a bag then you can get away with it. The trouble with a case is it's heavy. Make sure it's got wheels. Or go df and wear an orucase on your back.
Www.orucase.com

 

[Tor Hovland]

If you go by train it's a little more forgiving. As long as it's in a bag then you can get away with it. The trouble with a case is it's heavy. Make sure it's got wheels. Or go df and wear an orucase on your back.
Www.orucase.com

Yes, trains and buses (with luggage space below the cabin) is an option. And my case has wheels, luckily. Going DF is not an option

 

[3bs]

it looks like the new handle and the spinning front wheels are a great improvement over the predecessor.

i see an opportunity here. CB benefits by selling new v20's. As soon as i perfect the modifications for the portable v20, people send me their old framesets, which i modify and return. Everyone gets an well justified and eminently practical N+1 moment, (but honey, i had to have one that is transportable besides my pure speed version...) and i get paid some small stipend that doesn't even begin to cover the cost of the time and materials.

BY THE WAY.....

i do need one piece of data from everyone: what is the maximum travel size suitcase that i am shooting for? i know it must have at least the dimensions to hold 2 700 c wheels, but what more can we say?

 

[Greg S]

i do need one piece of data from everyone: what is the maximum travel size suitcase that i am shooting for? i know it must have at least the dimensions to hold 2 700 c wheels, but what more can we say?

Although I don't have an exact number in mind, I'd say 12" minimum width. I have two S&S coupled DF bikes which theoretically pack to 26x26x10 (I've done it numerous times) but there are two problems with this:

1. Everything has to be arranged just so in order to get it to fit in the 10" width.
2. The TSA or any other inspector that opens the case won't arrange it just so.

At PBP, I had my carefully packed rear wheel destroyed when the brake lever was packed so that it's end was directly above the (carbon) rim - punched a nice hole in it. Although we can have a lively debate on the wisdom of using carbon rims on a travel bike (I've since gone to regular alu rims), nevertheless it was a potential disaster saved by the liberal use of $$$.

So you have to consider frame + seat + 2 wheels + (anything else that will need to be stacked) + perhaps some padding, wheel bags, etc.

 

[Herryy]

BMX sizing varies based on wheel size. Multiple wheel sizes are available for BMX bikes, ranging from 12 to 24 inches. However, the standard wheel is 20 inches, which is usual for all bicycle motocross. A BMX bike box has a 48 x 31 x 9 inches dimension.

 

[Herryy]

With its corrugated cardboard material, a cardboard bike box is a lighter packaging option that you can opt to take. The domension of the bike box is 140 x 79 x 20 cm. However, there are smaller or larger variations available at most. A trek bike box, for example, has different dimensions according to the bike type they hold. The generic cardboard bike box size from trek has 148 x 24 x 86 cm dimensions.