Bike box or bag?

Tool.

=P

those quirky japanese.
I love em.
right, fuck this bike shit, I'm saving up to go back to Japan.

this page has some good advice.

Is Jooks a Japanese Mooks? ;)

I took my bike to Amsterdam last weekend in a 2nd hand dhb bag (without wheel pockets). I was a bit worried, but it seems to have been treated with love and care...no extra padding required and they didn't even scuff the bag.

My mate's brand new Pinacle had his crank poking through when it arrived. The bag looked like they'd used it to replace the planes broken landing gear, but his bike was also unscathed.

If your bike's not too expensive, i'd say make sure your insurance is in order, get those fork bracer jobs and chance it like that.

Pipe lagging is important if you don't want your paint work scratched especially if your not using wheel bags

Has anyone tried one of these?

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/pinnacle/bike-bag-ec008675?query=bike%20bag

I had a look at Evans, seemed quite cheap, and has padding, wheels, and wheel bags.

I'm thinking about getting one.

Really interesting idea for a bike bag.

BIKE WRAP made by Jooks on Vimeo

Ha! Just noticed the guy in the video forgot his eastpak. Fail.

you can purchase hard plastic lightweight bike boxes. My dad has one as he travels to america quite allot as we have family there

this is what he has... The elite vaison hard bike box. Expensive but im sure you can get other hard boxes that are cheaper. Depends how much you love you bike. Doesnt it!

A box from your LBS with as much pipe lagging as you can find should do the trick

I've always travelled using a box, either from a LBS, or bought at the airport. Never had a problem with this approach, but I recently got a Vaude Big Bike Bag as a Bday present and I love it. I've carried my Charge Plug in it, and since the thing is like a Soviet Tank, I didn't need to protect it. Just put the wheels in the side pockets, the frame in the middle, and there are a couple of pockets for tools and a lock (perfect fit for the wee Kripto).

Yesterday I had to carry a more delicate track frame, so I protected it carefully with pipe insulation, and it worked like a charm. Much more convenient than the box if you have to carry it to/from the airport... I just keep the pipe insulation and some cable straps in the bag so it's always ready to go.

Bumping this as some links aren't working and other peeps might have some useful info. I'm going to Japan in September and need a bike bag that will offer suitable protection but will also fold down to a reasonable size so that I can take it with me. Does anyone know if such a thing exists? Pipe lagging sounds like a must so I'll defo get on that.

Cheers peeps!

How small do you need it to fold down and how precious is your bicycle you want to travel? Anything that properly folds down is going to provide you with a lot less protection. An alternative approach is simply to pick up a bike box from a bike store and leave it at the airport and do the same for your return journey. Saves the messiness of carrying bike bag around but adds instead the need to find a box in Japan (would suggest sending messages through to bike stores before hand)

These are really good apparently, pricey to match though.
http://www.biknd.com/index_en.html

Are you flying in and out of the same airport?

I'm flying into Tokyo and out of Osaka. I guess I could always use a bike box and send it to the hotel/hostel in Osaka as soon as I land in Tokyo?

Tim - that bag looks amazing but I might need a trailer to carry it!

Gus - pretty small and bloody precious. I was thinking about one of these and using the Gustav-approved pipe lagging method. This'll be my first cycle trip abroad so I don't really know what to watch out for/what would or wouldn't work!

there is a bag called the ground effects tardis I think which folds up small.

Remove rear mech,
frame / fork spacers,
block of wood taped to b.b shell to keep chainrings off of the ground,
add pipe lagging to frame,
maybe some sheets of cardboard along the sides of the bag inside and some rolled up tubes of card board placed across the the bag in between the cardboards sheets to give some strength against sideways crushing could help.

Never tried the cardboard sheets + tubes bits before but had the idea a few months ago as a way of reenforcement for my cheap folding bag.

If you're flying out of Osaka, I have a friend there who might be able to send a message to a local bicycle shop about putting a box aside.

Wools, ground effect tardis for the win
http://www.groundeffect.co.nz/product-detail-TAR-BAG.htm
should cost you about 70 squid, it folds down to a4 size, robust enough to survive tramping with me around the world, and light enough even with bike in it to put on shoulder and carry round. Pipe lagging round frame, grab some reusable cable ties to secure it and bobs your uncle. Plastic bag round chain and crankset and your all go. And best to buy a decent bike bag cause once you start travelling with a bike your not going to stop.
Will link to blog to show you what it looks like with bike inside

Photo of bike in bag from blog
http://mrverte.wordpress.com/2010/04/02/1st-night-in-sydney/_0013911/

Big man (and tommy), I loves you. That sounds exactly like what I'm after! I'm guessing I'm gonna have to take racks and stuff off but it looks as though it'll all squeeze in there somehow. Rad to the power of bad (the good kind).

And you're right about this travelling with bikes business - already thinking about where to go next...

Cheers for the offer, Gus.

Wools, I've got the ground effect tardis and having used it a few times now would highly recommend it. Packs down small enough to carry or post on to your end destination. Doesn't look like it offers much protection, but I've used pipe lagging and some kit/panniers as extra padding and had no problems. You can fit a rack in as well. I'd offer you mine, but there's a decent chance that it will be needed in sept. The Ground effect cust service is pretty good - mine arrived within a week.

Cheers Des. Pay day tomorrow so gonna pull the trigger and buy one of these tomorrow. It better be as good as you lot are saying! :)

Considering going with the Tardis bike bag for cross channel travel by train. Anyone know if it's good for the Eurostar. Would also be keen to see what one is like if anyone in London is willing to let me have a look.