I haven’t tried it but EVOC bags are intended for MTB use and I’ve had friends use them accordingly.
There’s heaps of extra space in my basic EVOC bag when my road/gravel bike is in there. I’m pretty confident my mtb would fit just fine. My only concern would be figuring out how to get the wheels to fit into the wheel compartments. I think the tyres would need to be fully deflated.
My B&W curv hard shell case (see prior post in this thread) fits my size L 29” hardtail comfortably, including wheels with 2.6” tires. I do take off the handlebar and fork, derailleur, and brake rotors. With the caveat that I haven’t tried, I’m confident size XL bike would fit too.
It may just be possible to pack my size L titanium hardtail into the B&W curv case - the lightest hard case I could find - and keep the total under 50lbs. But if so, it’d be close.
For additional flexibility, I also have a Pelican 1615 air case, the largest that meets standard airline size requirements. If necessary, I can put the fork and/or the bars in the Pelican case (the MTB has hydraulic quick connectors), plus my helmet and most anything else I’d typically take if I’m flying with my MTB. Then the bike and the Pelican case are each comfortably under 50lbs.
I also use the Pelican case when I fly with scuba gear. I typically need to drop it and pick it up at “oversized” luggage, although it is not oversized. Ditto for my S&S case.
My partner’s Large Ripley fits with no problem in an Evoc case. And I’ve put 29x2.4s in the wheel compartments without deflating them. Bigger than that would definitely require deflation though.
Thanks! Great idea.
Has anyone had success stuffing a 52cm gravel bike in an Orucase B2 MTB without removing the fork?
I was an early Orucase adopter with the Ninja, which has now been appropriated by my son. After a few years of light travel (joy!), I’m back collecting airline miles for work (less joy!). I don’t mind disassembling the fork on my all-road steed (external routing + recovering bike mechanic in grad school) but I AM lazy. Thanks in advance for the info.
Hi Noel:
I’m also an early Orucase Bike Ninja case owner, and we got additional Orucase B2’s based on our usage experience with the original Ninja. With the new ones, we went for the MTB version with the intent of not needing to remove the front fork, especially for my wife’s 2017 Specialized Ruby (women’s version of the Roubaix) with the Future Shock. Her 51cm frame fits relatively easily without removing the front fork, but note that that the actual seat tube length of the Ruby (Roubaix) is pretty short. My open mold Carbonda CFR-696 gravel bike nominally has only a 49 cm frame, but the actual seat tube length is notably longer than my wife’s Ruby, and it can squeeze into the B2 MTB without removing the fork, but I’m more comfortable that there won’t be damage if the case is dropped when the fork is removed.
Super helpful, thanks! My frame has very similar geometry in the same size. Have you flipped the fork when using the bag? I plan to try that approach when it arrives. Safe travels!
Question for the group here in case I’m missing something. I was looking to get a custom mountain bike made with couplers or a Ritchey breakaway style, but if I’m running 29x2.6in tires, it seems the smallest bag that would fit the wheels (something like the Orucase B2-MTB) would also fit the full frame (fork removed), without needing to split the frame in 2 (with couplers or breakaway). So am I missing something or is it kind of pointless to have an MTB with couplers if you’re going to run 29x2.4 or especially 29x2.6in tires? Would love to hear any thoughts. Thanks.
I’d say that if you’re having a frame made and plan on travel, add the couplers in whichever configuration suits you (S&S, Z, Ritchey). Fitting 2.6s will be a challenge in rigid cases, but if they’re well-seated, letting some air out won’t hurt. I have modified a Tri-All-3 Sports clamshell wheel case, and it fits 2.25s pretty well if they’re soft, the challenge is the bit of extra width in the hubs and rear triangle for a case that’s 10-1/2” deep. A softer case like Oru or Post Carry would ease that battle. An Eep would probably work also. Even if you use a case that doesn’t require uncoupling the frame now, it’s entirely possible a solution will appear in the future, and the couplers don’t detract from the ride quality (only the bank balance). I ride a hardtail that has a Z in the downtube and Ritchey-style seat tube joint, which saved some money, and it’s rock solid on the trail. All I need is an excuse to take it on a trip.
Ritchey and Co-motion make soft cases for coupled bikes, both of which I think are slightly larger than the 62” total inches limit for standard checked bags but probably get a pass most of the time (& surely any time a Post Carry bag would). S&S cases meet that limit by being 26”x26”x10”. 29er wheels will fit, same as 700c do, but you’re right that MTB tires really won’t, unless they’re fully deflated (this is true of narrower 29er tires than 2.6” too). Also, a boost rear triangle might add to the challenge, as will a suspension fork.
I think S&S makes a hard case that’s 26”x26”x12”, which might help overall but not address the tires needing to be deflated. A more extreme option would be to travel with two cases.
My gravel bike fits into an S&S case - but I unseat the 48mm tires, because I don’t want to risk sealant all over everything. I travel with an Airshot (I empty it, take the valve off, and carry it in hand luggage), and little bottles of Stan’s (also hand luggage). I view having to reseat the tires etc at my destination as a price I’m willing to pay for being able to use my S&S hard case. (I can’t remember if I’ve tried to seat 29”x2.6” tires with an Airshot.) I can recommend DaVinci cable splitters and Zeno hydraulic quick connects.
Thank you both @Michael_S and @The_MAMIL for your thoughtful responses. Not sure I want to deal with remounting tires at my destination, but definitely something to think about. @The_MAMIL What bike do you have that has the Z in the downtube and Ritchey style seat tube joint? That does sound like the ideal combo for a hardtail. Thanks.
I have that on 2 bikes, my Slim Chance and a hardtail I had made by Waltly. My wife and I have some Waltly S&S bikes with Ritchey-style seat connectors as well. The Z-connectors are really expensive so it helps the budget, and in the case of the Slim, not made in the size of the toptube we used.
Spot on here about the case’s sizes. I’ve pointed out Ritchey cases to colleagues who were surprised that there was a bike inside, but I’m pretty sure they’re slightly larger than the CoMotion and S&S hard shell on one dimension. I think they fall between a square case and the Post Carry. I modified a couple of the Tri All 3 clamshell cases, which are a bit larger than the S&S and CoMotion. It makes packing gravel bikes easy, but I’ve been too lazy to try my 29er hardtail yet. My suspicion is that the ~11” depth will be a bit tight with 115/148 hubs and spacing. The CoMotion has flexible sides (ABS sheets inside cordura) that are more forgiving, but definitely need the cross-brace members common in S&S cases. I’ve used them and have been happy but my need shave changed slightly so I have one taking up space. Depending on DIY skills and enthusiasm, it’s not all that difficult to build a custom case in the style of the Buxumboxes, which would allow custom sizing and give the depth needed. Keep in mind that the major airlines have stopped charging oversize for bikes, they just watch the weight, so it’s no longer a thing about being stealthy and calling it a “folding massage table” or “therapy equipment”. Check with your airline, in some cases your status will allow up to 70lbs for international without charge, but domestically 50lbs will still be the threshold. Regardless, the actual “price” is paid when you schlep it through escalators, buses, taxis, trains, miniature elevators, and tiny rental cars. I stopped using full sized cases when I jammed a Serfas hardshell between 2 walls in an alley near St Mark’s plaza in Venice. The worst part was my new bride’s paroxysms of laughter at my sudden stop.
Oh! The Tri All 3 Clam Shell Wheel Safe has interior dimensions of 28.5"L x 28.5"W 10"H. That’s sufficiently larger than an S&S case (exterior 26” x 26” x 10”) that 29er MTB wheels + tires could fit even if one keeps the tires inflated enough to stay seated. (No, they won’t explode in flight - cargo holds are pressurized.)
@Kent_Voss- My guess is that one could fit a coupled hardtail into such a case, even with boost spacing. It might help to have the kind of rear hub that makes it easy to remove the freehub body + cassette + axle.
However, I haven’t tried this myself, as I don’t own a coupled MTB.
Maybe now that it’s finally snowing I’ll test the breakaway MTB in the TA3 case. Overall, I’m really happy with the case, but the mods I did made a big difference (and were easy). More info on DIY cases here Traveling With a Bike Sucks, Part VI: Another Mousetrap – MAMIL Musings: A Middle Aged Man in Lycra Considers Cycling and here Traveling With a Bike Sucks, Part III: A Better Mousetrap – MAMIL Musings: A Middle Aged Man in Lycra Considers Cycling . Not trying to make a shameless plug to my site, but no sense in re-writing my experiences here. Minor changes to the TA3 case since I made the mods: I added Chris Heerschap’s disc rotor case to the lid (drop rotors in, screw case shut) and put beefier butterfly latches on the case. These mods are all easy and don’t require much more than a chopsaw, drill, pop-riveter, and Basic Energy & Electrolyte Recovery beverages.
Great responses! Coupled bike in a hard case is the only way to fly, in my humble opinion. And if it’s a nice bike, consider specialty bike insurance if you’re paranoid about lost or broken bikes like I am. My homeowner’s insurance carrier declined to cover my bikes for their full value, so I went with a speciality insurance broker. He sold me bike insurance from Markel, a large commercial insurance firm. It’s a reasonable cost per bike and it provides complete coverage including theft, loss in transportation, crash damages, etc… I have mine insured for complete replacement value. So quite a lot of peace-of-mind. Come to think of it…it’s been a few years so it’s probably time to increase it given the cost of parts now. Something to think about when you’re cramming those 29er wheels into an S&S case.
That DIY case is so cool! I have some reading and thinking to do. Thanks for documenting all of that!
This has been my best experience so far. My Evoc bag is too heavy. With a cardboard box you get all your bikepacking kit in under the 23 kg limit. I just used this little device to transit from a plane and between to train stations and it worked a treat. First draft. Definitely needs more work but it worked really well.
Does anyone have experience using the Orucase Sentinal?
