Touring Gear and Tips: Scicon's Aerocomfort 2.0 Bike Bag
June 5, 2015
I've always disliked packing bikes for airline travel. It's a lot like combining Tetris with an egg drop. Everything needs to fit snugly in a finite space while making sure key pieces are padded well enough to withstand abuse.
Earlier this year, SciCon sent an Aerocomfort 2.0 bike bag to test. I can't say I was super thrilled to spend a weekend packing and unpacking bikes to put the bag through it's paces, but that all changed fifteen minutes into testing. That's roughly how long it took to pack a bike on the first try.
The SciCon Aerocomfort 2.0 makes bike packing quick and easy by eliminating the need to remove or turn your handlebars, and includes two pouches that hold and protect your wheels. You can also keep your seatpost and saddle installed, however, you must remove your pedals.
An adjustable metal frame at the bottom of the bag attaches to your bike frame and fork dropouts with a pair of included skewers and some sewn in straps keep everything anchored down. SciCon also includes durable foam rolls that protect your top tube, downtube, and handlebars. And while the whole process is very intuitive, packing instructions are sewn inside the bag for reference.
The bag itself is made from a strong padded nylon material and is reinforced at common impact points. The whole thing rolls on wheels, making the bag easy to maneuver through airports, and the shoulder strap is pretty comfortable as well.
With a bike completely packed, there's still some room inside for extra water bottles or some clothes, but the bag alone weighs around twenty pounds, so you'll want to keep airline weight restrictions in mind when packing everything up. And note: if you have racks on your bike, you'll need to remove those for the bike to fit in the bag.
At $650, the Scicon Aerocomfort 2.0 is an investment, but it's definitely a game changer. It's also just one of a wide variety of bicycle bags they offer, so be sure to check out Scicon's full range of offerings.
Photos by Josh Tack
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TOURING GEAR & TIPS is written by Joshua Tack of Adventure Cycling’s member services department. It appears once each month, highlighting technical aspects of bicycle touring and offering advice to help better prepare you for the journey ahead. Look for Josh’s “Fine Tuned” column in Adventure Cyclist magazine as well.
Comments
Did you test for ability to fit a long wheelbase touring bicycle with racks installed? The photos in the article look like the bag is perfectly sized for a racing bicycle, which makes me guess it's no good for touring bikes.
It says on their website that it fits frames up to 62"... You have to take the wheels off so you'd have to take the rack off too but should fit. There's a diagram with more dimensions on their website- http://sciconbags.com/en/bike-bags/aerocomfort-2-0.html
I have travelled from Canada to Europeon on many occasions with my bike packed in card board boxes. I have had a few incidents including bent things and busted boxes after they were left in the rain. I have since invested in Scicon Aerocomfort 2.0 bag which I can't wait to try on my next trip. The bag I received did not include the foam mentioned in the article.
I think they changed the foam tubing to black padded cushion thongs with velcro that you wrap around the top tube and handlebars?
I have used the Scicon AeroComfort for years now and it's definitely worth the investment! It's so easy to pack which is great for someone like me with zero mechanical skills and it's also much more lightweight than a boke but still has protection in all the right places.
I meant box* not boke haha
WOWEEEE!!!!!! to the price tag. I make yearly sojurns to Europe and select Europesn Airline That does NOT charge for s boxed bike. My tours do not end in a loop so I have to discard the box on arrival and get another on departure.
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