Yakima Front Loader Bike Carrier
Yakima make carriers all kinds of bikes, and their Front Loader is probably one of the most secure and well fitting bike carrier on the market. We tested it both in Romania and in the U.K.
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B and W Bike Bag
B & W Bike Bag
For someone whose riding is carefully circumscribed by a radius from my house, there’s something impossibly glamorous about a dedicated bike bag. It’s sitting there now, daring me to turn my back on Northern England, with its endless floods and storms, and get myself on the nearest flight to somewhere warm and dry.
I can’t claim I’m not tempted. But,even if you’re not about to jet off to somewhere exotic, bike bags are handy things to have for a number of reasons:
They tidy the bike into a more stowable shape that doesn’t lock pedals with neighboring kit (a perennial problem if you’re one of those folk for whom the correct number of bikes is n+1)
They hide expensive kit from acquisitive eyes.
They allow the bike indoors without fear of getting chain oil on your new cream sofa (if you’re one of those folk who worry about bikes catching a chill in the garage)
They keep the car upholstery clean when lifting bikes in.
This one is very smart. Ideal for road bikes (an MTB would probably require disconnecting the bars before you could do the zip up),and it has a robust ABS tray with an alloy subframe that supports the bike by its drop-outs. The wheels zip into circular pouches on either side of the bike but inside the bag. The whole thing zips into a neat, portable package that feels tough and will protect your prized ride for when you unwrap it at the other end. There are several handles for grabbing hold of the bundle and, if in transit through a large airport, you can fasten wheels on one end and pull it behind you. In effect it’s easy to move around and won’t trouble the keen traveller.
The bag fits neatly into a hatchback with the seat down, and easier still into the back of an estate car. Packing the bike is ease itself, and wheeling it along at the other end is simple and effortless. We’ve taken this out and about a bit during the late winter and it’s been a good piece of kit for keeping the bike tucked safely away. In terms of storage in the house, when the bike is back hanging, the bag folds down small enough to be tucked away into the garage – simple.
More importantly, as highlighted, the robust nature of the bag means that both it and the contents will survive the efforts of airport handlers and luggage systems, leaving you free to concentrate on planning the rides!
Now, where’s that passport?
