You’re about to purchase your travel case, and you’re ready to set off on roads unknown. Do you just throw your bike into the case and drop it off at the airline ticket counter? Do you break down the bike into more pieces than it originally arrived at the bike shop? Let’s go through the process of packing and travelling with (or shipping) your bike.
Flying: where both you and the prices they charge are sky-high.
The cost of flying with your bike varies wildly from “This is large and awkward, so I’m going to charge you more,” to “This is the most lethal item on the face of the planet and I’m going to charge you so much you’ll never want to fly with it again.”
From what I can tell, most airlines will count the bike as your first checked back (or second, if you’re checking one already) regardless of size, though only a couple explicitly state this. They all require a hard or soft bike case, and soft cases are considered “fragile” (i.e. “we’re going to charge you a @#$%load more, even if we break it”). Also, if your bike case is smaller than 62 linear inches (L+H+W) and less than 50 lbs (total), then most airlines treat this as a regular checked bag.
As an example, I use the Trico Iron Case, which on it’s own weighs 31 lbs (~55-60 packed) and is ~88 linear inches.
I remember when I had a bike in college. It was… not a good bike. It was old, but it usually worked. It did have a bad habit locking up the front brake whenever I used it, but hey, what bike doesn’t? Maintenance just wasn’t something I thought about. The bike just… worked. Even after I bought my first real road bike (which I barely rode for the first 9 years I owned it), the only thing that I thought about wearing down were the tires (not that I ever came close to wearing them down) and the inner-tubes when I had flats.
It wasn’t until I started really riding a few years ago that I thought, “Hey, you know, this bike isn’t working very well anymore. Maybe there’s something I should do about it?” Thus began my road to enlightenment – and the subsequent lightening of my wallet. The first time I took my bike in for maintenance and heard what they recommended, it went a little like this:
New handlebar tape: Yeah, that’s pretty thrashed.
New tires: Well, I guess dry rot is a bad thing for rubber.
New Chain: Huh… that wears down?
New Cassette: Wait, what? That’s not supposed to come off.
New Cables: But, um… they’re still attached. I need new ones?
Rims are cracked: But they’re mostly round and still work right?
Bicycles of Tulsa loaned me the wheels to test ride. Big thanks!
Thanks to Bicycles of Tulsa, I was able to try out two sets of wheels that gave me insight into the overlapping worlds of aerodynamics, weight, and cost (in some cases stupidly-high costs). First, I’ll go into the “why” of a wheel upgrade followed by factors to consider. Then I’ll review the two wheels I tested (use these links to jump straight to the reviews): the Giant P-SLR1 Aero and HED Ardennes SL.
Why upgrade wheels?
Simple: other than the frame, the wheels are the largest component of the bike. Just take a step back and look: they’re big. They almost match the size of your frame. Along with the frame, the wheels account for the majority of the ride characteristics of a bike – and in some ways, even moreso than the frame itself. Consequently, the two most expensive pieces of a bike? The frame and the wheels.
You’ve heard it over and over: there’s no substitute for the road. But indoor training doesn’t need to be a substitute. It can be a valuable add-on to your outdoor training.
Price: $250-350
Usage Time/Distance: approx. 2 years, 1-4 times per week.
Purchased From: Amazon.com
Pros
Sturdy, quality construction.
Bike is very stable when mounted.
Relatively low noise level (in comparison to wind and magnetic trainers).
Large flywheel and progressive resistance provides excellent road-like feel and great resistance range.
Cons
Pricey.
Heavy construction makes this unit less portable than lighter-weight units.
Can take a bit to properly position the locking mechanism width to hold your bike in place.
Requires a round hub skewer cap (provided with the trainer), but this means you’ll probably have to switch out your rear skewer.
You can have a $50 blue-light special all the way up to a $15k ultimate racer, but no matter what you ride, the tires are where the rubber literally meets the road.
Michelin Pro Otimum (Front pictured)
Price: $45-60
Usage Time/Distance: approx. 1,500 miles on the first set, 3,100 miles on the second set before being replaced
Purchased From: Bicycles of Tulsa
Size: 700 x 25C
Pros
Excellent road feel
Handling on both dry and wet roads is good
High TPI (threads-per-inch) count and wide size (25C) add to comfort and handling
Decent puncture resistance
Cons
Several small gouges/breaks that could have lead to failure (but this may be true of other tires)
Tight fitting; rather hard to put on / take off at first (after about 1,000 miles, they come on/off like any other tire)
Front/Rear specific means places can charge different prices for each (though I haven’t seen this much), and you have to buy the right one