Trico Iron Case Bicycle Carrier

I purchased two of these upon the recommendation of a pro cyclist. We have Specialized Triathlon bikes and they fit perfectly. We shipped them to Hawaii for a race, and they arrived totally intact, bikes without a scratch, dent or mishap (as it should be).These cases are so durable and rock solid I would even go to say short of the case being run over by a truck, they could withstand pretty much anything an airline or shipping handler could do to it, i.e. sliding, tossing, dropping, things piled on top of it, etc.The only drawback I've seen so far is there is only one handle (Nylon strip about 2" wide) for pulling the case. That works fine until you need to go through a door, so you have to turn the case sideways to get through it. There are no handles to grab on the sides, so even the baggage handlers at the airport made a comment about that as it was cumbersome to move any other way than pulling it with the handle and rollers.Other than that, it does the job exactly as intended and worth every dollar, especially when your investment inside is thousands. Truly an iron case.

While externally this box seems reasonably strong it lacks any internal anchor points, this means if (WHEN) the box comes open or is opened by customs and badly resealed, YOU WILL LOOSE EVERYTHING! There is some foam, but that just stops stuff rattling about, it wont retain anything when the box comes open.If I'd had time before my trip I would have returned it, as it was I had to spend several hours cutting up the foam and putting in anchor points for my bike before I felt even mildly confident to use the box on an international flight.My advice is to look for something more practical.

I was inspired to purchase this case after attending Short Course Triathlon National Championship in Tuscaloosa, Alabama in 2010. The airport baggage handler had 5 or 6 stacked on a trolley. I figured that if that many nationally competitive athletes used this case, it had to be good. I have not been disappointed! Just returned from Beijing and the bike traveled great in the case. Relatively easy to pack with a great VeloNews Youtube video on the internet giving great packing tips. A very durable case that protected the bicycle very well especially for the price. Highly recommended.

I recently used this case to take my bike on a flight from California to Ohio and on another flight back. Southwest charged me $50 each way to bring the case as one of my two checked pieces of luggage -- it counts as oversized, so it can't be one of the two free pieces one normally gets.I had two problems, both relatively minor. First, one of the straps on the case came off while I was packing it. I think a small metal piece that normally anchors the strap to the case was dislodged and I might have been able to fix it, but I didn't have time to investigate. The case has lots of straps, so I just ignored that one and used the others and they were more than sufficient to secure the case.The other problem was that the quick-release on the hub of one of my wheels was bent. This left the hub unusable. I was able to get a replacement at a bike shop for $10, so it wasn't a huge problem. The quick-release lever got bent because I left the hub in the wheel. The instructions for the case said removing the hub from the wheel was optional. On the return trip, I removed the hubs from both wheels (a very easy operation), and there was no damage.This case is a little tricky to use. I needed to take some care to position my bike properly in the case so it wouldn't rub on the sides and the handlebars (removed, but still attached by cables) wouldn't rub against some other part of the bike. So it was somewhat disturbing to watch the TSA open the case and poke around before one of my flights. Fortunately, they didn't move much around, but after all that care I took to position things, I didn't really like the fact that someone else would move it around, and that could potentially lead to damage.Note that while the outside of the case is fairly stiff, the outside is not strong enough to bear much pressure from the outside if the bike and foam weren't there. Any weight put on the case compresses the foam, so the more weight is stacked on this case, the more pressure the foam exerts on various parts of your bike.In summary, I think this case is a good option, possibly the best one available. But it isn't foolproof. It requires careful use, and even with care, there is still probably some small danger to your bike.

After doing many searches for a suitable shipping container I zeroed in on this one. I shipped it over 7000 miles via USPS. It is right on the edge of the biggest box they will send to an APO but it shipped for $120 with 600 insured value.I used it for a large sized Diamondback Insight with 700c tires. It was a tight fit getting it closed but it does close. I just placed the clamshell together and slacked all the buckles. I then clipped them all together and slowly drew them tight in a crisscross pattern.I saw on review that said a buckle got broken in shipping. So I took a zip tie and put it around each buckle. This works from shipping but you can't do that for airlining.This case has survived three round trips of 14000 miles. It does an outstanding job of protecting the bike. Some things I have done to make it easier is removing the rear derailleur and drop out. I also got locking grips for my handlebar. It allows me to slide the grips off and then the shifter / brake handles off. I think it makes for a more secure packing job.