Evoc vs Hard Case. Am I being paranoid?

It might not be relevant to the discussion but the last time I flew with a bike I used a fairly basic padded bike bag. This allowed me, on arrival, to roll the bag up and strap it to my backpack and ride my bike to where I was camping, where the bag doubled up as a bit of extra comfort in the tent. This was, however, with a BMX which is a bit more robust than a road bike, though still not immune to over-enthusistic baggage handlers.

What I think I'm getting at is that you need to consider the whole journey, not just the flying part.

The final option is a cardboard bike box (and lots of tape). As long as you can buy a bike box at the airport that you are flying back from it means that you don't need to lug a case of any sort with you when you arrive, as you can just dispose of the box that you brought the bike in and get a new one on your way back. The cardboard also does a rather good job of protecting the bike if packed well.

I think the soft cases get a bad rep from what happens to the hard cases. The hard cases will break with loads which don't impact the bike.

Most people I know with a soft case have never had a problem.

My carbon baby is a regular flyer, never had any problems with my Evoc although I do put pipe insulation around most of the frame too. Only done this since I got an expensive bike, my old bike did not get this treatment and was always fine.

EVOC all the way. It has the "give" to absorb any impacts, hard shells don't have that. The way the bike sits in, with the wheels protected by tubing, and they themselves protecting the bike, plus the protection to the rear-mech, I think means it's better than a hard case. Confidently take my (daftly pricey) bike abroad in the EVOC 3-4 times a year.

I have an Evoc soft case and I can't rate it highly enough! I've used it to take my supersix to Mallorca twice and it's performed admirably each time. Yes obviously there will always be a baggage handler or two that'll try and test out the strength of any bag/box but I certainly won't have any qualms about using it again and again.

http://cyclingtips.com.au/2014/06/flying-with-your-bike-tips-from-a-bagg...

Is a good read, and CT has a number of articles about traveling with a bike.

Hardcases are seen as not that good, too rigid and transfer the damage to the bike. A decent soft case does the job well.

Used a bag to transport my bike to France in the back of the car a couple of weeks ago. Even then was paranoid about any damage occurring. The experience has taught me that there is no way I would take anything but a hard case on an plane.

Speaking from experience... Last month a colleague and I took our bikes to Rhodes, both in hard cases. Upon our arrival in Rhodes my case/bike were fine, but my colleagues case was smashed. It looked like it had been dropped on a corner, breaking all of the latches on the case and cracking it on both sides. Luckily there was no damage to the bike inside, but if this had been a bag dropped in the same manor there would have been serious damage to the bike inside. Bringing the bike home in the smashed case was fun... lots of shrink wrap and brown tape!!

I simply wouldn't trust the baggage handlers with my pride and joy in a bag, go for the hard case!!