Flying with your bike can be a stressful experience with your pride and joy in the hands of sometimes unscrupulous baggage handlers. Any damage to your bike in transit could mean the end of your riding trip before it’s even begun. 

BikeBox Alan have been producing hard shell bike boxes for many years now and have a wide range of options to choose from. I borrowed a Premium Plus Bike Box for a gravel cycling trip to Sri Lanka which was my first experience of flying with my bike. 

BikeBox Alan Premium Plus

5/5

Highs:

• Offers great protection

• Easy to pack

• Feels very robust

• User serviceable

Lows:

• Anti crush pole needs careful alignment

£555 | Buy from BikeBox Alan

• Hard style bike box

• 12kg

• 7 year warranty

• Fits road bikes up to 63cm, gravel bikes with tyres up to 45c and some mountain bikes

• Takes 20 minutes to pack

Hard vs Soft bike boxes

There are two distinct styles of bike boxes available on the market, the hard shell box style like the BikeBox Alan, or the softshell bag type which are widely available from the likes of Evoc, Scicon and others. Both designs come with positives and negatives but the main trade off is weight vs protection. A hardshell box will typically weigh more but offer better protection. The BikeBox Alan weighs 12kg so with a bike inside it could be nudging 25kg which is already overweight by many airlines weight limits. 

Packing the bike

I was bringing my 58cm gravel bike on this trip and was advised to use the Premium Plus as it has 15% more volume than the Premium model and would allow the large frame to fit more comfortably into the box. The wheels fit into a pair of recesses in the lid and using the series of velcro straps, they were very secure. I did have to remove both brake rotors to get them to fit but this did mean they were less likely to get damaged. 

The handlebars were then removed from the stem and the frame placed into the box. Having removed the pedals and after a bit of wiggling I was satisfied with the fit and used more of the velcro tie downs to secure the frame. It’s advisable to remove the rear mech and I strapped it to the chainstay, out of harms way. I opted to remove the chain but this is entirely optional - It just meant I had less things rattling around inside the box. There are tie downs for the seatpost too but on smaller frames it may be possible to just push the post down into the frame. 

The only issue I had was attempting to locate the anti crush pole when closing the box up. It needs to pass between the spokes in both wheels and required some trial and error but I got there in the end. The entire process start to finish took around 20 minutes on the first attempt to pack the box but when you are more experienced it could be quicker. 

Traveling with the BikeBox Alan Premium Plus

The BikeBox Alan Premium Plus rolls on four castors which meant it was very easy to navigate around the airport one handed, ideal when your hands are taken up with another bag, passport, ticket etc. There are also ‘handles’ at either end which offer something to grab onto.

The two halves of the case are secured together with 6 clasps which felt rock solid. I opted to lock 2 of the clasps but you could lock all 6 for maximum security. With the anti crush pole in place, the box feels incredibly robust and I had every confidence that it would protect my bike from the rigours of air travel. 

Flying with your bike can be a stressful experience but the BikeBox Alan Premium Plus made it effortless. £555 is a lot of money if you are only flying once a year with your bike but if it’s more regular then it's absolutely worth the cost. It’s also possible to rent a BikeBox Alan from £115 per week which could be a better option for less frequent travellers.