US Airlines are pretty much evil. They squeeze us into less and less space, take away past perks such as meals and award miles premiums – they act as if it is your privilege to pay them for their increasingly shallower service.
I’ve watched it deteriorate over the last two decades as I have been hovering around the 100,000 mile travel mark yearly since I started working internationally. One of my gravest days was when Continental merged with United – but that’s a whole ‘nother story. I’m here to talk about traveling with a bike.
Once was a time that you could check your cased bike like any piece of luggage, No more – size restrictions have made it almost impossible to get away from extra charges to fly your bike. Of course golf clubs and skis are still exempt. Beer belly execs are safe to transport their sticks and balls at will as are the snow bunnies because – well you tell me why. I have my own theories based on socio-economic biases but that too is another story.
I’m here to chronicle my maiden voyage with an orucase. The manufactures promise that their cases come in under the guidelines of all the major airlines and will be acepted as checked luggage. The case isn’t cheap – $400.00 – but United would charge me 200.00 each way on a flight – so if it works once – it has paid for itself.
You do have to have a smidgen of mechanical aptitude as the disassembly is a bit more involved than your regular case.
The Orucase is soft sided and padded. My bike is an Orbea Orca 57mm – so it’s not a small bike by any means. Here’s the process:
So – I leave for Seattle on Thursday – today is Tuesday – I figured I’d pack the bike a day early in case anything weird happened.
It seems pretty safe as long as nobody goes dropping the thing off a ramp – I’m going to get some duct tape and write on it “please do not drop”. Total weight is 34lbs. well under the standard 50 allowed for checked luggage and it is pretty compact.
We will see.
Updates to come.
Hi, I am wondering if you have any follow up thoughts or review of the Orucase – I am considering one instead of my hard case, mainly for train and car travel in Europe, but also inter European flights where they do like to skin you. Considering the sub-62 as well as the Ninja.
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The only drawback is having to take the fork off. Other than that I’ve used it several times and not been charged extra. Checking bags curbside along with a five dollar tip seems to be the move. I throw my pedals in my carry on and can truthfully tell the check in agent that my case does not contain a whole bike, just bike parts.
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Cool. Mine just turned up today and I did a practice pack. Took the RD hanger off as this seemed to be a bit vulnerable being in the corner. Proof in the pudding on the long trip back to Spain next month.
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Good luck.
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Looking at switching from Pika to this. What does your bag measure to?
Mailed them and they said that the standard was 69″, and the 62 has less protection. My wife’s is a small bike [50cm], and mine is a 54. What would you suggest?
I really dont want to have to buy the Oru and then still get caught on the sizing, but I dont want to scrounge on the protection either.
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I have a Orbea Orca 57. I was able to get my bike through without extra charges. I recommend checking curbside. I added extra padding to my carbon frame by using water pipe insulation. I also created pvc inserts to go in the dropouts.
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All the best. Looking forward to hearing your report from the other end. Which airline are you flying?
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United. I’m sitting on tons of frequent flier miles with them.
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Very compact. Did you wrap up the stem/bars so they don’t contact the frame? Seen the bars stem rattle around and do some serious damage. Keep us posted on the bike’s condition on arrival. Ride safe, man.
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I bubble wrapped the stem and taped the bars to the top tube.
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Where are you riding to from Seattle?
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Vancouver BC
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