If like me you’re going off for some big mountain riding this year, chances are you will have to pack your bike up and put it on a plane. I’ve just been out to Greece to run a week of mountain bike skills courses with Greek riders. I’m also making 2 trips to visit and work withwww.basquemtb.com as well as working with the infamous alpine stage race www.trans-provence.com this year.

For my Greek trip I’ve just used the fastastic EVOC bike bag and will be using it for the rest of my travels this year. It really is the Rolls Royce of cycle travel equipment. Like the hydration packs that EVOC make, it’s of top quality construction and has very well thought out design features. Also like the packs it comes in the funkiest colours and even made me look classy as I strolled through the airport, like a jet set hobo of the open skies.

Ease of use is outstanding. All you have to do is remove the wheels, bars and pedals to get the bike all packed up. I also unscrewed the rear mech (without disconnecting the gear cable). This is way easier than the last time I flew and almost completely dissembled my bike for packing in a cardboard bike box. The EVOC bag also takes up less space than a cardboard box and easily goes in the back of a car. Rebuilding the bike takes hardly any time, which helps get your trip off to a relaxed start.

My bike was well protected in the case by the various pads and blocks. There is strong protection for your forks and a solid base that fits under the chain stays and bottom bracket. It was also held in a secure way, not rattling around in the bag at all, because of the various Velcro and buckled straps. Removable struts are inserted into the ends of the bag as well as on the outside of the integrated wheel bags. These give external protection and as they are removable, also mean you can collapse the bag down for easy storage when it’s not in use. There are handy zipped pockets for pedals, QRs etc. A solid base and wheels at the back make the bag dead easy to move around and it even stays stable going up and down steps as well as on and off the airport transfer bus. These EVOC dudes should start making bikes! There are well placed handles all around the bag for baggage handling joy.

You can fit road bikes as well as mountain bikes in the EVOC bag and it will even take 29ers if that’s how you swing. It retails for £279.95. You can find out more about where to get hold of one from www.silverfish-uk.com

Ed Oxley