I bought my road bike at a time before airlines charged extra fees for all checked bags. I traveled a lot that time, and invested in a hard plastic case for transporting the bike. I purchased a case that happened to be smaller than standard bike cases at the time, and much smaller than the cardboard boxes many use to fly with bikes. I regretted purchasing such a small case at first, because I have to remove the front fork and handlebars and tuck the derailer in like a dog with its tail between its legs to get the bike to fit. The box paid for itself in a matter of a few trips however when airline agents looked at the box and said, “Is that a bike? It’s so small I won’t charge you.” Later on it became, “Is that a violin? An upright bass? Did you know there is no fee for over-sized musical instruments, but the fee for sports equipment is $80?” Followed by lots of winking. Then standards changed and we had to pay for everything outside of a carry-on. It quickly became cheaper for me to rent $10,000 demo bikes for the weekend than ship my own. I haven’t traveled with my bike for many years. Sadly, all demo bikes were spoken for in all of Western Pennsylvania, so I am flying my own bike this time. I dusted the cobwebs off the ole’ case and got the bike all settled inside. It took me a long time to pack it in. Now that I am older and wiser I paid attention to keeping the greasy bits contained and the touching bits protected. Tiny scratches and dents span my entire bike now, most of which happened when the bike was in transport.
I don’t know that I’d recommend buying a hard case now to anyone traveling with a bike, now that I know there is no way the case will pay for itself. However, I am very happy to have had it for this trip! Now I wait for adventure to begin.