Reviews of Trico Iron Case - Bike Travel Case

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List Price: $425.00
Sale Price: $379.95
Today's Bonus: 11% Off

I purchased the Trico case last month for a mountain bike trip. My brother purchased the Thule case for the same trip and we both highly recommend the Trico case over the Thule case. Obviously the Thule case will get the job done but the Trico case is much better. He went with the Thule case because it was compatible with the Thule roof rack. I don't see any reason you couldn't mount the Trico case on a Thule roof rack. I have a full suspension mountain bike with 5 inches of travel and I didn't have to take the fork off but my brother did with the Thule case (not a huge deal). Here are some reasons why I think the Trico case is better:

1) The Trico case is much more durable because it's made with a thicker and stronger material. I found the Thule case to be very flimsy which left spaces between the top and bottom shells when we closed the case.

2) The Trico case comes with two very strong metal braces that support the frame and fork when the hubs/wheels are removed. These braces allow you to compress the two shells together without damaging the bike. The Thule case does not have any frame/fork braces.

3) The Trico case has three layers of foam protecting your bike where the Thule case has two plus a useless thin layer of plastic that does not cushion the wheels at all.

4) The Trico case is a perfect rectangle with square corners giving it larger internal dimensions than the Thule case. This is why my brother had to take his fork off to get the bike to fit in the case.

5) The Trico case has more buckles and straps than the Thule case making it easier to close tight.

6) The Trico case is ready to go right out of the box but the Thule case requires you to attach the wheels and all the plastic buckles.

The biggest difference I found between the cases lies in the way the bike is packed.

The Trico case is packed as follows: bottom shell, FOAM, frame and parts, FOAM, wheels, FOAM, top shell. Then you apply pressure as required to close the case. The added pressure is just compressing the foam and will not hurt your bike because of the axle braces that I previously discussed.

The Thule case is packed as follows: bottom shell, wheels (NO PROTECTION BETWEEN BOTTOM SHELL AND WHEELS), thin plastic divider, FOAM, frame and parts, FOAM, top shell. You still need to apply pressure to close the Thule case and compress the foam like the Trico case but larger bikes can be damaged because the frame and fork do not have the metal braces and there is no padding between the bottom shell and wheels. The Thule case is also very flimsy and gets distorted when pressure is applied to close the case.

Like I said earlier either case will work but when you put them side by side there is no comparison. VeloNews has a great YouTube video that shows a full suspension bike being packed into the Trico case. The only Thule videos I found showed smaller road bikes being packed into the case and one was a women's bike.

One more thing I learned recently about shipping bikes is that if any of the dimensions exceed 47x31x11 the shipping charges go up by about $40-$60. This is why having the ability to safely compress the Trico case to 11in without damaging the bike is SO important. I paid $85 with $2000 insurance to ship FedEx Ground from coast to coast. UPS was about 25% more. I also found that weight was insignificant compared to the case's dimensions when it came to shipping charges.

I bought my case from Brands Cycle for $339.

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I purchased two of these upon the recommendation of a pro cyclist. We have Specialized Triathlon bikes and they fit perfectly. We shipped them to Hawaii for a race, and they arrived totally intact, bikes without a scratch, dent or mishap (as it should be).

These cases are so durable and rock solid I would even go to say short of the case being run over by a truck, they could withstand pretty much anything an airline or shipping handler could do to it, i.e. sliding, tossing, dropping, things piled on top of it, etc.

The only drawback I've seen so far is there is only one handle (Nylon strip about 2" wide) for pulling the case. That works fine until you need to go through a door, so you have to turn the case sideways to get through it. There are no handles to grab on the sides, so even the baggage handlers at the airport made a comment about that as it was cumbersome to move any other way than pulling it with the handle and rollers.

Other than that, it does the job exactly as intended and worth every dollar, especially when your investment inside is thousands. Truly an iron case.

Best Deals for Trico Iron Case - Bike Travel Case

My father and I rented a case for air travel from STL to PHX. It was worth EVERY PENNY for the peace of mind for my Cervelo (54cm frame), and his Look (53cm). It takes around 30-45 minutes the first time you break down the bike to get it into the box, for planning how everything fits in. I also only had to take off the bars and the seat. On the way back, it only took 15 minutes. The case is bombproof, absolutely NOTHING happened to the bikes. The cases we rented were all scratched and dented, too. They take the beating, not your bike. The only slight problem is that it can be a pain to tighten down the straps. By accident, I didn't fully tighten down the box all the way on the way to PHX. Nothing happened to the bike, but it was still something that could have been easier. Also, larger frames would have trouble fitting.

Pros:

-Relatively inexpensive

-Extremely solid

-Minimal breakdown for mid-sized bikes (around 54cm frame)

Cons:

-First time breakdown takes a while

-Large frames may be hard to fit in

-Tightening straps requires you to do some wrangling of the box

When I buy a bike box later this year, it's going to be this case.

Honest reviews on Trico Iron Case - Bike Travel Case

Purchased this recently and had the opportunity to use it for a round-trip direct flight this past weekend. I had previously been borrowing a friend's B&W hard shell bike case but being that they range from $400-600, I did not want to invest that much on my own given that I'll only fly with a bike a few times a year.

Based on reviews, pricing, and online research, I went with the Trico Iron Case. First impression upon receiving it was that it is visibly smaller the B&W case. However, once I disassembled my 'cross bike (56cm), I was pleased to find that it fit quite easily. It does pack well and given that it is a fairly tight fit, nothing moves around inside. Everything arrived after both flights in perfect condition.

Now, my issues with this case. Securing it shut is no where near as easy as the B&W case. It took me a few minutes to get the hang of the process for the step-wise fashion in which I must secure each strap. Time-wise, I'd say it takes 4-5x as long to actually close the Trico case once you have everything inside compared to the B&W. For me, that is fine. The issue comes at the airport, where the TSA must open your bike box and inspect. With the B&W, in my previous flights, it was a snap and no issue. With the Trico case, on my depature flight, since the TSA agent didn't have the same knowledge (or maybe care) I had in securing the case, it arrived with one buckle broken. I was advised by the airline that since the buckles are on the exterior and not integrated within the body of the case, they have no responsibility for damage. For the flight home, I now had 6 of the 7 straps functioning b/c of the broken buckle. Nothing broken on the way home, but they obviously had a slightly tough time closing it b/c the top and bottom halfs of the shell were misaligned.

The pull strap needs to be improved. I couldn't find one way of holding it that wasn't uncomfortable after pulling the box for a few minutes. I didn't have a very long walk from my car to the terminal, but I always felt like the strap was eating into my hand.

The case is solid in terms of protection....when packed properly. However, the stress of now not knowing if it's going to come back with broken straps or re-closed improperly coupled with the sub-par pull strap has me thinking that in hindsight, I'd have preferred investing in the B&W case of trying the EVOC bike case, which is at a similar price point.

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When looking for cases, I considered several factors, price was a consideration, but weight and strength were also important. The cases I looked at included the Trico Sports Iron Case, the Tri All 3 Sports Velo Case, and the Biknd Helium Bike Case. The Trico Sports Iron Case weighs about 31 pounds and cost $290-$399, Tri-All 3 Sports Velo case weighs about 35 pounds and cost about $550-$600, Thule Round Trip which weighs 30.5 pounds and cost $327-$439 and the Biknd Helium Bike Case weighs 19.8 pounds and cost $600.

The Tri All 3 Sports case seems to be a stronger case and easiest to pack, with its internal cross bracing to support an aluminum frame and a rigid poly ethylene shell, but is quite a bit more expensive. The Biknd Helium case uses inflatable air bladders to provide protection and disperse pressure away from the bike. The Trico Sports Iron Case is very strong as well, but uses foam combined with the tough polycarbonate external shell to dispersing pressure from bumps and impacts. The Thule Round Trip uses a similar method of protecting the bicycle, but the shell is made of ABS plastic and several reviews I have read comparing the two said the Trico Sports Iron Case's shell seemed more durable.

Since I have only owned and used the Trico Sports Iron case, I can not say which case provides the best protection. I did however test the Trico Sports Iron Case I stood on top of the case (I weigh a 185 pounds), without causing any damage to my road bike's carbon frame or its wheels.

Packing the the Trico Sports Iron Case is pretty simple once one becomes familiar with how to disassemble their bike and how it best fits into the case. There are many videos on YouTube that provide detailed demonstrations of how to pack a bike. Essentially, the seat, handlebars, pedals, and wheels are removed. Spacer/braces are bolted onto the front and rear dropouts, replacing where the wheel hubs were, providing strength. On the first layer of foam inside the shell, the frame is placed and the handlebars are rested near the headset with the cables attached, which also distributes pressure away from the front of the frame.The seat and post, pedals and skewers, shoes, and bike clothing are wrapped and put in with the frame and can be wedge to relieve possible pressure away from the frame. The second layer of foam is placed on top of this and the wheals are laid cast side down overlapping each other a bit. Finally, the third layer of foam is placed along with the lid and the straps are connected and tightened.

The wheels and molded in grips make moving the case easy enough. The wheels are mounted with the wheels on the side and is towed similar to conventional luggage rather than on edge like the Tri All 3 Velo Case. This makes it wider and a bit more difficult to maneuver but also more stable. Because it is wide, flat, and stable, I use the tow strap to strap on other luggage onto the back of the case when towing to through the airport. I found the case fits easily into the back seats of all the compact rental cars I've used so far.

Conclusion. Upon researching various cases available, the Trico Sports Iron Case seemed to have a good combination of strength and weight for the price. After using it for a couple years of regular travel, I feel this case was well worth the money. It may not be the easiest case to pack or the strongest, but it gets the job done of protecting a bicycle, at a reasonable price.