SCICON AEROTECH Evolution X TSA Hardshell Bike Travel Case - TSA Approved Bike Travel Bag

Well made. Kept my bike safe and secure.

Read literally reviews on every bike bag on the market and so glad I decided to invest in this case. It performed perfectly on a round trip flight from Phoenix to Maui. A buddy of mine had the evoc pro and his wheels and frame were smashed. The Sci Con had scuffs and scrapes, even a small gouge, but bike was perfectly protected.

I bought this much-hallowed case for a use with road and gravel bikes, a cannondale synapse (56) and topstone (M). Usability is a adequate, but not exactly a pleasure.1. Packing takes a bit longer than advertised for the road bike. A lot longer for the gravel: tires have to be removed from wheels in order to fit them in the wheel wells, and the rear derailleur has to be removed as well.2. Weight: my case weighs 12kg, more or less as advertised, but that actually doesn’t leave a lot of room for a bike with typical US carrier 50 lb limits. The synapse goes, with a couple of pounds to spare (which you’ll need, as airlines always seem to have their thumbs on the scales). For the gravel, I pack the tires and seat post in a separate bag to stay under the limit.3. Somewhat awkward to lug around. The recessed handholds don’t quite provide the reassuring grip of a handle (and actually create some issues fitting the bike inside the case), though the single removable strap handle near the base is helpful for loading into the trunk of a taxi — if it stays on, see below. Inability to lock the wheels necessitates holding onto the case while riding airport buses or loading a car parked on a slope.4. I can live with the above, and would rate the case 3-4 stars but for DURABILITY issues.a. On first use, one of the internal support straps pulled out of its mount. On inspection, this appears to flawed combination of design and materials. The straps are made from standard nylon webbing with a small hole (but no grommet) to accommodate a bolt. There is a small washer, ostensibly meant to prevent tearing of the strap. But the washer is too small and the material too soft for this arrangement, and it pulled through the hole. I repaired this myself with replacement straps, metal-grommeted holes, and larger washers.b. On the most recent (only the fourth) use, the external strap pulled out as I was lifting the case out of the trunk of a car, due to the same design flaw (first photo). This one appears to be harder to repair, because of instead of a bolt, this mount is a rivet, for which fewer folks are likely to have the appropriate tools. I’d have to resort to a swaged cable, though haven’t tried yet, and won’t be, because of the next point.In any case, these single-point attachments are clearly not made with sufficiently strong materials for the job.c. Finally, and this is the killer, the case itself is just not robust to the rigors of airline travel for which it was ostensibly designed. First, a puncture in one of the handle recesses (second photo). These did not affect usability so far, but certainly suggest the “thermoplastic” is not very strong, and worse, appears to be the result of part of the bike (handlebars) coming into contact with the case from the inside. No part of the bike should be coming into contact with any unpadded part of the case, and it is evidently all too easy for this to happen.The worst is a crack in the base of the case, extending from the hinge to the wheel well, appeared on this same (fourth) use (third photo). This is the kind of structural damage that makes the case unusable, in part because an airline will now not assume liability for damage to contents.Overall, very poor value for the price.

It's poorly designed for new bicycles that use disk breaks. It also broke after only 4 flights!

I've flown with this case several times, including intercontinental.The good : the shell is pretty tough, I haven't had issues with the case cracking as others have reported. Packing is pretty easy, you can do it in 30 mins after the first couple of times.The bad : the interior hardware SUCKS. All of it.The inserts to mount thru-axle wheels are too big and won't fit into any of my wheels. I improvised by using fender washers between the skewer and the wheels.Also, the straps and assemblies that are part of their "suspended frame system" are utterly worthless. They took some nylon straps, melted a hole through them, and then mounted the strap by sandwiching it between a tiny washer and the case. The melted nylon is not a durable solution - it immediately pulled through the tiny washer and dropped my bike during transit. If I hadn't removed the rear mech and hanger before transit, they would have been destroyed. I then grommeted the strap and affixed it with a much larger washer - this is an improvement, but is still coming apart due to the low strength of the nylon strap. My advice - grommet and washer the straps, but also put ample padding under your BB and chainstays. A sweater in a big zipper bag works well, or a polystyrene block. For a case of this price, they should provide more robust hardware.

It was great, until it wasn't. On my last flight I realized that the case had been compressed enough to crack my bicycle frame. The axel for the rear wheel is positioned above the center part of the frame (within the case). I assume the case was placed on its side and luggage stacked on top, in addition to an extremely hard landing that shook everyone in the cabin, is what caused the damage. Now looking for a way to modify this case so I can trust flying with it again... or searching for a more sturdy case.

The wheel wells would not hold my wheels, 700c with 30 cm tires. The tires would have to be removed from the wheels in order to fit. Scicon refunded my purchase price, but charged me roughly $200 for shipping.

2nd flight and AA completely destroyed the bag. Like others noted, the material is too brittle.