Joining us for this trip report is Emily Kachorek of Squid Bikes sharing her experience using the Transfer Case!
For the past 8 years I have had the pleasure of flying all over the world for bike racing. Road racing in Europe, cyclocross in Japan, China, Australia, Canada and all over the US. One season, the Squid Squad pack and unpacked bikes 48 times in a matter of a 6 week period. For real. Packing and unpacking bikes is just part of the deal but flying with bikes is a pain in the a$$, not to mention expensive! Maybe you can sweet talk the airline agent into letting the extra fee slide. Or maybe it’s a massage table. Artwork perhaps? That said, I live to travel and ride so when The Cyclist Menu asked me to join them in Mallorca, Spain to help guide a road camp I was not going to pass up the opportunity. Especially since I had the Transfer Case in-hand and was eager to test out the under-the-radar sizing as well as slick wheel / backpack set-up. I was a little nervous about having to drop out the fork, since that hasn’t been part of my bike packing standard procedure. Not to mention the fact that I was traveling with a brand new hand painted show bike!
Usually I get to gamble on which tube wrap will fit on which tube, and then get to play Tetris with the frame, bars and wheels to everything to fit without random protrusions. With the built-in padding and helpful diagram on the inside of the bag, there was no question about packing everything in the correct order for a perfect fit. The bike was checked without the hefty added fee, arrived in Spain in perfect condition and built up in no time. This bag rocks!
- Emily Kachorek (@eekachorek)
Transfer Case 135L
Squid Bikes Salariman
Photos by: Will Freihofer (@freihoferphotography)
