Easy to roll, simple to pack, and loaded with padding: the AeroComfort 3.1 Gravel bike flight bag might be the best blend of function and simplicity.
If you’ve ever struggled to take half your bike apart, maybe forgetting to mark your seat post height in the frenzied melieu, or leaving the tools needed to reassemble everything when you arrive. Or perhaps you’re like me and you removed your handlebars only to lose a spacer somewhere along the way. This is where SciCon’s AeroComfort 3.1 Gravel Flight Bag piqued my interest as a bag that offers good protection while allowing me to keep my bike mostly in tact.
I’ve tested this bag for the past few weeks as I traveled to Canada–including Banff and Edmonton–and this deceptively simple bag just keeps impressing me. SciCon thought of pretty much everything when they designed the AeroComfort, and they’ve made it remarkably simple to pack a bike and roll it up to the luggage counter without too much stress or extra time.
Flying with my bike has always stressed me out; I’ve heard too many horror stories from a baggage-handler friend who works at our local airport. But the padding and extra protection of the AeroComfort 3.1 Gravel is just about the best option I have found for protecting my bike without having to find the space to store a full hard case. And we all know that handing your expensive bike over to a stranger who may not be super careful with it is stressful, so it’s best to err on the side of padding as much as possible. Despite being a soft-sided bag, my bike stayed secure and safe in the case through four separate flights. What this bag has over hard cases is that it rolls up into its own storage sack when you’re not using it, which means that it will fit much better in the trunk of a rental car/corner of a hotel room, or stowed in your garage when not in use. Since the case itself is structured on a lower frame with the bike and wheels filling out the height, stowing the bag is a simple matter of rolling it over itself and the lower mechanism.
SciCon calls this lower frame structure the Frame Defender, and it effectively secures your frame to the wheeled base while keeping a rigid stance that won’t allow your bike to flex and stress under a load. The wheels also make for easy rolling through parking lots and airports. Here’s an image direct from SciCon of what the frame looks like without the bag encasing it:
Simple Disassembly and Reassembly
The absolute best feature of this bag is the fact that you can leave your bars and seat installed. Disassembly could not be simpler and requires only removing the pedals and the wheels. On my recent trip to Banff, packing and unpacking my Canyon Grail into the Scicon bag was ridiculously simple, which I think is where this bag really shines. I simply removed my pedals–and put them in my cycling shoes for safekeeping–took out the SRAM battery from the rear derailleur (don’t forget to remove any other electronics while you’re at it), and pulled the brake rotors off my wheels. Now, you don’t necessarily need to do this since the wheel pockets are very well padded, but I figured I’d keep them true and safe just in case. Pulling off the rotors does require bringing an extra tool and a little time, but to me it’s well worth the peace of mind. Pro tip: make sure you have the cassette facing outward in the bag and not inward toward your frame–the bag has external armor of sorts that SciCon calls Durashield, and these are positioned on the outside of the case to protect delicate areas on the wheels like the cassette.
These external armor plates also sit outside to help shield the rear derailleur, and other vulnerable areas like the fork and shifters have extra padding affixed to the inside of the bag via velcro. The top tube and tops of the bars have wrapped foam padding that act as extra protection as well and also help protect your bike from the tightened straps that further secure the bike to the bag. Personally, I found these to be adequate, but
Scicon does also offer an extra protection kit for added padding for the rear triangle and bars. Depending on your budget, you might want to add this, or perhaps just wrap some pool noodles over the delicate areas of the bike to offer extra protection. I’ve also heard that some people inflate balloons and place them inside the bag. I’ve never tried this myself, but let me know if you’ve had success with this method.
Strapping the bike down is a simple matter of mounting your frame onto the rails via thru-axle mounts. Then, you go about strapping the provided padding to the bars, top tube, and saddle before using the straps to cinch everything down tightly. The case also comes with quick release adapters if your bike doesn’t use thru-axles or you have a non-standard axle that isn’t 12mm.
A Few Challenges To Consider
I had a little difficulty fitting the neoprene saddle cover onto my specific saddle. I use the 3D Printed Specialized Roman EVO Mirror in 155mm, which is a bit bulkier than some saddles and relatively wide. I assumed this was part of the difficulty in fitting the cover, but it may also have been the handy radar saddle mount that holds my Garmin Varia radar and tail light in place and sits on the saddle rails rather than on the seat post. Either way, I did get the cover to stay put, but it just didn’t fit the entire saddle. This didn’t seem to be a major issue since the strap that tightens down to secure the bike at the saddle fits through the cover itself, so I never had a problem with anything shifting.
Aside from just being in too big of a hurry and realizing I’d left my pedals on when trying to zip up the bag (it was still a pretty easy job removing them without having to take the bike out of the bag since you can still spin the cranks partway for access), I also found that my size might be a disadvantage (what’s new, right?). My 48cm bike did not quite fill out the space to make the case expand all the way, so I had a bit of sagging at the base. I ended up filling up a bit more space with my kits and some spare jackets that didn’t fit in my carry-on anyway, so it was not a huge issue, but something to be aware of.
Stowing Your Cycling Shoes & Helmet
The flight bag package also includes a separate wedge bag that is meant to fit the open space created by your frame. It’s an excellent way to store your padded/packaged rotors, tool roll, and any cycling extras you want to bring along. You can also, of course, stow your helmet and shoes in there, but I highly prefer taking those in my carry-on.
In fact, I’ve had a Scicon Dry Rain Bag for years that I absolutely love, and it’s been one of the most useful pieces of kit I’ve ever had. It keeps shoes, helmet, bibs, jerseys, warmers, hats, etc. all in one neat rectangle, and that’s what I use as a carry-on to make sure my helmet doesn’t get bashed around or my bike computer doesn’t get stolen. I leave all my cycling gear in it year-round, so it makes for a super easy grab if I’m driving to a ride or race. And don’t worry, Scicon isn’t paying me to say any of this–I’ve had the bag for over a decade, and it’s still like new and super strong.
Maximum Bike Sizes, Case Weight, and Specifications
The AeroComfort 3.1 Gravel is designed to accommodate the wider flared handlebars that come standard on many gravel bikes. Since I’m a smaller rider, my bike had zero trouble fitting even with the slight flare in the handlebars, and the bag fits bars up to 58cm in width.
The overall maximum length the top of the bag will take is 110cm from saddle to handlebars. Again, no problems fitting my 2XS Grail in the bag, but even test fitting my spouse’s 58cm Specialized Diverge fit with plenty of room to spare. But do note maximums if you’re a taller rider. For your frame size, the max height from dropout to top of the saddle is 75cm (pretty massive, but just to note especially if you’re really tall with an aggressive saddle height). In other words, most setups should fit just fine without any adjustments.
If you’re running a large gear or a two-by setup, the maximum chainring size is 56T, which is pretty big gearing for gravel, but you can definitely use this bag with a road setup as well–in fact, I would opt for this bag over the road version simply for the versatility in type of bikes it will accommodate.
A huge factor in airline bike cases is the overall weight of the bag, and this one comes in at just under 24lbs (10.7kg). I weighed it with my own bike and gear, and the scales hit almost 44 lbs. My airline of choice (Alaska) allows up to 70 lbs for checked bikes without added fees, so I had no trouble getting this through and was able to check it for free. That may or may not be true for your airline, so make certain you check the rules before packing and flying with your bike. Since my airline has such a high weight limit, I threw in some extra kit in the bag, which also gave me more piece of mind for padding.
Cool Features & Surprises
The flight bag also has a few extras like an a small interior pocket near the forks meant specifically for an AirTag or similar type of tracker. There’s also an extra zippered pocket on the exterior that is relatively narrow and deep, which could fit tools, pedals, or random things. Finally, a TSA approved lock is included as well as a mini pump, which might be a good idea to just leave in the exterior pocket on the off chance you forget one–especially since it’s good practice (and often required) to deflate your tires before flying with your bike.
There’s also a surprising amount of extras here with the multiple clip-on carry straps, zippable wings that allow for more space for your handlebars, QR skewers, and storage bag. Scicon thought of pretty much everything–add a multitool to the mix, and you’re pretty much set for any situation.
The Verdict
While the AeroComfort 3.1 Gravel is not as travel-proof as a full hard case might be, but this might be the best bike flight bag I have ever used. As of this writing, it’s on sale at $684, which is a pretty good deal as far as these cases go. The total simplicity and the thoughtful design make it a quick decision when it comes to choosing a bag, and the versatility of adding more padding or tossing in extra kit is a real win-win. Easy to wheel around, easy to pack, easy to unpack, Scicon made a serious contender here, and it was tough for me to find much fault in it. It definitely makes for a stress-free decision to take my bike when otherwise I might have left it alone and mourned our separation the entire time. Now, there’s no reason for us to vacation separately ever again.
Visit Scicon’s website for more specifications and buying options.
Leave a Reply