Scicon Aerocomfort 2 TSA bike bag review

In this Scicon Aerocomfort 2 TSA bike bag review review, we'll look at why version 2 of the Scicon Aerocomfort is a big improvement on the original version and why I think the Scicon Aerocomfort 2 TSA is probably the best bag on the bike travel bag market.

Firstly, I want to give a HUGE thanks to Scicon for sending a bag out for the Scicon Aerocomfort 2 TSA bike bag review.

Notes:

• I'll have a Scicon Aerocomfort 2 TSA bike bag review on video and a how-to-pack video soon.
• Remember, this is a subjective review, based on transparent objective measures, and real world experience. You may disagree, you may agree; either way, I'd love your feedback.
• I've personally taken a Scicon Aerocomfort Plus (V1) overseas and on several domestic flights. I am yet to travel with the Aerocomfort 2 TSA bike bag but I can easily identify the improvements in the newest version of the bag. The functionality is essentially unchanged but the quality is much better.

What I Look For in Bike Bags

In the list below, you'll see the metrics I use to rate bike bags.

All of these metrics, except price, contribute to the overall utility and user experience of the bag.

Check out my how to choose a bike bag article for more information on what I look for in a bike travel bag.

Some of these metrics are more important that others. And obviously, you may think some of them are not important at all.

This Scicon Aerocomfort 2 TSA bike bag review covers almost everything I'd want to know about a bike bag. For this reason, the review is very in-depth: if you want to just skip to the section of most interest to you, use the section numbers and headings below.

Check out all the VeloNomad bike bag reviews when you're done.

1. Mobility/portability (ease in moving it around airports etc)
2. Convenience
3. Stability
4. Compactability
5. Weight/Size
6. Robustness/Build Quality
7. Protection for bike
8. Adjustability
9. Storage
10. Securing the bike
11. Overall design considerations
12. Price
13. Summary
14. Who Should Buy This Bag
15. Where to Buy

The Complete Scicon Aerocomfort 2 TSA bike bag review

Cutting to the Chase – Video

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What Comes with the Scicon Aerocomfort 2 TSA

The bike bag ships with the following items. All are pictured below and throughout the post. Actually, not shown below are the 3 x foam protectors: I'll update the below photo with those shortly. However, they appear in some photos throughout the review.

• Bike bag cover, for storage
• Foam frame protectors x 3
• Rear derailleur (“DR”) protector: more comments on this below
• Front and rear skewers
• Spare castor wheel
• Seat protector

Mobility and Maneuverability

The Scicon Aerocomfort 2 TSA bike bag is the best bike bag on the market for mobility of the bag itself. (In other reviews I variously refer to this as “agility” or “portability”.)

With 4 castor wheels, it turns on a dime and is never a hassle to move around.

The castors have been significantly improved in V2 of this bag: they are bigger and more robust.

The BikND Helium (which I also have—BikND Helium Review here) is also great in this respect; but the Aerocomfort 2 TSA is just that little bit better.

Where it really excels is airport queues, particularly check-in, as well as transit and transfers.

There's no lifting, no carrying, no dragging or struggling with a hefty bag.

Convenience and Packing

It's very important that it's fast and easy to pack and unpack your bike.

Once you're on your trip, it makes transits—for example on trains and planes—much easier as you can pack quicker.

Being able to unpack the bike is a real advantage on shorter duration trips too, because you waste less time.

It's also good when you arrive and get going right away. For example, when I flew to Adelaide from Melbourne for the Tour Down Under, I arrived at the hotel in the morning before my check-in time. I had the bike set up quickly, and was able to go riding to watch the race with minimal delay.

It's also really nice to get in from a long haul flight, like a flight from Australia to Europe, then quickly have the bike set up for a quick ride to blow the cobwebs out.

Packing your bike in the Scicon Aerocomfort 2 TSA is really easy. All you need to do is:

1. Take the wheels off.
2. Secure the bike on the internal mounting frame, with the rear D/R protector on.
3. Add some bubble wrap to sensitive areas, and frame protectors.
4. Take skewers out of the wheels, putting the wheels in their compartments.
5. Do up the internal straps, add bubble wrap to sensitive areas, and you're done!

The best part is there's no need to take the bars off and wrangle them into place.

Because you don't need to break down your bike as much as other bike bags, you can take less tools with you.

All up, packing your bike in the Aerocomfort 2 TSA should take 20 minutes at the most.

Unpacking is even faster.

Whilst some people simply take the wheels off, secure the bike and strap it in, there a few extra things you can do to further protect your bike.

• Take the pedals off. Not entirely necessary, but depends on the pedals you have. I used to do this to prevent an impact from the side but I think that's redundant.
• Lower the seat or remove it entirely (more on this later).
• Loosen the handlebar screws and roll the bars forward (more on this later).
• If you're really paranoid, you can loosen off your levers too. This means they'll swing inward if they get knocked, which is better than them breaking. I just add loads of bubble wrap to this area and skip this step.
• Unscrew the rear D/R during step 2 above, and tape it to the down-stays. That adds 2 minutes. I'll discuss why this is smart, later in the review.

Stability

This bike bag is reasonably stable.

The wheel base is wide enough to prevent it falling over, which is a problem with some bike pods.

Compactability

The Scicon Aerocomfort 2 TSA packs down into a fairly small package (given its size).

You could further compress it with some occy straps or straps.

It comes supplied with a bike bag bag, and the bike bag is easy to roll up and get into the bag. You won't find yourself trying to squash the bike bag into its case.

That the bike bag packs down is useful if you have a hire car, campervan or want to leave your bike bag stowed out of the way in some accommodation.

Below you can see how the bag packs down compared to a wheel.

Weight and Size

Another important factor in choosing a bike bag is the weight and size. This bike bag weighs a mere 7.5kg on my scales (6.9kg claimed). It is one of the lightest on the market.

The size is about as small as you could hope for given how the bike is housed (the handlebars stay in-situ).

And compared to other bags like the EVOC Bike Travel Bag (my EVOC Bike Travel Bag Review here), it is quite narrow and not very long.

Now, does the Scicon Aerocomfort 2 TSA fit in a car?

If you're an Aussie or from North America (and used to having a roomier car), you will probably have no problems getting this bike bag into the back of your car.

I have a Subaru Forrester so it fits in easily.

For those of you used to smaller cars—those from the UK are a good example—be aware you might struggle to get this into the boot (aka trunk) of your car.

For a bike bag, this is quite small, but compared to a little car's boot, it's quite big.

If you're booking a hire car at your destination, make sure you hire a station wagon or small van.

Most of the Euro station wagons like Peugeots, will fit this bag, and other luggage.

Robustness, Longevity and Build Quality

I'm glad to have had the chance to do this Scicon Aerocomfort 2 TSA review. This is because the Aerocomfort 2 TSA bike bag makes very significant improvements in build quality over the previous version of the bag.

Admirably, in every area I highlighted as an issue on Version 1 of this bag, Scicon has fixed the issue. (After reading this review, read the AeroComfort 2 TSA review to appreciate how much of an improvement V2 is.)

Improvements include:

• The quality of the castor wheels, and how the attach to the bag, are much better. You also now get a spare wheel.
• Zips: the old zips were of smaller gauge and flimsy. Not so these ones. Even the zip tags are nice and chunky.
• Straps: padded and more robust.
• Bash guards: bash guard material around the base (sides) of the bag.
• Base material: now with waterproof material and a plastic insert to prevent impact penetration.
• Internal straps: new extra straps to hold handlebars down instead of old one that went around the front forks.
• There's also now plastic discs covering the wheel hubs.

About the only niggle now is how the front strap and carry straps attach to the bag.

The external strap used to tow the bike bag—an important part of its utility and usability—is attached with a plastic D ring and clip.

These can easily break due to impact or excessive force.

For minimal cost these could be swapped to aluminium which would hugely add to the quality and longevity.

As a sidenote, make sure you pack the strap away when you hand the bag over to airline staff, to prevent it catching on something and breaking. This advice is actually embroidered on the straps…cool!

Below you can see how the castors are secured to the frame.

I'd still like to see the top tube straps attached to the mounting frame proper, instead of the wheel compartments.

In my view, this change would help hold the bike down into the frame better. What I mean by this is, when you tighten the straps they pull the sides in and the bike down a little. If the straps were attached to the bike bag frame, rather than the bag sides, they would provide extra down-force on the bike and secure it harder against the mounting frame.

Below, you can see the buckle and strap on the wheel compartments.

The handlebar and seat (or rear stay straps if you remove your seat) attach to the frame, and the top tube ones ought to as well.

It would be good to see the plastic tongue and clip replaced with some sort of aluminium or composite alternative (similar to roof rack Rhino tie downs like these).

In 2009, I arrived in Frankfurt and found the plastic clips had decoupled. The bike had come off the frame mounts and was resting on the rear derailleur.

Mind you, this was version 1 of the bag; this version has the handlebar straps and the seat strap (which replaces straps across the rear stay).

So, all in all, you can lock the bike down very well.

There's now a strap to that goes up and over the seat. This is useful if you leave your seat in. It really helps lock the bike down (perhaps mitigating the top tube strap a little).

If you take your seat and seat post out, you can wrap it around the top tube as I've shown. Maybe put some bubble wrap or a bit of material around the frame to protect it.

The internal fabric is still lightweight in places, but the contact points at the wheel compartments is tougher.

Whilst it's not the same level as the surfboard bag foil used in the EVOC and BikND, it's more than adequate.

The external fabric is tough ripstop (or its close equivalent). There's bash guard material (as seen on the EVOC Bike Travel bag) in exposed areas, which is awesome.

One other little niggle is the front material hanging over the castor. If you pack the bag out a bit, you might be ok. This was an issue in V1 of the bag, too, and lead me to say that these parts of the bag would get worn out. On the Aerocomfort 2 TSA, though, the front material has bash guard material, so you last longer.

Protection for bike

Bike frame

There is adequate padding in the sides of the bike bag. There are two removable medium density pads which protect the hoods.

Here's a shot of the pads from version 1 of the bag: yep, they used to be yellow. This better illustrates where they are.

The entire bag has padding throughout.

Whilst there's not the same level of protection as the BikND, it's perfectly adequate.

The bike bag ships with 3 foam cylinders/pads which are to protect the frame and forks. Because I am a silly Tim, I didn't get any photos with any on the Tarmac, but here is a shot of the exact padding from Version 1 of this bag, on my Look.

The wheels fit into padded, zippered compartments on each side of the bike, protecting the frame. Take travel or commuting wheels, so that if they get a knock, there's no great loss. Yes, you'd rather cheaper wheels take a knock than a frame.

The wheel compartments have external plastic discs to protect the hubs.

I'd add some bubble wrap (or an old sheet or towel) to the forks, the rear stays and handlebars for extra protection. Be aware that most other bike bags, except hard case bike pods, need to have extra padding too, so this isn't an oversight by Scicon.

Hoods, Levers, Bars

I used version 1 of this bag for my trip to France in 2009. Upon my return home, I found my bars bent (alloy bars, luckily) and the right hand side shifter/hood assembly (Ultegra) had been smashed inwards.

Upon consulting with a friend, he reported the same experience.

Don't get me wrong, I've travelled with the Aerocomfort Plus (version 1) and not had this issue. This means it's not the fault of the bag per-se, as baggage is damaged in transit all the time.

However, if you are paranoid about this sort of thing, loosen your hoods off a bit. If they get knocked hard, they'll spin round rather than break (hopefully). For Shimano hoods it's not as important, as both levels click in. But on SRAM, where the brake lever doesn't act as a shifter, a well-placed knock might snap the lever.

To save mucking around with the hoods, loosen your stem nuts off and rotate your bars forward so the hoods are effectively at the “bottom” of (or underneath) the bars. Alloy bars and stem are highly recommended for travel.

Obviously, all this fiddling around adds extra time. Personally, I'd just roll the handlebars forward, add a lot of bubble wrap, and if there's damage, make an insurance claim.

Rear Derailleur

The bike bag ships with a rear D/R protector that is supposed to sit flush in the rear dropout and protect your rear D/R.

The protector has a funny shape that prevents it from sitting flush in the dropout in some bikes (like a Look 586 I used to have). The means it sits “off” the frame, and the provided skewers aren't long enough so basically it's rendered not usable.

The protector fits in my Tarmac though, so your mileage may vary. Note, in the image below, the protector sits right against the derailleur cage. You might want to put a piece of cloth between them, or, as I say, take the D/R off entirely.

If you leave the D/R in situ, the bag might not long enough to provide enough room for your rear D/R cable. Your rear D/R cable and probably rear D/R may get knocked. Don't say I didn't warn you. Even with padding, you risk damage.

To be sure that your rear D/R won't be damaged, unscrew it (2 minutes work), and tape it to a downstay after wrapping in bubblewrap. Easy.

This will free up extra space for padding for the rear of your bike. A 2 minute job will provide peace of mind.

Merlin Cycles Scicon search has Scicon's chain protector, which holds the chain taut, would be useful in this situation to keep the chain from going everywhere.

Typically, I put some cloth around the chain stays to prevent chain grease going on them, then tape some bubble wrap around the chain.

Seat

In the pictures below showing my old Look in V1 of this bag, my seat is about as low as it can go due to the proprietary seat-post geometry and the down tube geometry. If the seat received a downward impact of enough force, the post would be jammed into the frame. For standard shaped posts, this isn't so much of an issue.

You have a few options here.

1. Lower your post down.
2. Remove it entirely, wrap in bubblewrap, and tape to the downtube.
3. Leave it in-situ, and hope it's all ok.

On my newer bike, I'd just lower it a bit and put some bubble wrap around it.

Adjustability

The Scicon Aerocomfort 2 TSA will fit most road bikes, given that the front arm that the forks attach to slides forward and backward (inside a metal sleeve).

Note, bikes with handlebars wider than 45cm won't be able to have the bars remain in-place. That is, you'll need to undo the bars. Note, Scicon can custom make a bag to fit bars wider than this, but it's not ideal as wider bags cause sag in some parts of the bag.

The only question mark here, is the amount of “play” or spare room in the front of the bike bag. With my 52cm Tarmac frame in the bag, there is about 4cm of spare room in front of the forks into which I can put padding. If you have a larger bike, particularly one where the geometry results in the forks being thrust forward more (head tube angle, rake), you might have an issue.

With my 52cm Tarmac in place there's not a lot of room though. But, I reckon it could move forward another 4cm or so, which would accommodate an awfully large bike.

However, if there was a problem you'd probably find it in reviews on the ‘net, and I haven't noticed widespread comments online.

The rear metal support structure is an arm through which a skewer (supplied) passes and secures the rear of the bike. The rear stand is not adjustable but there is ample room between it and the rear material of the bag for some padding, if you remove the rear D/R (more on this later).

You might struggle to get a mountain bike, triathlon or larger sized bike (especially with integrated seat posts) in this bag. My personal feeling is you're better off looking at a Scicon mountain bike bag or Scicon triathlon bag (links at the end of the post).

Storage

There is ample space in this bag to store some of your gear. You can add kit and clothing in order to help protect the bike.

There is only one internal pocket which in my opinion is in an awkward position and is not big enough. I'd guess it's for your wheel skewers and probably pedals.

Bike bags need big, big stash pockets and lots of 'em! I'd still love to see a couple of stash pockets added internally.

There's actually a lot of room, but not too much. And in actual fact, its smaller size is a bonus. This is because it helps stop you packing too much stuff in the bag. Other bags, like the EVOC Bike Travel Bag, have a lot of room. So, you tend to put a lot of stuff in them, and they get very bulky.

Securing the bike

Securing your bike in the Aerocomfort 2 TSA is very easy.

1. Secure the front and rear dropouts on the appropriate stands with provided (or your own) skewers.
2. Attach straps over seat or double wrap around top tube.
3. Attach straps around handlebars.
4. Attach strap over top tube.

Overall design considerations

The Scicon Aerocomfort 2 TSA bike bag makes it absolutely painless to get your bike in and out.

I can't think of another bike bag that provides such a rapid pack/unpack process.

The zips are in the right spots. The straps are adequate in number and properly located.

The bag is balanced and stable. It moves around easily.

The bike stands up when you're packing it which is great. This means you don't need to awkwardly half-lie it on its side (like the BikND Helium, EVOC Bike Travel Bag).

There's no need to take your pedals off. If you have wider pedals, you might take them off: see the photo below for how much room there is between the crank and side of the bag.

From a design, ease of use, and overall usability point of view, it's well thought out and executed.

The quality is there and the bag is well constructed.

Price

Let's face it: this bike bag is at the upper end of the price scale.

It's certainly not the most expensive bike bag on the market, and there are plenty cheaper (you get what you pay for though).

However, given the price (circa AUD$500 online), and how great the bag is to use, I think it's excellent value for money.

Scicon Aerocomfort 2 TSA bike bag review: Summary

This bag is fantastic.

The mobility and weight of the Scicon Aerocomfort 2 TSA are bloody fantastic. Market leading.

I cannot speak highly enough of how easy this bike bag is to wheel around airports. It's a joy.

The weight is a huge plus given airline baggage limits these days.

It's SO easy to get your bike out of the bag and set up ready to go in double time. The more you use it, the more proficient you'll get.

With the fixes to the Scicon Aerocomfort 2 TSA bike bag from V1 of this bag, I think this is now the best bike bag on the market.

Who Should Buy This Bag

If you aren't really price conscious, fly with your bike a lot and want something that is going to last multiple trips, this bike bag is for you.

Regardless of whether you travel a lot, or not much at all, or if you only fly interstate, international, or both, this bag is for you.

If convenience and being able to pack and unpack your bike quickly is of paramount importance to you, get this bag.

What about other bikes?

I get a lot of questions about whether a particular bike bag will fit an ISP bike, XL bike, mountain bike or triathlon/TT bike.

So will the Scicon Aerocomfort 2 TSA bike bag fit a mountain bike? Probably.

But a better bet, is to check out the Scicon Aerocomfort MTB bike bag (links below).

As for TT bikes, the reality is that a lot of TT bikes, won't fit into this bike bag (especially those with integrated seat posts).

So check out the Scicon Triathlon Bike Bag (links below).

And for those with extra large or ISP frames, the amount of room from the rear mounting point to the top of the bag is about 74cm. From the front mounting point to the top is about 62cm.

Don't hold me to those numbers! I eyeballed a tape measure just before a very threatening thunderstorm opened on us.

Where to Buy

The links below are affiliate links.

The affiliate links on this site and the small commissions they garner help keep the site going and importantly help create reviews like this.

Reviews like this Scicon AeroComfort 2 TSA review are a pretty significant investment in time. If you don't want to click an affiliate link, head on over to Google to find where to buy the Scicon Aerocomfort 2 TSA.

The links below mostly land you on the Scicon search results pages. I used to link to exact products but the major online retailers turn these bags over and reassign new landing pages too often to keep up with.

Simply open the links below, and choose one that is best for you.

Thanks you guys for using these links: they don't cost you a cent and the loose change the retailers shake out of their pockets our way help a lot.

• Wiggle Scicon search
• Merlin Cycles Scicon search
• PBK Scicon search: PBK also has spare parts
• Chain Reaction Cycles
• Evans Cycles
• Competitive Cyclist
• Backcountry.com
• [easyazon_link identifier=”B005DHB64O” locale=”US” nw=”y” nf=”n” tag=”velonomad2-20″ cart=”y” localize=”y” popups=”y”]SCICON Aero Comfort Plus 2.0 TSA Air Travel Bike Bag[/easyazon_link]