It wasn’t the Aerocomfort’s build quality that won our hearts – though there’s no question it’s a sturdy, well-designed piece of kit. And it wasn’t the speed at which you could pack your bike away, either, though with enough practise you could finish the job in around three minutes. No, what made us really fall in love with this bike bag was a mistake we made after the Maratona dles Dolomites.
We were tired. It’d been a big week. And when we missed the turn for the train station in Bolzano, it looked like we were also going to miss our train to Rome, which would mean missed flights and a lot of heartache. There was no Plan B for the 650km journey, and this was the last connection of the day.
Cue the sprint. There are other fine bike bags on the market, but there’s only one that could be so easily slung over a shoulder and hauled at pace up and down stairs, and along a crowded Italian railway platform. And there’s only one bag that could be tucked away neatly onboard at the last minute without upsetting a lot of people or blocking any corridors.
At less than 9kg, the Aerocomfort is light. Even fully loaded, most of us have probably owned bikes that were heavier. The internal base frame cradles the bike perfectly, protects against shocks and once the straps are all in place, holds everything securely. There’s even a sturdy derailleur cage to prevent against knocks. Tough Nylon makes it weatherproof and really resistant to wear and tear, and heavy reinforcement where it counts in the wheel pouches protect hubs and frame alike.
And thanks to its unique design, it’s also really compact. It can fit in the back of a small car and be carried on public transport without causing any fuss. Packed properly, the combination of its internal frame and the bike’s own structural strength should protect you precious machine from everything but a deliberately violent attack.
There are advantages to hard shells – Scicon’s Aerotech is practically bombproof – but for a lot of us, the softer option suits our lifestyles better. It takes up less space. It can be easily stored away when not in use, even in a downtown apartment. It’s easy to use – and when you’ve messed up and you’re in a rush, it won’t punish you for it (for which, we are eternally grateful). Basically, it begs you to take your bike with you wherever you go, and that makes it, in our opinion at least, a perfect real world companion.
