Travelling with Your Brompton: Cases and Solutions

1 hour ago
4 min read

"When a new rider first enquires about an overseas tour, you would expect their questions to be about the routes, the weather, and the experiences ahead. More often than not, the very first question is something quite different. How on earth do you travel with the bike?"

It is a fair question, because a bicycle looks like a bulky, awkward thing to take on a plane. The happy truth is that travelling with a Brompton is far easier than almost anyone expects. In fact, this is one of the very things the Brompton was born to do. We have flown many Bromptons across Asia, Europe and up into the Himalayas, again and again, and the bike always arrives ready to ride. Do it once and you will never think twice about it again.

A group of Brompton travel cases, hard case, soft case, makeshift case

The Most travel-ready bike there is

The Brompton is the most compact trifold on the market, and it was designed from the very start to be carried. It began life as a bicycle for the commuter and the train, and it has since become a bicycle for the world. Folded, a C Line packs down to roughly 585mm high, 565mm wide and 270mm deep, about the footprint of a large suitcase. Here is what that looks like.

That compact fold is the whole reason your bike can be checked into the hold of any international flight. So the real question is not whether you can travel with it, but which case to put it in.

After four years of near-constant travel, here are the three categories we rely on, and how to choose.

Hard Cases

Hard cases are rigid and offer the most protection. The most common model is the President case, though there are increasingly good newer options from Trigo and Vincita. The most important thing is that the case is large enough to actually fit your bike, especially if you ride an extended stem such as the H bar. In our experience the older B&W cases can be a little too narrow. You can get creative and remove the saddle to make it work, but the President case simply offers more room.

The advantage is obvious: a hard shell that shrugs off knocks. The trade-off is weight. A hard case weighs in at around 6kg on its own, which eats into your luggage allowance before you have packed a thing. We especially recommend hard cases for owners of the T Line, which deserves that extra protection, and for travel to Europe or other Western nations, where baggage handling tends to be a good deal less gentle. This is a Brompton travel case built for the rough and tumble.

Tour participant sleeping near a pile of brompton travel hard cases

Soft Cases

Soft cases come in many forms, but the two we reach for most are the Vincita soft travel case and the Brompton original travel case. They give sufficient coverage for the journey, though because they are soft there is some risk of damage if the cases are stacked one on top of another in the hold. Their great advantage is weight. A good soft case comes in under 2.5kg, and it collapses down to almost nothing once you have unpacked, which is a real bonus on tour. We tend to choose soft cases for travel to Asian destinations and shorter distances.

Vincita soft case near a dark grey brompton bike

The Makeshift Brompton box

Then there is our favourite little secret, the makeshift Brompton box. We keep about four of these, each fitted with castor wheels. Our thinking is simple. If the box was good enough to ship the bike safely around the world in the first place, it is good enough for a few more trips. It is a wonderful way to repurpose your old Brompton box, the fit is naturally perfect, it is light, and it gets the job done without costing you a thing.

Brompton bike inside a makeshift case in a support van

Neatly packed brompton travel hard case with a folded brompton bike, snacks and gear

It is not only the case, it is how you pack

Whichever case you choose, how you pack the bike matters just as much.

One hard-won example: we would never recommend putting your helmet inside a soft case. We have seen far too many helmets come out with serious dents. In a hard case, or in a Brompton box if you can fit one in, a helmet travels perfectly safely. Small choices like this are the difference between arriving ready to ride and arriving with a repair on your hands.

Borrow before you commit

All three solutions have been tried and tested over four years of regular travel, so you do not have to learn any of this the hard way. And if you would like to travel with your Brompton but do not own a case, or simply have nowhere to store one between trips, we keep a wide selection available to rent.

Drop in and have a look, tell us where you are heading, and we will match you to the right case. Let the logistics of travelling with your bike be the very least of your worries, so you can get back to the far more enjoyable business of planning the ride.