TESTED: Thule RoundTrip Traveler bike bag

All photos by Tim Bardsley-Smith

Thule have done a great job making sure you can transport your bike on your car to all sorts of places, but their expanding range has moved into backpacks, duffle bags, panniers and racks, and some very interesting bike bags. Last year, the Thule RoundTrip range was launched, with the hard case Transition and the Pro below it. Both bags were unique in that their internal frame converted into a workstand for assembly and maintenance at your destination.

The RoundTrip Traveler has just been released, it's a soft case with wheels and a firm base, designed to transport your bike just as easily as the other two models, but at a lower price and lighter weight.

Sizing up the Traveler

The Traveler is a well-finished bag. It's nice and wide at the back where wheels are, and for the wheel pockets. The width makes it very stable to wheel along, and there's plenty of room for wider stance frames (hello Boost) in the bike bag. The outside is also covered with handles, as at some point you need to lift bike bags in and out of vehicles or onto oversize luggage conveyer belts.

The Traveler weighs 7.7kg – bang on half the weight of the Transition hard case model. While not a consideration for some travellers, for many that's a big deal. Regardless, it's still very well constructed, and doesn't come across as 'lightweight'. There are compartments for each wheel, and 3 internal pockets for stashing spares, tools and pedals. Along with a fork mount for standard QR, 15mm and 20mm axles (all at 100mm), there's also adjustable straps and a moveable pad to rest the BB on. Bring some sort of travel axle to place in the rear drop outs and your bike is super stable inside the bag.

Traveler on the road… or trail

All the RoundTrip range have a wheelbase maximum of 116.8cm, which might limit the bikes that fit. My 29er Bianchi Methanol FS, was at 113cm was fine, but you might run into trouble on 29” bikes with 130mm travel or more. Turning the fork 180 degrees and taking the brake caliper off is a pretty easy way to make things work. Besides, the less your bike moves around in the bag the better. I turned my fork anyway as getting the QR15 axle in from the non-drive side of the bike was not going to happen, as it is I had to push the reinforced base down. The bag comes with mounts for a regular quick release or 20mm axle too. The modular axle mount system should easily work with adaptors for Boost 110mm spacing when they're available too.

It's worth using some padding where you secure your bars on the frame, whether you take the stem off or the handlebars (I take the stem off as I don't like clamping and unclamping carbon bars all the time). I also took my chain off, and my derailleur. You probably don't need to, but it is more secure. I chose to take my seatpost out, but if you had a dropper, putting it as low as possible would be fine. The bike sits very firmly in place, which is exactly what you want. The straps are adjustable in their location and length, so fitting different sized bikes and frame designs is unlikely to be an issue. Of note, the wheel pockets took 29” wheels with 2.2” tyres inflated. Infact, putting a wheel in the far pocket first really helps the bag hold its shape for packing.

The small pockets at the end were perfect for pedals and basic tools. The larger one is meant for shoes but even size 44 weren't going in there. There was plenty of room in the bag for clothes, helmet, shoes and spares though – I put them in bags to help keep it secure and clean.

Travel tested

My bike travelled safely, and I didn't need to take my bike apart too much to travel. Packing wasn't like 3D Tetris and wheeling the bag was easy. There's lots of room inside the bag for extra gear, but even with some clothing, shoes, tools and basic spares I went over the the 23kg weight limit. So you do need to pack savvily, or just book extra luggage in advance. The Thule RoundTrip Traveler did make all the time between packing your bike and building it simple. It was easy to roll around, and it looked after my bike and gear. But for a couple of hundred dollars and a couple of kilos, the Pro version would be worth looking at too.

Hits:

• Great construction and design
• Very easy to use and pack into
• 29er friendly

Misses:

• Could still be a lot of your weight limit
• Might not fit big wheeled, big travel bikes

RRP: $599

From: www.thule.com.au

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