Review: Post Carry Co 135L Transfer Case
The Post Carry Co Transfer Case is one of the most compact for full sized bicycles, coming very close to the Ritchey Break-Away Bike Travel Bag in total packed size.
Pros: Compact size, extremely portable.
Cons: Full disassembly and mechanical know how required.
Who’s it for?
If you are in a rush and just need the TLDR version, here’s the gist of who would find the Transfer Case indispensable:
You’re the type of person who always wants to bring a bike with you on bike trips.
You have a fair degree of mechanical know how – building up bikes and tinkering with bikes are activities you enjoy doing.
You need the bike case to be compact and maneuvarable – easy to bring into taxis and trains.
You also need the bike case to be fairly compact when it needs to be put into storage.
For more details, read on below!
Post Carry Co 135l Transfer Case Overview
The smaller version of Post Carry Co’s two Transfer Cases, this case is designed to fit full sized road and gravel bicycles of up to 56cm. The 50L is the bigger version, fitting bikes up to size 62cm. Inside, everything is fully protected and fully compartmentalised, ensuring the disassembled bicycle has an extremely low risk of damage in transit to your destination.
Construction
As a soft shell case, the Post Carry Co 135L Transfer Case is pretty well built, with rigid polycarbonate honeycomb plastic panels and thick PE foam padding with a 420D polyester liner all around. These provide structure to the bag itself while also doing double duty as crush protectors. The fabric material is a combination of 420d polyester and 1680d ballistic nylon, designed to remain durable for years of traveling. Inside, there are axle protectors designed to prevent the axles from rubbing the bike frame and damaging the bag.
A protective flap at the top has been added to keep the main zipper head and TSA lock covered in transit, which is a nice extra bit of protection since we have found that the lock itself can indeed go missing despite it’s actual purpose being to safeguard the contents of the bag itself. All zippers on the Transfer Case are abrasion resistant YKK zippers. The five handles on the outside of the case are also reinforced so they don’t rip easily during handling.
Ease of Packing
The Post Carry Co 135L Transfer Case is definitely NOT the easiest travel case to pack, requiring pretty extensive disassembly of your bike, packing and unpacking. While it’s main selling point is compactness and portability, this means the bike has to be taken apart completely to be able to fit in such a compact package. Give yourself at least 45 minutes to one hour to disassemble and pack your bike, especially if you’re doing it for the first time. Scroll to the bottom for our step-by-step youtube video. While we are using a Fezz Cycles frame with the Ritchey Break-Away system, packing the whole bike is pretty much the same with just one less step of dismantling the frame itself. Full bikes fit in without a problem (do check the sizing before purchasing).
Overall, you do spend a fair bit of time packing and unpacking, while those without mechanical know how will struggle to handle it on their own unless the case is sent to a bike shop for packing and unpacking by a certified shop mechanic. Instructions are printed on the inside of the case, which are pretty straightforward and therefore easy to follow for those who are capable of doing the dismantling and reassembly themselves.
Note: Since the bike requires full disassembly, Post Carry has cautioned that fully integrated cables or hoses (that go inside the stem or through the headset/headtube), means your bike is NOT compatible with the Transfer Case, unless you have mechanical magic to disassemble a fully integrated handlebar and fork.
Protection
Despite being a soft shell bag with only a rigid base, the Post Carry Co 135L Transfer Case offers splendid protection, owing to the fact that the whole bike is disassembled inside. Taken apart and fully packed, the bike is less likely to get damaged due to impact because it is in pieces, tucked away and protected by padding. We may use some of our Ritchey Break-Away Travel Case frame protectors for that extra bit of security, but in actuality the Post Carry case has sufficient padded wraps for the chainstay and frame, and the rest of the bike.
There are multiple padded zippered compartments and straps within to keep the small parts from moving around in the case, while the wheels are separated from the frame within their own independent compartments. From a dedicated rear derailleur pouch to pockets for the pedals, brake rotors and even tools - everything is protected nicely and organised perfectly.
Portability
The Post Carry Co 135L Transfer Case is one of the most portable bike cases with the exception of the Ritchey Break-Away travel case thanks to its compact size. It will fit into the trunk of most taxis and sedans without a problem, although two or more of the same cases would require some tetris work to fit in a single vehicle. For reference, the Post Carry Co case measures 92L x 72H x 23D cm, just slightly longer than the square Ritchey case, which measures 79L x 67H x 22D cm.
The Post Carry case generally stays upright when you are wheeling it, but you do need to ensure anything heavy is at the bottom or near the base to weigh it down. The case isn’t very wide, which makes it easy to move around tight spaces, but proper weight distribution is important so it is less likely to tip over. The Post Carry’s five reinforced handles make it easier to load and unload because it has more handles to grab on to.
There is one issue in terms of portability, namely when it comes to wheeling the Transfer Case around. The case only comes with two wheels at the rear corner, meaning the user is supporting at least half of the total weight of the bike. For short distances this wouldn’t be a deal breaker but navigating train or bus platforms could be quite tiring, especially with heavier bikes. Even wheeling the case along the pedestrian walk 600m from our hotel to our bus pick-up point took a bit of time. Perhaps a front wheel attachment like the Evoc Bike Bag clip-on wheel would be a good solution.
A bonus feature that only the Transfer Case has: it even includes straps for you to wear as a backpack! The shoulder straps are tucked away behind zippered pockets when not in use, so they remain hidden until you actually need them. Ultimately you should only be wearing it as an oversized backpack if transporting a lightweight road bike, since it is a lot of weight without proper waist straps for support. However, this feature is a good one to have nonetheless.
Compactness
As stated above, the Transfer Case measures 92L x 72H x 23D cm, which makes it the smallest bike case in the market for full frames that are not Ritchey Break-Away bikes or frames that have S&S couplers. At some airports they will even come out at the normal baggage claim conveyor belt with all the other passenger luggage, despite being oversized. If within the check-in luggage weight allocation, the Transfer Case generally doesn’t incur any extra airline fees on the Asian side of the world, and Post Carry says it is usually within flight requirements for North America carriers too.
When empty, the Post Carry Co Transfer Case can be rolled into the size of a large backpack, which means storing it when not in use is pretty easy too. This isn’t something you can do with most bike cases - even the Scicon Aerocomfort 3.0 takes up a fair bit of space in storage when it is rolled up. Another bonus to this compact size is when it comes to forwarding the case via a delivery or postal service. We’re not fans of using bulky carboard boxes, so we never travel with them (save for that one flight returning home from Langkawi - NEVER AGAIN!). The Post Carry case will incur less forwarding fees since it is smaller and lighter (see below) than any other case in the market.
Weight
The Post Carry Co Transfer Case weighs in at 5.4kg for the 135L version, although both it and the chunkier 150L are under 6kg. This makes both Post Carry bags the lightest and most compact travel bags for full sized bicycles. Unless your bikes are extraordinarily heavy or you’ve overpacked, the total weight of the packed case should not exceed most airline check-in luggage regulations.
Price
The Post Carry Co Transfer Case is priced at USD400 (for both 135L and 150L sizes), which isn’t exactly on the cheap side. However, considering the ingenuity of the design and its peers in the soft case category and similar bike cases, we consider it worth the price.
