Scicon Aerocomfort 3.0 triathlon bike bag review

Hardshell cases tend to offer your bike more protection if you’re navigating the queues and baggage chuckers to fly to foreign climes to race or train.

Yet they’re hard to store at both the hotel and home, their appeal limited to those with double garages and/or very understanding partners.

That’s where a stashable loft-friendly softshell comes in, such as the Scicon Aerocomfort 3.0 Triathlon bag.

Scicon Aerocomfort 3.0 triathlon bike bag review

For those with triathlon bikes, the Aerocomfort’s USP is the internal bike stand, which means you can, once the wheels are removed, attach the remaining bike to the mounting mechanisms without needing to dismantle your integrated tri-bars (the bag’s sizing means that those going for the road bike/clip-on tri-bar option will need to remove the clip-ons first).

Happily, those mounts are suitable for both calliper and disc brake wheels.

As that £650 price for a softshell suggests, there are plenty of bells and whistles here in the form of protective pouches for bars, tubes and the saddle, while an included padlock and a gear bag for helmets, shoes, etc, adds to the welcome package.

Where the Aerocomfort falls down is leaving the front-end shifters more exposed and having a rear derailleur protector that isn’t compatible with disc-brake bikes, which seems an omission in 2022 and makes me worry about rear mech damage (an extra £60 gets you padded brake and gear covers).

The wheels and straps conquered a two-mile test walk through a Bristol heatwave, though, looking better than we did on arrival home.

Verdict: Points for triathlon specificity, but we have shifter concerns.

Score: 80%

Pair this with…

Topeak Mini 20 Pro Mini Tool

A bike tool is an invaluable piece of kit and it’s one that would undoubtedly come into its own when travelling with your bike, as it’ll allow you to perform certain tasks when you need to, such as putting your pride and joy back together when you land.

This Topeak option has a claimed weight of just 151g, yet has nearly a couple of dozen handy tools at your disposal. These include a chain tool, Allen wrenches, torx wrenches, screwdrivers, spoke wrenches, a tyre lever and an all-important bottle opener.