Ruster Armored Hen House
Does anyone have the Ruster Hen House (or armored hen house)?
If so:
1. How do you like it?
2. How hard is the disassembly/reassembly of your bike? Worth it?
3. Has any damage occurred from the airlines
4. What has been your experience on airline fees? Always treated like a regular checked bag, as they claim?
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1 - Traveled with it once now (IM 70.3 Cozumel, so internationally). Kept my bike safe, saved me on bike shipping fees, and gave me plenty of extra packing room.
2 - about 45 minutes down and 45 minutes back up. Not too hard to do if you're fairly capable in basic bike mechanical work. I had the race mechanic give it a once over just to make myself feel better (which was a challenge to do in broken Spanish)
3 - one trip only, and all I have is some scuffing on the outside of the wheel bag. That's probably partly due to my overstuffing it a little bit with clothing.
4 - both ways, treated it like any other bag. Leaving STL, they asked what it was, and I told them honestly (bike frame and bike wheels). Leaving CZM, they just said "bike, right?" and let it go. Transiting in ATL, they sent the frame as oversized in Customs, which meant it made it home on an earlier flight than I was on, but that was the only hiccup.
Overall, I'm happy so far. I'll be traveling with it in June to Hawai'i to race, so we'll have another chance to see.
@Don - I bought the armored Hen House last summer and used it for 1 trip. I was only charged the regular luggage rate, so it worked as advertised in that respect. The only additional disassembly with this case is the removal of the front brake and fork. I'm not super bike savy and i had no problems. I zip tied the headset bearings and spacers in order to mistake proof the reassembly and it worked fine. When i packed my bike i also wrapped it in pipe insulation and bubble wrap before inserting in the Hen House. My bike is a size Small speed concept and i had lots of extra room. With the Hen House you'll have 2 bags, one with the frame and one for both wheels. While it is a little cumbersome getting around the airport, the 2 bags makes car transportation pretty easy. Both bags fit in the truck of a full size rental car. The case itself is as durable as you're going to get for a soft sided case. The 20% EN discount code didn't work for me, so i emailed Rooster Sports and they just invoiced me directly with the 20% discount.
FWIW, I tried to order one in April and had a horrible experience with the company. I don't like to be negative, but thought I'd just mention it because another EN team member had a similar problems. The issue started with a bug in their online checkout process, and was exacerbated by their complete lack of customer service. They ended up shipping to the wrong address, but would not refund shipping fees for which they charged me $110.
I ended up purchasing another bike case and flew with it on 5 flights this year, all on American Airlines. DC Rainmaker has a very good post on how he travels with his bike bag and I followed his advice. Of those 5 flights, twice I checked my bike bag with no questions asked, and twice I was asked if it was a bike, to which I said yes, but the agent waived the charge...(being nice goes a long way). Also, keep in mind that with Ruster, you'll have to pay a second bag fee for the wheel bag, so for example by flying on American the 1st bag is $30 and the second is $35 for a total of $65.
Here's my cost breakdown. I ended up saving $380 this year by buying a regular bike bag. Note, I used the full price of Ruster's bag as they normally offer free shipping for purchases at full price, but with the EN discount you don't get free shipping, which almost negates the EN benefit. Additionally, every airline has different baggage fees, so I'd check the one you use the most before making a decision.
Costs Ruster Non-Ruster Diff
Bag Cost $625 $300 $325
Flight #1 Luggage Fee $65 $30 $35
Flight #2 Luggage Fee $65 $30 $35
Flight #3 Luggage Fee $65 $30 $35
Flight #4 Luggage Fee $65 $30 $35
Flight #5 Luggage Fee $65 $150 ($85)
Total $925 $570 $380
I have not had any damage to my bike. I have a Trek speed concept with integrated aerobars and di2 which makes the disassembly and reassembly process a little more challenging. It's not difficult once I figured out the steps, just time consuming and it helps to have someone hold to bike for me at a couple points during the process. I did screw up the reassembly the first time home by pinching one of the di2 wires when putting the aerobar back on which put it in the LBS for a couple weeks.
Overall, I'm happy with it but since it's such a hassle to pack/unpack and fly with a bike, when possible I pay the extra bit for tri bike transport. Unfortunately, tri bike doesn't go to some of the races I want to do so the Hen House is a good option.
I just used my Armored Hen House the first time this weekend for Challenge FL. First, the EN discount was for a limited period, so forget it. Wasn't advertised on the EN site that way and I knew I needed a case months ago, but didn't order till I needed it. So I was a bit angry over that. Ruster would not honor the discount. But I got the free shipping and they threw in a chain cover, worth about $5.
Taking it apart was easy- took about an hour the first time for this bike. When I did it the second time, the whole thing took 45 min total, from taking apart my x-lab wings on the saddle to breaking it all the way down and packing in the bag. You must take off the derailleur and the forks. Just be super careful that you know where everything goes so you can put it back. It comes with instructions and there is a video on their website. I took notes and pictures, but did not need them. Only about 30 min to put back together. It comes with foam, a bag for the deraileur, and straps for tying it all down. There was plenty of room to put in some clothes and my bottles and nutrition.
As far as flying, I went on Southwest and they guy didn;t even ask me what was in the bag. I put electrical tape over the rustersports.com logo on the bags. I'll see how the return flight goes tomorrow. I like the carbon and ergometer idea!
I thought it was supposed to come with a carry strap, but mine didn't. I've read some bad reviews about their customer service, and other than not honoring the discount, my experience was OK. But their website sucks. They really don;t publish a way to contact customer service and there is no phone number. After awhile on the website, I found and email and he gave me a phone number to call.