[lmm]

> If you fly with a bike then you’ll want a hard, padded case for it, like one of these[1].

Sure, but flying is very much an occasional thing; you have to semi-disassemble a bike to put it in a case like that, and generally reckon on having to do a shakedown ride after you've unpacked it (at least I do). Putting it in a box every time would not be practical.

> I also keep my best bike (I, er, have several) in the house. i.e. a temperature controlled room.

That's not unknown but not exactly normal; you must admit having several bikes is pretty extreme in itself. If you're not on the ground floor then knocking the bike against a wall or doorframe on the way in or out is almost inevitable, whereas I certainly wouldn't want to do the same to a musical instrument. I suspect the majority of people who are using a bike as day-to-day transport would keep that bike in, at best, an unheated garage.

[Lio]

The bike I use for commuting is a Brompton. Folding it up to put in its padded bag takes less than 30 seconds and I do that every time I put it away in my hall. I don't own a flight case for it but they exist and don't require disassembly to use.

I'm not saying that everyone does this, just that treating a bike like a musical instrument isn't that far fetched an idea.

> you must admit having several bikes is pretty extreme in itself.

I'm in a bike club. I know so many people with more than one bike it's not even a joke any more. N+1 and all that.

[lmm]

> Folding it up to put in its padded bag takes less than 30 seconds and I do that every time I put it away in my hall.

But you leave it unboxed for 8 hours at the other end, right? I don't think any musician would do that with their instrument.

> I don't own a flight case for it but they exist and don't require disassembly to use.

Sure, because it's a dedicated folding bike. Will this bamboo bike go in a flight case without any disassembly?

[Lio]

> Will this bamboo bike go in a flight case without any disassembly?

Yeah if you want that. BikeBoxAlan have a case you put a bike into and only need to remove the wheels[1].

If you'd discount that because of such minor disassembly you'd have to discount the minor disassembly of putting a flute or Sax in it's box too.

As I said though, you don't have to treat the bike like that but you could easily if you wanted to.

1. https://www.bikeboxalan.com/product/triathlon-easyfit/?v=79c...

[lmm]

And you'd what, stash a second box at the office? Always have a support car? Only do circular rides from home?

I'm sure there are some people whose lifestyle lets them treat a bicycle like a musical instrument. I really don't think most people could do it, not while riding with any real frequency. I count myself lucky that my office has underground bicycle parking (and we're still talking wheel-bender racks next to the A/C exhaust vents). I stand by the statement that a bicycle that needs to be looked after that carefully isn't, by the usual standards of such things, a practical bicycle.

[Lio]

Of course I don't keep a second box at the office. Likewise I know very few people that keep a piano in a flight case when they're not transporting it.

I actually do have bikes that I only take on circular rides because of their value and I baby the hell out of them but that's a false dichotomy.

They are not saying you have to treat these bikes as fragile musical instruments. They're just saying that if you do it will incur less wear and tear.

A carbon fibre bike frame is probably more fragile than a steel one. That limits the number of use cases for carbon but doesn't mean it's not a practical material for different usecases.

As a further example, I have a TT race bike. I keep mine hanging up in the garage an only take it out to races or for circular training rides.

I have a friend that commutes on his TT bike as a form of training. Mine will last longer than his.