I’m packing my wife’s bike up for a trip next week and ran across this issue. It has this seat mast protruding well above the frame. My concern is if the bag is vertical and receives a blow from above.
The only thought I have is cut a PVC tube to be higher than that seat mast and tape it to the frame between the stays. Any other ideas?
Thanks
Leave the saddle on, lowered all the way? Otherwise, a block of high density foam on top to protect against a blow from a sharp object. The seat mast will be pretty robust to loading from above.
When the saddle is on and lowered as far as it will go it’s still too tall for the case. I like the thought of foam and a pvc pipe providing vertical support.
thanks
Ran into a similar problem when I sold my Domane and had to ship it. The local Trek store had a Trek box with all the Trek packing materials. Not sure if that would work for you, just a thought.
If you are going to go the PVC route, insert it into the seat tube / mast, don’t just tape it to the seat tube. You’ll have better support and the PVC tube won’t slip down.
Aside from leaving the saddle in, you could just put a water bottle over it or your helmet or a shoe. Aren’t your wheels going to be sandwiching it anyway?
I have a domane and have traveled with it by removing the seat post. It’s before they changed the adjuster from the seat tube to the top tube though. Don’t know how hard it is now but found it no big deal. The exploded view in the manual was helpful to get the hang of it. BTW I use an Oracase.
I’ve had two bikes mangled by airlines. I wouldn’t trust that bike in a soft sided case. Think about it going up and down conveyor belts, landing every which way, and the airport gorillas tossing it however.
I know you didn’t want to hear this. 
I just flew with my Checkpoint (which has the same seat mast design) over the Christmas holiday. I very carefully taped a thick pool noodle over the seat mast, but unfortunately it must have fallen off or was taken off during TSA inspection, and the seat mast ended up getting cracked in transit making the frame unrideable. I used a high-end Scicon soft case. I highly recommend not doing what I did.
Also, the TSA completely denied my claim on it saying that the reason was because I used a soft case and they won’t reimburse any claims against soft cases. Sounds like BS to me, but I had no real recourse.
I don’t have any real advice on what will work, but I know from experience what won’t. Good luck!
You bought a £10k bike but skimped on the bike box? Bad choice. I wouldn’t fly without a hardcase on any bike.
