Weight: 20kg / Four lockable catches / Two layers of foam padding / Four nylon securing belts
Contact: www.utlimate-pursuits.co.uk

It’s just taken us an hour to put this case together, that’s because it comes in two halves and you have to fit the hinge pins. The instructions say ‘they should slide in with minimal pressure’ but they don’t. We actually had to remove three of the hinges, lube the pins, then whack them in with a hammer. We also had to fit two sacrificial feet to the bottom of the case and a wheel to one corner — why this case doesn’t come built is anyone’s guess.
There’s worse — there are four lockable clasps round the outside of the case, but you can open them with a piece of bent metal and Elite has thoughtfully included one (a small spanner) with the case.
The nail in this big black coffin is the fact that it weighs 20kg. Since the maximum limit for any piece of aircraft luggage is 32kg this leaves you with only 12kg (or 26lbs) to play with.
If you’re an XC racer and have a light bike the Vaison offers maximum protection, but a five-year old could break into it, it’s expensive, heavy and where are you going to store it?
Since writing this test Elite told us it’s addressing the problems but it’ll take a year for changes to be implemented; we’ll update this test when we get a new case.

MBR RATING: 3/10