Carrying a suit on a bike

In my old job I used to regularly ride all over the country for work. Black jeans, black engineers boots and shirt and tie were acceptable attire, so going by bike with a week's worth of shirts rolled up in a tailpack was fine. In my new job, I need to wear a suit, but would like to continue using the bike where possible. I was wondering if anyone had any actual experience of transporting a suit by bike. I am thinking along the lines of putting the suit in a decent suit carrier, folding it in half and then putting it in a good sized top box. I'll take smart shoes, shirts and other clothes in a tankbag. I'm considering ringing hotels to see if irons/ironing boards are available to borrow and if not, taking a travel iron in the top boxI don't mind a couple of miles' walk, so would probably park at the hotel in bike gear get changed and walk in, in my suit (previously I'd just ride this in the jeans/shirt with bike jacket over the top and put the tie on when I got there).

I'm leaning towards the official Suzuki top box (rebadged givi, IIRC), as I understand it's waterproof and fairly quick/easy to remove and replace with a pillion seat. Is it possible to quickly detach the top box and use it as a hard "bag" or do I need to get a liner bag to carry the contents around off the bike?

are the proper givi ones not waterproof then??? Sounds as if your idea is the only way unless you wear the suit under an over suit to protect it from all the road crap but i doubt that is ideal.

Yup. Transported a dinner suit in a tailbag, just loosely folded in a suit carrier. AND had a crate of Bud in the panniers. Job done

i've biked from Oxford to Leeds to run a conference. Suit in the tail pack (oxford first) and other bits in the tank bag. If I did it again I'd use my top box - givi, never leaks and is large enough not to have to crease the shirts etc, just fold in half.

EDIT - Oh ,and the givi box will detach in about 5 seconds to be a perfectly usable hard bag - it may look slightly odd but I'd be happy using it as hard luggage on a flight or similar. I use a rack rather then the pillion seat mount but the box itself will be the same. It just looks like a wide suit case. i think it is even designed to stand up as a suit case as it balances well on its hinge.

[Nobbylad]

I wear my suit trousers, shirt and tie under my textiles and loosely fold my suit jacket in either my rucksack or my Givi luggage.

No issues/creases.

If you fold the suit by turning one shoulder inside out, and turning the other into it, then you can fold a jacket into a loose oblong. You'll know if you have it right when only the lining is showing. As long as it is decent quality and you don't pack it tight, it should be fine.

Also, remember to hang it up and perhaps inside the bathroom with some mild shower steam, the creases should always drop out.

Originally Posted by thor

If you fold the suit by turning one shoulder inside out, and turning the other into it, then you can fold a jacket into a loose oblong. You'll know if you have it right when only the lining is showing. As long as it is decent quality and you don't pack it tight, it should be fine.

Also, remember to hang it up and perhaps inside the bathroom with some mild shower steam, the creases should always drop out.

Ta, good tip that.

The suit I'll be using is a decent quality woollen one, so it should be reasonably resiliant to the rigours of travelling. Thanks folks, sounds like this is quite viable.

I often use the bike for meetings and have a good routine now.

Tank bag with all the work stuff like laptop, meeting files etc and hair gel. Kriega US20 with a fold up holdall (made by SkyPak), suit folded up and pair of shoes.

I wear bike gear with shirt and tie underneath, get to the client, go the toilet (disabled if poss as its bigger), change into suit, put bike gear into holdall, do my hair and attend meeting. On the way back I do the reverse and I'm done. I've been to meetings at lots of places like this, it is hassle but if I want to go by bike then there's no option.

Actually recently I got some new trousers and means I can wear suit trouser underneath (on short journeys). This means I can just use the tank bag with it extended to full capacity.

Its definitely doable and is better than public transport!

My topbox is 100% water proof, tested in some nasty rain! You could get a shallow one to carry around like a breifcase, although even the shallow ones will look like a big breifcase

[Red Herring]

A mate of mine does this, but he wears the entire suit under what looks like a giant flying suit. I'll have to ask him where he got it from but it's just like a huge babygrow that he just opens up and steps into. His shoes go in the panniers (Pan) and on arrival he can put all his biker gear straight into the panniers and top box and walk away ready for a meeting in about 30 seconds flat....and they always wonder how he arrives on time and smiling!!