Compression much beyond what you get from the shrink wrap may not be needed. My gut feeling is a pack that really puffs right away belongs in the trash, and compressing it is not as good a solution as replacing it so you have a nice set of packs that all are free of defects.
But, it's quite possible that compressing the pack now would help with preventing the slight puffing that is typical as an RC lipo pack ages. It took a year of fairly hard use for mine to start doing that. At some point though, if enough gas is being made inside that cell, it's going to either swell, or pop the pouch. I think I read somewhere, that compressing the cell might help lower the IR of the cell for high amp applications like a drag race. I doubt it's really required to do it for a bike. My own opinion is a pack that really wants to swell more than the others is to be weeded out of the string.
I totally support the idea of adding more protection that you get from just the stock shrink wrap. On my dirt bike for example, I have a very tight fitting aluminum box that does keep the packs compressed to some extent. But in this case, removing the packs to charge, I need some tape on the packs to prevent chafing the shrink wrap on the box. In particular, thourougly tape up the bottoms of packs that have naked pouch exposed on the bottom.
The other way I use my lipo is on a variety of bikes that just have a bag or a toolbox mounted. In that case, I take old coroplast political signs and cut them into very tight fitting boxes to protect the pack. Again, I suppose I do get some compression, but the real aim is to give the packs a chance if I crash the bike, and protect against any movement that may happen inside the bag as I ride.
