Is a Travel Check a good 650b conversion? On Mon, Oct 13, 2008 at 7:56 PM, Allan6344 <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > I had a Rivendell Bleriot 61cm frame converted to S&S by Bilenky for a > light tour in France in August after reading a blog about someone > using that frame and later the previous poster's experience for > packing and other tips. (It has PJW built wheels, White Industries > rear hub and a SON 20R front on Velocity Synergy rims and Grand Bois > Hetre tires.) I went with some lighter than necessary components to > save packing weight since the hard case alone weighs 17 pounds not > including the compression spacers and I did not want the soft case or > give up the Brooks saddle. > > It took me about an hour to disassemble the bike and about two hours > to pack everything in the case including lights, fenders and racks. > On the return it took less than an hour to dissasemble and clean and > an hour to pack. I splurged a few ounces for better tools to make > assembly easier. I also wrote down seat post , stem and any other > adjustments. > > Right up until the first kilometer, I was not sure it was worth the > hassle of bringing a bicycle on the airplane and train instead of > renting. The two of us who had their own bicycles were much more > comfortable and less tired at the end of the day than the person that > rented. > > Now that luggage is a revenue source for some airlines I think they > will looking for any excuse to pile on the charges and they won't be > as likely to overlook an oversize case as before. The S&S hard case > did not get a second look at check-in, either direction. I made sure > my checked bags were cleanly under the weight limits. > > I would have considered a Travel Check first had I known I would end > up with an S&S coupled frame but retrofitting was a good experience > and not too much more expensive. > > Allan > > > On Oct 13, 2:00 pm, "Doug Peterson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Just returned from a European tour where we had one S&S coupled bike; a > > couple of Bike Fridays & one Dahon, plus the usual collection of touring, > > MTB, etc. Good cross section of the cycle touring world. > > > > It took everyone at least 1-2 hours to put their bikes together & get > > everything functioning properly. There are no "quickies". The Bike > Friday > > people were probably pedaling the soonest but seemed to have lots of > little > > tweeks to do to brakes & gearing. The Dahon was the most problematic but > > the guy had only had it a month & bought it used. > > > > The guy with the S&S bike spent little time adjusting once he was > assembled. > > He had to leave the tour abruptly & I wound up breaking his bike down & > > packing it, using only some photos he kept in the case. Since I had lots > of > > time & had never done this, I took much longer than it should have, > probably > > on the order of 3 hours. The only real glitch was getting the front > wheel > > to cooperate with the case spacers, & I solved that by removing the tire > so > > give the wheel some wriggle room. > > > > Other than the frame couplers, the S&S system does not require much more > > dis-assembly than my Atlantis does for air travel. No crank removal on > > either. I believe the S&S was around a 56, with 700 wheels. My Atlantis > is > > a 58 with 700s. The trick to the coupler bike is packing it into the > case - > > it only goes in one way, hence the photos my companion kept in the case. > > > > I managed to dodge any over-size charges on this trip with my Atlantis > but > > in the future that will probably not be possible. For travel, the value > of > > getting your bike inside the 62" and 50 lb limits is substantial, like > $300 > > per flight with United. The coupled bike was a titanium racing bike & > with > > the case was in the mid 40 lb range. The case was pretty HD though. > > > > The Travel Check sounds interesting, gotta look that up. I'm also > thinking > > of converting my Atlantis to S&S, especially based on this experience. > > > > doug > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: [email protected] > > > > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of ItsFred > > Sent: Monday, September 22, 2008 3:18 PM > > To: Bicycle Lifestyle > > Subject: {BL} Re: Surly Travel Check Frame > > > > Please do not confuse an S&S coupled bike with a "folding bike" like a > > Brompton - Bromptons, Birdies, and their ilk are highly compromised > > commuter bikes that can be folded and unfolded in less than a minute. > > That's the sort of bike where the wheels stay on. It takes me nearly > > an hour to assemble my S&S coupled bikes! Packing it up is not so > > quick either - I always clean the bike pretty thoroughly (why pack a > > dirty bike), and wrap all the tubes and exposed bits in protective > > covers. I remove the pedals AND cranks, chain, and lots of other bits > > like bottle cages, etc. It's a job, but you wind up with a great bike > > that fits in a suitcase. And by the way, cable couplers are easy to > > install, easy to use, and make the job much less cumbersome - I can't > > imagine speccing a packable bike without them. > > > > Fred Roses > > (S&S-coupled Roark titanium road-sport, S&S-coupled Landshark stage- > > racer, & S&S-coupled Bilenky tourer) > > > -- Cheers, David Redlands, CA --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Bicycle Lifestyle" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/bicyclelifestyle?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
