linus

Yes, Tara fits inside the case flat. I carry everything in the case except for my helmet.




I don't install fenders on my bike except for my commuter/rain bike. I don't think it's necessary when I go for a ride to have fun.

Thank you. Mine is 2015 and that was the last year they offer the frame.

The crankset is FSA SL-K Modular with 46/30 chainrings (Subcompact?). I use a set of 11-36T cassette on the bike, but I also have 11-40T cassette for 20+% climbing days.

Tourist in MSN

Thanks. I bought a road bike last spring with a compact crank that has 50/34 rings. My lowest gear is 30.6 gear inches which is a bit tall for the local hills. I have considered buying a different crank with smaller rings like you have, thus my interest.

Tourist in MSN

On the day in the photo, I got so much mud built up on my rear V brake that when I used the brake I had to stop, get off the bike and pull the brake arms apart again, the mud clogging up the parts kept the springs from doing their job.

rifraf

I'm awaiting a quote on getting couplers fitted to my Ogre which should be here to inform me by end of week.

Can anyone with 700c rims comment on possible case fitment as I've only thus far spotted tales of case fitment for 26' wheeled bikes.

Tourist in MSN

Look above in post number 26 at the photo, he took the tires off the rims. That is a hard case. Because the rims are so close to the size of the case, I think that those are 700c.

Watch this video. Zinn is a very tall guy, his bike frame is huge which might be why he has more than two couplers. And since he travels a lot to race and he also builds bikes, he even used a coupler in the stem. You can see when he puts the wheels in how tight the fit is.

Wheels might fit a bit better in the backpack case because that has somewhat flexible side panels. My photo below is with 26 inch wheels in the S&S backpack case. I have deflated 57 mm wide 26 inch tires still on the rims in the case. I need to deflate them to get the case to fit.



In the photo above, a few parts are not in that case, I was trying to make a record for myself of the best way I found to fit the parts in the case.

In the photo below I have a home made center support intended to keep the bike parts in the middle of the case from getting crushed. The center support is two wooden dowels 1 inch in diameter (a dowel is a cylindrical piece of wood about 25mm in diameter) with a thin piece of wood on top and bottom held on to the dowels with wood screws.

I also put a piece of cardboard on the top and bottom for a bit more stiffness, you see the brown cardboard under the bike in the photo, but the piece on top is not in the photo yet, it goes in last. Since the photo was made, I cut pieces of coroplast (a plastic cardboard instead of paper based cardboard) to use in the future.



I found that the side panels in the Backpack case fit better if I leave the velcro straps in the corners slightly loose. This means nothing to you at this time, but if you buy the case it may make some sense later.

Most of the bike is in the case below. This is a heavy expedition bike, the bike and case weigh more than the 50 pound airline weight limit so I put a few parts in a different bag. Also the rear rack is in a different bag, I could not get it to fit in the case. A luggage scale is your best friend here, my goal is to get it to 2 pounds (~1 kg) less than the airline weight limit.

There are flat pockets on the large panels of the backpack case. Some people put clothing in there for cushioning, I don't.



In the photo below I am wearing the Backpack case on my back as I walk out of an airport.



I tried to strap the major parts of the bike together with double sided velcro in the photo so that you can lift the frame members and wheels out of the case as a single unit. My goal there is to try to keep that in one piece in case airline security people want to unpack the bike for an inspection and then are unable to get it together again. I also put a note on top telling them to lift it all out as a package if they have to inspect it. In the future I plan to use zip ties instead of velcro for added strength. I also had some green colored soft rubber perforated sheeting that I used in several spots for padding between parts.

linus

I know you are not fond of disc brakes, but you can't deny the fact that they work better when weather and terrain go down on you.

linus

Mine is 700c. They fit with tires on without a problem. I like them off because tires are dirty and I don't like dirt everywhere in my case.

I do get more scratches on my carbon rims though because airport securities are not really gentle with my stuff when they open the case.

alan s 

Rob_E

Seems like they've always got at least one S & S model available. I'm sure they don't sell as well. It's a limited use case, an extra tool, an extra point of failure, I suppose, and for a decent price hike. Worth it for me. But unless you have a lot of customers willing to shell out extra, it's easy to see where they would do better by making them in runs and selling them out rather than trying to keep bunch of them in stock with a higher overhead.

Love my World Troller. If I had to replace it, I'd likely get another Troll and just have the couplers installed from the get-go. It's a hassle and an expense, but it pays off it you travel much with your bike. And I expect that's another reason Surly doesn't offer more bikes. They can decide which frame will sell the best with couplers, and if anyone wants something different, it's easy enough to get the couplers installed afterwards.

When my wife bought he bike, I mentioned the idea of couplers and she said, "It's not like I'm ever going to fly with my bike." Fast forward two years, and we just got back from a Katy Trail ride. One of the most aggravating parts of the planning the trip was dealing with her bike. We were going to ship it ahead, but didn't start with enough lead time. If we had shipped it ahead to our start point in St. Charles, we then would have had to hire a car/truck big enough to move the bike box to St. Louis. We decided to contact the hotel near the airport where we were staying our last two days. They stored it for us, so we assembled our bikes at the airport and walked the box over to the hotel. Still a pain, but it was handy to have the box at our hotel when we got back to town. Extra airline fees were $150 round trip, vs. about $100 had we used a shipping service. Meanwhile my bike costed us nothing extra, and the soft-sided case folds up small enough to be carried on the bike (although I wouldn't want to tour with it. It's still bulky and heavy.).

My wife is now talking about another trip where fly with bikes out to see her parents in Phoenix. But this time, she said, the bike will have to ship out ahead because there's no way a bike box could fit in her parents car. We've already done this trip with my bike, and it fit fine in its S & S case. It's a nice option, but it is an extra cost. Nice thing is that even if Surly isn't offering the frame you want, you can have one converted.

Tourist in MSN

I do not dispute that discs are better in wet weather.

And I recently got my disc brake on my Lynskey to work as well in dry weather as the rim brake with Koolstop Salmon pads work. I tried some cheap resin pads instead of the original TRP semi-metalic pads that came with the disc unit. The resin pads are much better at stopping, although I fully expect that they will wear faster.

Regarding that rainy day when my brake clogged up, I had mud on everything and it was a hassle. Fortunately the shower at the campground was out doors, I used the shower to wash all the mud off of my Ortlieb panniers. I still have some mud remaining on my handlebar bag from that day two years ago.

The muddy bike I had in the photo, the rims are Ryde CSS rims, cost twice as much as regular rims because the brake surface on the rims does not wear down from braking, even when the brakes are muddy. Thus in this case I do not expect any reason to want to switch to a disc brake on that bike in the future.

Tourist in MSN

Very good summary, well written.

rifraf

Thanks for the link and video as well as all your pics and detailed explanation.

I'm familiar with and a fan of Thorn Nomads and chose a set of their cranks curtesy of SJScycles for my Ogre.

At the time of my build, I could afford the running gear I wanted but couldn't swing for the Nomad frame so went with the Ogre frame as a 29er compromise over the 26' expedition bike.

Yeah its specifically the S&S Backpack Travel Case I'm wondering if I can get my bare 622 rims into.

I'm not expecting to get my 2.35 tires in the case, on the rims, but they are folding tires so I'm hoping they might fit in somewhere.

rifraf

Thanks for the reply, which case in particular do you refer too?

Oh and I'm a fan of keeping my gear as clean as I can too so can relate to your "tires off" mantra.

I've not been keeping up to tech lately so hearing of people touring on carbon rims is new to me.

How are you enjoying rocking them?

linus

Fair enough.

linus

Mine are all S&S 26x26x10 case. one of them is their standard grey case and the second one in the picture is their "Designer" case.

Carbon rims are stronger than alloy rims and stiffer as well. Also, they are super impact resistant so rims last much longer.


I've been using carbon rims since 2008. I got confidence from using Edge Composite(now Enve) rims and never looked back. Also, my fork, handlebar, seatpost, saddle, and crank are all carbon and I haven't had any failure.

MattCycle

As a proud American, this is positive reenforcement for a Canadian flying the Maple Leaf.