Originally Posted by
Tourist in MSN
Understood. I have often commented that half of the reason I like the S&S couplers on a bike is so that I can put the bike in the trunk of a taxi along with other luggage. Two of the taxi companies in my community use Prius cars, my S&S case fits just fine in a Prius trunk. If I was taking a bike in a bike box, instead of being able to use a taxi I would have to get a friend with a mini van to take me to airport, which might be inconvenient if I have to get to airport at 4am or leave airport at 12:30 am (those were the times of my last trip to and from airport).
My luggage from my last overseas trip in the photo, the black case is my S&S Backpack case with most of my bike in it (checked as regular luggage), the olive green bag was a bunch of other stuff (also checked), the yellow Ortlieb duffle was my carryon bag, my handlebar bag was my "personal item", and my helmet was worn onto the plane so that there was less chance of damaging it.
My S&S Backpack case also exceeds the Amtrak carry on size for regular carry on bags (it is 26 x 26 x 10 inches). So, that would not be allowed under Amtrak policy as a carry on for anything other than a folding bike. Thus, my S&S case if used for any other purpose would have to be checked, meaning only travel to and from Amtrak stations that handle luggage, because some Amtrak stations are not luggage stops.
And for the heck of it, I had to show off the bike that was in that black S&S case, photo below.
Wow! Where is that--South America somewhere? Evidently a place where self-sufficient touring involves hauling a lot of stuff. You're lucky in terms of frame size when it comes to travel. My bike would pack a lot smaller than it does if I didn't have to ride a 63cm frame.
The S&S couplers certainly make for a neat package when broken down. I once thought of going that route, but I don't travel with a bike frequently enough for it to be anywhere near worth the cost.
I just re-read the Amtrak baggage rules. A smarter and less argumentative person than I am would probably have spotted this long ago, but there seems to be a middle ground between my preferred carrying-on-a-folding bike scenario and the awkward breakdown-for-taxi-and-assemble-for-baggage-car scenario I outlined in my previous post.
It appears that Amtrak has a classification for what it calls "general sporting equipment," which can be checked without charge if it measures 75 combined inches or less. My rinko bike exceeds that by about 10 inches, but it's far under the 100-inch upper limit for oversized sporting equipment. So it will apparently incur a $20 oversize charge, but can be shipped in the baggage car in its packed-up state.
No complaints from me about the extra $20. Checking it that way is slightly less convenient than simply carrying it on, and it does restrict one to stops that handle baggage. But that should not be a problem for my trip this year. Also, checking the packed bike appears to be a practical fallback in the event of a failed attempt to carry on a rinko bike as a folding bike. If the conductor rules that the packed-up rinko bike is not a "true folding bike" under the rules, I would assume that it would then be possible to check it as oversized sporting equipment. That's a lot better than being left standing on the platform, packed-up bike in hand, as the train pulls out of the station without you.
Again, I'm going to make a good-faith attempt to confirm all of this with Amtrak before I leave.
I meant to mention that I love the mental image of you wearing your bike helmet onto the plane. Your seatmate must assume that you're unusually concerned about safety.