Bike Friday vs. full size bike
03-17-21, 06:51 PM
#26
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It helps a lot that the bike has 26 inch wheels. I can leave the tires on the rims, but to get my 57mm wide tires packed they have to be deflated.
The S&S bike has a Rohloff hub, that is pretty wide, that makes it a bit more difficult to pack. My folding bike which is a derailleur bike, I take the cassette off and that makes it easier to pack. And it has drop bars, I think flat bars would pack a lot easier.
I worked in a bike shop years ago and I built up most of my bikes from parts. So, disassembly and re-assembly does not give me any fear of doing it wrong, but it is time consuming when you have to even remove the water bottle cages.
I carry a photo of my headset parts on the steerer tube in the correct order on my phone so I do not get things assembled wrong.
I keep on my phone a sequence of photos showing the order of things when I pack it, that helps a lot.
My S&S bike is a heavy duty expedition bike, that and the S&S Backpack case weigh more than 50 pounds, so I carry some parts (pedals, saddle, a few other bits) in my other checked bag. And my rear rack has to go in the other checked bag. Fenders do not fit, they stay home. That said, I am slowly migrating towards using some small mini fenders that fit. A luggage scale is the travelers best friend.
I wrote up a bunch of comments on S&S couplers at this post:
https://www.bikeforums.net/20781023-post44.html
This is my S&S bike on my last tour.
The first in the sequence of photos on packing order, I added a sheet of white 26 X 26 Corroplast to the sides of my case as extra stiffeners. Some people use a lot more padding than I do. I just pad the parts that are in contact with other hard surfaces, I do not use the tubes of packing that some people use that go over frame parts.
Last in the sequence:
If you pack an S&S bike (or a folding bike or a Ritchey Break Away) and it all fit well, take lots of photos as you unpack so that in the future you can see what worked.
In the photo below I am wearing my S&S Backpack case on my back as I leave an airport, this trip was with my folding bike in it.
The S&S bike has a Rohloff hub, that is pretty wide, that makes it a bit more difficult to pack. My folding bike which is a derailleur bike, I take the cassette off and that makes it easier to pack. And it has drop bars, I think flat bars would pack a lot easier.
I worked in a bike shop years ago and I built up most of my bikes from parts. So, disassembly and re-assembly does not give me any fear of doing it wrong, but it is time consuming when you have to even remove the water bottle cages.
I carry a photo of my headset parts on the steerer tube in the correct order on my phone so I do not get things assembled wrong.
I keep on my phone a sequence of photos showing the order of things when I pack it, that helps a lot.
My S&S bike is a heavy duty expedition bike, that and the S&S Backpack case weigh more than 50 pounds, so I carry some parts (pedals, saddle, a few other bits) in my other checked bag. And my rear rack has to go in the other checked bag. Fenders do not fit, they stay home. That said, I am slowly migrating towards using some small mini fenders that fit. A luggage scale is the travelers best friend.
I wrote up a bunch of comments on S&S couplers at this post:
https://www.bikeforums.net/20781023-post44.html
This is my S&S bike on my last tour.
The first in the sequence of photos on packing order, I added a sheet of white 26 X 26 Corroplast to the sides of my case as extra stiffeners. Some people use a lot more padding than I do. I just pad the parts that are in contact with other hard surfaces, I do not use the tubes of packing that some people use that go over frame parts.
Last in the sequence:
If you pack an S&S bike (or a folding bike or a Ritchey Break Away) and it all fit well, take lots of photos as you unpack so that in the future you can see what worked.
In the photo below I am wearing my S&S Backpack case on my back as I leave an airport, this trip was with my folding bike in it.
03-18-21, 07:02 AM
#27
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Even worse, I had a guy who flew out to pick up a take apart bike, that I had built a few weeks ago. He was insistent that he wanted to pack it without any help. After nearly three hours, he packed it up (sort of). He actually ended up caving on where to place the handlebars and carried them separately.
I am just trying to say that an S&S coupler bike can be a pain to pack unless you do it all the time, compared to a Brompton folder that for sure folds up in something like fifteen seconds and is so simple that virtually any one can drop one in a box in 30 seconds.
I am just trying to say that an S&S coupler bike can be a pain to pack unless you do it all the time, compared to a Brompton folder that for sure folds up in something like fifteen seconds and is so simple that virtually any one can drop one in a box in 30 seconds.
I can relate to your customer. I once tried to squeeze in one more ride before catching a redeye home. I actually got the bars in, but ended up packing the saddle and seatpost in my other bag. (Then they canceled my flight and re-routed me so I didn't get any sleep, but that's another story.)I've left the bike home for some short trips because of the unpack-buildup/teardown-pack time. I'll still take it on trips where I can get a day's ride in around a different city or area, or if I can reasonably expect to ride an hour or two at least a couple times during the trip. As a rule of thumb, if it takes me two hours to unpack and pack, I like to target 2-3 hours of riding minimum on a business trip to make it worthwhile. OTOH, if I'm flying to ride a tour, taking the S&S bike is a no-brainer.
03-18-21, 08:26 AM
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This thread has gotten a lot more interest than I expected.
My last tour, took my S&S bike.
1 - Taxi from home to a bus stop, taxi is a Prius and the trunk holds the S&S case and the other checked bag just fine.
2 - 150 mile bus ride from Madison WI to O'hare airport. There, lug all my stuff across airport to the shuttle pickup.
3 - Take a motel shuttle to motel.
4 - Next morning take the 6am shuttle back to O'hare.
5 - Check in at Ohare. Got lucky, they told my that I would pickup my checked luggage at my destination, did not need to reclaim it and re-check it at my layover in Montreal.
6 - Layover in Montreal and customs, uneventful since I did not need to get my bike and re-check it.
7 - Arrive in Halifax NS, get checked luggage.
8 - Shuttle van to downtown Halifax. Got lucky, the shuttle does not stop at the hostel but the driver did me a favor and stopped there. There was not room in the shuttle for a full size bike box, not sure how I would have done that with a full size bike box. But regular size luggage made it easy.
That took about 30 hours from my home to destination. I did not have any flight delays, so in that regard I got lucky. If I had a full size bike in bike box, I would have decided this trip was not worth it, I would have stayed home.
My luggage below, one pannier was my carry on, one was the personal item, I wore the helmet onto the plane, I did not want baggage handlers to have a chance to break it. Orange backpack had a few bike parts, most of my camping gear, the black case is the S&S Backpack case with most of my bike. I mentioned above that the case and my bike total up to over 50 pounds so a few bike parts go into the orange checked bag.
I am not saying I enjoy taking the time to disassemble and reassemble a bike each time I get on a plane, but the difficulties of lugging a full size bike box around would have made the S&S option a lifesaver. I mentioned above in step number 2 that I had to lug all my stuff across O'hare to get to a shuttle pickup, I do not think you are supposed to take luggage carts there but nobody stopped me.
Before my trip, the hostel had told me that I could not store my S&S case there for the five weeks I was doing a big loop. I had lined up a place to store it at a bike shop in Halifax before I left home. But, the hostel was happy to store it for me when I removed the side panels to make it much flatter once they saw how small it was. When I initially asked by e-mail if they could store it, they said no because they assumed it was a big hard case.
I posted this photo in post 18 above, repeating it here.
Five weeks later, repeat and fly home, take bus to Madison, etc. Get home at about 2:30am.
I mentioned above that the shuttle bus driver dropped me off at the hostel. At the end of my trip, I had to haul my stuff to the train station to get on the airport shuttle, that was about three blocks from the hostel. Both of my checked bags being backpacks, it was easy to get my stuff to the train station by making two trips. A full size bike box, the hostel would not have been willing to store it and even if they did, getting that to the train station would have been a hassle.
It takes over an hour for me to pack my bike and over an hour to reassemble it, but that smaller case makes a lot of other inconveniences disappear.
I am sure that others would prefer the big bike box, to save the time, and they might not be comfortable disassembling and re-assembling a bike. I am not saying that what I do is the right way, there are many ways, the way I do it works best for me.
My last tour, took my S&S bike.
1 - Taxi from home to a bus stop, taxi is a Prius and the trunk holds the S&S case and the other checked bag just fine.
2 - 150 mile bus ride from Madison WI to O'hare airport. There, lug all my stuff across airport to the shuttle pickup.
3 - Take a motel shuttle to motel.
4 - Next morning take the 6am shuttle back to O'hare.
5 - Check in at Ohare. Got lucky, they told my that I would pickup my checked luggage at my destination, did not need to reclaim it and re-check it at my layover in Montreal.
6 - Layover in Montreal and customs, uneventful since I did not need to get my bike and re-check it.
7 - Arrive in Halifax NS, get checked luggage.
8 - Shuttle van to downtown Halifax. Got lucky, the shuttle does not stop at the hostel but the driver did me a favor and stopped there. There was not room in the shuttle for a full size bike box, not sure how I would have done that with a full size bike box. But regular size luggage made it easy.
That took about 30 hours from my home to destination. I did not have any flight delays, so in that regard I got lucky. If I had a full size bike in bike box, I would have decided this trip was not worth it, I would have stayed home.
My luggage below, one pannier was my carry on, one was the personal item, I wore the helmet onto the plane, I did not want baggage handlers to have a chance to break it. Orange backpack had a few bike parts, most of my camping gear, the black case is the S&S Backpack case with most of my bike. I mentioned above that the case and my bike total up to over 50 pounds so a few bike parts go into the orange checked bag.
I am not saying I enjoy taking the time to disassemble and reassemble a bike each time I get on a plane, but the difficulties of lugging a full size bike box around would have made the S&S option a lifesaver. I mentioned above in step number 2 that I had to lug all my stuff across O'hare to get to a shuttle pickup, I do not think you are supposed to take luggage carts there but nobody stopped me.
Before my trip, the hostel had told me that I could not store my S&S case there for the five weeks I was doing a big loop. I had lined up a place to store it at a bike shop in Halifax before I left home. But, the hostel was happy to store it for me when I removed the side panels to make it much flatter once they saw how small it was. When I initially asked by e-mail if they could store it, they said no because they assumed it was a big hard case.
I posted this photo in post 18 above, repeating it here.
Five weeks later, repeat and fly home, take bus to Madison, etc. Get home at about 2:30am.
I mentioned above that the shuttle bus driver dropped me off at the hostel. At the end of my trip, I had to haul my stuff to the train station to get on the airport shuttle, that was about three blocks from the hostel. Both of my checked bags being backpacks, it was easy to get my stuff to the train station by making two trips. A full size bike box, the hostel would not have been willing to store it and even if they did, getting that to the train station would have been a hassle.
It takes over an hour for me to pack my bike and over an hour to reassemble it, but that smaller case makes a lot of other inconveniences disappear.
I am sure that others would prefer the big bike box, to save the time, and they might not be comfortable disassembling and re-assembling a bike. I am not saying that what I do is the right way, there are many ways, the way I do it works best for me.
Last edited by Tourist in MSN; 03-18-21 at 08:32 AM.
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