ct-vt-trekker

When shopping and searching for a Ritchey Breakaway single travel bike that breaks down into a suitcase I found the following.

https://www.bicycledoctor.net/
click on Break-Away on the left then scrool down. According to one dealer the frame will be available soon with a price around $2900.

This is the first I've heard about this model. It uses the same method of coupling that their single bikes use. The cost is much lower than any other travel tandem I've seen.
The Ritchy breakaway bikes have been sold for 10 years or so with great reviews. I'm buying their Cyclocross single version.

merlinextraligh

My question is whether the tandem will fit in S&S cases. The regular Ritchie case is just above airline regulations for non oversized luggage.

While it appears to not be a problem in practice, I wouldn't invest in a travel bike that requires an oversized case.

ct-vt-trekker

The Ritchey single breakaway bikes fit in the S&S cases fine. Alot of Ritchey customers purchase S&S cases because they aren't comfortable with the soft sided Ritchey case. I've talked to others who have taken 50-100 trips using the soft sided case and they've never suffered any damage.
Looking at the tandem I think it will fit into two S&S cases fine. It's basically like two Ritchey single bikes but only 1 set of wheels.

merlinextraligh

^ From what I've read, getting a Breakaway in an S&S case requires a greater amount of dissasembly than a bike with S&S couplers, i.e. taking off the crank, taking off the fork.

The reoprts appear to vary, so it may in part depend on frame size, and packing skill.

ct-vt-trekker

I think this is correct for only the largest frame sizes. I know you can fit a 56cm frame into the S&S boxes without removing cranks or forks etc but larger frames over 58cm I'm not sure. I wasn't too concerned because I use a 54cm single frame.

johntrev

The small wheels might scare some people off, but the Bike Friday tandems start at around $1500. https://www.bikefriday.com/bicycles/tandem/322. A nicely equipped Friday would still likely be far less than the Ritchey at $2900, frame set only.

swiss_toni

@ct-vt-trekker

Thanks for the information. I am currently looking at getting a road tandem and am very close to purchasing the new 2014 Cannondale road tandem 2. My main reservation at the moment is that we couldn't travel very easily with the Cannondale so this Ritchey tandem is very interesting.

waynesulak

I might be able to work with the small wheels but it seems like they have an upright position and correspondingly short stoker compartment.

Back when we were first considering a tandem I looke into a Air Friday tandem which appears to be more performance oriented but I am not sure they were not cheap and the last time I checked they were not listed on the web site.

Team Fab

Another plus of the bike friday is their travel cases double as a trailer.

Tom Spohn

I believe the Tandem Traveler XL (Extra Light) is their current offering. The bikes are custom made to your measurements so there should be whatever room for the stoker you need. When I park my TTXL next to my 2011 Cannondale the seats, bars, stems all line up perfectly. The small tires allow the bike to accelerate quickly, but they don't hold momentum as well as 700-C's. With Schwalbe Duranos mounted the rolling resistance is not a problem. Small potholes affect the small tires more. The "steel is real" frame absorbs all other shocks better than the Cannondale.

merlinextraligh

We had a Bike Friday Tandem Traveler XL. It can be set up in as aggressive position as you like. Although it looks like now if you want it with drop bars, you have to go custom.

It was a nice bike in a lot of ways, and could be easily set up with either myself at 6'1" or my wife at 5'8" as captain, and either my wife or our 4 foot daughter as stoker.

The downside was that the bike was a flexible flier with 2 adults on it, pushing hard.

OGS_SD

I think that's wrong. Getting either S&S bike or Ritchey into a S&S case requires about the same amount of disassembly, assuming the frame size is the same. The challenge with S&S case is the width of the case that is a bit too small and square shape of the case, which requires cranks and fork removal.

Ritchey case, however, requires no crank or fork removal - I never removed either for my travels with Ritchey case, and I just finished my 36th trip.

OGS_SD

I would argue Bike Friday is in a rather different category from Ritchey. Wheel size, handling, frame stiffness etc.

I can get a Walmart bike for under $100, yet many of my friends own bikes in $3K-10K range. Suckers.

merlinextraligh

Wut? Agreed Bike Fridays are a bit different bree. But they're definitely not Wal Mart bikes.

zonatandem

The rumor of a Ritchey break-away tandem has been around for at least a dozen years.
Seeing is believing.

ct-vt-trekker

I agree.
When researching this I see it was supposed to be released back in 2012. Then I read somewhere that it was delayed due to the custom case(s) they were designing for it and it would be released this year but so far you still can't order one. Tom Ritchey has been riding one of the prototypes for the last few years testing it but it's so far it's still unavailable to the public.

waynesulak

Amen. Seems to me Ritchey just like to show off his tandem at bikes shows and give interviews about how great it is.


"When all is said and done, there is usually more said than done"

zonatandem

Yes, saw that tandem at Interbike at least a dozen years ago.
Told him he could send me one to test ride/evaluate . . .
Still waiting!

ct-vt-trekker

BicycleDoctorUSA is taking orders for delivery in Feb 2014. I heard that the release was delayed due to the case(s) design and manufacturing setup.

waynesulak

That is good news. I will believe it when I see people riding around on the bikes.

ScottCarney

I saw the frame (and I believe it was for sale) at the vendor tent at the Hilly Hundred (Indiana) a couple of weeks ago. I've dragged a single break-away around the world and put several thousand miles on mine. I'm a believer, though I would give that caveat that the stock wheels on my break-away road bike were terrible and quickly replaced.

Anywho, the frame looked awesome and is would be very, very tempting if I had a few kilobuck burning a hole in my pocket, but hard for me to justify with another multi-kilobuck tandem in the garage sitting next to a nice travel single.

PedalPink

My husband has a single Ritchey break away cycle cross bike (steel). It is a 58 cm and we pack it in the Ritchey soft sided case. The case is oversize but we've only been charged the oversize fee once or twice (I do have 2 million medallion miles on Delta so they may be showing me a bit more leniency than an infrequent flyer).

It takes us about the same time and effort to pack/unpack the Ritchey and my Bike Friday as it takes us to pack/unpack our Co-Motion with S&S couplers.