on my last two week trip with coupled Rambouillet, I did the reassemble on the lawn in front of my hotel. That took about 45 minutes and I had stuff strewn all over the lawn. Lot's of parts, pads, tools, etc. This was a typical assembly location. When the trip was over, I was offered the use of a conference room inside the hotel as the location to do the disassemble and packing. Indoors with no distractions and a banquet table is my preferred venue. All was smooth, quiet and having a place to put tools and lean the bike can make a subtle difference.
On Sep 17, 8:35 am, GeorgeS <chobur...@gmail.com> wrote: > I have a Surly Traveler's Check which is the Cross Check with S&S > couplers. It has been absolutely one of my best purchases ever. No > problem with the airlines. No big bulky bike box with the threat of > enormous fees and/or outright rejection hanging over the trip. No > danger of severe damage or loss of pieces coming out of the box. The > peace of mind in traveling, for me, is priceless. That's why the cost > effective argument doesn't make sense. One may be willing to live > with the downsides of airline travel with the bike in a card board box > rather than pay the admittedly high cost of couplers and case. That's > a matter of personal preference. But what one cannot do is obtain the > advantages of a coupled bike for less money than the cost of couplers > and a hard case. There is also the assembly/disassembly problem. It > takes me approximately one hour to unpack and get the bike ready to > ride and a little more time to disassemble and pack the bike. For me, > if I'm going for a multi-week trip, the time spent on assembly/ > disasembly is insignificant. If the trip is for a couple of days, > I'll take the Brompton. Again, it's a matter of what one is willing > to put up with. If the assembly/disassembly time is so unpleasant and > frustrating that it threatens to spoil one's vacation, then the > couplers are not worth the cost whatever that is. > GeorgeS > > On Sep 16, 8:11 pm, Lynne Fitz <fitzb...@comcast.net> wrote: > > > > > I sent my Bleriot frame off to Bilenky for S&S couplers before I built > > it up. Bleriot was also, until recently, my randonneuring bike. > > Seems to work just fine :-) No problems. It has also been packed and > > taken on airplanes many times (Europe twice. Mostly to the family > > summer place). No problems ever. No extra charge because it was a > > bicycle, ever. At most, the "piece of luggage" charge. > > > I expect I could try to rationalize the cost - I had the conversion > > done before the S&S price increase. I figured couplers, case, and > > packing accessories added $1000 to the cost. 10 flights with a non- > > coupled bike would have been that much in extra luggage charges. Or > > renting a bike at my destination. Having MY go-to bicycle at my > > destination that fits ME... priceless. > > >http://www.flickr.com/photos/lynnefitz/sets/72157594509789929/with/32... > > > As it is, my new custom rando bike also has S&S couplers, but I didn't > > have to buy the case and packing accessories, because I've already got > > them. > > > One of my bikes will be going to Ireland next summer; haven't decided > > which one. > > > Lynne F > > > On Sep 15, 7:32 pm, Kip Otteson <kip.otte...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > > I noticed yesterday that my kickstand was sitting at a very awkward > > > angle. I moved it a little and I could see that my kickstand plate > > > was ripping off of my frame. I have a Pletscher double kickstand on > > > the Bombadil and I think that when it was parked at school someone sat > > > on it and bent it all up. Bummer deal. I took off the kickstand and > > > now am really old-new school with a bike I have to lean up against > > > things, like in the old days. I was worried that the chainstays would > > > be hammered as well but they look fine. I'll have to wait till I'm > > > back in the states to get it fixed properly. > > > > BTW - I thought that if I was going to get the frame fixed I'd be > > > looking at sending it to Bilenky Bike Works and getting S and S > > > couplers fitted for a more travel friendly machine. Anybody out there > > > experienced converting a frame to a travel bike? > > > > Kip Otteson > > > Chiang Mai, Thailand- Hide quoted text - > > > - Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bu...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
