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 - -- 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.
