S+S couplers vs. Ritchey Breakaway

S&S has a good track record. You can find more bikes using it. Co-motion has a few travling touring
bikes using S&S. The Americano and the Norwester look pretty nice.

Eagle Jackson wrote:

> I am thinking about buying a travel bike with a coupling system so it can be easily broken down
> and carried in a small travel case. What are the pros and cons of the S+S coupling system vs. the
> new Ritchey Breakaway system, which looks pretty neat from the pictures and the videos posted on
> the Ritchey site.

--
Mark Wolfe http://www.wolfenet.org gpg fingerprint = 42B6 EFEB 5414 AA18 01B7 64AC EF46 F7E6 82F6
8C71 People in a Position to Know, Inc.

[email protected] (Eagle Jackson) wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> I am thinking about buying a travel bike with a coupling system so it can be easily broken down
> and carried in a small travel case. What are the pros and cons of the S+S coupling system vs. the
> new Ritchey Breakaway system, which looks pretty neat from the pictures and the videos posted on
> the Ritchey site.

I own both steel and ti bikes with S&S couplers and I can say they do their job superbly i.e. you're
not aware of them at all. I think Ritchey's solution to the top conjunction (using a pair of
seat-post collars) is quite clever, but the simple collar holding the down-tube together makes me
rather uneasy. I cannot imagine (note this is just conjecture on my part, not a scientific
observation) that this could be as stiff and secure as the splined, threaded S&S conjunction. Fred

In article <[email protected]>, [email protected] (Eagle
Jackson) writes:

>I am thinking about buying a travel bike with a coupling system so it can be easily broken down and
>carried in a small travel case. What are the pros and cons of the S+S coupling system vs. the new
>Ritchey Breakaway system, which looks pretty neat from the pictures and the videos posted on the
>Ritchey site.

You'll have a tough time finding someone that has used both since the Richey system seems to have
just come out.

My limited experience is that the S&S couplings do exactly what they are supposed to do. And the do
travel by air without fuss, or at least they did this time (we just got back).

Our (wife and I) bikes feel like any other full sized bike. I (at 180 lbs) cannot get the chainring
to rub when I'm standing and pedaling hard, so they can be stiff enough for the purpose (these are
touring bikes, not racing bikes).

Tom Gibb <[email protected]

> >I am thinking about buying a travel bike with a coupling system so it can be easily broken down
> >and carried in a small travel case. What are the pros and cons of the S+S coupling system vs. the
> >new Ritchey Breakaway system, which looks pretty neat from the pictures and the videos posted on
> >the Ritchey site.

Note that the Ritchey bike case is NOT airline compliant for US domestic flights. It measures 9 x 26
x 29" and most airlines (if not all) have a maximum case size of length + width + height of 62". You
may get away with it on occasion, but you are likely to end up paying $80 oversize charges or "bike"
charges. The hard-sided S+S cases are 26 x 26 x 10" which just meets the 62" restriction.

Also, S+S bikes can be less expensive than the Ritchey Break Away. Check out
http://www.bilenky.com/models.html for examples.

Ah, thanks, Michael. The Ritchey site says, "The travel bag is currently within airline regulations
for standard, checked luggage ..." I checked both the Alaska and United sites (the two airlines I
fly the most often), and you're right -- their limit is 62 lineal inches!

Very important to know.

It's too bad, because I think I can get the Ritchey at wholesale, so it would be significantly
less money.

Thanks for the link to the Bilenky site.
>
> Note that the Ritchey bike case is NOT airline compliant for US domestic flights. It measures 9 x
> 26 x 29" and most airlines (if not all) have a maximum case size of length + width + height of
> 62". You may get away with it on occasion, but you are likely to end up paying $80 oversize
> charges or "bike" charges. The hard-sided S+S cases are 26 x 26 x 10" which just meets the 62"
> restriction.
>
> Also, S+S bikes can be less expensive than the Ritchey Break Away. Check out
> http://www.bilenky.com/models.html for examples.

RE/
>Ah, thanks, Michael. The Ritchey site says, "The travel bag is currently within airline regulations
>for standard, checked luggage ..." I checked both the Alaska and United sites (the two airlines I
>fly the most often), and you're right -- their limit is 62 lineal inches!

Anybody got a URL for the Ritchey product?
-----------------------
PeteCresswell

"(Pete Cresswell)" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
>
> Anybody got a URL for the Ritchey product?
> -----------------------
> PeteCresswell

http://www.ritcheylogic.com/babmain.htm