Touring bike with S&S couplers: What wheel size??

[Fred Roses]

David Reuteler <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> errr, deflate them? i have an S&S touring bike with a 60cm
> c-c top-tube and 700C wheels (i'm an apartment dweller and
> given my only 2 bikes it's gonna be 700C). i have to
> remove the cranks and rear derailleur to fit everything in
> the (soft) case but it goes in easily with room to spare
> (i stuff in my rack, fenders, zefal pump, jerseys, shorts,
> shoes, etc, etc).

Ahh David the difference is you are using the SOFT case and
I am using the HARD case. Yes, of course I deflate the
tires, but they still barely fit and I had a problem with
them going out of true (as did the following poster) unless
I removed the front tire. By the way I wasn't using trick
wheels - regular old Open Pro's with 32 spokes.

Perhaps the soft case is more "packing friendly" but I
imagine it may have some other issues vis a vis airline
handling...

Fred Roses

 

[Fred Roses]

While I'm ranting and raving about travelling with the S&S
hard case, I'd like to make 2 additional comments...

1. The hardware on the case is really lousy. All the clips
have fallen apart on me, inevitably at the least
opportune time.

2. The idea of putting the wheels on the narrow side may
have been good in theory but is lousy in practice - every
case I have seen wobbles like crazy. Mine is barely
controllable!

The Ritchey case may be slightly oversize, but it's far
superior in every other respect. By the way, one nice
feature heretofore unmentioned is that the side
reinforcement panels on the Ritchey break down, enabling you
to squash the case very compactly for storage in a locker.

My two cents worth...

Fred Roses

 

[David Reuteler]

Fred Roses <[email protected]> wrote:
> Ahh David the difference is you are using the SOFT case
> and I am using the HARD case. Yes, of course I deflate the
> tires, but they still barely fit and I had a problem with
> them going out of true (as did the following poster)
> unless I removed the front tire. By the way I wasn't using
> trick wheels - regular old Open Pro's with 32 spokes.
>
> Perhaps the soft case is more "packing friendly" but I
> imagine it may have some other issues vis a vis airline
> handling...

yea, i had wondered about this .. i will say that i've never
had any problems with damage (no out of true wheels, bent
spokes). fwiw, i've heard it said anecdotally in several
long forgotten threads ..

how's that for credibility?

.. that the soft case may have less problems w/r/t to
baggage handlers than the hard case. who knows. i also
reinforce the front & back of the soft case by inserting
cardboard slabs in the pockets.
--
david reuteler [email protected]

 

[carlfogel]

On 25 Jun 2004 17:25:05 GMT, David Reuteler
<[email protected]> wrote:

>Fred Roses <[email protected]> wrote:
>> Ahh David the difference is you are using the SOFT case
>> and I am using the HARD case. Yes, of course I deflate
>> the tires, but they still barely fit and I had a problem
>> with them going out of true (as did the following poster)
>> unless I removed the front tire. By the way I wasn't
>> using trick wheels - regular old Open Pro's with 32
>> spokes.
>>
>> Perhaps the soft case is more "packing friendly" but I
>> imagine it may have some other issues vis a vis airline
>> handling...
>
>yea, i had wondered about this .. i will say that i've
>never had any problems with damage (no out of true wheels,
>bent spokes). fwiw, i've heard it said anecdotally in
>several long forgotten threads ..
>
>how's that for credibility?
>
>.. that the soft case may have less problems w/r/t to
>baggage handlers than the hard case. who knows. i also
>reinforce the front & back of the soft case by inserting
>cardboard slabs in the pockets.

Dear David,

One of rec.bicycles.tech's best-know pedal mashers has
reported that the airline "baggage mashers" broke his
otherwise indestructible wheel, apparently in a soft-
cover case:

http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-
8&q=baggage+mashers&meta=group%3Drec.bicycles.tech

Fly the friendly skies!

Carl Fogel

 

[x]

RE/
>I carry my S&S bike in the cardboard case. In two trips
>(one to France, and one to Canada) I have had no problems.

From reading other bike transoport threads, I gather that
there's a school of thought to the effect that if you make
it obviously-breakable-looking, or obviously a bike (as in
just removing pedals, folding handlebars, and applying a
little tape here-and-there) it's as safe or safer because
people recognise it for what it is and give it a little
special treatment.
--
PeteCresswell