Have bike, will travel

By James Huang, tech editor, from Boulder, CO | Sunday, Jan 22, 2012 8.00am

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Travel can be a major hassle these days, and it's even more frustrating if you're a cyclist. All of those days spent on the road usually mean days off the bike. But what if the situation changed from being stuck without your bike, to that of a new place to ride? Yes, I’m suggesting you travel with your bike, and it’s something I’ve vowed to do more this year.

I won't deny that as technical editor for BikeRadar and Cyclingnews I've got a great job, but between work and personal travel, I was gone from home 111 days in 2011. Most of those days fell right in the heart of the best riding season in Colorado and ironically, there was usually no bike in sight – at least not one that I could ride.

I've long entertained the notion of traveling with a bike but with airline fees being what they are (with notable exceptions such as Frontier), and the hassles of lugging a case around, it's usually not practical. Full-sized travel bikes such as Ritchey's clever Breakaway design, various S&S incarnations, and even the Ibis Tranny, neatly get around the oversized baggage rules but even with a budget build, they're still an expensive luxury item for most people.

That got me thinking: what if your favorite everyday bike was your travel bike? What if the bike you traveled with wasn't some niche machine but the same one you happily rode at home? In that case, a travel bike wouldn't be a pricey extra bike, it would just be your bike.

I told myself just before the winter holidays that I was going to spend more time on my bike than I do in airports and on planes in 2012. Looking back at last year's calendar, I could potentially have added upwards of 30 days in the saddle if I had a bike with me (and that's not including days covering races when it's not realistic).

So in light of that, I'm about to take delivery of a Ritchey Breakaway Ti/Carbon road frameset, and dammit, I plan on using it – both at and away from home. It's light, the paint-free finish won't chip and the geometry looks well suited to "any place, any time" road rides, with plenty of tire clearance. I'm hopeful the titanium front triangle and carbon fiber stays and fork will deliver overall performance and ride quality that I won't want to reserve only for days away from home.

The build will be high-end but not over-the-top: a SRAM Red group, all-alloy Ritchey cockpit components (this bike will be disassembled and reassembled a lot) and for now, a set of Bontrager Race X Lite aluminum clinchers shod with 25mm-wide tires (or maybe even 28s). Ultimately I plan on switching to something more conventional with easier-to-find replacement parts since a busted spoke or slipping proprietary freehub body is no way to start a trip.

Since I'll invariably be riding somewhere unfamiliar, I'll also rely on a Garmin Edge 800 computer or my iPhone housed in a Wahoo Fitness case so I'll have GPS tracking, full mapping capabilities and downloaded routes at the ready. 

I'll keep you updated here and on Twitter @angryasian with where this bike and I are headed, recent rides and periodic performance updates on not only the bike but also whatever travel-friendly accessories I toss in along the way. It'll also be interesting to see how quickly I can learn to pack and unpack the thing.

I'll keep track of airline fees, too. Travel cases like the Ritchey Breakaway may not be classified as oversize but in the eyes of many airlines, a bike is a bike no matter the size or weight so – pardon the pun – we'll see how regularly I can fly under the radar.

Though the breakaway packs small, we'll see how successful i am at avoiding airline 'bike' charges this season:

Though the Breakaway packs small, we'll see how successful I am at avoiding airline 'bike' charges this season

If all goes well, the frameset will arrive and I'll have enough time to build it up before heading off to Las Vegas to visit some family this weekend. All-you-can-eat buffets, cheesy shows and slot machines may be the standard fare in those parts but I hear Red Rocks is awfully pretty this time of year...

You can follow BikeRadar on Twitter at twitter.com/bikeradar and on Facebook at facebook.com/BikeRadar.

User Comments

There are 20 comments on this post

Showing 1 - 20 of 20 comments

  • Really looking forward to your followups... I got a Ti RBA for a great price but have been worried about potential damage by the airlines. And knowing about where they do and don't ding you on fees will be interesting!

  • I've had a Ritchey Breakaway in steel (now discontinued) for 4 years and it was a great bike, but the fact that it was a road bike was limiting - going on holiday I ended up taking a CX with 2 pairs of tyres because of the extra versatility and oppotrtunity to explore offroad. Now sold the Ritchey and had a custom titanium breakaway-style CX frame made in in China - it also doesn't have a fragile carbon rear triangle so is far more baggage-handler proof too.

  • Bob Jackson may be able to help you (for a lot less than £3500)!

    http://www.bobjacksoncycles.co.uk/ss.php

  • I worked in a shop for 10 years, and have a Surly Travelers Check. Without a doubt the best money spent on bike gear. It does everything, was inexpensive (for what it is) and rugged. I have not heard anything bad about the Ritchey design, but the S&S couplers just seemed more robust. Best of all, it serves as my cross bike and bad weather bike (it fits full mudguards/fenders) in addition to being a travel bike. No doubt the best rides I have ever had have been on this bike- even if it is heavy: the ability to ride in new and interesting places is far more important than having a trick bike! At the end of the ride, I have never thought: gee, I would have enjoyed that more on the latest 'petrified yak's hair composite super bike.'

    Buyer beware- the Ritchey case is a few inches over most airlines max size- so if they get picky at check-in, you may be shelling out for the bike fee. If they ask what's in it (I've only been asked a few times) I just respond 'sports equipment', and they let it through. I would be irate if I have a case that is no larger/heavier than someone else's suitcase stuffed with clothes, and they charged me simply due to the fact I have a bike in mine. As long as its legal, it shouldn't be a problem! (but I'm aware that airlines often follow their own 'logic' in this regard)

  • Luckily most of the air travel I do is on the company jet...so no excess baggage charges. The Ritchey Case fits perfectly in the back of a Smart car too. For my titanium frame I went for a combo of the Ritchey-type split seatcollar and S+S type downtube coupling and it was about the third of the cost of the Ritchey Breakaway Cross

  • @Monty Dog You are the nearest I've been to someone who travels in a company Jet, just a guess but would baggage charges be a problem anyway? Company Jet!!, that is pretty cool!

  • interested in how easy to pack / unpack for the 'average' person (e.g., changing brake pads is the extent of my bike mechanic skills). seriously considered a custom seven with s&s couplings but rep advised it required almost a full strip down of the bike to pack.

  • bikergirl17:

    I made a point of following the stock Ritchey packing instructions for this first go around and it only took me about 30 minutes from start to finish. Reassembly took half that time.

    If the bike is built well initially, the process doesn't strike me as being all that difficult at all and then you have very little to do/adjust when you arrive at your destination. Taking apart the frame is extraordinarily simple and the only other things you need to do include removing the bars from the stem, removing the pedals, removing the frame brake, pulling out the seatpost, and removing the wheels and unthreading the skewers (all of the above not necessarily in that order).

    I'll be experimenting with different packing methods (and possibly a different case, too) later on but so far, I'm impressed with the simplicity of the system.

  • I took my airnimal folder over to Red Rock Canyon in 2006 - a 61 mile loop ride. Great place - take your camera!! It's an easy enough ride.

  • jimwin:

    Done, and done :)

    Yep, definitely was a nice ride. My mom's house is on the western edge of town so my loop was only 43 miles but still a great ride - made even more so by the fact that under normal circumstances, it wouldn't have happened at all.

  • https://twitter.com/#!/angryasian/media/slideshow?url=pic.twitter.com%2Fud45xSAd

  • Steve Rex is the man to talk to for a seriously nice travel-bike.

  • I've rode and raced on both the Ritchey Breakway Ti and my Baron Ti

    http://bikehugger.com/post/view/baron-whip-ti

    Both work fine, with the nod going to the S&S approach. Either way, the S&S cases are certainly worth the investment. I took it to Etape du Tour this summer with a friend who got a Dean S&S and he had a great idea. He got Rolf paired spoke wheels which made packing WAY easier. Navigating the spoke in the pack is the most limiting part. Otherwise, a couple tools including a Ritchey Torque Wrench and it's pretty easy.

  • Built up a Ti breakaway before Xmas 2011.Red group(Ritchey compact crank,Force Front der.)Dura ace Cl24

    or Hed jet 4 wheels. Love it. Subsequently changed driverain to XX Rear der(with rear barrel adjuster mod)/11/36 cassette/52/36 chainrings From a Hollogram crank.Can cross chain(1090 chain) both ways without rubbing!!!AND it shifts as good or better than Mechanical SuperRecord 11.Much better than Red rear Der/cassette combo.

    It was/is my hill/mountain climbing bike.Will do Pittsburg Dirty dozen some day with it.It is over 2 .5 lbs heavier than my SL2 tarmac or my Venge but if god punished me and made me ride only one bike for the next ten years,The Ritchey would be the one I'd chose of my fleet. Though I do wish the tail was full Ti for reasons of durability.Keep up the good reports,Angry Asian.

  • I've been using a steel Breakaway for a few years on trips. Make sure you get the Ritchey 4NM torque key so you don't overtighten the bottom clamp.

    While the design is lighter than the S&S option, I find my Breakaway to be heavy without being either stiff or comfortable--not sure how they managed that. The Ti should be a lot better. There is a lot of flex in the drivetrain since the downtube coupler has no torsional component to it. @Monty Dog's solution of an S&S coupler on the downtube makes sense as a compromise between cost and performance.

    The fork that came on mine (Ritchey Pro) is really whippy....gets a bit scary on fast descents. Hopefully they have upgraded it.

    Still, much better than renting a bike, since the fit is always correct. The case is just slightly over airline regs if they include the bulge for the cassette, but I have not yet had an issue. Make sure you have dropout braces for the forks and rear. You may also want to remove the rear derailleur when packing to minimize the chances of bending the hanger.

  • If someone at the check-in desk ask you what's in the bag, then just say "sports equipment" - they don't need to know anything more specific than that, and it should keep the surcharges at bay.

    We've taken our S&S coupled tandem, which fits into two cases the same size as the one pictured above, on 5 or 6 plane trips (through airports in Canada, USA, UK , Switzerland, and Spain) and it has been accepted as normal luggage every time so far, but I have heard of other people having trouble.

  • There needs to be better bike hire schemes abroad. Most people can just hire a bike where they go. Those who are very tall or very short may need their bike though.

    You don't take your own car abroad usually, you don't fly out your own boat or jetski. So why do you need to take your bike?

  • Doesn't the packed case attract TSA inspections? (I am thinking international flights here.) I have this fear some TSA handler would alter the packing enough to cause damage once its thrown back on the conveyer..

  • mapleflot:

    It's entirely possible. I'm keeping a running log of trips with associated commentary on fees charged, bag condition, etc. and will post periodic updates. Given how this bike is packed, though, it doesn't take much to see what's inside so hopefully TSA wouldn't feel the need to dig around *too* much. We shall see.

  • I have tried most options when it comes to travelling on aeroplanes with my bike (let's be frank here, there is no substitute for riding your own bike wherever you are in the world) as I seem to spend most of time flying around the world - I fly aeroplanes for a living. Anyway, I believe I have hit on the rolls Royce solution to this tricky problem............I bought a Qoroz Road One Ti bike with S&S couplings and a swish Rimowa aluminium case to put it in (complete with TSA locks, very clever), bike and case weigh in at about 15kg, the external dimensions are within the airlines 'allowable' maximum for normal luggage. Easy to travel with and robust. The bike itself is excellent, and become my favourite ride............even when I am at home. Bike build/packing times about 20-25 mins, most of which is the fine tuning. Highly recommend the Qoroz, good product and very good customer service from keen fellow cyclists.

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