Touring - S&S coupling system

my bike came with the S&S coupling system installed. i have never travelled with my bike so up to now i've never had a need to use it. what i'm wondering is if theres people who haved used it while traveling and what they think. does it make life easier? think the bike is any safer while traveling? is it maybe easier and just as safe not to have to break the bike down so much?
i wont be using the special case they have, i'd be putting the bike in a box.
thanks,
Mike

Being able to break the bike down to under 62 linear inches (typical airline's threshold for checked baggage) can save you a lot of money if you're travelling by air. I personally would use the special case... especially if it's a hardcase. The bike will be more protected and you won't get charged the $50 to $100 extra each way because it will be treated as normal checked luggage as opposed to special freight. The S+S system is fairly reliable and rugged so I wouldn't worry about it. Whatever you do, it's still probably wise to get yourself some pieces of foam pipe insulation to use as extra padding for the tubes. Also, if you can hot-knife a foam insert for things, it'll greatly reduce the chances of damage during shipment.

for me the problem with the special case is what to do with it once i get where i'm going. especially if i fly into one place go on a tour and fly home from another city.
any suggestion on how to deal with that? i sort of figured i could buy a pretty sturdy cardboard box when i needed it, and throw it away when i got where i was going.
thanks for the reply :)

for me the problem with the special case is what to do with it once i get where i'm going. especially if i fly into one place go on a tour and fly home from another city.
any suggestion on how to deal with that?

Yes, that would be a problem. Have you thought about contacting local bike shops and have the case shipped between shops at your destination(s)?

that hadn't occured to me, but definitly worth looking into.
on sort of a side note. i got the idea of the box from the shop i bought the bike at, they had the special cases for sale or rent. the guy also told me that there was a standard sized UPS box that worked very well, so that seemed convienient and easy to obtain. but if i could get the case where i needed it to be thats a better solution.
thanks.

but if i could get the case where i needed it to be thats a better solution.

How are you touring? Will you be staying in hotels? One other idea would be to just ship the case from where you land to the last hotel you'll be staying at before your departure. Most hotels are willing to accept and store items for guests even if you won't be arriving for a while. Contact the hotel and ask.

i'll be camping mostly. i decided it might not be a bad idea to go to the horses mouth about the what to do with the case/box. so i emailed Steve at S&S, he got back to me with some suggestions pretty quickly, he gets the question a lot. one thing ill mention is some of the suggestions are fairly expensive, the case itself is over $300.

anyway heres his email:

Thank you for the positive feedback regarding our product. Your question
comes up fairly often so I should probably give the options on our web page
but for now, here is what I see happening.

Using a cardboard box and throwing it away is a good option. We also make a
box cover that makes the box look better and gives you a handle to hold on to.

or

When you get to your start point, ship the case to a hotel or somewhere
else at your destination.

or

Use a backpack case and fold it up and carry it on the bike. Some people
don't use the plastic panels that come with the case because they are heavy
but instead substitute heavy duty cardboard and then throw it away. They
replace it when they are about to fly home.

or

Use a hard case with a Turtle Tow by Bilenky Cycle Works and tow the case
as a trailer. http://www.sandsmachine.com/ac_hard.htm or the one shown on
the Bilenky page that uses a modified Bike Friday trailer shown at:
http://www.sandsmachine.com/bp_bil.htm

or

Use a BOB Coz trailer like this guy did and tow the case
http://www.sandsmachine.com/a_dean_r01.htm

I hope I didn't miss anything

Let me know how it works out.


i think i like the box cover, or maybe the back pack ideas best. the case would be nice, but i can just see myself geting into a situation where it could be very inconvenient.