oldacura

We took our S&S tandem with us last week on a trip from Denver to Washington DC. This was about our
6th time flying with the bike. Each time packing / unpacking the bike, I get a little better but it is still not easy. I usually take the opportunity to clean up the bike - especially the drivetrain so this adds a lot to the dissassembly / reassembly time.

I packed the 3 frame sections and the wheels into the 26" x 26" x 10" soft side case and the rest into an old hard side suitcase. Each time I pack it I do it a little differently and usually wind up disassemling the bike more than before. I find that it is easier to pack if I remove all cranks, waterbottle cages, both chains, the cassette and freehub and the front bottom bracket. We have V brakes so I also end up removing one brake arm from the fork so it stays with the handlebars.

Disassembly / assembly / disassembly / cleaning & re-assembly took about 2 hrs / 1 hr / 1.5 hrs / 3 hrs in our garage and in the hotel front drive.

On the leg from Denver to Washington, we upgraded to 1st class so checking 4 bags for 2 people was free. The TSA opened and inspected both bags both ways. We did not go 1st class on the return so it was $80 for 4 bags / 2 people on the return. Each bag was under 50# but not by much. The bike did not appear to sustain any damage on the trip.

For the week in Washington, it rained or threatened to rain for the 1st 5 days so we didn't get in as much riding as hoped. Also, because of the wet bike paths, the bike got pretty dirty. We got a ride in on Tuesday and Friday for a total of about 100 miles. We got 2 flats - both on the front. Both due to small pieces of glass.

Our riding was entirely on MUPs. The traffic looked really bad on most roads with very little shoulders.

When I got home I did a complete cleaning of the bike including both chains, all 3 cranks, the cassette and both derailers.

I think what frustrates me most is that even though I've packed the bike more than 6 times, it is still like putting together a puzzle trying to get the frame sections to interleave between the wheels in the case. I'm thinking "I've done this before and I'm an engineer - this should be easier for me" - but I still struggle and haven't found "the way". Putting the bike together is easy - it only goes together one way.

MB1

Take some pix of the process each time you do it and print them out for reference.

TandemGeek

A good photo will quickly remind you that the handlebar goes over and around, where the compression member goes, etc.



The photos & step-by-step instructions below are 2 PowerPoint slides that were held in plastic sheet protectors and taped to the lid of our hard case.

andydreisch

I'm having our C'dale shipped out to DC in July in an old Santana box for $161 each way. All we have to do is take off the pedals and rotate the handlebars. The cost is worth several hours of aggravation to me. I'm beginning to question the value of S&S couplers as a result, having once suffered from S&S envy.

Andy

VaultGuru

Also, mark each piece of foam to what part it covers, i.e., Top Boom, headset, captains seatpost,etc.. Then, store each piece of foam in the appropriate carrying case. I followed TG's suggestion to take pictures. It becomes really easy if you do it this way.

oldacura

I've marked all the padding pieces with their location. Installing the padding is pretty quick. I have some photos of how the bike should go in but I try to optimize the packing each time. I am able to get the bike in the case but I think there should be a "right" way but I've not yet found it. It amazes me that once or twice, we've fit the entire bike into just one 26" x 26" x 10" soft side case. It's not worth the hassle to try to do this but I know that it is possible. The other downside is that putting it into one case, the case will almost certainly be over 50#.

Our bike is a Co-Motion small frame. I don't know how a larger framed bike could fit into the 26" square footprint - unless the frame breaks down into more than 3 pieces.

Austinbike42

We have a large/small Co-Motion that we pack into 2 hard sided cases; it's tight, but it works. The tightest fit is the front fork/front frame section. We can keep both case under 50#'s, and if we fly Southwest Air, there's no additional charge at all; 2 bags allowed per person. The best part is "no questions asked" at the counter!

To "andydreisch", our previous Co-Motion tandem was destroyed by a baggage conveyor two years ago when shipped it in an oversized Bike Pro Tandem case - good luck with your cardboard box! It's a risk we'll never take again....

andydreisch

Yikes, Austinbike42 ... you just obliterated my sense of smugness!!

oldacura

Andy - the two rides we did were down to Mt Vernon on a bike path along the right bank of the Potomac. About 40 miles round trip from Rosslyn Va.

The second ride we did was northwest from DC along the Washington & Old Dominion trail. This is a converted rail trail. We rode to Herndon, Va. About 60 miles round trip including a side trip to Bethesda.

I don't know how riding on the roads would be. Most of them looked pretty busy.

When it wasn't raining, the weather was 60s & 70s with very high humidity. I suspect July will be the same with higher temps and more bugs.

Could you ship via UPS or similar without having to risk baggage conveyors?

ibis_ti

What shipping service was this with? Is DHL/Danzas still the way to go?

zonatandem

Wash D.C. is our least favorite place to tandem in the US. Riding the MUP on a weekend borders on lunacy. Roads are chaotic. Summer there is hot and very sticky. Recall doing a century there with temp at 98 degrees with humidity at 98%. Rather than riding in D.C. just head off to the Maryland/Virginia countryside.
Being retired, we no longer fly our tandem; used to be able to fly it without a box and that worked better than when we had to use a bike box. That was before S&S.
With the big boost in price for S&S and the upcharges for luggage, flying is becoming a real ha$$le.
Nowadays we toss tandem/luggage inside our old Honda Accord station wagon, and off we go. Currently ending up our 3 month summer escape in northern Utah.
Great ride today from Logan to Wellsville to Mendon and back. Bit of highway riding + lots of country backroads. Nice!
Pedal on TWOgether!
Rudy and Kay/zonatandem

oldacura

Rudy - I didn't want to "dis" DC but after riding around there, I realize how good we've got it around here. Low humidity, relatively light traffic, many roads with good shoulders, etc.

While in DC we rode some distance along the W&OD trail. The whole way it was like riding in a green corridor. Because of the heavy growth, we could rarely see for any distance (unlike "out west").

thebulls

I was going to reply with some sort of feisty "DC riding is great," until I saw the final sentence of your first paragraph. I guess what I mean by "DC riding is great" is "DC riding is great once you get out of town and onto the lesser-traveled roads and beautiful countryside of MD, VA, WV, and PA." We usually just toss the tandem in the back of the van and drive out to the countryside.

If you don't have a car, the W&OD, Capital Crescent Trail, or Mount Vernon Trail are all decent, but boring routes to get out of the downtown area. But with any, you need to plan on at least 33 miles each way of "just commuting" before you can get out of suburbia to the nicer roads (W&OD will take you all the way out to Purcelville, while the Capital Crescent takes you up to Bethesda, far enough out that you can ride for 20 miles of relatively-low-traffic MD suburban neighborhood roads to get to the countryside, but it's pretty boring, and the Mount Vernon Trail gets you far enough south that after about five more suburban miles you can get out into the countryside near Mason Neck).

Except the period between about June 15 and Sep 15, it's generally decent weather around here. Even in the winter, you can get out and ride most weekends if you dress for it. My mother-in-law lives in Mesa, AZ, and when I see her weather reports it makes me very happy not to live out there. It is very seldom that we have a perceived heat index as high as the routine temps where she lives. I suspect you get used to whatever you have to deal with :-)

Nick