bikebahn

Thanks all for the input. I generally like the yellow colour and from a safety perspective, what I read is that the eye is more sensitive (reactive) to yellow whereas red penetrates farthest.

Anyway I went ahead and got the yellow 40L back roller classic after all. I'm very happy with the purchase.

Tourist in MSN

Thanks for the suggestion, but my luggage was pretty full and was at the limit of what I could get on the plane. I am thinking of either one of those back fenders that clamps onto the bike, but instead strap the fender on to the rack. Or, simpler yet would be a piece of cardboard inside of a plastic bag, the plastic to keep the cardboard dry. And strap that on top of the rack.

The back was the worst, the lack of a front fender was not as much of a problem for my bike. Lots of mud on the back and bottom of my handlebar bag, but that did not bother me as much. And the shoe covers took the worst of it, but that is what they were intended to do. So I expect to forgo a front fender in the future too.

I do not know how much I will be on gravel roads in the future, but for my Iceland trip I was in the interior a couple of times and also tried to avoid Highway 1 as much as practical. Thus, a lot of gravel. The photo looks like a paved road, but it really was just a well compacted gravel road.

Philly Tandem

When traveling with my S&S bikes packed in the bags I use basic plastic fenders that slide onto metal L-brackets on the fork crown/brake bridge. Definitely not as effective as full-wrap fenders, but they do the job pretty well and are easy to take on/off and pack. In fact, unless I know I'm going to need them on a given day, I usually take the front fender off and store it in the rack-top bag. The rear fender stays on all the time.

You can see them in the photo below, nestled together.

Tourist in MSN

Thanks. I am thinking of a similar type rear fender for the future, if it will fit in the case.

Front, I am not going to bother with one. I put a water bottle below the downtube and a fender that is not firmly attached could catch on the water bottle. I would rather give up the fender than give up the water bottle.

I was a little confused by the photo, looked like two handlebars, two saddles, and then I realized that it must be a tandem. No wonder that case is so full.

djb

hey Tourist, re a rear fender option, for donkeys years Ive used a flexible fender thingee on my old mtn bike, more accurately, two of them, held on with zip ties. I will try to find a link to it

found it, they still make them

https://www.mec.ca/en/product/4000-4...flector-Shield

ya, so for at least 10 years, maybe 15, Ive had these tie wrapped onto the rear rack of my old rockhopper. I put one on so it sticks out the back a certain amount, and then added another running down the seat tube, all improvised with zip ties. The most impressive thing with this product is that I have expected them to break at some point, but the darn things have been bent and twisted putting my bike into cars, leaning back up against things, you name it, and they are still working. Not as great as a closer real fender, but pretty darn good, especially when they can be bent and pushed around all over the place and still come back to more or less thier original shape.
I might have a photo of them on the bike , will look.

anyway, an option that is amazingly tough, no matter how rough you are with them, might be an option if the real fender option doesnt work out.

found a photo, you can see the one going out the back of the fender, the other one you can barely see, but it starts under the fender and goes down the seat tube and is anchored like a real fender at the bottom of the seat tube to help stop stuff going onto the fd. Not perfect, but it works.

DropBarFan

Fenders are not a must but a nice luxury. If packing them is a big hassle I guess one could usually buy a pair upon arrival.


& no wheels that I could see. Last S&S pack I was still working out the basic scheme; no obvious way to include fenders but not obviously impossible either. BTW even for a short tour it was a bit tough to go with S&S case as only checked luggage. Rear rack barely fit into carry-on & helmet requires more space. For a loaded tour it seems simpler to pay extra airline fee for 2nd checked bag.

Philly Tandem

Actually, it's a triplet (three-seater)! So, yes, the bags get very full :-)

The main part of the bike (the "tandem" part) goes into the two S&S backpack cases, which also have the wheels, front and rear racks, handlebar bag, and the front and rear panniers. The center section of the triplet goes into a crate I made, because it won't fit in an S&S case, which fits the 62" maximum airline size restraint.

Not shown in the pics, but we also manage to get three helmets into the S&S soft cases, along with six water bottles. Our clothes (for three people) go mostly in the outside pockets of the S&S backpack cases.

The photo of the luggage on the baggage cart was from our three-week trip to Europe last month, which included a self-supported (credit card) tour. Except for a small daypack, that is all the luggage for the three of us. So, it can be done! :-)

To a certain degree, though, a single bike in one S&S case is a bit more challenging, because you have to get both wheels in the one case. (I have single S&S bikes, so I'm familiar with this challenge.) For me, a big help is to have a rear hub that is easy to take apart (Phil Wood, DT, new Velo Orange touring hub, etc.), where you can pull the axle and cassette and pack them separately. In my opinion, this is a must-have feature for S&S bikes that are going to be packed. It makes things MUCH easier to pack, as you don't have that awkward (and sharp) cassette to work around. I pack the axle and cassette from my rear hub in my handlebar bag (in a Ziploc bag, of course), which can be seen in the lower right corner of the right S&S bag in the photo below.

Tourist in MSN

That is exactly what I was thinking of doing with cardboard in a plastic bag, attach it either under or above the rack, depending on how it fit best. From the photo, it should be pretty easy to do, I even have the velcro straps already to attach it. But was not going to run it up to the seat tube. It is amazing how many good ideas you come up with during a long rainy day in the saddle on a long gravel road with almost no other traffic to distract you.

My last trip I wore the helmet onto the plane. My Tubus Logo did not fit in the luggage I planned to use, so had to use a different bag. But with camping gear, I knew I was going to be checking a second bag.

Thanks for the ideas.

I did figure out that a Rohloff which has very wide flanges, thus the spokes are wide on both sides of the wheel make the wheel quite wide is not an asset to easy packing.

djb

here are some better photos of the two "fenders" and thier attachment points with zipties.
Zipties are amazing, these are the same ones from when I put these on, and it must be at least 10 years.
Don't know if you could get away with zipties given how you take your frame apart and the rack off, but then again, all you need with zipties are a pair of nail clippers to get them off if need be.

the third shot shows from underneath the rack how I overlapped the two of them, and just improvised with the zipties.

DropBarFan

Very impressive packing! I would never have thought about pulling axle & cassette but yes, makes sense since wheels are the toughest thing to pack nicely.

DropBarFan

A fender bracket once broke so I zip-tied as a temporary measure & it worked great, didn't even rattle. One can buy re-usable zip ties. In Germany a few years back I saw a lot of commuters on MTB's with the motocross-style clip-on fenders. Was a bit surprised since I assumed fenders don't work well unless they're close to the tire but I guess they still catch majority of mud spray.