c_mingus

I may be heading to the US for work for 12 months and am considering buying a Ritchey Breakaway frame to take as a travel bike. I'll be based in San Fran but plan to take trips by plane/train/bus all over the country to go riding, either day rides or overnight/multiday tours returning to the starting point.

Has anyone used these frames before? What are they like to ride and travel with?

Also, is there anywhere in melbourne (Australia) that stocks them, either as complete bikes for frame only? I'd love to be able to have a test ride before heading over but would probably buy it there so that I can utilise the warranty over the first year. On that note, if anyone is in SF and knows of a shop there that stocksthem that would be great too.

Finally, are there any other commercial frames which include Ritchey or S&S couplers? I know i could go the custom build route but not sure if i have the cash for that.

valygrl

Talk to these guys, an hour south of SF, with regard to travel/touring bikes: https://bicycleoutfitter.com/
They know what they are doing -- or at least, they used to a few years ago, when I bought a Trek 520 there.

Surly TravelCheck is a coupled bike, similar price to the Ritchey. https://www.surlybikes.com/frames/travelers_check_frame/
Co-Motion makes a coupled bike as well, not cheap : https://www.co-motion.com/single_bikes/americano.html

BengeBoy 

You might also consider this: Dahon makes a full-size touring bike called the Tournado. It's just over $2,000 (US). I think I read somewhere that it uses the Ritchey Breakaway system:



https://www.nycewheels.com/dahon-fold...-tournado.html

Deanster04

I have a ritchey Breakaway cross bike that I took to Europe for 2 weeks in the Alps. No problems with the bike and the travelling case that comes with the bike. It takes only an hour or less to pack and re-assemble the bike. I flew from Denver to Munich and back with Air Canada and wasn't chargned any extra for the bike bag. I carried all my bike riding gear in the bag in plastic ziplock bags.
The breakaway is a great ride. You can swap out tires and tubes to change the ability to go from road tires to cross tires for some great off road riding. I usually travel out to SF every couple of years in mid winter for a break and find the versatility allows me a wide variety of terrain to ride in...and SF has got it all.
I would suggest a triple for the steep hills of SF. I put a MTB setup on my breakaway and rode 18 classic passes including the Pssso del Stelvio. It was nice to have a very wide range of gearing. One very important point...purchase a small torque wrench from Park tools and torque the bottom clamp exactly what Ritchey recommends...I have had great luck and zero problems wiht the bottom clamp riding very aggressively off road and I am 200 lbs. Good luck and let me know by PM what you decide to do.

Bekologist

Surly Travelers Check will be available thru most any bike shop -
Once you get here, Box Dog Bikes is a great proletariat shop in San Francisco that should be able to help you out.

I had the chance to purchase either a ritchey or the surly. i went with the surly as the connectors are more solid and the bike actually fits the 10x26x26 dimension limits for standard luggage. the ritchey in its case is officially oversized.

carrefour

Just an idea (I have not tried this myself) : what about a full suspension bike? Take off the fork, rear triangle, wheels, pedals and it is ready to be boxed small. OK, it is more work to take apart/put together than a Ritchey Breakaway or S&S couplers, but your choices re. price, type of bike and weights are huge. And you won't have to worry about "is the bottom clamp going to hold up". For touring purposes there are many rack solutions for full-suspension bikes. And for tires you have plenty of choices too.

Bacciagalupe

While I do think the Ritchey is a good implementation, I'd only buy one if you plan to fly with the bike extensively after your US trip. Unfortunately, with airlines charging for any size bags, the cost savings of a folding / collapsible bike are much narrower than they were a few years ago. I.e. you're paying $1000 extra for the coupling option; how many trips with this bike do you need to take for that to pay off?

I'd also wait until you get to the US to buy the bike -- save yourself the hassle and costs of transporting the bike on the plane, and take other critical items instead.

FWIW, I find dragging a bike to the airport isn't worth it for short trips (less than a week). You have to pack the bike, drag it to the airport, pay a baggage fee, hope the TSA doesn't break anything when they inspect it, drag it to the hotel, and assemble the bike.

The Ritchey or S&S won't be very useful for trains either. A true folding bike would be more convenient, since they can collapse to a more compact size (and a more rugged package) in ~30 seconds.

Bekologist

for a person that likes to bicycle, bringing a bike on a trip to bike in a city is well worth it even if its less than a week. I can put together my SNS travelerscheck in about 20 minutes. For train travel i've heard from others the softcase is convenient as you can build bike on the spot and ride off! a little less convenient at many airports.

The Smokester

I have a Gunnar Sport with S&S couplers. Having a bike which can be broken apart is handy for more than just traveling. Basically, there is almost no car that is too small for the broken-down bike to be transported in. I use my Gunnar almost every day and the couplers are completely "invisible" as far as ride and reliability are concerned. To really break it down and fit it into the suitcase is a pain, though, and always takes me a while since I forget exacly how it's done since I do it infrequently.

I have also test-ridden a Ritchey Breakaway. Very impressive. I have not lived with it so don't know how reliable it is in the long term but didn't see any obvious problems.

Both these are excellent, full-size bike options. It's always nice to ride your own bike.

guadzilla

I have a Ritchey Breakaway. I only got it recently so cant give you a very detailed review but so far I have found it to be a very comfortable and easy-riding bike.

I've flown with it a couple of times and found the process to be very low-stress, compared to packing my road bike in a Trico case and finding a way to transport that monstrosity to the airport.

The bike breaks up and assembles in about 20-25 min or so. Very easy to do so. And so far, it has escaped unscatched in transit - although I have lined the wheel side of the bike with an added layer of cardboard for protection.

I am going to Bhutan day after tomorrow for a 17 day tour across the country, and am taking this bike with me. Will post a detailed report when back - am also going to keep a journal on CGOAB ("Guadzilla goes to Bhutan"), if anyone is interested.

V.

growlgames

I have the Dahon Tournado, and recently posted about it here. I originally wanted the Ritchey cross frame, but found the chainstays were too short for my feet+bags. The Dahon is the closest thing to a touring bike of the Breakaways. Like vkalia says, teardown or build-up takes about 20-30 minutes and is pretty straightforward. If you want to check one out, call ahead to the shops listed by either manufacturer; when I was looking (in the bay area), most the dealers listed had little to no Breakaways in stock. Special order only. Might be better now, but I'd be surprised.

Deanster04

Is the Dahon the same clamping setup as the Ritchey? I think they licensed the design. The cross frame doesn't have the full length chainstays of a touring bike but I found it worked well for me.

pacificaslim

I recently bought a Ritchey BreakAway cyclocross frameset and though I haven't travelled with it yet, it rides great! If you can buy one without the Ritchey case, it will all fit in the same case used by the S&S coupler bikes, and that case does strictly meet the airline size restictions (as mentioned, the Ritchey case is slightly larger, though I haven't read of anyone being charged extra because of it).

I bought my Ritchey frame used, but there are a few dealers in San Francisco, including https://www.bigswingincycles.com.

Here's mine with campy/sram/shimano mix - works flawlesssly!

growlgames

Yeah, they license it from Ritchey. I'd guess that Ritchey figured they wanted to go for the volume categories - road, MTB, & cross, and saw giving Dahon the touring niche as a way to minimize direct competition while validating the concept to a bigger audience. The lugs on my bike even have the 'TR' logo on them. Adventure Cyclist has a detailed review online.

I imagine the cross bike could work for many; I have larger feet so there was no way I'd have enough heel clearance with panniers. As I mentioned on another post, my experience with Ritchey was first rate - they were very helpful answering questions, and mentioned the Dahon themselves as an alternative.

guadzilla

I got mine from Excel Sports and they told me that the larger size Breakaways dont fit too well in the S&S coupler cases. I have a 57 and they recommended that I stick with the Ritchey case.

pacificaslim

Thanks for posting that info. Mine is a 58 so I guess I will have to rethink getting the S&S case after all.

HardyWeinberg

Apparently the TC is discontinued to make room for the LHT Deluxe! May be able to pick up TC w/ decent closeout discount?

BengeBoy 

Very interesting -- see their comment about 700c wheels. Rodriguez (www.rodcycle.com) recommends that S&S bikes have 26-inch wheels for exactly the same reason (smaller, easier to pack):


"700c wheels do not fit into an airline-regulation maximum size hardcase without deflating the tires, and even then it’s a tight fit. As well, many people use a travel bike for touring far away lands, panniers fully loaded with clothes, cookware, camping equipment, and mousse, and wanted a frame designed for this purpose. It isn’t really feasible for us to offer two S&S coupled frames so we’re replacing the Travelers Check with the Long Haul Trucker DeLuxe. As you may know, our Long Haul Trucker is a true touring frame. The LHT DeLuxe is a Long Haul Trucker with S&S’s new, lower profile couplers, and the frame uses 26" wheels. Hey!"

Bekologist

I've found simply removing the tire from the front wheel (top one into the case) lets 700c bikes pack nicely into the hard case with even substantial rubber on the rear tire- with the TSA security net, it slides into the case like butter!

c_mingus

Thanks for all the replies, there's a lot of info here to digest!

With regard to the cost issue, i'm not expecting to save money with this venture, the only flights where i might save some cash are long haul and they are the least frequent ones. Any short haul i've been on in Aus or Europe you pay for any baggage so even a couple frame will be charged. What i'm mainly looking for is convenience, i've traveled with a full frame bike in boxes and then in a Tardis Bag. Both were too heavy and awkward to carry long distances and the tardis didn't really offer the protection i'm looking for for a $2000+ bike. I'm basically trying to makle a descision between a couple frame and a hardshell case with wheels etc for easy handling.

Obviously the hardshell case will consign me to paying extra for the bike wherever i go and occaisionally be more difficult to get into a taxi or on a train, but there will be a $600-$1000 additional cost for the frame (assuming ~$400 for a hard case, which i haven't researched that well yet). Also, the ritchey/S&S case would probably fit in most luggage lockers at train stations/airports so could be easily left while heading out of town on the bike. A hard case....well maybe, but more likely it would need to be left in a hotel luggage room or similar so options would be more limited.

Finally, questino for Vkailia, on your cross coutry trip to bhutan, what will you do with the case? Get it transported to your destination or return to your starting poinnt to collect it?

Bekologist

Slim- we we BOTH riding travel 'cross bikes when we rode Old highway 1 this summer? (thanks again BTW!)

pacificaslim

I was still on the Bianchi Axis then. I sold it recently as a completely and had almost enough parts around to build up the Ritchey (had to buy shifters and brakes). I did notice your Surly had connectors though and you obviously have no problems with it on bumpy terrain or anything. That style connector seems a little more solid than the Ritchey style.

When you're back down here again let's go find some other crazy "roads" to ride on.

vik 

I ride a Bike Friday New World Tourist which is a folding touring bike. The NWT compares favourably to my Surly LHT and it's so much fun to ride I often grab it when I have nothing to carry and no need to fold it.

- folds in seconds without tools
- unfolds in seconds without tools
- hand made in US to your specs
- rides and fits like a full size bike [I'm 6']
- prices start around $1000USD
- great customer service for international folks

The fold is so easy and fast you can do it a few times a day without getting annoyed. I've owned an S&S bike and I wouldn't take it apart unless I really had to.

Bike Friday also has sportier/lighter versions if you want performance over luggage hauling.

Bekologist

Is that one of those circus bikes the clowns ride built with a Roloff hub?

vik 

Hahaha...I take it you've seen one of my performances?...

I couldn't afford a 3rd Rohloff so that's a Nexus 8 IGH, but as I get older I'm getting by with fewer and fewer gears on my bikes so 8 seems like more than enough...