Definitely do the couplers. I currently own a Dahon folding single, a Bike Friday tandem and an S&S coupled bianchi. the s&s bianchi is a superior road bike, but is less compact when stashed for travel. Coffee is right - packing a folder for travel is not significantly less time cosuming than an S&S, it's just that the package is smaller and easier to tug around. One thing though - actually getting the final bit of packing to squeeze the S&S frame into the hard case is really, REALLY frustrating the first few times. sounds like a great bike - I think you made the right choice.