PhilFree64

Hi I have two oldish Dawes Galaxy bikes which I use for bike touring.
So that I can tour further afield and abroad I wanted to purchase some ss bike couplers.
I have a mechanic lined up to install them if I can find where to purchase them.
Could anybody assist me please?

maddog34

quick search on bing brings up... Bike Retailers Selling BTC Travel Bicycles

Note: the search added responses to "S & S COUPLINGS" not couplers..

NOTE.. there are two types available... they require either silver soldering or welding in place,depending on frame tubing type.. this should be done by a QUALIFIED FRAME BUILDER With a Frame Jig.

https://www.sandsmachine.com/#install

Yan 

Installing these is not a trivial matter. It needs to be done by a frame builder. Anyone who is capable of installing these will also be able to sell them to you. If they can't sell them to you, then they are not qualified to do the install.

The fact that you can't find these for sale is intentional. They don't sell to just anybody. They only sell to qualified frame builders.

Andrew R Stewart 

In the past S&S wouldn't sell their couplers to a non business (w/ sales tax state accounts and liability insurance). I don't know of that requirement currently. I strongly suggest an experienced frame person do this work. This could be the mechanic mentioned. But the vast majority of shop wrenches are not skilled in frame fabrication. I believe that the S&S couplers are still only available in stainless steel and will need either a TIG weld or a silver braze joint, as brass/bronze doesn't wet out on SS hardly at all.

BTW at one time S&S offered a list of approved builders to have their couplers installed by. Andy

CliffordK

S&S coupled bikes come up used from time to time. With some luck complete with the case.

This is a bizarre ad up in Seattle.
Co-Motion Nor'Wester Tour Co-Pilot ---50cm - $250 (Downtown Seattle)

https://seattle.craigslist.org/see/b...607252769.html

Theoretically it should be a $1000+ bicycle.

It doesn't look like the seller is interested in shipping. There is a Facilitators thread that may help.

"The Facilitators" Thread - Post here if you're willing and able!

Russ Roth

You have to delve deep into the site but they won't sell to anyone not approved to be an installer and being approved requires being an established/experienced framebuilder.

dedhed

Bike Retailers Selling BTC Travel Bicycles

​​​​​​Framebuilder List For S and S Machine Bicycle Torque Couplings (BTCs)

​​​​​​Folding Travel Bikes using S and S Machine Bicycle Torque Couplings™

aggiegrads

I am 99% sure that Co-motion ad in Seattle is a scam. It was up for $500. I think that it is bait for people to tell the “seller” when they will be traveling.

I have emailed the seller twice and got no response.

HillRider

Properly installing S&S Couplings on an existing frame is neither easy or cheap. It might be worth it to buy a frame originally fitted with them as an OEM.

veganbikes

That bike has more red flags than the Soviet Union at its peak. It is a good ad and it seems like the seller knows the bike but $250 is so low for that bike, the headset alone is around $200. There is something up with it maybe stolen maybe the guy is crazy I don't know but yeah would touch with a 80 foot pole with me in all the best PPE in a special bubble.

In terms of S&S as others have said go to a qualified frame builder who specializes in S&S this is not something that you just throw on the bike or some rando can just install it and in the end even if you found someone who is willing if they aren't selling them already they may not have the experience needed to do it right so that is a lot of money down the drain for a ruined frame. If you enjoy the bikes get them done properly if you aren't in pure love with the bike consider something new from Co-Motion or someone else (but I like my Co-Motion and I think one of the options I got was around $250 though I do regret not getting the stainless dropouts and some other stuff at the time, I was young and dumb.

dsaul

Bilenky in Philly does S&S coupler installs. https://www.bilenky.com/retrofit

HillRider

Yes and they are one of S&S's recommended installers. Again, this is not going to be cheap.

pdlamb

Depends what you're comparing it to. It's not a hundred bucks and a 6-pack of beer, but if you compare a retrofit to a custom build with the couplers in it, the retrofit saves you 2/3 to 1/2 of the new bike cost. Plus with the retrofit you get to keep all those ancient things you've grown accustomed to like rim brakes, 9-speed triple gears.

LV2TNDM

I had the pleasure of meeting Steve at S&S a few weeks ago and he's very generous with his time. We cyclists are lucky he was an avid rider "back in the day" and had the incentive to design and produce them. The couplers are a pet project that don't really add much to S&S's bottom line. The replies you've received are true - he will only sell to qualified framebuilders. So find the nearest established framebuilder for your retrofit and they should be able to order them & install them no problem. It just won't be cheap. And remember, this will burn off the paint where the couplers are brazed into the tubes.

Good luck. I have S&S on a road tandem and they function as advertised. More than strong enough as they use them on four and five seat tandems. Steve sure made foreign travel for cyclists, especially tandemists, a breeze!

Good luck.

Atlas Shrugged

This is a fairly invasive and expensive process. Have tried travelling with your bikes as is? Most carriers now consider bicycles as a part of your luggage allotment and have eliminated the bicycle surcharge. You will still be stuck with a case when you arrive, so the advantage of couplers has changed over the years. The disassembly required for the couplers is also substantial, you still have the racks, panniers and other accessories to deal with so you will be forced to check two pieces of luggage regardless. Perhaps give it a go with a used bike box and go from there.

LV2TNDM

Cool! Nice to see them eliminating the draconian fees for cyclists. Skiers, tuba players or golfers never paid extra!

https://www.airline-baggage-fees.com...-airlines.html

That said, the 23kg/50lb. limit needs to be raised!

Yan 

This ad is 100% a scam. Last summer I bought an identical frame for $1100. The entire bike in this ad is easily worth over $2000. Probably a scam like "other people are coming to see it, transfer me a deposit and I'll hold it for you". The ad also mentions they are willing to ship. There's another way to scam right there.

It could be a stolen bike but thieves are not mentally r*tarded. If they have the computer skill to post to Craigslist, then they also have the computer skill to use Google. Maybe it's a drug addict who needs drugs immediately.

Yan 

I visited Bilenky over Christmas to buy an S&S bike bag. Nice guys, crazy garage. Bikes and parts hanging everywhere.

Bob Ross

What product is S&S Machine Works' bread & butter?

[edit: nevermind, I just looked at their website. Holy crap, bicycle frame couplers are definitely a niche market for them!]

HillRider

Yes, and I've been one of the posters mentioning the cost. I wasn't aware the airlines have eliminated the absurd surcharge for bikes. Nice to know.

That said, a full size bike travel case or even a re-enforced bike shop cardboard box is a large and awkward thing to maneuver through airports or train stations and may not fit into taxis in Europe or Asia or into the luggage racks of busses and trains. I traveled to both Europe and Japan several times with a coupled Co-Motion CoPilot years ago. While the S&S packing suitcase was quite large, it was nowhere near the size and awkwardness of a full size box.
Yeah, the case does have to be stored but the S&S case will generally fit into an airport locker or a hotel's luggage store room. Not so much a full size bike shipping case. A cardboard bike box could be discarded at your destination and replaced at a local bike shop for your return trip but this isn't a sure thing unless you are traveling to a common bike touring area.
Agreed, disassembly/reassembly isn't trivial or super fast. After some practice it took me about 30 minutes to unpack and put the bike together and about an hour to repack it for the trip home. As to a second piece of luggage for your clothing, racks, etc., there is no way to avoid that no matter how the bike itself is shipped. Again, it's easier to find storage for the S&S case than for a full size shipping case.

Domestically, tourists can ship their bike to a bike shop or the hotel at their destination using Fed-Ex, UPS or a specialized bike shipping company and have a bike shop repack and ship it to their home at the trip's end. I'm not sure I would want to do this internationally.

mpetry912 

is that a titanium frame ? those couplers may be the larger diameter, won't fit the OP's dawes galaxy which is 3 tube 531 in the older sizes

/markp

HillRider

S&S makes couplers to fit a variety of tube sizes in both steel and Ti.

mpetry912 

yes. I knew that.

the question was could he buy that frame and harvest the couplers.

the answer was no.

/markp

CliffordK

I think Co-Motion deals primarily in steel. But it is a local made in the USA company and I wouldn't choose to just rip apart one of their frames to harvest parts.

I have seen S&S couplers on E-Bay before, likely removed from a wrecked frame, or perhaps a cancelled special order. But they don't show up very frequently, and are expensive.

CliffordK

I've thought about making a trailer kit similar to the Bike Friday trailer kit, that is a very skeletal frame that bolts onto the Samsonite suitcase. In theory the Bike Friday bike and the whole trailer wheels/tongue will fit into the suitcase, although I've always been best off with the bike in the suitcase and the trailer frame in a second duffel.

Anyway, some folding bikes will compete with the S&S bikes as travel bikes.

Nonetheless, it should be easy enough to convert the S&S system into a trailer too.