I usually take my Brompton when I’m traveling with family. But if I’m honest, I don’t enjoy riding it. At all. I don’t know how people ride 100’s of miles on these things.
FYI, I’m no novice. I’ve been riding some the mid 90’s and have ridden plenty of centuries.

Anyway, I’m rethinking my travel set up. I am thinking of a vintage 26” MTB/ATB (rigid). I’ll most likely set it up with decent parts, light-ish wheels (most likely Velocity Quills or A23’s laced to DT350’s I already have), Rene Herse Rat Trap Pass tires. I’ll mostly ride city streets and dirt roads so this set up should be just fine.

Probably threadless so I can take the fork on and off easier for packing.

I’m trying to think of other attributes that may be better for travel (ie taking the bike apart and putting it together).

The case I’ll be using is an Orucase. It should easily fit a vintage mtb.

Thanks.

I have used an Orucase for several years and have never been charged a fee, although it has been a close call a few times because the original Orucase is slightly over the airline standard. I got a full sized road bike in the case with few packing issues. The case is a little odd shaped so it often winds up being processed as oversized. You are correct that it will take a MTB with no issues.

My travel bike go to recently has been an S&S coupled road frame that I got used. What is nice about it is that it feels like a completely normal road bike when assembled. Disassembled, the case is a normal rectangle and well under the airline standard. You could find an old, good quality steel frame for retrofit and set it up the way you want. A frame with big clearances could be set up with gravel wheels. If you are starting with a frame that is going to be retrofitted with couplers, the builder could add whatever braze ons you want to dial it in for you.

Here is my S&S coupled Erickson for inspiration.

I have tried a few variations of bike for flying with including a Brompton which like you I found not so good on long distance rides, 26" wheel bikes pack down smaller than road bikes but I found a 20" wheel mini velo to be a good compromise, a better riding position and generally nicer to ride than the Brompton but packs down a lot smaller than a full size bike and with fat tyres not bad off road, just a thought.
I don't seem to have a photo of it loaded but here it is packed in a soft case lined with a cut up bicycle box, at check-in it has been put on the conveyor with regular luggage and also had to go to oversize luggage but has always comes out on the carousel.

I've got a Marlboro/Fuji folding mountain bike. While I like it and it rides like a mountain bike and can be component swapped to make it a road bike, it is kind of heavy. But since they often sell for $50, it could be something to consider. I've used mine on business trips where I was able to put it in the trunk of the car and therefore out of sight when I'm staying overnight or at a customer's facility.

If you don't want to do a lot of parts swapping and want to start off with something better there are the Montague folding bikes.

I like the Neutrino, my only concern if I had it would be the time to set it up and break it down. Igor at Velo Orange has taken his Neutrino all over and has gotten good at breaking it down and boxing it up.


Keep this post going and let us know what you end up with and how it works out. Even if it doesn't work out. I expect that eventually it will work out.

my gravel bike has couplers. Carver All Road.

I have an Orucase B2 and travel extensively with it.

One idea that the OP mentioned in his original post was using a cartridge based headset. This is an excellent idea.

I’ve used the orucase with my C&V bikes when traveling to various vintage events and having caged or loose headset bearing is less than ideal. I’ve had bearings get lost during assembly / disassembly, issues with getting the headset bolts tensioned correctly, and having to travel with the heavy headset wrenches is not ideal. A cartridge type headset would avoid these issues.

I have a Ritchey break away as my go to travel bike, but the Orucase is almost as small and works with my C&V bikes. I’ve easily flown over 150 times with a bike as checked baggage, and I’ve never been charged for the Orucase or the Ritchey.

Also I have found that European Cab drivers do not think second about the Orucase. I’ve had issues in the past with a full size case, but the Orucase and Ritchey are much more cab and rail friendly.

If your case determines you need to remove the fork then of course, threadless is the way to go. Leaving fork on then I’d recommend an ability to remove handlebar. This is most easily done with a removable faceplate stem. those type stems are awful hard to find in quill version, although they are out there and often expensive. If you go with cantilever brakes (maybe center pull?), then you can use cable splitters (I’ve yet to brainstorm a realistic way to expose front brake cable for a splitter on a caliper brake) and it’s no big deal to pop out a quill stem from the steerer.

Most airlines now treat a bicycle as a second piece of luggage and don't charge these crazy fees anymore. Why not a standard bike?

This.
Precisely.
I travel all over the country with bikes using an EVOC bag. Every bike I own can fit in it, airlines treat it like any other suitcase.
Take off the wheels, take off the bars and stem, puall a cable or two and that’s it. Maybe 20 minutes or so to assemble/disassemble plus racks and fenders if used.

I donno. I think if you disliked riding bigger miles on the Brompton, you'll also not like riding an old rigid 26'er much more. They are really not great at anything, and a compromise at best.

Inexpensive steel bikes that are more or less designed for the riding you want to do are easy enough to find, I'd go that direction.

My travel bike is my trusty old Serotta I had cut in half a decade+ ago. It's been everywhere.

The airline element is only one part of the equation - pre and post airline travel often times is as much of an issue, if not more, than the airline trip.

Having a substandard sized case like the fork removal type or a coupling equipped bike makes the pre and post jet travel easier. I have put my Orucase in the back of a Fiat 500 without any issue and was easily able to find a spot for it on rail travel.

When I traveled extensively for work - my Ritchey breakaway usually came with me on multi day trips when I could build riding time before or after work into the schedule. Easy for cabs and uber and hotel storage as well.

If you are only taking a couple of cycling trips per year, without significant ground transport off the bike, a full size is probably your best bet, but if you are traveling a lot, having a smaller footprint makes it a lot easier.

Bike Friday?

That's why I bought mine.