1nterceptor

In my video above^^^^^; that bike had 20 inch tires, front disc and a fold similar to Dahon's.
I was able to fit it inside a standard suitcase; 28" Samsonite. No modification was done. Just
kept taking off parts till the bike fit. Depending on model; some bikes may need more dismantling
to fit.

Dahon Speed Uno(20 inch tires) in a legal size S & S backpack/knapsack; 26" X 26" X 10".
Just needed to pull out seatpost for a better fit; I don't think I even let the air out of the tires:
Dahon Speed Uno in S & S Backpack by 1nterceptor, on Flickr

L Arnold

These are some pictures of my first version Suitcase Visc. You can see the box the bike shipped in and the suitcase I packed the bike into. It gets smaller on every axis and generally shrinks from about 75" to 61" or so with the suitcase. I plan to make a custom suitcase to make it a bit easier.

Basically I make a separable hinge which allows me to keep the chain line of the bike intact. I remove the seat post and the handlebar from the bike and have the cables be "separable from the front" of the frame section.

With the bike split I can put the back half of the bike, wheel on and chainline intact, into the suitcase. Handlebar and Seatpost follow. I also add MKS Pedals that have quick disconnects and let the bike get smaller.

For the front half, I remove the front wheel, ( I also have disconnect the front brake with a cable disconnect so the cable lives with the other cables connected to the handlebar that has already been loaded). You can see how I have the cables routed now to separate from the front of the frame when packed in the one picture.

Front Wheel and front half of the frame are loaded into the suitcase and away we go.

To reassemble: Frame Connect, Handlebar Install, Seat Post Install, Front Tire Install, Front Brake coupling, and Pedals reinstall. Rideable and a nice bike to ride too (18 speeds with a wide range).

It is a pretty big modification. Takes time and some pretty nice components. I will charge about $300 for the modification. This started as what I wanted for myself and I think it can be practical for other people as well.

As I mentioned I can also do this with Mariner and Vitesse models as well. I have also made the Vitesse an Internal Tran (front and rear) 14 Speed and could make that version also packable.

wesgreen

Wow, I am so impressed! If I had your skills I might consider something similar, but would be very worried about safety issues, which I'm sure you're aware of. I hope you know what you're doing, but as far as I can tell from these pics, it seems like you do. I hope you continue exploring new ideas, share them with us, and I wish you much success with them. Stay safe, above all. Thank you for that explanation and the beautiful pics.

L Arnold

Thank you for the encouragement Wes. I test, evaluate, retest quite a bit. I am also a big guy and like to use my bikes pretty hard.

I will follow with more developments as they progress. Thanks again.

wesgreen

Be sure to investigate liability issues before doing this mod for someone else.

fietsbob

Other people's stuff loaded on top of it can be an issue to contend with , in a shared luggage hold.

sleepycactus

Last month I used Greyhound to go from Portland to Bend, OR. My (home-made) bike folds up to a solid structure measuring 28x22x12. After bagging it in its nylon sack, I handed it to the baggage person who weighed it, but did not measure it. The weight limit is 50lbs. She did not ask me what it was. The person taking the bag knew it was a bike (he must have seen me fold it up outside), but he did not care. I was prepared to say it was "bike parts" if anybody asked. Had a great camping trip doing a loop that went thru the Deschutes forest (part of the Oregon Outback route).

I have taken BoltBus to Eugene and seen people put unfolded bikes in the luggage compartment. Kind of risky to do, and I was surprised this was allowed.

badmother

If you made that beauty in TI and made it awailable...

L Arnold

Nice job on your home made bike! Cool you can fit it well. How many bags will Greyhound allow you to check? I love the multi-modal approach

sleepycactus

I don't think my bike could ever be something anyone could make for a profit. Way too much work! I'm guessing I put close to 200 hours into it before I slapped some rustoleum on it about 3 years and 15,000 miles ago. So many big and tiny parts and bits.. cut, ground, filed, jigged, and brazed.

It's all aircraft cromo steel, weighs about 32 lbs as in the picture (but without bags).. a steel Brooks B-17, front and rear racks, dynamo lights, fenders, and are bell included in the weight. No dent-prone thin wall tubing; most is .035"/.9mm wall. Even if I knew how to work with titanium, using it in the frame and parts could save a couple pounds or so, but not worth it to me since I spend very little time carrying it.

wesgreen

Respect! There are some amazing people on this forum.