2_i 

It certainly expands the circumstances under which the bike will gain extra protection. Optimal would be the situation with the bike always suspended right in the middle of the frame. Due to the limited space, it is hard to achieve it, though. If you went with padding, then the padding strategically attached to the bike could be as or even more effective as the frame.

Schwinnsta

If you put stiff plastic or thin plywood between the frame and the bag it would improve the protection but increase weight. Still if its under 50 pounds, no problems.

Hisamatsu

I already have some corrugated plastic boards cut to fit the brompton using Aphek's template/guide for my original plan with the ikea dimpa bag that I've abandon. They weigh about 600g, little bit heavier than the frame, but extra bulk to carry. Question is if I really need that extra bit of protection.

jur

I'm not sure how much packing needs to absorb blows compared to pressure from stacking. From what I have observed, handlers grab a piece of luggage and especially when heavy will use minimum effort to get it on an conveyor belt. That also means if it falls, it falls. So for falling, if the bag by itself will protect the paintwork and so on, then that's fine.

My own experience ranges all the way from protectively packed inside a suitcase or a B&W custom case, right down to nude with just a strap around it. The only time there was some heavy misalignment was with a Vincita-like bag. I think that would have been prevented by a frame. The nude cases have been perfect.

Hisamatsu

With nude cases baggage handler probably thinking "WTH is this, looks flimsy, guess i'll be tiny bit more gentle".

This blogger, the only case I've found where damage occurred with B132 type bag. Seatpost got bent. Probably fell down head first and seat post broke the fall.

2_i 

Some airlines apply bike fee no matter whether the bike is full size or folded, making it a very expensive option. Incidentally, when baggage arrives with externally visible signs of damage, as in the case of the mentioned blogger, one should file a damage report with the airline right there at the airport. On a trip last week my suitcase arrived missing a wheel and I got a $50 compensation - just about what it cost me to order the replacement wheel and have it shipped to US.

2_i 

My B132H arrived now too. The weight is the same, 4.6kg. The wheels are a complete overkill, suitable for high heavier loads than a Brompton inside. In fact, a good weight/sturdiness compromise should be such as for typical suitcase wheels. One pair of the wheels in B132H is spinner and one in-line. The spinner wheels weigh 260g each and in-line 200g. For comparison, I checked a plastic caster wheel for a chair and it weighted 85g. My plan is to replace the mostly sturdy steel wheels in Vincita with suitcase wheels and save up to 400g. The wheels are bolted to a pair of steel plates embedded in velcro at about 250g each. I am sure there could be savings made there too. Suitcase wheels are bolted to plastic and it all works fine. I am not counting on any higher durability with the bag than with a typical suitcase. There is no point highly overbuilding one part compared all the rest.

I hope, Hisamatsu, for some findings from practical use of the bags in the meantime, helping to tweak the project if necessary.

Hisamatsu

Yea, those wheels are heavy duty and hefty. I went to the hardware store briefly looking for something lighter but haven't found any. Leaving in a couple days, so no time to search further, but plan to when I return. Did a test pack and pulled it around the neighborhood. So glad I got 4 wheels, pulls effortlessly.

2_i 

I think testing ahead is really important - after all you might find out that you there is no point going ahead with the plan. With BF trailer I let my wife ride around too and the surprising reaction was it was not such a completely senseless idea after all.

As to the new wheels, the over the top steel plates give the benefit that one can drill them many times without seriously undermining their strength. Also the velcro attachment and soft bottom seems to leave quite a bit of leeway in terms of protrusions sticking out of the top of the plate allowing for different options with new wheel attachment. At this moment I am going with the wheels that are marketed as W018:

Hisamatsu

I see those wheel set on ebay for like $15-20, might try them when I return.

Leaving in a few hours, all packed up ready to ride to airport.

2_i 

My plan is to mount them right away on plastic sheets using left-over materials from other projects, bypassing the heavy Vincita plates. I will further use stick-on Velcro.

Very impressive, particularly given the short time for putting this all together! Are the backpacks Stratos 36? They look eerily familiar I keep my fingers crossed for the success.

Hisamatsu

Backpacks are Osprey farpoint 55. Went to Japan, Vietnam, Chile and South Korea with them and works great. Velcro ripped off on one of the bag and Osprey did repairs free of charge and shipping.

Made it to Iceland, road around today. Check Vincita bags in at 22kg, check in lady asked what was inside, said "mobility device", she gave me weird look and said okay, lol. Need to dry the Vincita bag before flight to France in a couple days since it got soaking wet.

I'll see how your wheels turn out and might do the same.

2_i 

Are they accepted as carry on? My Osprey got replaced when I went to REI asking to sew back in the straps that unseamed. In the replacement pack the same straps unseamed again so I sewed them back myself and then continued with my own repairs. I feel uneasy about overusing their generous lifetime warranty policy. After their pack that I used on a daily basis reached the end of its life I just bought another one. Still I asked them several times for replacement buckles when they cracked and I had nothing similar in stock.

I am uneasy about the large Vincita name on the bag. There would have been no name with a regular run of the mill transport bag. I may wash it off to fend off the questioning.

I had friends buying discounted vacation in Iceland in September. They apparently spent most time in their hotel room as it was incessantly raining which is supposedly expected there at that time of the year . Is your stopover some kind of Icelandair deal? Aside from a plane refuel I have not made it myself yet to Iceland - definitely on the to do list.

Hisamatsu

There are two sizes for farpoint55. Their M/L (55L) size doesn't fit carry-on dimensions, but their S/M (52L) does. The Iceland airline lady after giving us a weird look about our vincita bag asked us to put our carryon osprey bag inside the size checker bin, it fits. The key is to remove the detachable travel backpack and use that as your small personal item.


I don't mind using their lifetime warranty when actually needed, imo not really abusing. They offer it and their bags cost only a fraction of what they sell since it is made in VN so repair cost prob factored into the price way initially.

I might try to remove the Vincita logo or color over it so it is less noticeable.

Yea Iceland is an extended layover we are taking advantage.

2_i 

I got myself to the verge of getting Farpoint 55, but then carefully read the reviews and decided to rather adopt the idea than literally the product itself.

My current everyday and travel 36l pack packs more than nearly every pack with declared 40l and even higher capacity, yet fits in the the carry-on dimensions and has many compartments unlike the 40l main pack of Farpoint 55. I always carry a smaller 21l daypack that can be compacted into a fist and in the latter I put items of immediate need in travel. Thus far I tried to stick the partly filled 21l pack into 36l, with mixed success, or to empty it or refill thereafter, wasting time when boarding and disembarking any particular means of transport. Obviously the far easier solution is to strap the smaller pack to the outside of the main. I just need to make sure that there are straps there that can serve the purpose. Thank you, thank you

kego

Hello,

Which frame carry handles are you using?

Thx

Hisamatsu

Off yer bike


https://www.nycewheels.com/off-yer-bike.html




One of the reason I went for the farpoint 55 was the 40l main pack had zero compartments, just a single large space to put stuff. Allows me to create my own compartment with packing cube/organizer or store a big item.



I like the kangaroo mode of the farpoint 55. The day pack can attach on the front strap to help balance load, but you sure look funny walking around like that.


Anyways, I am back from my trip. The Vincita bag held up pretty well, only problem was one of the the strap D-ring kinda broke or bent apart. Wheels held up nicely, worked well but annoying to remove and attach at the airport. Airport security questioned a few times wth I was doing. No damage to the brompton. The frame system I used worked, but one of them did end up getting bent so I can tell the luggage handler was rough with it. I used super light thin tubes designed for a shoe rack so probably need to find better materials. But, better frame damage than bike damage.

2_i 

Understood.

In reviews of farpoint 55, the reviewers often mentioned that they quit zipping the daypack to the main pack because of excessive hassle. In trying out my daypack+main pack combination, I realized that the kangaroo mounting was actually an impairment because it shifted the center of gravity excessively out, making it difficult to walk with the pack combination. I suspect that was a factor in deciding on the small capacity of the daypack in the farpoint 55 combination. The mounting on top or below the main pack produced a far easier handling for my combination.

In any case, I am in travel again this week, strapping the daypack on top of the main pack and it works great. The two packs are similar in color and together they as if they were meant to be combined. Incidentally in this trip I am without a folder, but I conquered the Mobike share system or became a Mobiker in the spin by the company.

I am glad to hear that the Vincita worked for you. I hope everything else in the trip went fine too. The velcro for the wheels in Vincita seems indeed an overkill just like the sturdiness of the wheels. Far smaller velcro contact area, maybe half, would have been sufficient in my opinion to hold the wheels fine. Again this is something that could be fixed when building up one's own wheel platform.

2_i 

The replacement wheels arrived and I mounted them on 1/8"/3mm PVC sheets left from some other projects. I added 3M industrial strength velcro. The weight saving is about 600g, yielding a bag with net weight of 4.0kg rather than 4.6kg. An additional gain is of all the wheels being spinner now rather than just two making it easier to maneuver the bag. I tried to take the bag over all kinds of obstacles and all seemed fine. You just need wheels - they do not need to have a tank rating. The stem of the particular wheels is a bit wider than the original. One needs to center the stem consistently with the original so that the velcroed cloth with openings and wheels coexist peacefully.

MultiplexMan

600 g is significant weight saving on checked luggage!

Is this the start of a luggage weight weenies group?

2_i 

It is a tug between the amount of protection to the bike, weight of the container and hassle in packing and unpacking the bike. Some people pack the bike in a B-bag and then get a banged up bike every few flights. A Vincita bag seems to be a good compromise and so far, knock on wood, one has worked for me as well or better than the B&W case. For completeness here are the original wheels attached to steel plates inside velcro envelopes. Total weight is the astounding 1.5kg.

Hisamatsu

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/UXCE...796518096.html

Wonder how well smaller caster wheels would perform. Even more weight savings!

2_i 

I certainly think that there is still room for more safe weight reduction, at least 100-150g. However I would lean towards not reducing significantly the height of the legs. They span a pretty long base and the elevation is likely to be useful in conquering obstacles and unevenness of the ground surface. I am not sure that my 1/8" PVC is an optimal choice for the plate. In the end the fact that the velcro holds the plate against the bottom provides some practical rigidity. It could be that 1/16" would work. For the moment, on my side, I want to test the new wheels in some travel, though, before continuing with the experimentation. Unfortunately I don't have anything coming up in the near future that aligns with a Brompton

pailinsinh

Hi

I'm contacting you from Vincita. Sorry to hear you had a bad experience.
This could be because we might have missed some emails or the email might have gone through the junk folder. Please contact me directly at pailin@vincita.co.th

Can you let me know what your questions were?
If it's about attaching the extra two wheels at the other end of the B132B bag, it's not possible.

The difference between B132C (semi-hard case) and B132H are:
- Inside B132C is a box made of a corrugated plastic sheet which gives enough protection for air travel
- The wheels on B132C are not fixed wheels and are not turnable
- The front wheels on B132H are turnable wheels and two fixed wheels at the back
- B132C is not foldable whereas B132H which is an improved version of B132B can be folded to one-third of its size
- You would need the garment bag for B132H bag as it is only a soft case bag

Let me know if you have any other questions. I'd be happy to help.

Regards,
Pailin

pailinsinh

Hi

I'm contacting you from Vincita. Sorry to hear you had a bad experience.
This could be because we might have missed some emails or the email might have gone through the junk folder. Please contact me directly at pailin@vincita.co.th

Can you let me know what your questions were?
If it's about attaching the extra two wheels at the other end of the B132B bag, it's not possible.

The difference between B132C (semi-hard case) and B132H are:
- Inside B132C is a box made of a corrugated plastic sheet which gives enough protection for air travel
- The wheels on B132C are not fixed wheels and are not turnable
- The front wheels on B132H are turnable wheels and two fixed wheels at the back
- B132C is not foldable whereas B132H which is an improved version of B132B can be folded to one-third of its size
- You would need the garment bag for B132H bag as it is only a soft case bag

Let me know if you have any other questions. I'd be happy to help.

Regards,
Pailin