Bike with S&S frame couplings - advice wanted

mp31

If you have one of these then please share your experiences with how you acquired the bike, approx cost, how it rides, easy/difficult to pack the thing into a suitcase for flying etc.
I fancy one for all round commuting use as well as being able to take it with me on holidays here and abroad.
My online search brings up reviews mostly from US sites.

Holyboy

I've never seen a bike in this country with them fitted but I've worked on a few in the past and think they're great, if they're really needed! It is an expensive way to go about things though but if you have a nice steel framed bike you want to travel with easily I suppose it's one solution. I can't personally comment on how they ride but from talking to the customers, it's no different to a frame before they were fitted. I know Bob Jackson retro fit them to frames, as far as I remember it's about 500 sterling but I think that's a fair price for something so specialised. From a mechanical point of view they really do work very well and I can vouch for that.

The tax man

Lumen had a bike fitted with those couplings.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=65779623&postcount=84

Some great info in that thread for your reading.

G rock

Lumen has them I think on his enigma.

Search for his custom ti thread from a few years back

Ryder

G rock wrote: »

Lumen has them I think on his enigma.

Search for his custom ti thread from a few years back

have a friend with them on a custom sabbath. very happy, no deterioration in ride quality compared to his previous enigma ti frame. bike fits into a standard wheeled luggage bag so apparently very handy for holidays with the family

Lumen

Mine is an Enigma Esprit. Since the original build I've done a couple of years of commuting and holidaying.

The (titanium) couplers still operate flawlessly.

I wore out the HEDs and wanted a change from SRAM so it now runs compog and handbuilt weightweenie wheels I bought from AstraMonti (for which he was too fat).

More recent pic here, apologies for the sloppy crank angle, poor tyre alignment and ugly bar tape.

As for specific questions:

mp31 wrote: »

please share your experiences with how you acquired the bike

Custom build from new. I flew over for a fitting, got a CAD diagram, dithered other the TT length and added 10mm which I didn't actually need. I'd recommend going with whatever they recommend.

mp31 wrote: »

approx cost

A lot. Maybe £2k for the frame (not frameset). I don't add up the other components. Sure, probably a couple of hundred.

mp31 wrote: »

how it rides

Good but not a magic carpet, very wheel and surface dependent. Like most bikes, I guess. A compact frame might ride better, but with the latest noodley wheels it feels "buttery" even around Dublin.

mp31 wrote: »

easy/difficult to pack the thing into a suitcase for flying etc.

Time wise, not markedly different from other bikes. On a group trip I don't think I was the last one to finish assembly but the sun was shining and no one was in a hurry. It does require careful following of instructions the first couple of times, you can't just throw it in. Here's a video which looks a bit sloppy.

mp31 wrote: »

I fancy one for all round commuting use as well as being able to take it with me on holidays here and abroad.

That's what mine is used for (but not right now, I didn't want to get the compog dirty). Other than the expense/theft risk it's fine for commuting - there's space for a full rear mudguard although not a front one. I use several locks inside a small secured car park from which there has never been a theft AFAIK.

Dealing with airports is a bit of an odd experience. It's "legal" size-wise for checked luggage and is very light even packed with tools and clothes, but I always pause when asked at check-in "what's in it?" because I haven't specifically paid for a bike, so I usually say "bike components and clothes". It will fit under the rail for the conveyor belt (just) but they almost always send me to oversize luggage anyway, and then it comes out on the conveyor at the destination.

I can happily stand on my home made box and in the few trips I've done the bike has never been damaged, and although the box is a bit ropey looking inside (the axles have bored holes through the inside of the lid and base) the nylon bag is in perfect condition and packed up it looks very smart.

The best bit is arriving at some foreign airport and sticking it in the back of a taxi or hire car with the rest of the family luggage. The worst bit is that I never end up using it much on family holidays because I'd rather spend time with them. Maybe when the kids are older and more hateful I might get more value out of it.

edit: I did have some persistent BB creaks with SRAM GXP, but not yet with Ultratorque. I have no idea whether the couplers contributed.