S & S - Soft or Hard Case

[li...@jkassen.org]

I recently bought a Ritchey Break-Away and I'm planning on getting a S & S case for it. The question is, which one?

One that looks rather appealing is the soft "backpack" case:

http://www.sandsmachine.com/ac_back.htm

I very much like the idea of carrying the bike on my back and being able to condense the case once I get to my destination. Anyone have experience with this case?

Jake

[Mike Sturgill]

I have that case and have used it on 5 occasions, including PBP 07. Generally speaking, I would say it was the right choice for me. I also purchased the following with the case from S&S.
- Security net: http://www.sandsmachine.com/ac_net.htm
- Compression members: http://www.sandsmachine.com/ac_comp.htm
- Tube covers: http://www.sandsmachine.com/ac_cover.htm  These are fabulous!
- I'm assuming that your Richey also has the ability to split the cables. If not, you will want to get a set of those as well. You will need to split the cables as well as the frame to get it into this case. http://www.sandsmachine.com/ac_cable.htm

Here is what I consider the pluses and minuses of the case.

The good:
- Very light. The case + tube covers + bike (Ti Litespeed) = 28 pounds. With the bike packed, there is a lot of air space. I use this air space to pack my bicycle clothing. I roll all my clothing into gallon sized zip lock baggies. This leaves everything visible and allows me to place additional padding everywhere in the case. The TSA nets are used to hold everything together in a neat bundle. It makes removing anything from the case unnecessary for TSA. I'm able to pack the case full of clothing and still easily remain under the 50 pound case limit. The size and weight of this case were particularly nice in France. In 2003, I was exhausted by the time I reached SQY due to lugging a full sized case on the train with all the connections/stairs/turnstiles. In 2007, it was a breeze getting this case around.
- The backpack feature is really handy. I often travel alone on my bike trips, and putting the bike on my back makes it very convenient to also carry my additional baggage. The case is very wide when it's on your back, so you need to watch out for pedestrians, or you'll take them out. The weight, however, is a no brainer.
- The 26x26x10 size still makes it a legal checked bag. As a result, I have never been charged for it. My trips with it were either on Southwest (bags fly free), international (bags fly free), or before bags were charged. I'll be flying with it again this summer to WA for the C1200, again on Southwest.
- In all the trips, I've never had a problem. Packing it is pretty easy, but care must be exercised to ensure the frame and wheels are all padded appropriately. I find it easier to pack this case than I did when packing my full sized case for my uncoupled bike.

The bad:
- No wheels on which to roll it or pull it. Sometimes I'd like to pull it instead of carry it. If you'd like to do this, you'll need luggage wheels (or whatever they're called).
- Large size to carry. Since it's 26" wide, it is a large bag. When I use the handle to carry it like a regular suitcase, it drags the ground. I'm 6' tall, so if you're any shorter than me, you'll have even more difficulty carrying it. You will end up dragging it mostly.
- Fear. Due to the construction, it can be crushed. The compression members are intended to keep this from happening, and have so far. But, I still do have some fear that an airline gorilla will be throwing a 70 pound bag on top of it in the baggage bay. In fairness, I had much more trouble with my full sized case. The problems were when TSA opened it, removed stuff, then didn't pack it back correctly. In 2003, I had stuff hanging out of it when I retrieved it in Paris.

Let me know if you have any other questions.
-Mike

[Bob]

When buying luggage that goes on planes, always imagine the scene in
the Samsonite commercial where the Gorillas are throwing the bags
around ..!

I have the hard case for my S & S coupled bike and even it has
returned to me dented, although, remained structurally sound while
doing it's job and protecting the bike. The hard cases accommodate
"compression fittings" which are tantamount to protecting the bike ..
I don't know if they would work with the soft case but I could be
wrong.

At the time I retrofitted my bike and bought the case I'd considered
the soft case (it was cheaper) but decided against it based on
recommendations from other owners and Belinky's who did the job for
me.

Bob

[Bryce]

I own a slightly older version and all in all it has been good for
about 15 trips.

For me the backpack mode never worked all that well as the hub of the
wheel was strategically positioned on my spine and even with padding/
plastic disk etc it was very uncomfortable. So I often carry it by one
strap over a shoulder. As a result one of the straps broke.

With the tube protectors and some clothes I think it gives an adequate
amount of protection. I have not yet had any problems anyway.

Biggest plus, is that it is easy to stash this bag in a locker or at
hotel. You could probably even collapse it and strap it to your rack
in a pinch if you wanted to fly out of a different location.

Bryce

[GPrince]

Jake -- first you should make sure that a breakaway will fit into a S
& S case. Their cases are not airline legal (they are 2" larger) so
it may not fit. I have a hardsided case which has survived quite a
bit of abuse. But it also is capable of abusing your bicycle inside
if you don't pack appropriately (my wheel was out of true after the
last flight). TSA pretty much takes everything out and they generally
get it back together right but if you have a lot of loose stuff in
there it goes everywhere. A soft sided case might be better. Co-
motion makes a hybrid case which has well and is softsided; that might
be the best choice.

[stevo]

I have a 54 or 56 (I forget which) Ritchey Breakaway and pack it in
the hardshell S&S box. it does require removing the front fork - not
a big deal, but i didn't expect that. The reason is because of the
top tube length. If you think about it, and S&S-coupled bike has the
top tube cut about 4 inches or so from the seat post, making the
"packed" top tube that much shorter. The Ritchey keeps the entire top
tune intact, including the seat clamp so it is a lot longer. Can't
just turn the fork around.. gotta remove it.

Even so, I greatly prefer the S&S box to the Ritchey bag. Airline
legal and better protection.

[Craig Robertson]

I have a 60 Ritchey Breakaway and I can get it in my S&S hardcase with the
fork still attached, just barely. This should have a top tube at least a
couple centimeters longer than a 56. Because the hard case has some minor
intrusions for the wheels and a handle, there seems to be only one alignment
that lets me do so and if I haven't packed it in a while, I have to
experiment to figure out which way that is.

I remove the front brake caliper which makes it possible. That way I don't
have to remove the front brake cable. I don't use the Ritchey cable
connectors as it's one more thing to get loose/break/whatever. Instead I
leave the rear cabling (rear brake and both derailleurs) attached so that
the handlebars are connected to the rear section of the frame. That keeps
me from having to futz around with adjusting everything when I unpack the
bike. There's a bit more juggling getting everything in the case, but it
works. I also drop the rear derailleur off the frame, but with the cables
still intact. Otherwise the derailleur becomes the high point with the case
pressing against it. The same thing happens in a conventional bike case
with a single piece frame.

I use external BB Shimano cranks on this bike. At the size of bike I ride,
one needs to remove the cranks to get the rear frame section in the S&S box.
The Shimano cranks are very fast and easy to remove and install and that way
I don't need to remove the pedals. The only tools needed for the complete
assembly and dissambly are 4 and 5mm Allen keys for the frame, cranks, stem,
brakes and rear derailleur. I need a 3mm to take off the bottle cages and a
small adjuster for the preload on the cranks.

I precut a new chain when I go somewhere and pack it (and a quick link) in a
zip lock bag.

I also pack a spare of the downtube clamp. It's not something one would
find quickly if one needed a replacement.

Craig

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