We just returned from our annual Member Summit in Japan and there were some stunning travel bikes there. If there’s one type of bike I get excited about, it’s a travel bike. Some standouts from the Summit:
Paul Komarek’s No.22 Drifter
Caley Fretz’s Mosaic:
Iain Treloar’s Rock Lobster
My ‘Baumpton’:
I’m keen to see yours and what you’ve done with it
It’s a Naked Bicyles All road Titanium model. Highlights are standard Paragon Works Z Couplers, colour coded carbon fork and stem, SRAM E1 Red drivetrain, Zipp 303S wheels and custom covered SLR saddle. I’ve now ridden it on three continents and thanks to the S&S hybrid case I’ve never paid a penny in luggage fees and easily negotiated subway escalators, high Belgian train steps and sub compact car trunks.
I thought I should add to the S&S coupled gallery.
This is my 2011 custom Naked Velocity road bike. Built by Sam Whittingham on Quadra Island in British Columbia, Canada the frame is from True Temper platinum tubes and a Columbus rear triangle for a lightweight, 15lb build. It travelled up and down the bumpy climbs of Flanders, Mexico and Maui in the Campy Chorus/CK HED build in the photo. As of 2021 it was repainted in the same British Racing Green, all mechanical mounting points removed and full SEAM ETAP 22 drivetrain with Hunt 36 UD wheelset.
My forever bike.
This is a beauty Julian! And it was complately overlooked in our Summit gallery. An understated sleeper bike if I must say so myself.
Thanks Wade 
I can especially relate to high belgian train steps. Lugging a 25kg + Bike box which was my main checked luggage piece up steep steps solo was not the highlight of my Euro trip last year.
Travel bike FTW, Hugo!
Built about 9 years ago. It has been on numerous trips through the US, Europe, and now Japan. I keep looking at getting a No22, but this one keeps rolling…
Mamil, would you please share your experiences and perspectives with the three coupling systems you’ve owned: Ritchey breakaway, S&S, and Z-coupler? I continuously ruminate on a travel Ti option.
Thanks.
When you’re riding the bike you can’t feel a difference. S&S is rock solid and the only potential issue is being sloppy with the wrench and slipping. Z-Couplers are a beautiful design and very cool, but they can produce a hole in your wallet. My bikes all use a Ritchey style split seat tube, which is solid and only creaks if you forget to grease it properly. Having 2 seatpost clamps means you don’t need to crank hard on a single bolt, the clamp area is huge and works really well.
So the upshot is both work great, it comes down to aesthetics and cost when selecting. Of course, using one and a split seat tube costs less than 2 in any case.
Do you have any tips on packing a carbon wheelset into the S&S hybrid case? I’m leery of packing my carbon wheels, having already dented an aluminum wheel while traveling.
My travel bike (and only bike), a Seven Cycles Evergreen.
That’s a lovely Seven, Robert.
I always cover the tubes of the bikes using S&S’s own tube material. It’s padded foam mati with Velcro closure. If you’re in the US Orucase has a more modern and less bulky frame protection kit which would work well. It’ll have the Orucase if I could but their price for shipping and tariffs make it unreasonably expensive.
Once the frame is covered the wheels don’t need any covers.
S&S cases are just barely larger than a 700C rim. If you deflate the tires but leave the bead attached, the rims should be fine.
If you’re concerned about things pressing against the wheels, just make sure to buy the S&S compression members. When I had it, the sides of my 10" case did bulge inward a bit and the compression members added a little more headrom.
BTW, nice Dill Pickle saddle bag. I’ve always thought using the tool canister was a standoff was a clever idea.
I have several, with retrofit S&S couplers. This is the gravel/bikepacking one. Originally an early 2000s IRC hardtail made with Reynolds 853. Couplers and fork by Steve Bilenky in Philadelphia. Internal dropper and top tube bag fittings by Gibson Cycles in DC area, with clearcoat over the bare steel in the spirit of kintsugi. The frame came with disc brake and canti mounts, which made 650b easy.
I use an aluminum hard case S&S used to offer. Same dimensions (26” x 26” x 10”, which meets standard airline check-in requirements) as their fiberglass cases. Bike + case < 50 lbs. I do remove the disc rotors.
Somewhere in Belize. This bike has had the shit kicked out of it by the airlines and keeps on going. It was built for 27.5 wheels to make packing it in an S&S case easier with larger tires. I wish the frame could handle bigger tires but maxes out around 47 on MTB rims.
As for carbon wheels, I have never had and issue even when the frame has been dented and had the front derailleur knocked off.
Wireless shifting and hydro-couplers really changed the packing game. On this trip I had the gen 1 Zeno couplers with that tiny clip. Mine didn’t come with the little rubber band keeper on the clip. Of course I lost one while assembling the bike in the grass. One brake only for this trip.
My travel setup is a Standert Kriessage (rim brake) paired with a Post Carry Co Transfer Case 135L. If you run SRAM AXS, it makes for an easy travel setup if you are mechanically inclined. You can also pack most of what you need for a trip in the bag and still meet the 30kg weight limit, I typically land around 25 kg.
Between this setup and my previous bike, Allez Sprint (rim brake), I’ve done 15-20 trips and everything has held up really well. It also ensures the bike sees frequent maintenance. I’ve also traveled a few time with my gravel bike, a Niner RLT steel (Disc), It has the Zeno couplers v1 and the work a treat for keeping things easy to break down and rebuild.
My Wife and I each have a transfer case and it takes about an hour on each side to breakdown and rebuild both bikes when we travel.
I’m in the process of building a custom disc brake road bike that will leverage the Zeno couples to travel the same way.
Please also share what case you use for traveling.
A long time ago @caley_fretz had an article on his first Mosaic and then every trip I made I would think about it. Mosaic is too $ for me though so it became this Carver ti (bikeman.com) build. Custom geo and couplers were cheap adds when I had it built in 2019. It has 2019 era gravel geo and fork, I have used it for everything from road racing with 25mm tires to gravel with 38mm knobs. With couplers and straight gauge tubing it’s not light. All cabling is external, on the down tube. Components were almost entirely sourced from my garage (practically a free build!). I think it’ll go to XPLR 1x soon for further simplification. I use an Orucase Sub 62 (now discontinued).
