R3awak3n
11-18-2018, 11:09 AM
Just wrapping up my yearly vacation, on the way back from the Cayman Islands. What a beautiful place.
I bought an S&S bike, a 90s Croll. Great deal on it, and I always liked Crolls. Reynolds 853, straight bladed fork, quill stem. Its a freaking gem. Also got myself a Ritchey travel case which I learned it is a bit bigger than allowed by airlines (just a few cubic inches). Was excited to have this be my first trip to try this whole travel bike setup thing.
Packing up the bike was pretty easy, took me a while since it was my first time... Had to cut protection velcro sleeves for everything amongst other things
Did a little video of the packing -
https://media.giphy.com/media/5UFmtehAl6iB520RaY/giphy.gif
I listened to a bunch of advice on the other thread about my trip, thanks everyone. Really, a lot of good advice.
I am glad I have the ritchey case, the case is very forgiving. Sure its bigger and I could get nabbed but I am not sure how people are packing bikes in hard cases or cases smaller than this. Maybe a smaller bike, this one is a 57. I also was worried about the quill stem but again, no problems, fits fine.
The other thing that made everything so easy is the DT shifters. I remember someone saying they will not make packing easier but they absolutely will. The fact that I can separate the bars from the frame completely is amazing and its just less cables going around.
Bike has gone through twice now, no extra fees. Not even a question about it being a bike. The 853 bike is light so I think all in, the bag is at 38lbs... THey check the weight and don't even bat an eye.
Customs at the caymans did make me open the bag, the guy looked at it and was like, is that a bike. I was like, how do you know? he says he sees a lot of those cases. All he asked me is if it was my bike, I said yes, then he asked me when was the bike from. I said 90s. Thats all he needed to know and I was on my way.
Put the bike together as soon as I got to the hotel. The electricity was down so the last part sucked, doing it in the dark but all went well.
Ended up ridding almost every day, between 20 and 38 miles. Was going to do a big ride but ended up not. Just am not into shape and it is hard to ride here past 11am. It gets real hot. It is very flat but you get headwinds, like major headwinds that my average speed was not much higher than when I ride at home. Oh, I used my brakes 0 times the whole week I was here, next time I will leave them at home :banana:
Big ups to GonaSovereign, who send me some maps and some advice on where to ride amongst other things.
The Cayman Islands are beautiful and although not a typical bike destination, it was nice to explore part of the island by bike, get some exercise and do more than just sit by the pool and eat conch.
Some pictures -
https://i.imgur.com/ZZZHipP.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/sfJFAd3.jpg?1
Well, I had better pictures but last wednesday I decided to walk into the pool with my phone in my pocket and it will not turn on anymore lol.
This trip got me excited about next years trip. The plan is to go to France, Netherlands and Portugal and of course, bring the Croll
I bought an S&S bike, a 90s Croll. Great deal on it, and I always liked Crolls. Reynolds 853, straight bladed fork, quill stem. Its a freaking gem. Also got myself a Ritchey travel case which I learned it is a bit bigger than allowed by airlines (just a few cubic inches). Was excited to have this be my first trip to try this whole travel bike setup thing.
Packing up the bike was pretty easy, took me a while since it was my first time... Had to cut protection velcro sleeves for everything amongst other things
Did a little video of the packing -
https://media.giphy.com/media/5UFmtehAl6iB520RaY/giphy.gif
I listened to a bunch of advice on the other thread about my trip, thanks everyone. Really, a lot of good advice.
I am glad I have the ritchey case, the case is very forgiving. Sure its bigger and I could get nabbed but I am not sure how people are packing bikes in hard cases or cases smaller than this. Maybe a smaller bike, this one is a 57. I also was worried about the quill stem but again, no problems, fits fine.
The other thing that made everything so easy is the DT shifters. I remember someone saying they will not make packing easier but they absolutely will. The fact that I can separate the bars from the frame completely is amazing and its just less cables going around.
Bike has gone through twice now, no extra fees. Not even a question about it being a bike. The 853 bike is light so I think all in, the bag is at 38lbs... THey check the weight and don't even bat an eye.
Customs at the caymans did make me open the bag, the guy looked at it and was like, is that a bike. I was like, how do you know? he says he sees a lot of those cases. All he asked me is if it was my bike, I said yes, then he asked me when was the bike from. I said 90s. Thats all he needed to know and I was on my way.
Put the bike together as soon as I got to the hotel. The electricity was down so the last part sucked, doing it in the dark but all went well.
Ended up ridding almost every day, between 20 and 38 miles. Was going to do a big ride but ended up not. Just am not into shape and it is hard to ride here past 11am. It gets real hot. It is very flat but you get headwinds, like major headwinds that my average speed was not much higher than when I ride at home. Oh, I used my brakes 0 times the whole week I was here, next time I will leave them at home :banana:
Big ups to GonaSovereign, who send me some maps and some advice on where to ride amongst other things.
The Cayman Islands are beautiful and although not a typical bike destination, it was nice to explore part of the island by bike, get some exercise and do more than just sit by the pool and eat conch.
Some pictures -
https://i.imgur.com/ZZZHipP.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/sfJFAd3.jpg?1
Well, I had better pictures but last wednesday I decided to walk into the pool with my phone in my pocket and it will not turn on anymore lol.
This trip got me excited about next years trip. The plan is to go to France, Netherlands and Portugal and of course, bring the Croll