S&S as your everyday bike

[tiretrax]

Originally Posted by AngryScientist

cable splitters - nahhhh. friction dowtube shifters make set-up easy as pie.

[/IMG]

How so? Don't the cables still cross the split?

[eddief]

the Curtlo is powdered and it has held up remarkably well through hell and high water over 10 or more plane rides.

In the old days mountain rear derailleurs came with a rubber dust boot over the place where the cable entered the derailleur. Those dust boots, when cut to size fit perfectly over cable couplers. The best little rubber bumper boots. Got any?

[etu]

going to get a nice tune up in preparation for a trip to Hawaii around New Years!

[Jaybee]

Originally Posted by tiretrax

How so? Don't the cables still cross the split?

I'm guessing he just pulls the shift lever off w cable still installed, then just screws it back together when assembling the bike. Friction downtube shifters don't really require much if anything in the way of adjustment post assembly

[Buzz]

Moots built Hampsten. Did a bunch a trips with it and it remains my everyday bike. To be honest I never even think about the couplers and it remains the nicest bike I have ever ridden.

[shovelhd]

I love my Breakaway Cross. I could easily ride it every day. But the Felt is just so much faster, and right now, that's important to me. So no, not now, but later, maybe, once I slow down.

[moose8]

I’ll say that on my old bilenky coupled bike the couplers came loose once and it scared me. BUT I hadn’t tightened them in forever and the bike got wobbly and provided plenty of time to pull over and hand tighten them until I got home. I think if you just make sure to tighten them semi regularly it’s fine. I really think I hadn’t tightened the couplers in a very long time.

[bikinchris]

Originally Posted by moose8

I’ll say that on my old bilenky coupled bike the couplers came loose once and it scared me. BUT I hadn’t tightened them in forever and the bike got wobbly and provided plenty of time to pull over and hand tighten them until I got home. I think if you just make sure to tighten them semi regularly it’s fine. I really think I hadn’t tightened the couplers in a very long time.

I have found that if you retighten them after a shake down ride once it has been assembled, they stay nice and tight.

[eddief]

is the size it is on purpose so you can't really over torque the couplers. on the other hand i have found you gotta putta dent in your palm and that indicates they are tight enough.

[cetuximab]

Originally Posted by pasadena

I don't see any reason it would be a problem to use everyday. The only thing I would do is maybe put some anti-sieze on the threads - presumably you would not take it apart often.

Every three or four rides I feel the couplers to ensure road vibration is not loosening the couplers.

[lukeheller]

My custom ti Carver has been my go-to bike for 2+ years. fits 35's plus fenders. Only worry about the couplers for the first 100 miles after I have traveled and reassembled it. Like on LEL this past summer when I apparently didn't use enough grease on the threads and I had to get resourceful and used Lantiseptic (my choice chamois butter) on the threads after hearing them creak for the first 2+ days. Lanti'ed the DT coupler up and the creak disappeared

I have 2 coupled frames. The other is my custom Elephant pre-NFE. The only time the couplers have been a problem on that bike was after 100miles of gravel. Carry the coupler wrench at all time for piece of mind... or at least if you're riding rough terrain.

[marciero]

Really interesting regarding the stiffening-up of the ride. I guess is not entirely surprising. I had wondered about that. The bike I probably ride the most is thin-wall skinny tube, so not really a good candidate, and especially since tube flex contributes to performance characteristics (at least in my very subjective view. Dare I say "planing"?) About even this year is Lynskey ti gravel bike which would be a good candidate.


Somewhat off-topic, but zero issues with our coupled 2005 Comotion tandem. Teflon lube on the threads once in a blue moon. They never loosen. Will be flying with that bike for the first time next month. I've never even packed it in the cases before.

[BikeNY]

Some really nice bikes here! I completely agree concerning paint for a travel bike. I would recommend either titanium or stainless steel and skip the paint for a bike that will see s decent amount of traveling. I replaced my coupled titanium Quiring with a Salsa Vaya travel, which is stainless steel, mainly for a more upright position and more tire clearance. Both were setup with disc brakes, and it may add a bit of assembly/disassembly time, but not too much. I use TRP Spyre cable brakes and centerlock wheels on the Vaya. ETAP would be really cool to put on a travel bike to simplify everything, but I just can't justify the price right now. I need wireless to trickle down in price before I make the switch. I also think plump 650B wheels/tires are the way to go, makes fitting everything in the case a bit easier.

[Bob Ross]

Originally Posted by tv_vt

Or better still, do away with the coupled cables altogether and go eTap wireless

Oh yeah, that's absolutely next on my to-do list! Hopefully Santa thinks I've been very good this year...

[mvz2]

I've had an Elephant cross bike with couplers for a few years and commuted on it for a couple. Mostly came into the office with me, but also got locked up quite a bit for errands. As it got boxed up for travel quite a bit, I was expecting it to show some wear from travel and use.