S&S as your everyday bike

[Veloo]

Does anyone use an S&S coupled frame for their everyday ride?
Thinking road, disc, able to accommodate 32mm tires.
Any reasons why that would be a bad idea?

Never owned or tried one myself.

[pasadena]

Do you travel often?
I would love to get one or a Ritchey Breakaway.

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.

[joosttx]

Originally Posted by Veloo

Does anyone use an S&S coupled frame for their everyday ride?
Thinking road, disc, able to accommodate 32mm tires.
Any reasons why that would be a bad idea?

Never owned or tried one myself.

I used a SS bike as my main bike. I had no issues other than the extra weight of the couplers which was probably more psychologically than real.

H

[miguel]

I’ve got a winter coupled rando machine. I use it as often as I can

[donevwil]

Yes, my coupled Potts is my main bike, clear 32s and fenders. Adds a tiny bit of weight and one needs to live with packing friendly features like split cable stops everywhere and cable connectors, but that's pretty small potatoes in the long run. The bigger issue is having a very nice travel bike, if I had it to do again I'd opt for a cheaper, more expendable travel bike.

[thunderworks]

I have several bikes I ride in a regular rotation. One is an S&S coupled Moots CR. It's a joy to ride and I am not aware of any negative aspects, in any regard to using it as my regular ride. Stunning bike to ride.

[eddief]

could be my every day bike. mid reach caliper with room for 30 mm tires. I never found it to be my favorite and my Carver and Trek are still a bit more svelte and fun to ride. but after i substituted the new Whisky mid reach carbon fork in place of IRD Mosaic carbon fork I swear the bike rides much closer to the other two...and looks way better too. it used to be relegated only to travel but is now part of the regular 3-bike rotation.

I think a coupled Carver ti would be a fine fine riding machine.

[BikeNY]

I have a coupled Quiring titanium bike as my only road bike for 10 years now with no issues. Some years I ride it less than others and spend more time riding my mountain bikes. Only downside is a slight weight penalty. I use anti seize on the threads, and have never had them seize or come loose on their own.

The frameset is actually for sale right now in the classifieds as I've moved on to another travel frame that fits bigger 650B tires...

[makoti]

I can see no downside to this other than the extra step of cleaning the couplers now & again. I rode mine as a "normal" bike in the rotation all the time.

[sandyrs]

One of my road bikes is coupled. I would totally ride it daily if I rode a road bike daily (spending more time on dirt these days). My only regret is not specifying more clearance and fender mounts when I had it built, a consequence of which is that I don't ride it on wet winter roads.

[eddief]

small penalty.

Originally Posted by makoti

I can see no downside to this other than the extra step of cleaning the couplers now & again. I rode mine as a "normal" bike in the rotation all the time.

[572cv]

My coupled Serotta ti was my everyday ride for a few seasons, but, you know.... n+1. It remains a very nice ride.

[Bradford]

Originally Posted by donevwil

...if I had it to do again I'd opt for a cheaper, more expendable travel bike.

I have a coupled tandem and there is no down-side to the couplers, only the slight weight penalty as others have stated. You have to have couplers on a tandem if you want to travel with it, which I have done twice and am really happy I could.


However, for a travel bike I use a Fierte Ti I bought on Ebay and built up with parts bin/ebay parts. I ship the frame with bike flights ($30 each way) and take the wheels and other bits on the plane with me in one of my tandem bike boxes. My choice is not because the coupled ride wouldn't be good enough for every day, its because I wouldn't want to travel with my good bikes--there are just too many bad things that can happen.

The Fierte was a great option for travel because it doesn't have paint to chip, it is a good ride that I can set up for fast or relaxed rides, and it was cheap enough that if it were ruined or stolen I wouldn't be upset. It currently lives in my client's building in Atlanta and hasn't been home to Colorado in a year. I'll get it out in an hour to ride laps in the dark around my client's warehouse.

[wombatspeed]

Echoing what everyone already said. My steel S&S Comotion is my only road bike. Rides as well and solid as any quality road bike. The only downside are the cable quick connectors: make sure to cut the cables so the connectors are not right at the S&S couplers. And every few years you might need to need to replace the rubber rings that keep the connectors from rattling. Can get those in any hardware store...


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[happycampyer]

This is not my everyday bike, but it could very easily be.



A coupled all-road bike would make a great N=1 bike. The added weight is not noticeable, and even if it were, it would be even less of an issue on an all-road bike.