On May 29, 2:14*am, wrote:

The rates have been going up. *If you plan on frequent airline trips
with a bicycle, the savings on just a few (3?) round trips will pay
for an SandS coupling to be installed.

It's a great product, but remember, they only can be retrofitted onto
steel frames. I think there is one aluminum tandem that is built at
the factory with them. Also, they're for round tubes only.

"http://www.sandsmachine.com/"

Ironically, an S&S torque coupler equipped single bicycle will fit,
tightly, into their 26" x 26" x 10" case, while most 20" folders
cannot be fit into a strictly legal 62" case. The Bike Friday case
slightly exceeds the 62" max, though Bike Friday says that they know
of no one that's ever been charged. The Dahon case is 73.25 linear
inches. It used to be unheard of for a U.S. airline to measure
luggage, but I don't know if this is still the case. Also, for
domestic flights, checking in on the curb usually avoided over-zealous
check-in agents, but you can't do that for international flights.

For $400 each round-trip it would take at least 3 flights to pay for
the retrofit and the case. However it's not just the money, it's the
convenience when using trains, taxis, even rental cars. There's also
the expense of a steel bicycle, which now is more of a boutique item
as most mass market bicycle manufacturers use less expensive aluminum
frames for the low end, and carbon fiber for the high end, though even
Trek has kept their 520 steel touring bike.