Packing is somehow a PITA, to cram the parts in the Ritchey bag, and for a 56cm frame it is really only just right, if you get the sequence wrong, it won't work. Special charges for bikes are mainly a USA domestic flight issues, while flying in Europe and Asia either they travel for free either the charge on low cost airlines is same/similar to any 20kg bag. I would simply stick with a 'normal' bike and use soft travel bike bag as large as possible. It rides well, but nowadays I would not buy it anymore. I had playtested some coupler systems but they were no bueno IMO so it seems the only way to pack it is to unbolt the caliper and coil up and then have to calibrate once you land, yikes. PS - interested to see the solution to the hydro cables. Also Hawaiian air straight up denied the bag beacuse it was soft on two sides, but that's an issue with the airline and was a real PITA.Īll in all great bikes, lets hope the bag gets revised, and maybe bring the Ti back? Cmon Ti travel bikes are the bomb! I mean really whos 'tradeshow equiptment' would use such a shape. The bikes have been great but honestly a lot of the 'gotcha' airlines were getting on to the bag design and seeing it's a bike box. We always run tubes, but if you do TL setup I can only imagine the room for a potential mess. If we have our 35mm Gravel King SKs on it can be a strugle to get them in even fully deflated. Currently with standard 700c wheels if we have 28mm tires you need to basically 100% deflate the tires to fit in the bag. Also when packing bigger cassettes you can see that the bag was designed around say a 28mm cassette not the modern 36 or 40t+ rears you will find on modern adventure rigs.Īnother thing is the tire clearance with wheels in the case and if you run Tubless. The bags are imo a pain in the ass as the handle is in a bad spot and it needs 4 wheels not two. I was never sold on the carbon idea as at that point I might as well just suck up the airline fees and take the full bike. Even still have the CX steel and CX ti for travel bikes for the two of us. I've used quite a few Ritchey Breakaways over the years, road steel, CX steel, and CX ti all great bikes for what they do. What are your thoughts on how this bike would function as a roadie when it's forced to? I know it's never going to be as good as a 'real' roadbike but just need it to be good enough not to resent it everytime you're doing a road trip with it Would be a pain having to take the rear hydro caliper off every time you want to pack it, I guess you'll get used to it Exposed and segmented gear cables on the top tube will interfere with using a frame bag concern the Geo would make it a pig of a roadbike, it has really long chain-stays would be a bit on the heavy side when being used as a travel roadbike modern-classic steel frame, I've always wanted a Ritchey packdown to a small case makes it a perfect versatile travel bike that could handle anything will take a R7000 105 groupset I've got on a shelf waiting to use, will take the 700c wheels from my road-bike for when it's in road mode or fast gravel mode Would make a great gravel bike with 650b wheels on it

good gravel/dirt touring capabilities and geometry. I figure it will build up to a mid-9kg bike with a modest build spec I know it will be a perfect gravel bike but realistically a fair amount of my travel riding will be on the road so it needs to be at least capable on that front. It probably has less than 500 miles on it and has spent almost all of it's life in bubble wrap in my garage.Air travel with the bike is pretty slick, especially if you are a frequent flier.This has really captured my imagination, I'm seriously considering it as a do-it-all gravel and travel bike but have one residual concern being how it will perform as a road bike when traveling (assuming we're ever allowed to again). It has gone up and down Trail Ridge Road in Estes Park a few times and around Lake Tahoe once. I took it to Hawaii and rode the Queen K highway and up over Kohala Mountain a couple times. The Ti Breakaway is the top of the line when it comes to travel bikes. Bars are the hard-to-find Kestrel 46cm, ideal for broader shoulders. Cranks are 175 and the front rings are Campy compact 34-50. I have a Ritchey WCS carbon post that I can swap out for the Thompson if interested. Ritchey WCS wheelset housed in a hard composite wheel travel case (included). Ritchey Breakaway Ti with Campy Chorus 10 speed group.

Ritchey breakaway case