the art of bicycle folding/packing for transport; modifications for rinko etc.
Posted: 22 Apr 2019, 10:03pm
I thought I'd start a separate thread for folk to discuss various ways of making bikes easier to pack down small/fold etc. Japanese cyclists who travel by train have evolved this 'Rinko' approach to a fine art and there are parts available to help achieve it. However there are lots of DIY solutions too, which help to make it easier to pack down a more-or-less conventional bike to a small size; let's (for the purposes of this thread) call them A type . There are also two other categories; clever folding frames (which take conventional sized wheels) and clever folding designs which allow the most compact fold possible, some features of which may be applicable to other more conventional bikes; lets call them B and C respectively.
If you simply remove the wheels and strap them to the rest of the bike you have a bundle that may be allowed on trains with less hassle than a complete bike
but you can see the package is still quite long because the handlebars and forks are still in. Small wheels help
But Full-on rinko with a conventional bike requires that the forks come out.
Rinko adaptations are a bit easier with A-head headsets but you can do it with threaded headsets too
a DIY headset locknut inspired by Hirose's design as featured in BQ.
an off-the-peg 650B touring bike designed for 'rinko'
Some of the features that allow/speed/ease rinko style packing;
- you need some luggage straps to bundle everything up. Three straps ought to be enough
- headsets can be QD and ought to have cartridge bearings or at the least clipped balls so that they come apart and go back together easily
- threaded headsets need to have a viable tab washer for ease of reassembly
- if you take the forks out you can leave the front wheel, mudguard, and front rack attached to the forks (a rear rack needs to be removed or it adds to the package size).
- the handlebars need to be able to come some distance from their original location, so ideally cable guides (esp on the rear brake) need to be slotted so that the cables come away easily.
- if you use downtube shifters there is one less set of cables on the handlebar to worry about. Possibly there is an opportunity to integrate the shifter mounts into the top part of the headset; this would allow convenient shifter placement without cable problems.
- the rear mudguard can be removed in one piece or split into two sections. In any event the detached (part) mudguard can be lashed to the rear wheel.
- the saddle is usually lowered fully; no aero seat pins here, and frames/binders that scuff the seat pin are undesirable.
- it is a really good idea to have a chain hanger peg; this keeps the chain out of the way and helps to pull the RD in so that it doesn't poke out too far.
- QD/folding pedals are not essential but they can help to reduce the width of the package
- the package can have 'vulnerable corners' i.e. the head tube, the chainrings, the RD. This means that if you are handling the bike, you should be careful, but if others are to handle the bike, probably it needs to be better packed than that. If the wheels are slightly staggered in the package, they can protect the chainring and the saddle to some extent.
You can see that the (diagonal) length of the package is limited by the distance from the head tube to the rear dropouts; there is no way of escaping that unless you use a weird frame design (eg with short centres and a long stem) or one that folds. The width of the package is usually limited by the distance from the top of the saddle (set at its lowest) to the lowest point on the chainring. Only if the frame size is exceptionally small, the saddle removed and/or the wheel size big does the wheel size actually limit the package size.
As it is normally done, having a bike that is set up for rinko has little or no downside vs a conventional bike. The main things that might catch you out are
1) wear on the fasteners that need to be moved regularly
2) whatever anti-seize is usually applied to seat pin, quill stem, pedal threads etc either makes a mess in the packaging or gets rather depleted
More to come (B and C) in subsequent posts
cheers
If you simply remove the wheels and strap them to the rest of the bike you have a bundle that may be allowed on trains with less hassle than a complete bike
but you can see the package is still quite long because the handlebars and forks are still in. Small wheels help
But Full-on rinko with a conventional bike requires that the forks come out.
Rinko adaptations are a bit easier with A-head headsets but you can do it with threaded headsets too
a DIY headset locknut inspired by Hirose's design as featured in BQ.
an off-the-peg 650B touring bike designed for 'rinko'
Some of the features that allow/speed/ease rinko style packing;
- you need some luggage straps to bundle everything up. Three straps ought to be enough
- headsets can be QD and ought to have cartridge bearings or at the least clipped balls so that they come apart and go back together easily
- threaded headsets need to have a viable tab washer for ease of reassembly
- if you take the forks out you can leave the front wheel, mudguard, and front rack attached to the forks (a rear rack needs to be removed or it adds to the package size).
- the handlebars need to be able to come some distance from their original location, so ideally cable guides (esp on the rear brake) need to be slotted so that the cables come away easily.
- if you use downtube shifters there is one less set of cables on the handlebar to worry about. Possibly there is an opportunity to integrate the shifter mounts into the top part of the headset; this would allow convenient shifter placement without cable problems.
- the rear mudguard can be removed in one piece or split into two sections. In any event the detached (part) mudguard can be lashed to the rear wheel.
- the saddle is usually lowered fully; no aero seat pins here, and frames/binders that scuff the seat pin are undesirable.
- it is a really good idea to have a chain hanger peg; this keeps the chain out of the way and helps to pull the RD in so that it doesn't poke out too far.
- QD/folding pedals are not essential but they can help to reduce the width of the package
- the package can have 'vulnerable corners' i.e. the head tube, the chainrings, the RD. This means that if you are handling the bike, you should be careful, but if others are to handle the bike, probably it needs to be better packed than that. If the wheels are slightly staggered in the package, they can protect the chainring and the saddle to some extent.
You can see that the (diagonal) length of the package is limited by the distance from the head tube to the rear dropouts; there is no way of escaping that unless you use a weird frame design (eg with short centres and a long stem) or one that folds. The width of the package is usually limited by the distance from the top of the saddle (set at its lowest) to the lowest point on the chainring. Only if the frame size is exceptionally small, the saddle removed and/or the wheel size big does the wheel size actually limit the package size.
As it is normally done, having a bike that is set up for rinko has little or no downside vs a conventional bike. The main things that might catch you out are
1) wear on the fasteners that need to be moved regularly
2) whatever anti-seize is usually applied to seat pin, quill stem, pedal threads etc either makes a mess in the packaging or gets rather depleted
More to come (B and C) in subsequent posts
cheers