Cycling UK Forum

The Moulton made it to Switzerland happily with no damage, although my home-made brace needs more work...

Images of the case here:

And packing/unpacking sequence here:





I'm pleased to have the thing and am looking forward to to some more extremely hot riding tomorrow near the Bodensee, but travelling with the bike like this feels like rolling the dice. I'd be happier to do it with a cheaper bike!

Brilliant!

Dave, a question:
What are the internal dimensions of your suitcase?

I wonder if the Jubilee packs smaller than a TSR as the frame is different. The seat tube is shorter for one thing, and also the head tube is shorter too.

I notice you don't use mudguards.

Hi Mick,

I have no tape measure with me at the moment so will check internal dimensions etc when I get home at the weekend. Agreed that the overall dimensions of the Jubilee might be different to the TSR (I no longer have a TSR to check against) but I don't suppose there's a lot in it either way. The seat tube is shorter as you note. The head tube also, but unless you're dismantling a lot it is the steerer tube length that is critical. I guess you could shorten the overall length a bit by compressing the front suspension if needed.

Normally I ride with mudguards but it seemed like one more thing to worry about on this trip. It's bone-dry and 33C here so I can live without them!

Thanks.
Just done some picture manipulating and drawing horizontal lines.

The Jubilee has a shorter seat tube, a shorter head tube, and a lower steerer.
These things alone, would make it fit in a suitcase that would fit on my Carry Freedom trailer. We're only talking of an inch or so to make the difference.

Just a thought ..................

If I were to saw off a couple of inches of the seat tube, cut a "compression" slot in it and refit the clamp ............ and then cut a couple of inches off the steerer then fit a riser stem ................... sort of like the Jubilee model .................... my dimensional problem would be gone.

Just a thought.

Steerer tube and riser stem yes.

I'd not cut down the seat tube though. It could potentially put more stress on the seat post and the tube. The tube may be slightly thicker and having a longer insertion into the longer tube may offer more strength.
Also you lose one bottle cage boss. (disclaimer. I am not an engineer and others more qualified or experienced than me may well say this is suggestion is totally fine)

gazza_d wrote:Steerer tube and riser stem yes.

I'd not cut down the seat tube though. It could potentially put more stress on the seat post and the tube. The tube may be slightly thicker and having a longer insertion into the longer tube may offer more strength.
Also you lose one bottle cage boss. (disclaimer. I am not an engineer and others more qualified or experienced than me may well say this is suggestion is totally fine)

The original seatpost was carbon and horrible. Sold it and bought an alu one. Not sure without checking, but I don't know how long it inserts. The seat tube seems parallel, but without checking, I don't know.

The loss of the bottle cage boss is a big issue. Not sure - without checking - how it would impinge.

It's just a thought experiment doing this. Not something I will definitely do ............. or definitely not do.

Had a good look this morning.

The seatpost fits into an alu sleeve inside the seat tube. The sleeve has a matching compression slot cut in.
It looks to me that I could drive the sleeve down inside an inch or so, then cut off a similar amount off the seat tube, and cut a matching slot.

The steerer could be cut down and another Ahead stem fitted with a suitable up-angle. One at present is 7deg, but I think you can buy them with 35deg.

However .............. by removing the chainset (simple) I can get the height of the rear end down to only 47cm, so the seat tube doesn't need butchering.

This just leaves the height of the front end being an issue .................... but the rear end is the same length with the rear mech taken off. Therefore, there's no need to do anything to the front end height. Rear end with mech removed is 74cm. Front height is 75cm.

Up in our loft, we have a large soft shell expandable suitcase with stuff in it. By utilising some cardboard boxes, we emptied it and brought it down. I left no time in stripping Moulton again and seeing if it would fit in.

Yes it does!


All that's left to pack in there, are the mudguards plus the bits and bobs and nuts+washers I took off. Dunno if I can get the mudguards in there, but it is possible. The suitcase zips up and ONY JUST fits on the Carry Freedom trailer.

More experimentation and testing is now on the cards. It could be that I could find a slightly narrower suitcase so it fits better on the trailer and carry the wheels in a separate hold-all along with all my kit.

I think not cutting the frame about is the right thing to do. Often mudguards can be lashed to the wheels, e.g. using re-usable zip ties.

BTW I'm not sure a soft (i.e. not hardshell) suitcase has a lot to offer over another style of padded bag?

cheers

Brucey wrote:I think not cutting the frame about is the right thing to do. Often mudguards can be lashed to the wheels, e.g. using re-usable zip ties.

BTW I'm not sure a soft (i.e. not hardshell) suitcase has a lot to offer over another style of padded bag?

The padded bag idea is a goodie, but I need the trailer to tow my kit and provisions. I'd rather have a suitcase than a bag on the back even if it is way too big.

By carrying the wheels in hold-all, taking the mudguards would be simple. I need to fit the trailer and wheels into something as well. Maybe it'll go in the suitcase instead of the wheels.

I'm glad that cutting the frame etc isn't required.

None of this is going to happen until next year so it's all able to be fine-tuned.

Don't forget to put your tools in the case as well Mick F!!! :lol

possibly this isn't a perfect example but this sort of bag



can be reduced in size by simply tightening the straps a bit more. So it could contain nearly all your luggage whilst in transit, then strapped down (to a lower profile) whilst on the trailer? Some packs have a zig-zag drawstring at the sides to do something similar, or such can be added.

If the bike is knocked down and strapped up as a bundle, any protruding corners on the bundle can be protected with foam or something as necessary, inside the bag.

Another thought is that the bag itself could contain the trailer chassis, i.e. when towing you would attach the wheels and the towhook to the bag, more or less.

cheers

That looks ideal!

What's it called, and where do you get them from?

philvantwo wrote:Don't forget to put your tools in the case as well Mick F!!! :lol

Four Allen keys. That's all.
Mudguards and stem, front brake, centre frame bolt, chainset.

May need a pedal spanner depending on how the whole thing packs.