I got the S&S couplers on my Nomad Mk II. And I bought the S&S Backpack case, which is a soft case and the case can be disassembled to make it smaller. The case eight years ago was roughly $225 to $250 (USD).
At that time it cost about $150 one way to take a bike on a USA airline on top of the cost for the second piece of luggage. Thus a round trip to carry a full size bike was $300 more than a S&S bike. European airlines were much less costly to transport a bike than USA based airlines, so I think that S&S couplers were a bigger seller in USA than in Europe.
I already owned a Sherpa. I was looking to buy a 26 inch S&S heavy duty touring bike with Rohloff. I considered the Nomad Mk II and the Co-Motion Pangea. Chose the Nomad Mk II based on price. I did not discuss the merits with SJS of the couplers, my decision was made before I contacted them. In both cases, I was only looking at frame and fork cost, as I would build up the bike myself. The Co-Motion was more expensive. I think that the additional cost for S&S couplers plus the Backpack cost was roughly equivalent to five one way flights for cost savings.
Now Delta, American and United which are the main USA based airlines have all dropped their oversize fees for bikes. So, if I was buying a bike today, I would probably forgo the S&S couplers.
But, there are other advantages to having the S&S couplers. The best example I can describe is my last bike tour, flying from Madison WI, USA to Halifax NS, Canada. Trip went like this:
- Take taxi from my home to a bus stop. Two carry on bags and two bags to check. The S&S Backpack case and the orange checked bag both fit in the Toyota Prius taxi trunk.
- Take a bus to ride 150 miles to an airport in another state.
- Take my luggage across a large airport (O'Hare) to a shuttle pickup point.
- Take a shuttle to a motel. Stay there the night.
- Take the first shuttle from that motel at 6am to the airport.
- Take a flight to Montreal.
- Go through customs. Was lucky, I expected to have to retrieve my checked bags and take them through customs, and then re-check the bags. But did not need to, I could pick up the bags in Halifax.
- Pick up luggage in Halifax.
- Take a shuttle bus to the hostel in downtown Halifax. Got lucky again, the shuttle driver was not supposed to stop at the hostel, I expected to have to carry my luggage about half a km from the train station to the hostel. But he dropped me off at the Hostel.
This was a 30 hour trip from my home to destination. If I had to lug a full size bike box on that trip, quite simply I would not have gone.
For the flight home, I carried my S&S Backpack case and one bag to the train station, walked back to the Hostel, carried my big orange backpack and my other bag to the train station. I had no wheels for one of my bags, thus the easiest way was taking two trips.
Thus, if I fly again, I will probably use the S&S couplers since it is so much easier to get a bike to and from an airport when it is in a smaller case. I live ina small community, there are very few direct airline flights from my local airport to anywhere else, flying is a hassle.
My bike and S&S Backpack exceed 50 pound and exceed 23 kg. So, some parts are put in my other bag to keep the bag below airline weight. A luggage scale is the travelers best friend. I can't fit my fenders in the case, the fenders stay home. The rear rack will not fit in the S&S case with the bike, the rear rack is in a different bag.
Keep in mind I built up my Nomad Mk II. Thus, I knew what parts went where. So, for me, disassembling a bike and reassembling it later is a time consuming inconvenience. But I think for most people that are less mechanically inclined, to disassemble a bike could cause a mild case of panic.
Dan in his previous post above stated that the fork would not fit in the S&S case. That is what Thorn said in their literature on bikes with S&S cases. I however did fit mine in the case, Dan was citing what the seller had told him, so that is the reason for the discrepancy. I cut my steerer tube a bit shorter to make it easier to pack, but my other bikes I have never cut the steerer tube.
Regarding Dan's comment on the couplers coming loose, earlier this year for the first time one of my couplers did come loose. But that is only once after eight years. I carry a coupler wrench with a spare tube on the bike, so that is of no concern to me. It however did take a while for me to realize that a coupler was loose. If you pick up a bike front wheel a few inches and drop it on the pavement, you will hear a bike bounce off the pavement. But if a headset is loose and you do that, it sounds very different. That is what my bike sounded like, so it took me some time to realize that it was a loose coupler and not a loose headset.
First photo. Most of my tours were with Ortlieb panniers, but to make a long story short I had bought a set of rear Carradry panniers for a trip a few years earlier. I had nothing against the Ortliebs, but on this trip I decided to try the Carradry anyway. Photo is my luggage that I took from home to Halifax. The black bag is the S&S Backpack. The orange bag is a backpack that had a few more bike parts and most of my camping gear. The two panniers were my carry on bag and personal item. I also wore my helmet onto the plane because I did not want baggage handlers to crack my helmet in a checked bag.
Second photo. The S&S bag and some other luggage that I stored in the luggage room at the hostel. The side pieces of my S&S bag can be removed, I put some corroplast pieces in the bag, thus the bag stayed 26 by 26 inches, as I did not want to fold the corroplast pieces. I also put my empty orange backpack in the bag. Note that is is much thinner with the side pieces removed.
Third photo. My bike on that trip.
I wrote up a piece on packing my Nomad Mk II in the S&S case, that thread is here.
http://thorncyclesforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=13407.0Fourth photo. This trip I did with my folding bike, not the Nomad Mk II. But I used the S&S Backpack case on this trip. The photo is me leaving the airport wearing my S&S Backpack case, it is hard to see I am wearing it because it is black and it does not stand out in the photo. In this photo, I had a small wheel luggage cart that I could use for a duffle bag, so could carry it all in one trip. One of the other people I was traveling with took the photo.
