Bike Transport!

[Eden]

If you have any carbon parts - bar-stem-seatpost invest in a torque wrench. You don't want accidentally crank down on the anything too hard (most carbon parts I've seen reccommend 5nm) Even if you don't have any carbon parts its a handy thing to have so that you aren't overtightening.

[equus123]

Great replies. Thank you all very much for your feedback and help. *hugs*

I have a threadless headset.
Aluminum Ritchey stem.


Carbon bars.
I do not have a torque wrench but have thought about getting one.

That's great advice to just take the bars off. I only hadn't thought of that because I have to have my bars at an exact rotation/angle or else I'm miserable. But I'll just measure from the ground to the tops of the shifters to get an exact spot. But it certainly makes this much easier if I only have to worry about one thing (bar angle) instead of several!

The case is coming in tomorrow so I'll be able to see what room I have to work with and play with different places to have the bars during transport.

Thank you!!

[equus123]

I've been looking around online at the case that is to be given to me. I actually found a nice *real* picture on craigslist.com. After all of my questions yesterday I don't even have to touch the front end!

[Pedal Wench]

It looks like the bars are off and flipped in that picture. To get the angle the same, just mark the bars with something - lipstick, eyeliner, whatever, so you can easily put them back in the right spot.

Whenever I pack up a bike, I cover every square inch of the frame with pipe insulation foam. Even in a box, things get shifted and start moving around.

[equus123]

Just to follow up with everybody who helped - I packed the case last night because it's going to DHL today after work.

I really had to try and figure out what to do after taking the bars off because my cables are so short and the computer/powertap wires make it even shorter. I had just enough length to get the bars off the stem and rotate them parallel to the fork, tucking one of the bar ends beneath the fork. I just hope the cable doesn't pull too hard on the front break and rip off!

It was kind of scary packing my bike for the first time. I only have one to ride and race and do everything!!! So I hope I did everything okay. The directions weren't all that great to follow either...which didn't help. I also figured that this would have been much much easier either with a work stand or another person. Doing it by myself felt like it take twice as long - especially when it came to putting the lid on and tightening the straps! I was walking on top of it back and forth tightening the 3 belly straps. lol

But it really was easy. Most of the time came from figuring out how the heck the bars were going to be situated or which front chainring to keep the chain on or what other items I wanted to put in with the bike (helmet, shoes, tools, etc.). Once I get the hang of it, the packing time should definitely drop a lot.

I wished my bike goodbye this morning when I walked out the door - "okay bike. have a safe trip and see you in Florida! byyyyeeeeee."

[DebW]

There are ways to get some cable slack if you need it. Here are some suggestions:

(1) the rear brake cable runs through two cable anchors brazed to the top tube. If there is a split in the brazed-on anchor, you can squeeze the brake calipers together and use the slack to remove the cable from the braze-on.

(2) you can remove the front brake caliper from the fork. Just pad the brake well as you pack it.

(3) maybe remove the computer mount on the hb

(3) if you are going to ship your bike frequently, get cable splitters installed (see http://www.sandsmachine.com/ac_cable.htm) on the rear brake and both derailleur cables. Then you just unscrew the connectors and you've got about 2 ft extra cable slack.

[OakLeaf]

I just disconnected my front brake cable from the caliper when we transported my bike in the car last week. Not a big deal and much simpler than removing the caliper!

The other cables were long enough to let me move the bars parallel with the top tube, straddling the head tube.

[equus123]

There are ways to get some cable slack if you need it. Here are some suggestions:

(1) the rear brake cable runs through two cable anchors brazed to the top tube. If there is a split in the brazed-on anchor, you can squeeze the brake calipers together and use the slack to remove the cable from the braze-on.

(2) you can remove the front brake caliper from the fork. Just pad the brake well as you pack it.

(3) maybe remove the computer mount on the hb

(3) if you are going to ship your bike frequently, get cable splitters installed (see http://www.sandsmachine.com/ac_cable.htm) on the rear brake and both derailleur cables. Then you just unscrew the connectors and you've got about 2 ft extra cable slack.

Great advice. Thank you for your help Deb.