One thing I couldn't help but notice no matter where I went, was the overwhelming number of S+S coupled bikes. Whether they were in the show, locked up outside or firmly planted under my voluptuous butt, you just couldn't escape em'! S+S Couplers are not only one of the most seemingly over looked pieces of modern technology, but quite possibly one of the best contributions towards cycling in the last twenty years. Who cares if it cost $500 or some shit for a retrofit- YOU CAN BRING YOUR BIKE WITH YOU ANYWHERE AND NOT PAY A DIME!!! They basically pay for themselves after two trips..
I decided to spend my last day at NAHBS taking a closer look at each builders interpretation of how best they could incorporate those wonderful little bastards into their frames to make them their own:
More snaps on my flickr page..
You can get any just about any Steel or Titanium frame retrofitted. Aluminum and CF are usually on full customs direct from the builder only. No retrofits available from anyone on those last two as far as I know..
So yeah, not cheap but man o man do they ever kick some major fucking ass! I can tell you from personal experience that not only are they worth every penny but you wil never regret shelling out the dough to get a set for yourself. The thing I generally recommend is to take one of your old steel beater frames and have the work done to it instead of something super nice you have to fret over. This way you can lock it up and beat on it without worry. An inner tube slipped over the tubing before reassembly and then slid over the coupler to hide it nice works great. So long as it's not too wet and or damp out of course..
If you don't want to deal with a retrofit you can just pick yourself up a handy dandy Surly Travelers Check instead!
Hope to see lots more couplers out there in the future!
I might have something interesting coming up on this front in the near future. Til then I hope to see more couplered bikes out there real soon!
3 comments:
Wow, yeah totally called it last year. This technology is just waiting in the shadows to totally change the industry.
thanks for the inspiration. i need to get one of my bikes retrofit, it just makes sense! now to decide if it should be a touring bike or road bike...
check my post i just wrote on this on my blog http://kitsurvival.blogspot.com if you want.
Awesome post! Glad you dug mines :-)
My plan is to build a cross bike frame and couper it myself. I feel like a cross bike with maybe a few touring features would be the most versatile :-)
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