Bike Friday or S&S Couplers

[CyclesafeSr]

I have a 62cm S&S-fitted Co-Motion Americano (700c).  To haul my bike and gear I use two 28x28x6 cardboard boxes which I check for flights, then discard/recycle at the destination airport after I build up my bike.  Bits of the bike are in both boxes.

Although the 26x26x10 S&S case just barely accommodates the bike, the same sized cardboard box doesn't provide the "stretch" necessary to enclose a bike of my size.  I rarely use my case any more.

I've toured with people on Bike Fridays as well as people on various recumbents, but I could never see any conclusive advantage for any of them versus my rig.  And vice versa.  Like with the debate of panniers versus trailers, it's frustrating that things that appear so different in appearance are actually not so different in function. 
   

[PeteJack]

I agree about the hassle of dealing with a hard case. For this summer's European trip I've decided to box up my Trek520 as I've done three times before. I'll have to pay for excess bags on BA but I hope to minimize the fees by putting my four paniers tent, mat etc in a large duffel bag I'm hoping to find cheap at Goodwill (i.e. essentially disposable) and only pay for one extra bag. For someone needing to do a lot of plane trips a BF or S & S makes sense but I'm planning on only doing two. I should imagine it's fairly cheap to ship an empty bike box back home within the US.

Besides that I don't have much to offer. I looked at BFs having rode with a couple for hundreds of miles who were on them. It began to look as though I wouldn't get much change out of $4000 if I bought a BF kitted out the way I would like and you can pay a hell of a lot of excess baggage fees for that kind of money. And I still get to ride my beloved 520.

[DaveB]

I should imagine it's fairly cheap to ship an empty bike box back home within the US.

Not a cheap as you might think.  Fed-Ex and UPS base their charges on both weight AND package size.  An S&S hardcase is pretty big and the shipping charges reflect that.   I recently shipped an S&S coupled frame in it's hardcase (~27 pounds total) just across PA by Fed-Ex and it cost $32, mostly because of the size.