Newsflash! Wallpaper* Magazine invents the travel fixie!

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p> WOW, that’s a really cool fixie that you can travel with! Wallpaper* (don’t forget the asterisk) deserves a lot of credit for their vision. Kinda makes me wish I had thought of that….

Wait, a minute…I did think of that…7 fucking years ago.

And since S&S didn’t even remotely develop their excellent “torque couplings” with Wallpaper* (don’t forget the asterisk) or me personally in mind, I guarantee you that someone else did it before me.

Wallpaper…*……does offer a beautiful and doubtlessly expensive leather bag to pack your bike in. That way you can look quite spiff struggling with your fixie in a bag through every airport…’cause unlike S&S’ well-proven hardcase, their leather bag has NO WHEELS. The smirk on my face while I watch you attempting to carry that bike along with your ridiculous Louis Vuitton bags shan’t be modest. My only loss will be not seeing your grief-stricken face at your final destination after you see what baggage handlers can do to a bike in a soft case.

But proper credit where due, the bike as pictured does have the correct hubs for the job. Phil Wood track hubs are smooth and durable, but they also have the crucial bolt-in axles. Otherwise, the width of solid “bolt-on” axles would affect packing density. Also, the choice of a powdercoat finish is smart, as it is usually less prone to chipping than wet-application paint finishes. Still, anyone frequently traveling with a bike ought get used to blems on the kit, unavoidable as it is.

Of course, no one is really asking for my opinion. The fact that I’ve flown over 120,000 miles, made a couple dozen train trips, and 3 European bus tours with an S&S bike as well as designed (and I don’t mean paint design) a series of S&S bikes with the “Modular concept” (interchangeable kits to rapidly optimize the bike for different uses) pales in the face of professional photography and oooooh! leather.

Sigh, at least the bike is quality craftsmanship. It’s just not versatile, well-thought out, inexpensive, or original.

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update:

This is an S&S hardcase after 120,000 air miles and untold abuse. I’d like to see a leather bag hold up to that. And leather or not, it’s nigh impossible for the bag to be significantly smaller than the hardcase because the 700C wheels dictate the internal space. Again, the lack of roller wheels on the leather case is a sad, sad omission. mark's bike case.jpg

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