Packing the Cruzbike Quest 20" in a suitcase

In mid-July, 2012, I had a Skype text exchange with an international customer.  I'm calling him "D" to maintain his privacy.  D had bought from me a Cruzbike Quest with 20" wheels and the heavy duty touring rack.  We were doing something fairly common when working with international customers: figuring out a testing, purchase and delivery plan for someone who was constantly on the move.

D visited me (and New York City) en route from New Zealand to Washington, DC, to NYC, to Toronto, Canada and then to Vancouver.  He planned to ride from British Columbia down to Washington state and maybe Oregon and thought a Quest 20" may be the vehicle of choice.  Not having rode or even seen a Cruzbike before, D dropped by my place to try it, to make sure he liked it, was comfortable with the seat, and to ask whatever questions he had.  Then, if everything was copacetic, we were placing the order and having it drop-shipped to him in Toronto.

The other week, I followed up to see how everything went.  I was also curious to hear a "first timer's" experience with packing the Quest 20" into a suitcase and traveling with it.  It's one thing for a manufacturer to say that a given bike packs into a suitcase.  It can be quite another matter for the rider/traveler to make it fit.  In this case, with the Quest 20", everything went smoothly.

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RM: D- How is the Quest? Did everything go smoothly?

D: Yep, it got to Toronto before I did, assembled it and rode about 150 km to get it adjusted right, packed it up and brought it to Vancouver in a suitcase.

D: Will be unpacking and  assembling it tomorrow morning, so I can hit the harbour bike trail with the family.  ;)

RM: Cool. Glad to hear it. From 1(hard)-10 (easy), how easily did it pack up? What exactly is the brand/model of the suitcase you used?

D: Samsonite F'Lite 31" suitcase. I bought the 2-wheel version, there's also a "Spinner" 4-wheel version, not sure if the latter is also OK (probably).  (US $171 at the time of writing).

D: Packing up was fairly easy in terms of steps, following the YouTube videos on the CB site, so maybe rate that a 7/10. Most of the steps are easy, and the Quest 2.0 has quick releases to make things a bit easier still.

D: The only hard part is fitting the folded bike into the suitcase - a bit of a tight fit, had to coax a few cables and parts into the right configuration.

D: Took me 2 hours the first time, probably 1 hour next time.  :)

D: Packed weight is 46-48 pounds, so close to the weight limit on most airlines.


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A related discussion in the Cruzbike forum is here.


Sounds to me like a good start to his trip.


Have fun and stay healthy,
Robert
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Robert Matson
New York City Recumbent Supply
The Innovation Works, Inc.
copyright 2012 Robert Matson