Rinko Bags and Australian public transport?

[Vintagetourer]

Super lightweight bike bags are used in Japan to enable bicycles to be transported as carry-on luggage. The aim is cleanliness, not bike protection. They are called Rinko bags.

An example of one here
https://www.compasscycle.com/shop/bags/ ... rinko-bag/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The question is, has anyone tried these for combining cycle-touring with bus/train in Australia. With a full-sized, non-folding bike?

[just4tehhalibut]

There was a couple of articles about Rinko in the Bicycle Quarterly summer edition 2014, I was shown this as someone with several folding bikes and asked for an opinion. For a start a lot of bus and train companies either exclude bikes or put hefty restrictions on how they can be carried, Rinko still presents a large package that says 'bike' so may not help you clear any hurdles with these companies. Depends on the bus driver amd the country route, maybe it'll get you on a bus because your bike is better packaged than the usual mongrel cyclotourists' attempt at packing their bike down. If you tried this in peak hour on a Perth train the guards might fine you for even being on the platform, their rules allow for something the size of Brompton folder with the 16" wheels, chainless, in peak. No bikes are allowed on Perth buses, peak or outside however I've snuck larger folder bikes onto Perth buses, have been asked by the drivers a few times if the bag was a bikebag (the reply is 'some bike parts, camping bits' works), so don't rely on getting away with this. It helps if the bag does not have printed on the side something 'bike'.

Essentially, it might help you using a Rinko bag but it'd be better if you could pack it down smaller than just wheels, fork and handlebars slashed across the frame, and into a discreet bag that won't identify the contents or bike shapes like the wheels.

[Vintagetourer]

Yes it was the BQ articles which also started me thinking about Rinko bags. I'm also a folding bike cycle-tourer and find the Bike Friday combines reasonably well with trains and buses using either the BF bag or a Ground Effect Tardis bag. Nevertheless I would also like the option of using my big wheeled Thorn bikes without the hassle of boxes and booking them on trains.

Thanks for the tip not to label the bag 'BIKE'
Perhaps a big label such as GRANDMA'S ASHES or SINGLE MALT SCOTCH would distract transport officialdom enough to get the bike onto verboten transport systems.

[RonK]

To the best of my knowledge there is no barrier to taking a bike on inter-city train or bus services.
As for suburban services - you have a bike, why do you need 'em.

[Vintagetourer]

Yes Intercity is fine Ron. So is metro...well in Sydney it is.

But believe it or not, Canberra to Sydney is not serviced by an Intercity service. I don't think NSW rail has worked out that a national capital with 340,000 people has popped up on the Monaro. It's a real palaver trying to get a full sized bike onto the Can-Syd train service. Much easier to take a bus.

And I'm talking mostly about NSW, and what used to be called CountryLink. Not sure what it is these days.

Like for example last year I cycled from Canberra to Tamworth on my Thorn Audax. To get home by train with my bike would have been a pain in the proverbial. The Intercity only goes as far as Scone. After that one is at the mercy of a a bike unfriendly XPlorer service.
Thanks goodness a friend's wife brought my bike home in her car, and I flew home on a cheap airfare. Bugger the train:)

[il padrone]

If you can "reduce your bike to a neat, small package" like that in 15 minutes, then you are doing a lot better than I can do. Such a pack-down would take me at least 60-90 minutes. I have routinely transported my bike on trains all over Victoria and in Europe, with no such bag or cover at all, and we transported our two bikes from Kulgera to Alice Springs (280kms) on the Greyhound bus with no more than the front wheels removed - booked on ahead of travel time.

However there is the plus that if you can make your bike look just like a case or package then you will not be charged an additional transport charge. This Rinko bag may be enough to avoid charges.

[Espresso_]

If you can "reduce your bike to a neat, small package" like that in 15 minutes, then you are doing a lot better than I can do. Such a pack-down would take me at least 60-90 minutes.

I'm not sure mine would take anywhere near as long but your point is taken - it takes more than 15 mins!!

I thought the point of Rinko bikes were that they were specifically built to be able to be broken down in that way easily?

E

[il padrone]

When I strip mine to go in the BodyBag I need to remove:
- front wheel
- front mudguard (3 fiddly bolts)
- front racks (4 fiddly bolts)
- headlight
- handlebar, at times, or reposition it. And Klickfix bar-bag mount.
- seatpost and saddle
- pedals

Then secure all of these within the bag in a manner that they do not get damaged. It does take about 45 mins. I think the 90 mins mentioned I was thinking of doing two bikes when we went to Italy.

[Vintagetourer]

The interesting thing is that so far there are no posts are from anyone who has used one of these Rinko bags in Australia. May be they aren't here in Oz yet?

I think quite a few of us have tried the Ground Effect bags, or various other heavy duty bags. They are great, but they are a step up from Rinko in weight ... and in bike protection.

My curiosity is much more about the bike as accompanied, supervised luggage situation. That is the bike being close and preferably in sight during the journey albeit lightly covered. If it was on a train, ideally it'd be in the same carriage as me. On a bus, I would see where it went into the luggage hold.

My understanding of the Rinko concept is that it is about protecting other luggage and passengers from the bike's real or imagined grime. A Rinko bag doesn't look like it'd protect the bike from much. Well...protecting bikes from the glare of rail or bus staff might be the main advantage.

[just4tehhalibut]

Rinko was more about meeting the railways' requirements that the bike fit certain dimensions and be in a bag. The Rinko bag you linked to is a little smancy for your project when there are so many cheap folder bags out there. More to the point, any bag should do once you get your bike to fit the size needed. You need to make your bike a Rinko bike. There's another Bicycle Quarterly article in the Spring 2015 edition, look at both articles and you'll see that they've gone to great lengths to modify their bike, from sleeving their hammered finish mudguards so that they pull apart easily for packing, using pedals that 'fold' or quick-release, modifying the headset with a custom braze-on so that it can be undone without tools, cable connectors and slotting their cable stops so that the handlebars can be removed without cables hanging on still, using a modified centrepull brake with disconnects on both arms, special wiring plugs for the dynamo lighting, all that so the bike packs down quickly and well. It isn't just packing your frame into a wheel sandwich, there's an art here and it takes a bit of preparation.

Rinko has its uses, a skill to learn perhaps. However all you'll be doing is trying to find ways to make your favoured tourer break down a little better or faster, and fill a niche in the choice of 'folding' bikes. Small-wheeled folders will do it better for inner city and the normal frames with Ritchey breakaway or S&S-couplers for most else. The prepartion that they did in the BQ articles was sort of a denial that they really needed to just buy proper 'folding' bikes, all those modifications and component choices and they still couldn't get their bikes to pack as well or as small as my S&S-coupled tourer. So, are you in denial too?

[il padrone]

Plastic fantastic





Or just go for the Bike Friday NWT or similar.

[Vintagetourer]

The preparation that they did in the BQ articles was sort of a denial that they really needed to just buy proper 'folding' bikes, all those modifications and component choices and they still couldn't get their bikes to pack as well or as small as my S&S-coupled tourer. So, are you in denial too?

The BQ article was more about a frame builder-randonneur showing off their craft, inventiveness and willingness to experiment with design. There wouldn't have been a story for BQ if he'd opted for S&S or a folder. Sure he could have taken the easy, commercially available option but bike tinkerers don't do that if they can find an excuse to play with the TIG welder. For them, it's all about the design & build process.

I have a Bike Friday NWT, and it works well with train/bus/plane, but there are tours where conditions/circumstance which don't suit the BF; and I don't want the cost/weight of S&S on my Thorn bikes.
Hence the question about the Rinko bags in the opening post as another option.

The advert for the Compass Rinko bag doesn't mention any need for a special Rinko bike. Their claim is that it will hold a full sized randonneur bike.

[il padrone]

The tikit is one answer

[RonK]

You've been quiet lately Graham - sounds like you're hatching a plan?

Seems like there is a more relaxed attitude about what is carried as luggage in Japan. The concern is to protect other passengers from the greasy parts of the bike.
Here it seems passengers and their luggage are merely inconveniences, and to be discouraged. It's working.

[RonK]

When it comes to folding bikes I've alway been attracted to the Airnimal.
It comes in a plethora of configurations - there is one to suit almost everybody.
I like the two-stage fold - stage one quick and easy for public transport, and stage two minimal size for transit.

[Vintagetourer]

You've been quiet lately Graham - sounds like you're hatching a plan?

Seems like there is a more relaxed attitude about what is carried as luggage in Japan. The concern is to protect other passengers from the greasy parts of the bike.
Here it seems passengers and their luggage are merely inconveniences, and to be discouraged. It's working.

No firm cycle-touring plan unfortunately Ron. Almost the opposite. Work has kept me too busy to tour for over 12 months.
I have been doing a lot of cycle-commuting though and developing a vague Wishlist of Cycle-tours. Like you, I'd love to do some riding in South America and I think one of my big wheeled Thorns would be more fit for purpose over there. Being able to combine the bike with public transport also has appeal.

But the real motive for the opening post was genuine curiosity after reading the BQ articles and seeing the advert for the Compass rinko bag. I know there are numerous options for combining bikes/trains/buses/planes. Rinko is just one.

And ditto for your comment about the lack of customer focus in Australian rail services. No wonder rail is losing passengers. No problem. Let's convert the abandoned rail corridors to rail trails:)

[Vintagetourer]

The tikit is one answer

il Padrone I have to confess I also have a Tikit in my bike menagerie. It is excellent and has saved me a fortune in taxi fares.
Typical use has been for Canberra-Sydney day return trips by bus for work and family stuff over the last few years.

Pattern has been:
-Early morning ride to Canberra Jolimont bus station. Two minute pack/fold into the BF soft bag. Hand it to bus staff and they place it carefully in with the suitcases.
-Arrive at Central. Two minute unpack. Ride to meeting(s) in CBD.
-Late arvo. Ride back to Central. Reverse the process. Home by 7ish.

Saves 4 taxi fares at about $30 each. Over three years, it's saved it's cost. I bought it as a $900 special.

The Tikit is very much a metro bike. Same class as a Brompton. Folds quick and small. I wouldn't try it for long distance touring.

[Thoglette]

Anybody got an update? I'm considering "Rinkoing" the front guards on my commuter/tourer as it doesn't fit into the back of our car as-is. My fenderless "playing-on-a-sunny-day" bike does fit once the front wheel is popped off.

[Virgil Walker]

Just to clarify about packing rinko bags. I've used them in Japan a lot: it takes three minutes tops to get the bag out and to remove wheel and/or fork, front mudguard, lights, and RD; turn handlebars; secure RD, wheel and fork to frame, cover bike, and sling it over shoulder. And the same time to put the bike together and the bag back in its container (which fits in a bidon cage). I've never tried it in Australia because whatever the rules are, there's a far greater ratio of d***heads to helpful transport officials here than in Japan. If you have a robust steel, aluminium, or titanium bike, and nerves of steel rinko bags are good for air travel too.

[Bendo]

I'm curious about rinko-ing in Aus. My new bike has a rinko headset (very clever piece of kit) but that's it. I've got the "How to Rinko" pamphlet from Grand Bois so I cold probably work it out, but it would involve purchasing some of the bits-and-bobs. Such as bag, straps and the wonderfully named the 'endo-yojimbo' or drop-out bodyguard: a mini folding stand and brace for your drop-outs which the bike rests on without damaging the rear derailleur.

All this I'd do if I had faith in the rail network. The one time I took a bike from Southern Cross to Bacchus Marsh it was great: dedicated space for bikes at the end of the carriage and a helpful conductor. I'm not sure that's such a common experience... b