1.  How does Ravello retrofit or customize a bike so that it fits into a suitcase that is accepted as standard luggage by the airlines?

We are able to install custom junctions on frames with tubing that is not round, and can help you if your frame is aluminum, carbon or steel.

First we make custom aluminum disassembly junctions for your frame.   If your bike frame is made of 7005 aluminum, we can weld the junctions to your frame.    If your frame is made of another type of aluminum, or carbon fiber, we build the junctions with "over-tubes".  The "over-tubes" are then bonded to your frame using aerospace-quality epoxy.  The bicycle industry has successfully used epoxy bonding for frames and forks for at least 35 years.  Our epoxy is rated at over 3,000 pounds per square inch of lap shear strength.  We have a minimum bonding interface of 8 square inches, so that would be at least 24,000 pounds of lap shear strength.

Your frame is locked into a professional frame jig.  We calculate where to place the take-apart junctions.  After careful measurements, we cut the tubing.   The junctions are installed while the frame is in the jig to insure that the frame geometry is preserved.

2.  How do the Ravello disassembly junctions work?  Will installing them compromise the rigidity of my frame?

Look at how your stem is clamped to your handlebars, or how your seat is secured to your seat post.  Have you ever complained about movement in your stem and handlebars when they are bolted together as prescribed?  You haven't?  Our system is similar.  Once the junctions are installed, your frame sections are bolted together with axial bolts.  The system is secure against twisting or pulling forces, so that the frame is as rigid as it was when it was a stock one-piece frame.

3.  How much does a Ravello junction weigh?

The average junction that we install weighs about 100 grams, or about as much as a standard road inner tube.

3.  Why should I trust Ravello to chop up my bike to make it into a suitcase-loving travel bike?

Brian Myers has been a certified welder since 1981, and is experienced in precision metal-cutting from the medical and aerospace industries.   He has yet to make an error in tube cutting.  In 1999 Brian started as a frame builder by designing and building tandem frames, which are more difficult to build than single bike frames.  

4.  What effect does customizing my bike have on the paint job?  Do I have to have the frame repainted?

If your frame is made of 7005 aluminum or steel, the junctions are welded onto the tubing, which will require touch-up paint or repainting.  If your frame is made of other types of aluminum or carbon, the "over-tube" junctions are bonded to the tubing, and the paint job is not affected. 

5.  How long will it take to customize my bike?

Current lead times are two to three weeks, from the day we receive your frame or bike, to the day we ship it back to you.

6.  What are some tips to make it easy to pack a bike into a case for travel, and then reassemble it to ride?

Taking your bike apart and packing it in a 62-linear inch travel case is similar to packing your bike in a regular bike box or oversized bike case.  When you place a bike in a bike box, you have to remove the seat, pedals, water bottle cages, and handlebars.  You have to secure the crank arms horizontally, and then place non-drive crank arm within the spokes of the front wheel. 

When you disassemble a bike to put it in a 62-linear inch suitcase, you have to undo the three brake and gear cable splitters and the two frame junctions  We have heard some people complain about the difficulty of fitting the frame, wheels, etc. in the travel suitcase.  Unless you follow certain steps, the packing will be misery.  With a few tips it can be a snap.

Before you get ready for a trip, you must take a practice run in packing your bike.  Unless you travel every week, it's easy to forget, so you should take photos of the placement sequences and make notes.  Print out those photos and keep them in the case.  We suggest 1) putting masking tape on the bottom interior of the case, showing where the head tube, forks, and bottom bracket/cranks will be located.  You also need to figure out where the handlebars will fit best.  Drop road bar tips can be placed between the spokes of the rear wheel.  We like to place the rear wheel with the cassette facing up, but then you have to make sure your frame tubes are padded/protected from the cassette teeth.

To disassemble your customized travel bike:

Put on disposable gloves to keep your hands from getting greasy.  Remove the pedals, water bottle cages and wheels.  Remove the quick release skewers from the wheels.

Loosen the junction bolts on the top tube and down tube.  (For a Ravello Go Light bike, loosen the junction bolts on the down tube, loosen the seat post clamp bolt and the seat tube binder bolt, and remove the seat post.  Take out the down tube bolts, take the frame apart, and thread the down tube bolts back in.

Let air out of your tires.

Unbolt the rear derailleur from the frame (don't remove the chain).

Remove the front side pull brake from the fork. 

Unthread the cable splitters.  Slip the gear wires and the rear brake wire through the slotted cable stops on the frame.  Doing this makes it much easier to work with fitting the handlebars in the case.

Put heavier items toward the bottom of the suitcase (such as head tube, forks and cranks).

How to protect your frame and suitcase:

Use caps which we provide to keep the axle ends from punching through the side of the suitcase.  Pad your frame to protect it from dents and scratches.

Reassembling your bike:

Use a small wedge to push the front derailleur out to create slack in the gear wire so it's easier to reconnect the front derailleur cable splitter.

Realign the frame pieces, and insert the seat post.  Bolt the frame together.

Copyright 2012  [Ravello Bicycles].  All rights reserved.