Those travelling on overseas holidays with their bikes - it's a mission to pack the things right? So I thought I would try something different. If you are indeed a traveller, maybe there's something of interest here for you. I got a Ritchey frame that uncouples in half, and pretty much packs into something only a bit bigger than a suitcase, no taller than a 700c wheel, about 10% longer, and about 30cm wide. These dimensions mean the packed product is a lot more manageable than a normal bike bag in crowded airports, on airport shuttles or even on public transport! The test of my new bike was a holiday in Mauritius - so much cycling opportunity, and perfect territory for a cyclocross bike - a bike good enough for road and mild offroad excursions. To pack the Ritchey is a bit of a mission compared to a normal bike to be honest, with more to undo and unscrew. Also, best remember how everything packs together once you get it right, because the trial and error of trying to make everything fit does drive one to need a beer or two. The upside was the airport agility as expected, as the bag simply fits on the trolley without bits hanging out everywhere, and it easily fits into a normal sedan boot without too much huffing and puffing. To reassemble the bike is also lots of work, so you reward yourself with another beer for the effort. The beers themselves were awesome, all ice, ice cold and readily at hand. I'm not sure they made the packing easier though. But I digress. As for the bike: Tom Ritchey has clearly been in this business a long time. The steel bike is simply awesome, stiff, without a rattle our groan anywhere, irrespective of puffing up 1:15 hills in places, or going down them too fast with the unsavoury smell of burning brake rubber. It's also a little conservative in its paintwork, which means you're not that conspicuous - good for when you're in strange places. I built it up with Ultegra 10s (a 53-39-30 triple leading an 11-25 - good for the Alpine stuff), with a Scandinavian Kore Gradient II SL wheelset, a company better known for hard-nosed MTB kit. The wheelset itself is stunning, weighing in at about 1600g, yet incredibly stiff and strong. After all those potholes slammed into over a week of cycling, the wheels are still true! I'm not convinced about the Ritchey carbon fork though, but maybe I'm a little old school in that I would have preferred a steel fork to complement the bike, specifically with durability in mind. It also has rack mounts and mudguard mounts for audax and touring purposes. The frame will accept tyres up to about 700x38 given the cantilever brake arrangement. While I also run it on 700x28 and 700x35, I have notes in riding that the latter is an amazing combination for touring - comfortable and still easy to accelerate - although I used the 700x28 to Mauritius given all the road hillclimbs I was hoping for, and got. Verdict: It's a mission to pack, and you need more beer as a result, which is probably not all bad. As for the bike itself. It's superlative. So much so that I'm going to be riding it much more often. Will I travel with it again, rather than any of my conventional bikes? Undoubtedly yes. And I guess that's all the answer I need
