Should I get the S&S Couplers (Rodriguez Travel Package) Now or Later?
A lot of people think that they might someday travel with their new bike, but not right away. Those people often ask if they should get the couplings now...or later when their ready to travel. You will save a bit of money by doing it now, but if you never end up traveling with the bike, you really haven't saved anything right?
If you choose later, then the bike will have to be disassembled, couplings installed, re-painted (assuming you want the bike to look good) and then re-assembled. In 2017, the added cost for a regular road bike Rodriguez Travel option is $700. For a customer brining in an older bike, having the parts removed, couplings installed, repaint and re-assembly the cost is $1,675. Make sense?
Now, if you ride the bike for several years before you have the couplings installed, then the bike will probably be in need of a full service and paint job anyway, so you're not out much. This is the case with most of the 'after-the-fact' coupling upgrades that we do. Once in a while we do a travel upgrade on a bike that's just a year or two old, but not very often.
Good rule of thumb:
If you're pretty sure that you'll be traveling with the bike within 5 years, then the couplings are a good idea from the start. If not, it doesn't hurt to wait. Just make sure that you have the frame built in such a way that it will accept the couplings down the road. No S3 tubing, or ovalized tandem tubing etc... The tubes have to be round, and of a gauge that will hold up with couplings.