The Road to Rinko


My wife and I are headed to Japan for a two-week bike tour this fall. We are tremendously excited and looking forward to our adventure! In the meantime, we need to get ourselves ready for this exciting journey.  

We are envisioning our bike requirements for the trip. Our plan is to bring our bikes on the flight and store our shipping box for the duration of the trip. Provided this aspect of the trip goes smoothly, we are planning to have our bikes fully rinko-able for train travel while in the country. Rinko is the Japanese term for disassembling one’s bike so that it can be put in a bag and brought on the train.

Thinking about what’s involved to get our bikes rinko-ready, I started to dwell on the utility of having our bikes packable in this way and quickly started to envision the multiple instances where it would prove to be a useful option well beyond our trip to Japan.  In cars, on the bus, on the train or subway, etc. suddenly multimodal transport seems even more doable if the bike can be packed up quickly in such a manner that it’s not even recognizeable as a bike. For instance, Megabus does not allow bikes in the storage compartment, but I seriously doubt a driver is going to question a bagged up rinko bike.

This is a journal about converting our two bikes to rinko readiness. My bike is a 650b Rawland Stag and Nancy’s bike is a 650b custom built by Tom Matchak. Both are steel frame and are fully fendered, have both front and rear generator-powered lighting, and are frequently loaded with everything from a handlebar bag to front and/or rear panniers.

My primary guide in this process is the description from Bicycle Quarterly’s _______ issue, which describes the necessary features that allow the bike to be efficiently rinko-ed. Our goal is to strike a happy medium between easy of process and expense. For instance, I doubt we’ll invest in quick-release pedals, opting instead to carry a tool and just unscrew the pedals as needed.

In addition to the technical requirements, there is the actual process. This is something I’ve started practicing already, since it is not yet an intuitive process. The photo shows my front fork removed for a recent car trip. Although this was the only significant "rinko" aspect to this particular disassembly, it was very satisfying to have my bike IN the car as we drove through hours of pelting rain. Bikes on roof racks are a serious drag on gas efficiency as well

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