Quest 451 packing time...

jwitten

jwitten

Active Member
So now that I've become intimately familiar with the disassemble-reassemble process of the Quest 451, I thought I would clock myself to see just exactly how long it took me to dissasemble and pack up the bike.

After a nice ride on Maui this morning I returned to the hotel room and set about packing up my bike for the return trip to Seattle.

It took just about 20 minutes to fully dissasemble the Quest into all of its individual components. This time includes a couple minutes to remove my quick-release rear rack, quick-release water bottle cage, along with the removal of a couple small speakers and iPhone mount. I also haven't yet received my MKS quick-release pedals which may shave another minute or so off the time as well. Anyway, 15 minutes may be possible, but I'd say 20 is a nice comfortable pace.

It then took about another 15 minutes to pack it into the Samsonite suitcase. This could certainly be done a bit faster, but I take quite a bit of care to wrap the seats in t-shirts and place the other metal components in tube-socks so they don't jostle around and scratch the frame. I also take care to place some pieces of carpeting in key spots for the same purpose.

So all and all, it is about a 35 minute job from start to finish. The next time I assemble the Quest, I will time this process as well, but it seems like it generally takes me about 10 to 15 minutes longer for unpacking and assembly.

Here is a pick of a portion of the ride near Ahihi Bay. The road ends about a mile or so south of here. I found the aerial photo online which is exactly where I took the photo.

ABay.JPG


Ahihi%20Bay.jpg height: 402px;


Jeff
 
jwitten

jwitten

Active Member
The end of the road is the

The end of the road is the treat on this ride. It narrows down over the last few miles and winds along the water with virtually no traffic to speak of. If I had more time, I'd have stopped for a while longer to enjoy the solitude and scenery, but I had to get back for my return flight home.

Yeah, as mentioned, I could pack it into the suitcase a bit quicker, but I'm very protective of my bike. It's such a marvel of engineering that I don't want to damage or scratch it. Airline baggage handlers often toss things around without much regard to protecting the contents. I take the time to place the steering tube, seat-back tube and virtually every other individual part in a protective tube-sock, so the minutes add up. If I were just packing it up to throw in the back of my car, and I were the only one handling it, I probably wouldn't take quite as much care and could do it in 5 minutes or so. Unfortunately, my forks already have some scrapes and scratches from a less than stellar packing job (I think the brake disk did this).
 
thebean

thebean

Well-Known Member
Jeff,
What version do you

Jeff,

What version do you have?

John, the V3 does not have front suspension, and you mentioned that it will pack easier? Have you packed a V3 yet and what can you report at this point?

thanks!
 
John Tolhurst

John Tolhurst

Zen MBB Master
Elevated role for Jeff

With all these nicely portrayed rides, I've elevated (sorry couldn't help myself) your role to 'rider', so that you appear in the main Riders link on the top menu, along with other high flyers (oops, there I go again.) Thanks for your contributions! :)
 
DaveOBrien

DaveOBrien

New Member
My packing time for my Q2 was

My packing time for my Q2 was about 90 minutes at first, but it's about an hour now. Same for unpacking.

I might be able to do it faster, but I'm the cautious type.

The only problem I've run into on reassembly is a slightly bent hub-gear pin on the front axle. I bent it back (gently) and it's fine. In future, I will do the right thing and unscrew the pin for packing.
 
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