Transporting the Helios | Circe Cycles

Travelling with, and transporting, a tandem bike

admin — Fri, 06 May 2016 13:33:44 +0000

There are many wonderful things about tandem riding, but a big considerations is how to transport, or travel with, the extra length, size and weight that is essential to the design of a tandem.

An essential element of our design brief for the Helios was a compact tandem that, amongst other things, would be easy to transport both locally and for travelling to far away places. By using 20″ wheels and making changes to the classic tandem stoker geometry, we were able to design a tandem compact enough to go into even quite small cars without the need to be folded.

Although we had originally designed the Helios with the potential to incorporate a fold, it soon became clear that, in the real world, it was compact enough for most transportation needs without folding, and that to significantly reduce the volume, particularly for travelling by air, a separable rather than a folding tandem was the superior option. Having experience of several different folding and separable tandems, we decided that a way of stabilizing what is essentially a long and heavy bike, particularly when assembling, was essential and why we used a mixed compression tube and couplings system. Key to folding and re-assembling the tandem is the compression drainpipe, which holds the two separated ends of the tandem together, and stable, while the coupling tube and other components are removed or installed.

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Transporting a tandem bicycle on an airplane

admin — Thu, 16 Jul 2015 15:23:55 +0000

We don’t recommend flying with any bike in a soft bag, but frequent flyer, Aidan Prior, who regularly uses soft bags for transporting his bikes, has found an interesting way of flying with his Helios in a surfboard bag.

By removing the front wheel, seat posts and pedals, his Helios fits into the Komunity Project surfboard bag and weighs around 20kg all up (Aidan’s Helios is a hub gear geared heavy duty bike, so a bit less for some models). There is also the issue of maximum lengths, but BA, with whom Aidan is flying, and various others have a limit of 190cm which is almost exactly at the limit.

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Methods for transporting a tandem by car

admin — Thu, 02 Apr 2015 16:13:16 +0000

Transporting a tandem bicycle by car is always difficult and, even though the compact size and light weight of the Helios make it very easy to fit inside most cars, some families need the inside of the car for passengers and other luggage, making roof carriage the only option.

The Thule Pro ride 591 and 598 roof rack is a popular option with Helios users. Using the Circe Thule stand-off the Helios can be easily fitted to the rack.

Another option is to use a tandem bike rack. Helios owner Dirk Sinjan comments :- ‘We put it on the roof today and it seems to fit well. Did put it on with the front of the bike facing backward to avoid the rack interfering with the boot lid. Think it works best for MPVs or estate cars as you need a minimum of 1m between the roof bars, but may work on other cars as well.
If you are interested, the rack can be found on Amazon or with various other online retailers (Raleigh Avenir Tandem Rack AVR820)’

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Flying with the Helios separable tandem

admin — Tue, 31 Mar 2015 11:25:03 +0000

Richard and Anne Lewis regularly travel with their tandem and were strong advocates of our designing a separable version of the Helios. This article is about how they fold their separable Aurora tandem into two suitcases for flying.

There are various one and two case, or bag, solutions that people use for transporting the Helios, but, as there are likely to be two people travelling with a tandem, a two case solution works well, keeping the weight of the individual cases down and allowing smaller cases or bags to be used.

The photos show how it is done, but Richard has added some useful notes :-

1. Rear triangle, separable parts and front wheel in one case.

2. Front triangle, seat posts and saddles, and Rohloff rear wheel into the second.

3. Advisable to remove both chains.

4. Use padded wheel bags.

5. Rear mudguards can stay in place. Front removed and put in wheel bag.

6. One front brake (the Lewis’s have two) removed to go with the rear triangle.

7. Forks removed. This is dependent on the size of the cases used and is not necessary with the single case pack using our Traveller case.

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Have tandem, will travel!

admin — Thu, 26 Feb 2015 17:06:11 +0000

The Helios is an uniquely compact tandem, able to fit into even small cars with only minimal dis-assembly, but with the installation of its dedicated ‘separable’ system, it will fit into our Traveller case for transporting by plane. We designed the separable system of the Helios to be as easy to use as possible; the coupling and compression tube system working to stabilise and align the frame on re-assembly, and, for the single case pack, the transmission and braking systems staying in place. Having had significant experience of using folding and separable systems, both single and tandem, I have found flying with the Helios and Traveller case an unusually relaxing experience!

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How to transport your Helios tandem in a car

admin — Wed, 14 Jan 2015 13:21:19 +0000

The Helios is compact by design and with the front wheel, captain seat post and handlebar removed and the stoker seat lowered the Helios will fit into a space 1800 x 600 x 200 mm. So remarkably compact that the Helios has been fitted into a 3 door Nissan Micra, with the rear seats down! Most common is to put it diagonally across the back, or, down the middle between the seats. Of course, if you are looking to get the Helios in a Smart car then you might want to add the Separable kit.

Picture shows a Helios in the back of a Honda Jazz.
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