Vincita Sightseer Brompton Bag first review

Vincita motto. 

First thing first and to get it out of the way. 

The bags were provided by Vincita for my review and I did not buy them. They have asked that I do a review and share my thoughts on their bags. 

They also very kindly sponsored a set of B132B and B206 garment bag to readers of Smallwheelsbigsmile.  
I will select one lucky reader who will share on their ideal travel adventure on a Brompton using this bags. Leave your comments on the blog entry.  It will be limited to Singapore readers. So send me your ideal travel adventure K? 

Just riding along, the sun, the sky and the sea! 

Cycling in a foreign land is one of the coolest and nicest thing to do to see a country. It feels daunting at the first time, then you would wonder why you never considered bringing your foldie for ur next holiday. 
It happened to me too. After some encouragement from my friend Francis, I finally did my first trip with a Brompton back in 2010. 
It was awesome experience where you really saw more off the beaten track.... even in a city like Tokyo.  Like this gem of a place tucked away in one of the numerous side street. 

Vincita B132 with my brompton.  The silver tab is just duct tape with my particulars and contact number

My first attempt on bike travel using card board box strapped to a portable trolley. Boy that was fun....   

I started off my bike travelling adventure using a cardboard box and then got a Lojel hardcase which was offered good protection but on the heavy side. To make it easier for air travel, I got a Vincita B132 Softcase bag(thanks Woo sister!). It was very roomy and I could dump my clothes (in a plastic bag)and helmet and all with no stress. For added protection I put cardboard on the side. 

Notice the cardboard support at side... not sure if it works but it makes me feel better :) 

B132 fits a Bike Friday pocket rocket too.

Other than the Brompton, I realised that the B132 bag could also fit a Bike friday Pocket rocket nicely with quite a lot of room for clothing and stuff. Something which you can consider if you are looking to get a bike bag for travel. 
Earlier Oct this year, Vincita released a updated model of the B132. It's called the  B132B Soft Transport Brompton Bag- Sightseer. 

It is slightly smaller compared to the B132. The idea is to make it easier for short trips and be able to deploy directly from the Airport/ train station. In addition, they also created a internal bag (for your clothes and stuff) which would fit nicely into the B132B. Frankly I was quite skeptical their idea would work. So I was glad to have the bag and I did a trial test to see if it would all work out.  
The construction of the bag is quite good (similar to the B132 I had previously) and as what you would expect from a bag manufacturer who have done bike related products for a while. 
Below is a size comparison of the old and newer model. 

Left is the older B132 and the right it the B132B Sightseer

Closer to you is the newer B132B and you can see that its smaller. And fits the Brompton just as well

The B132B fits the Brompton much tighter. Same padded and durable fabric construction. The pack on the right is the "internal sleeve"  aka B206 Garment bag  

The Vincita 132B also have an improved bigger roller wheel that is great for moving around the train/ airport 

Internal garment bag fit into the frame of the Brompton. This helps to reduce overall bulk. 

After ensuring the Brompton would fit into the bag, I also simulated a 2 day trip worth of clothes and stuff. It is all fits in very nicely. 
Lastly, I watched their youtube link to see how to fold/compact the bag and carry it via the Brompton rear rack.  It took a bit of fudging as you need to fold it in a certain way. However I am sure with more practice, that could be done easily.  
My biggest concern was will it be too wide to ride? I strapped it on the Brompton and rode around my neighbourhood. It's worked!  Here's how it looked when on the Brompton. 

The idea is to fly to another country. Roll up the bike bag and straight go exploring! 

If you use the side hook on the Brompton. There will be no heel strike.

The bag sticks out some what, so do cater for the clearance esp on crowded side paths 

Final conclusion
I did not have a overseas trip to really test it out in actual airport condition. When I have a chance, I will try it and update how it fared. 
The B132B bag is targeted specifically to those who want to pack their Brompton with no dismantling. Fly in to location and ride with minimum fuss. Explore and sightsee... pack and fly home.  With the explosion of cheaper budget air fares, I can see more would try to bring their bikes for their next holiday. Try it one day, you will be glad you did. 
So what would be the ultimate short trip experience u like to do with the Brompton? 
Update by Vincita on 25th Nov2014:  
"The B132B brompton bag is now available @ Urban Transporter, 985 Bukit Timah Road. #01-16, Singapore(589627) Phone: (+65)83663521

Travel luggage for Brompton

A friend asked me for advice on what luggage to get to travel with a Brompton. My answer was either a cardboard box, stuff all ur clothes inside. Or get the Lojel.

And I realized I did not post a photo of it before. So here's the communal consolidation with the help of Lovecyclingsg folks.
It seems like a tossup between Lojel and Vincita. Difference is Lojel is a hardcase which weights more but provides more protection. While Vincita is a soft padded case which is lighter but perhaps less protected(but I think is really ok)
Diane very nice review of the Vincita soft case here 

Diana with her Vincita soft bag

Good video by NYCe on travel case for Brompton

 Notice on the lower section, there it a "time line" so u can skip directly to the topic you need. Super informative and clever video editing.

Packing for the Taiwan trip from my fellow team mates

Travelling with bicycles is not something we normally do. Some are doing this for the first time. It must be quite a stressful time esp for Berenda and Ai lim who are bringing Moulton. So I am delighted to see how well packed the bikes were... Have a look at the packing in progress! 

Ai Lim Pinkie Moulton TSR seperated, packed to go!

Berenda is so prepared that she even brought a pot to cook maggie mee(joke) 

Lisa Wrapping Tikit on a Dr Hon Box

Darren Lama on a Tern Box minus packaging 

I hope he is not bringing Boba fett... 

Joeel neat packing 

Joeel added hand holds to help make cargo forwarders job easier 

Desmond box

Desmond's Dahon Speed TR with ultra low gear into the box

Packing Pocket Rocket for the Taiwan Trip

Work have been busy over the past 2 months and I can't believe we are actually going to go to Taiwan again!  Well before we have fun, the bike need to be packed... so this are the some of the shots as I put Pocket rocket into the box. The coming friday will be flying off.... so today better work at it..
Learnings: do it in an aircon room..

Stuff I bring along

Additional stuff to bring along based on the current assessment of weather forecast.
 1) Ortbliebs pannier bag(weather seems to be rainy.. so this will be a good place to keep camera and stuff dry)
2) Medical box - I always carry this on long rides and overseas trip.  You can never be too careful
3) Mini tool kit and 4, 6 mm allen key
4) Mini pump
5) Tyre sidewall patch. Pocket rocket is 451 size which is not so common. So this is insurance
6) Duranos - will swap to this if the road conditions are smooth.. so I use less energy to keep up with Encik and the faster Gonzales
7) Waterproof Jacket - Found it at Isetan Timberland booth.  Momo call this "Turd color" but it was well made like a Mammot (Sealed seams and hooded) and 50% discount. Will try this out on the ride
8) 2 spare tube of 451
9) Self design Collapsible flag pole to ensure cars see us.
10) wire lock to keep bike safe

Solved BF fender wagging issue but using brazing rod found at local hardware store

Brazing rod and a pair of pliers did this

bulky rear rack..  

"mummied wrapped"  rear rack

folding it

Salah.. take out front wheel first 

Take out pedals, put into plastic bag and keep with bike

Wrap and pad it. Esp metal to metal. I used velcro to hold everything together

Mummied Seat and seatpost

All in.. did I forget anything.... yah.. my wife just asked me... "waterbottle leh?"  

Packing Mr AM for Taiwan trip

Next Sat morning we will embark on our eagerly awaited Taiwan trip.  Starting from Puli, we will make our way up to Qing Jing farm and later on to Wu ling. It is one of the highest mountain as I understand from George Lim, our team leader who recced the route on his trips to Taiwan. We kinda of prepared for the trip by cycling Mount Faber and some other ant mount in Singapore...see the "proof"... haha..

Some of us even changed to Triple cranks in an technical effort to flatten the Wuling Mountain...  Well, ready or not.. we are going.... 

Now, actually the biggest task for me is how to transport Mr AM to Taiwan. I have never brought a full-sized bicycle and usually take a Brompton or Carryme which packs very easily. Mybikeshop kept a stock Moulton cardboard box for me.. and Kian Lin just said...."simple one.. just loosen the stem and turn handle bar... Kow tim(ok)..."  Well, it took longer than that... mostly due to my inexperience in packing... After 2 hours.. I made everything fit.  Google is usually our best friend if you need answers... but Alex moulton is quite a rare and not much infor on packing can be found on line... So I just did it... with more advice from Chris and George.....  Here's some work in progress.... I waiting to pack my cycling clothes in... then it is all system go!

bring outside my home.. easier to work.. 

Size 15 spanner .... remove pedals

Also degreased the chain...  

Front Mud guard off

Front fork spacer fashioned using spare bits of rod and skweer... I also make anti crush box inside the box... KS 

learnt at Mekong trip how Chris used zipties to hold the loose bike parts... I like.. I copy

bubble wrap and ziptie... 

test fit ... alamak.. handle bar packed too high ... take out.. 

Reposition... should fit now.. 

It fits!!

Almost.... cycling clothes, helmet in.. done!!

Boxing mr AM

Boxing mr AM, a photo by taiwoon on Flickr.

ok.... now how the hell I get Mr AM into the cardboard box... anyone?

 Yes, this is cool.. but can I do it with out removing the rear D?