For Those Jogging, Biking, Swimming Types

While many vacationers view dialing room service or signaling the beach crew for another pin~a colada as exercise enough, an increasing number of travelers want a more ambitious workout on the go. These are the folks who make daily pilgrimages to the hotel gym and immediately scout new turf for viable jogging routes. Many lug along golf clubs, fishing equipment and dismantled 10-speeds, hoisting them onto airlines’ oversize luggage platforms, and hoping everything arrives more or less intact. Here, for the active traveler, are several innovative products that make the sporting life a little more portable. Some products may be available at local retail shops. Prices do not include shipping and handling.

Montague, a Boston manufacturer, made news a few years back with its folding high-tech travel bicycle and hard-shell case that allows passengers to check the bike onto commercial airliners as a piece of regular luggage. Now the company has come out with a folding 21-speed bicycle built for two. The Tri-frame Tandem is a full-size (over seven feet long) bike that collapses to a manageable 38 inches by 28 inches by 18 inches. Folded, the bike fits into most car trunks, and, in its optional hard case, can be checked through onto even a small plane.

The bike is designed to fold like a Z. After a few quick-release levers are flicked open, the front half folds to the right and the rear half folds to the left. The frame pivots around the two seat tubes. My test bike arrived folded in an unwieldy cardboard box; the United Parcel Service man was not smiling. But the bike was surprisingly easy to set up. It came largely assembled, with the front wheel, handlebars, seat posts and pedals removed for shipment. I also had to install the front brake wire, drive chain, reflectors, and a few other brackets and cables, but the company provided most of the installation tools as well as a pair of gloves.

If you buy the bike from a local dealer, you won’t have to perform any assembly at all. For shipment in a car trunk, you’ll have to remove only the front wheel, pedals and drive chain, which requires only the equipment provided. To fit the bike into the optional case, you’ll have to remove a few more parts, but with a little practice, the process is not difficult. Our test drive was a breeze; we were easy riders, with my mate in front controlling the steering, shifting, and braking, and me providing rear pedal power. The bike rode like any other tandem; operation was not compromised by its foldability. The bike weighs 47 pounds; the optional case, 21 pounds. The price is even heftier.

Montague Portable Tri-Frame Tandem Bicycle for Two has a suggested retail price of $2,500. Airliner hard case is $600. If you buy both directly from the manufacturer, you get a 5% discount. For a store near you, contact Montague at (800) 736-5348.

Devoted anglers maintain that even a bad day fishing is better than a good day at the office. No wonder, then, that Orvis, king of the fishing-gear manufacturers, has devised several portable rods for travelers. The company’s top pick this year for an all-around trout rod is its four-piece Rocky Mountain Western Traveler, which measures a full 8 1/2 feet when assembled, but breaks down to just 27 inches, an easy fit in a suitcase or carry-on bag.

Orvis Rocky Mountain Traveler Fishing Rod Complete Outfit, (No. G9585-53-70) is $340 from Orvis. Carry-on Battenkill Rod Bag (No. G0731-08) is $65; telephone (800) 541-3541. For those who like a good water workout, this lightweight plastic gear can aid in low-impact muscle toning. The AquaJogger workout set includes an adjustable buoyancy belt to hold the user upright in deep and shallow water, giving all four quadrants of the body freedom of movement, two water exercise dumbbells for the upper body and slip-on plastic footwear to tone and strengthen leg muscles.

AquaJogger Workout Set (No. 4269) is $119.95. AquaJogger Buoyancy Belt alone (No. 4262) is $49.95. Both are available from Frontgate, a mail order firm; tel. (800) 626-6488. Victorinox, one of two producers of official Swiss army knives, has come out with two versions that include helpful tools for specific sports--golf and horseback riding. The components of both models fold out of the familiar red casing with white cross. The Golfers’ model, which has an insignia of a man about to swing on the casing, contains a large blade, ball-mark tool, scissors, mini-screwdriver, hook, straight pin, tweezers, toothpick, ballpoint pen and key ring. The Equestrian model, which has an insignia of a horse head and horseshoe on the casing, includes a large locking blade, a hoof cleaner, a combination bottle opener/can opener/screwdriver/wire stripper, a wood saw, reamer, corkscrew, tweezers, toothpick and key ring.

Golfers’ Swiss Army Knife is $40; Equestrian Swiss Army Knife is $38 at sports and camping stores. For a store near you, call Victorinox at (800) 442-2706 .

Most people who regularly take their golf clubs along on vacation have horror stories to tell about airline handling, bashed bags and bent clubs. Clearly they haven’t used this hard plastic golf case from Flambeau, an Ohio manufacturer. Snapped closed, the case encloses the club heads in a thick foam lining that keeps impact to a minimum. The top of the case is removable, converting the unit to a standard golf bag for play. In addition to a full set of clubs, the case holds shoes, gloves, towels, balls and other gear in separate compartments. The cart is extremely lightweight--no heavier than a typical leather or vinyl golf bag. The case fits in standard golf carts and golf cars and meets FAA standards for hard-sided check-through luggage.

Travelers’ Hard Golf Bag on Wheels (No. 47019W) is $179.95 from Hammacher-Schlemmer; tel. (800) 543-3366, and at Hammacher-Schlemmer retail stores. Gear & Gadgets appears the first week of every month.