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Drews' experimental portable bike with 16" wheels
A take-apart portable bicycle, that fits into an airport carry-on bag
Even if you could stuff a bike into a carry-on piece of luggage and they would actually let you take it on board with you, there are no such bikes that would fit in the 22 x 14 x 9 carry-on bag. Years ago, when it was okay to carry on such things, I spent some time, energy and money to come up with this, just to see if it was possible. I surprised myself when I finally fit it all in the box with room to spare, and I didn't even need to use a crowbar.
Roger Durham made a portable carry-on bike several years back, but it isn't avaliable today. See this link, and go 1/4 way down the page. The coaster brake and tiny handlebars detracted from its appeal, I think.
J. Gaerlan made an attractive little take-apart that he took to New York (see this link). The wheels would not fit into the bag,  however, and he had to carry them separately. He never produced any to sell.
 
Now, I can ride to the airport with my canvas bag (with some cardboard pieces inside) on my back. Then I disassemble the bike and put it in the bag with the cardboard pieces to protect individual parts.  That takes about 15 minutes. I don't need to deflate the tires. Then I give it to the bag handler, and I'm done. The reverse happens at the other end. It is surprisingly hassle-free way of getting to and from the airport.
That's it! It's a little rocket ship!. Seriously, this bike rocks. So far, my  longest one-day ride on it is 128 miles (in 11 hours). It seems faster than my other bikes, probably because of it's single gear (although now, it's a 2 speed). I have to stomp up all the hills on this one. All in all, it isn't much different than my road bike as far as time is concerned. Here, it's leaning up against a huge California native black walnut tree.
 
The small wheels accelerate fast and the direct chainline without any derailleur is very efficient. It has a single freewheeling gear. I settled on a 71" gear. The 77" was just to hard on the hills, and the 65" made me spin out too much. The front chainring is 63 teeth, the rear cog is 13. I installed a set-up for a second lower gear, that can be accessed manually, described on another page.
 
 The rear hub is a Shimano DX,, a BMX type hub that's 110mm wide, and accepts 1 or 2 cogs, as small as 12 teeth. The tires are Primo Comet 16x1.35. Head angle: 73 or so,seat angle about 72, fork rake: 7/8", effective top tube length: 22.5". Bottom bracket height: 10 1/4. Chainstay: 17.5". Weight: 21 lbs , including pedals and seat. The main tubes are all straight gauge aircraft 0.9 wall cromoly
I used this bike for a 200K (126 mile) brevet sponsored by the Oregon Randonneurs. It was the "Mt. Adams, South by Southwest" ride. There was about 7500 ft.of climbing on that route.
My time of about 11 hours was a bit long for me, perhaps a half hour or so. I was slowed a bit by not being able to pedal very often downhill, as it had only 2 gears.
That's a whole bike inside the 14 x 22 x 7" (inside dimension) box!
This box is even smaller ( by 22%,) than the carry-on size allowance (14 x 22 x 9").
While it will fit into an airplane carry-on, security would make me check it in instead. There are too many things in the box that could be considered as weapons. I suppose a terrorist could fashion a really bad set of numchucks out of the chain and a couple of frame tubes. I am sure he would be pummeled unconcious by laptops before he could get it swinging, however.
To get it all inside this box, I had to disassemble it  quite a bit. After taking the frame apart, I took the wheels out, rear brake off, right crank off, removed the seat from the seatpost, and moved the left brake lever up. Also, I needed to deflate the tires, since they are 15" diameter, inflated. The seat stays fit inside the seat tube, and the top tube fits inside the downtube. It takes 15 minutes to put back together, before re-inflating the tires.
 
Leaving the crank and the seat on, it would fit the 14 x 22 x 9 requirement. If I left the wheels in place (fork still attached, stays still attached to rear wheel) and didn't deflate the tires, it would be a tad too big for carry on, but small nonetheless (about 15 x 23 x 9, and would take 8 min. to put together).
To get an idea of the bagged size, here is a picture of the bike in it's bag, on a table saw, with my helmet on top.  It takes about 8 minutes to bag it like this, or put it back together.
Yes, the bike holds together fine, no creaking, nothing loosens up or falls off even with intense pedaling pressure (it's a singlespeed, remember). All those clamps hold solid. Only the downtube ends and the handlebar actually have to be tight, for the bike to hold together. All the other joints fit with compression, and are notched to assist alignment while putting it together. I do, however, always tighten them all!
I like bikes that can carry stuff around, and slinging a cloth grocery sack or two onto the handlebars is just the ticket on this bike. A couple of loops around the bar ends, and I'm off. Front wheel clearance is not a problem. The contents of the bag find a resting place against the headtube, and heavy loads are carrried easily (20-30 lbs is no problem). I usually end up munching on tortilla chips or broccoli or whatever presents itself  while riding home from the store.
Reflections on a single speed:
 
The first thing I noticed was that there was no shifter. I would unconciously grope for it with each new hill, like a child grabs a candybar, or a drunk reaches for the bottle.
 
 After I got used to that, I started hearing the quiet sound of the tires rolling on the pavement. It was then that I noticed that there was no chain noise. This is one very quiet bike. I noticed more sounds from birds, crickets, and the rustling grass.
 
Soon I came to appreciate the bikes simplicity. You just get on it and ride. When a hill comes, you crank up it. It's a very simple interaction with the terrain. Not having to think about shifting gears is actually very refreshing.
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