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The Joy of Folding Bikes

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161–170 of 199 posts

Re: The Joy of Folding Bikes

#161

I don't fault OP for this, but it's pretty frustrating to me as someone who's quite attached to his non-folding bike that the main benefit of folding bikes is that, unlike regular bikes, they aren't banned from pretty much all public transport

Thankfully uncommon in North America. Growing up in Los Angeles where every bus has racks and every train car has bike spots, I was shocked the first time I visited SF and found I couldn't bring it on Muni trains. I know DC bans them and Boston/NYC/Toronto have limited hours, but every other city with a metro seems to welcome them.

Chicago started allowing them on the “L” about a decade or so ago, although with limitations during rush hour. But the fact that boarding the “L” usually requires stairs at both ends of the trip makes it less appealing.

Likewise, Metra, the Chicago equivalent of LA’s Metrolink started allowing bikes on its trains at about the same time, but the train cars used are hostile to bikes because you have to climb stairs inside the train and then you end up in a narrow vestibule with sliding doors on each side. The Metrolink cars. meanwhile, have the first level at the same height as the boarding platforms and a nice open area where bikes fit. LA has highly benefited from speccing its transport infrastructure late in the game.

Re: The Joy of Folding Bikes

#162
The first time I went to the US I saw a foldable electric bike, in target, I think. Being someone who likes to explore the city (burning calories) I thought to myself: I can cover a way bigger area by bike than by foot. I can carry this with me to my travels and goodbye Uber. Thankfully I called United before buying it to ask If would be able to bring it home with me. The answer was no, of course. No eletric vehicles of any kind on a plane. What a shame.

Re: The Joy of Folding Bikes

#163
post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Copenhagen has fairly decent public transportation and biking is quite common. Bikes are allowed basicly everywhere: https://dinoffentligetransport.dk/en/how-to-travel/bicycles-... Caveat: Bikes are not allowed in the Metro during rush hours 07:00-09:00 and 15:30-17:30. But it is allowed the rest of the time and has 24H service. You should also know that the greater Copenhagen area is covered by "S-Trains" which are…

Actually taking a bike on the Copenhagen metro is rare, in my experience, except very late at night when it's empty anyway. It is almost as annoying to others as taking a bike on a bus.

Many US buses have a bike rack on the front that can hold 2 or 3 bikes which allows for easy bike-bus travel. I don’t think bringing the bike inside the bus is an option anywhere.

Re: The Joy of Folding Bikes

#164
post #162

The first time I went to the US I saw a foldable electric bike, in target, I think. Being someone who likes to explore the city (burning calories) I thought to myself: I can cover a way bigger area by bike than by foot. I can carry this with me to my travels and goodbye Uber. Thankfully I called United before buying it to ask If would be able to bring it home with me. The answer was no, of course. No eletric vehicles…

My understanding is that battery capacity is the issue; it's usually above the max allowed on the plane. This company makes a snap-together battery https://ebikes.ca/product-info/grin-products/ligo10x-battery... where each individual module is below the limit and so the pack can be broken down and shipped individually and separately.

Re: The Joy of Folding Bikes

#165
my wife and I discovered Brompton's here in Berlin and now we have 2. we love them. we wouldn't travel around teh city without them. they're amazing. expensive, but well built, and hold their value like crazy.

Re: The Joy of Folding Bikes

#166
I love Bromptons and they fold down into the tiniest package of any folder but my god they've gotten expensive in the last couple of years.

I've been eyeing an Urtopia Carbon Fold 2 as my next folding bike. It's electric but I prefer those nowadays.

Re: The Joy of Folding Bikes

#167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you explain what makes the Brompton design genius? Edit: the top comment (at this time) has a youtube link that shows it fold/unfold in like 8 secs. I can see the genius in it now

Most of the parts are proprietary, so if you bork a derailleur you get to wait 6-8 weeks for a replacement from the UK

Yes. Now if you live in a metro centre and are considering a Brompton purchase, this may be less of an issue if you have a handful of dealers … in-stock common parts availability is a good pre-purchase question to ask. It’s a big ticket item.

I cracked the housing on my proprietary Brompton shifter (made it nearly non functional) and the part was actually available in local stock … but I chose to JB Weld epoxy the crack instead and it’s probably stronger than stock now.

Re: The Joy of Folding Bikes

#168
post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Praised by whom? The btwin folder is a low-rent and low quality version of a Dahon-style Chinese fold-in-half folder. That folding design is about 95% of the folding market, and has no clever design features whatsoever. It is simple to manufacture, has no patents, and is pretty bad in general riding use. It is neither fast to fold nor compact, and is very bad in customization, particularly with regard to the rider's…

The Decahlon folder folds faster than a Brompton. A friends of mine has both and he's trying to convince me on buying the cheap decathlon bike over a Brompton. The demonstration was convincing. I'm a big fan of the fact that you can push a Brompton while folded. A feature that other folders miss.

You can push folders that lack the Brompton's rack-rollers design with a little practice. If you watch the Bike Friday video you'll see the guy do it, though it looks like that bike's folding seat post makes it a bit more difficult than on a cheaper folder. I push my folded Zizzo around no problemo.

Re: The Joy of Folding Bikes

#169
post #18

I know it's not for everyone, but it is also a reasonable touring bike if done within its constraints. I've probably done closer to 40 days on my 16" Brompton, longest was a two-week 1000km ride. On the topic of leaving the bike out-of-sight: In those 40 days I've left it locked a total of 20 minutes, otherwise it comes with me into restaurants, supermarkets, public restrooms, hotel rooms.. The biggest downsides are…

There are also plenty of 20" folders out there for rambling nerds who are slightly less masochistic.
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