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Folding bicycle small enough to fit in hand luggage

kwigglebike.com

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Re: Folding bicycle small enough to fit in hand luggage

#201

Post by deebosong »

ridehelix wrote: post #168
laurieg wrote: post #24

I've spent a long time with folding bikes over the years. My advice: bite the bullet and buy a Brompton[1]. Yes, Bromptons are expensive. But they ride like a bicycle, have gears, a stiff enough frame, luggage racks etc. There's very little compromise. The fastest I've done on mine is 45 kph and I've ridden 70km in a day. I carry it on and off buses and trains multiple times a day without issue. In the past I had an…

A discussion about folding bikes would not be complete without mentioning Helix. Helix folds almost as small as a Brompton but has 24” wheels and standard bicycle components such as disc brakes, Shimano/SRAM drivetrain etc. Also the fold is the most compact possible, even more compact than Brompton in terms of maximizing the use of space. It also fits in a standard airline luggage without any disassembly which few ot…

OK the specs look fantastic. I'm very interested! Looks amazing, and will be following. Thank you for building this.

Re: Folding bicycle small enough to fit in hand luggage

#202

Post by andreareina »

jacquesm wrote: post #91
grzes wrote: post #65

so i bought a folding bike from decathlon about 1.5yr ago and never been happier since. its following model: https://www.decathlon.fr/p/velo-pliant-oxylane-120/_/R-p-120... they actually went up in price since then. swapped stock tires because they were rubbish and also bought better seatpost from upper model. removed all the unneccessary stuff like ringer or mudguards and this thing flies. im getting average speed a…

Hard to do proper disc brakes without hydraulics and hard to do hydraulics on a folding bike. The minimum bending radius of the brake lines is the limiting factor.

Cable-actuated hydraulic brakes seem to get good reviews.

Re: Folding bicycle small enough to fit in hand luggage

#203

Post by andreareina »

Looks interesting, but the claims are a bit questionable. The brake limiter is also very suspicious---"in the heat of the moment" is exactly when I don't want my brakes not working. Plus it's a proprietary drivetrain that I have no reason to have any confidence in its reliability.

Re: Folding bicycle small enough to fit in hand luggage

#205

Post by ridehelix »

tbabej wrote: post #188
ridehelix wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A discussion about folding bikes would not be complete without mentioning Helix. Helix folds almost as small as a Brompton but has 24” wheels and standard bicycle components such as disc brakes, Shimano/SRAM drivetrain etc. Also the fold is the most compact possible, even more compact than Brompton in terms of maximizing the use of space. It also fits in a standard airline luggage without any disassembly which few ot…

Been a fan for a long time, in fact, my dream bike is a helix with a belt drive (and possibly a mid-drive motor). I do understand a belt drive might require a tensioner, but a man can dream! My current folder has a belt and it's a joy to ride on. Additionally, I saw there are some electric options coming up in Q3, would you spare a moment to share your thoughts about possible future developments (i.e. if you see belt…

Wow, a fan here on hn! Belt drive is possible but it makes for a heavier bike as it usually is paired with an internal geared hub. Also all of the innovation in cycling where maximum drivetrain efficiency is the goal is still firmly footed in chain drive (shimano/sram/campagnolo and a growing group of others). Also right now it’s not a priority as we have a lot of open projects: accessories, electric, scaling manufacturing.

Mid drive on the other hand would be a more challenging project because of the space and packaging constraints of our design. But, rear hub motors, which is what we’re using, have improved a lot recently; they are lighter, 2 speed, quieter and are considered to be comparable now. You also have a far more flexible upgrade path when technology improves as it’s not tied to the frame.

Electric Helix is going to be pretty ground breaking because up until now, the only other compact option was Brompton which is front wheel drive.

So maybe the dream bike is still possible, just a bit different.

Re: Folding bicycle small enough to fit in hand luggage

#207

Post by procrastitron »

ridehelix wrote: post #168
laurieg wrote: post #24

I've spent a long time with folding bikes over the years. My advice: bite the bullet and buy a Brompton[1]. Yes, Bromptons are expensive. But they ride like a bicycle, have gears, a stiff enough frame, luggage racks etc. There's very little compromise. The fastest I've done on mine is 45 kph and I've ridden 70km in a day. I carry it on and off buses and trains multiple times a day without issue. In the past I had an…

A discussion about folding bikes would not be complete without mentioning Helix. Helix folds almost as small as a Brompton but has 24” wheels and standard bicycle components such as disc brakes, Shimano/SRAM drivetrain etc. Also the fold is the most compact possible, even more compact than Brompton in terms of maximizing the use of space. It also fits in a standard airline luggage without any disassembly which few ot…

Overall that looks really nice, so thanks for sharing.

A bit of unsolicited feedback; listing the seat post options based on rider height (regular for shorter than 6’3”, and extra long for taller than 6’3”) is wrong.

Seat post height is based on how long your legs are, not how tall you are. If anything, you should list that by inseam.

As it is, I would have no idea which option is the most appropriate.

Re: Folding bicycle small enough to fit in hand luggage

#208

Post by [deleted] »

moltar wrote: post #184
ridehelix wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thank you. Designing it was a labour of love. It’s function over form in every detail. No gimmicks, cheap materials or manufacturing short cuts like using castings for example. The welded frame components are all cnc machined from titanium blocks and the frame is robotically TIG welded in an argon chamber in our Toronto factory. We literally spare no expense in making them.

But $3-5K for a bicycle? How can I justify that if my Mazda3 2008 is worth that much, and still runs perfectly fine?

[deleted]

Re: Folding bicycle small enough to fit in hand luggage

#209

Post by brudgers »

theturtletalks wrote: post #155
mauvehaus wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I'm going to second this. Even the 16" wheels on a Brompton are pretty miserable on bumpy roads (Boston); the Kwiggle has even smaller wheels. The fold on a Brompton is just about perfect. It takes no time at all. I'm a little annoyed to find that they're using copyright to keep a monopoly on it, but certainly not so much that I'm going to give it up. I tried out a Tern, a Dahon, and some random ancient thing.…

Would you recommend the A-line or the C-line?

Get the one with the folding peddle. Seems like a minor thing. I’ve left mine unfolded because I was being lazy. Once. It makes that much difference in my experience.

Re: Folding bicycle small enough to fit in hand luggage

#210

Post by _tik_ »

mypalmike wrote: post #49
laurieg wrote: post #24

I've spent a long time with folding bikes over the years. My advice: bite the bullet and buy a Brompton[1]. Yes, Bromptons are expensive. But they ride like a bicycle, have gears, a stiff enough frame, luggage racks etc. There's very little compromise. The fastest I've done on mine is 45 kph and I've ridden 70km in a day. I carry it on and off buses and trains multiple times a day without issue. In the past I had an…

Heh I learned about the Brompton from the quirky BBC show "W1A", where it was treated as a kind of strange status symbol.

here in Singapore Brompton and Birdy are MAMIL standard ride.
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