Hi folks.
Wanted to share some thoughts on my recent purchase of Crius Smart 5 speed. In the summer of 2016, I had taken my Dahon Curve D8 in a suitcase to Europe. I'm from North America. I was able to pack the bike into a large, but not oversized soft suitcase. Only needed to remove the pedals. The experience was great except for 2 things
- the suitcase was too wide to roll down the narrow aisle of trains, so I had to drag or carry it
- the soft suitcase meant that I bent my chain ring and the 2 wheels went slightly out of true. This happened on the trip home.
http://www.bikeforums.net/folding-bi...an-europe.html
Because of this, I wanted to get a smaller folding bike that I could put into a hard sided suitcase. So I spent the last year planning to buy a Brompton. Brompton was the obvious choice since it could fold into such a compact package. But as the winter then spring went on, the thought of old fashioned components of a Brompton started to irk me (brakes, hinge clamps, gears, the forks) and to pay a premium price for something, that from the get-go I would start upgrading. Example, put in a Nexus 8 or Sturmey Archer 8 speed IGH. Buying a shorter handlepost, etc..
The Dahon Dove and Crius Smart's had always appealed to me, plus they fold into a small package. Couldn't find a way to source a Dove, but I noticed that Thor had imported some Cirus' in 2016. Mulled it over for a few months and then purchased a Smart 5 speed.
Here is a photo from Thor of the bike
http://www.thorusa.com/accessories/IMG_1492.jpg
Like
- really nice finish
- paint is gloss black and is finished with mostly black components
- light at 8.6kg (19 lbs) which means I can carry it with one hand without straining
- cheap at $800CDN ($570US), about 1/3 to 1/2 the price of a Brompton
- outfitted with light and good looking LitePro components
- really nice usable gear inches of 30" - 75"
- the Sturmey Archer S-RF5 (w), is a low friction, quiet hub
- ride is really nice, more twitchy that the Curve, but not as bad as I thought
- small fold
- seat post has numbered markings on it, which means I don't have to put a line on it with a marker.
Things I don't like
- old style handlepost latch
- cheap plastic safety latch for frame hinge
- some flex in the 41cm long handlepost
- cheap foam grips
Notes:
- I'm 5'7" and seat post it out to maximum
Thor was really generous and included both folding pedals and some really light LitePro non-folding pedals, also included a Haber Allo stem for free. Plus a water bottle too.
Upgrades planned
- shorter handlepost (36 cm) (current is 41cm)
- Ergon grips
- Schwalbe tires (Big Apple or some Marathons)
- better saddle (or switch Brooks back and forth from Curve)
- twist shifter
I originally was planning on immediately swapping out the older model Sturmey Archer S-RF5, for a X-RF8, but this 5 speed is low friction and very quiet. In fact, it has the gear range and gear inches of the first 7 gears of the X-RF8. Basically it overcomes the two big issues of the 8 speed. Here is my thoughts on the X-RF8.
http://www.bikeforums.net/folding-bi...tes-later.html