Originally Posted by
Urbanis
Hi all, thanks for your input so far. SesameCrunch, congrats, BTW, on scoring a cheap Brompton! But don't encourage me to get more bikes; I live in Manhattan--we don't have a lot of space here.
So, what I mean by "effortful"--it's probably the reverse of what people think I mean (sorry for the imprecision). It's not a lack of having low enough gears, or feeling that it's "too hard" to pedal. The way I can describe it is that when I've got the bike in a gear where I'm comfortable pedaling at my usual cadence, I feel I can't go very far very fast--like I'm doing a lot of pedaling for not a lot of movement. Whereas, when I'm on my Jamis (the full-size touring bike), I feel like just put my feet to the pedal and go, like a swimmer with powerful strokes slicing through the water. Does this make sense?
I'm not expecting the Mini to perform like that, but I'd like it to feel more like a comfy city bike--not speed demon, but something you can ride at a comfortable pace. That's why I'm thinking a slightly larger-wheel bike may be more robust. And it would be nice to have more carrying capacity for touring--panniers, etc.--which a 20"er can provide.
I sold the 8H a while back, but I remember that it felt like a more robust riding experience. It was also more of pain to manage multi-modally, but so it goes. It looks like the Nova may correct the main problem I had with the 8H, which was the stem folding on the outside, creating an unbalanced package (I much prefer the Mini's fold with the stem on the inside).
I'm 5'8" and don't think fit is the issue. I currently have Big Apple tires on it, which inflate to 70 PSI.
Sounds like the problem is that the Mini's wheels are much heavier than the Jamis'.
IMO that slicing sensation comes from an instant response and since increasing weight delays the response of the bike to pedaling (and rotating weight doubly delays the response) the slicing sensation is killed by extra weight. Extra weight literally forces you to store up some extra energy in every stroke (delay==storage), which feels sluggish and probably is sluggish in the statistical sense (because, simply put, "a bird in hand is worth two in the bush").
Therefore, I agree with SesameCrunch that the solution is a skinnier lighter tire, not necessarily a bigger wheel (unless you need the suspension provided by a bigger wheel and can make up for the extra weight with a better rim, an even skinnier tire, etc). Try ditching the Big Apples if you can (although I guess that's easier said than done as tire selection for ERTO305 is rather dismal).
Moreover I don't think a 20" wheel will give you more carrying capacity than 16". While the availability of off the shelf solutions might make it easier to get more carrying capacity for 700c or 26", the same conveniences are not afforded to 20" wheels. It's just common sense that the bigger the wheel is the less space there is for carrying stuff; So the only obstacle with a smaller wheel is that you need to rig up your own solutions which is equally as problematic for 20" and 16" wheels (unless, of course, you shoe horn 700c stuff onto a 20" wheel, but that'll just be inefficient spacewise...not very prudent for touring).
But you seem to have your heart set on a 20" so why don't you try it and prove me wrong? It will be a fun little experiment (after all everything I've said above is just what I feel is the most reasonable explanation of my experiences and your descriptions, but reason dictates that new experiences might warrant a new explanation). Also, FYI, direction of stem riser folding is easy to change on folders whose stem risers aren't angled (ie not Dahons); I switched the stem riser on my 8H to fold inwards (check the Downtube thread for more details).