I don't know how rare folders are around where other forumers live, but they sure are rare here. I have only seen folders a hand-full of times. So imagine my surprise to see a Reach this weekend! I was waiting in a bakery for my wife to pick me up after my R20 geared hub broke (see my other thread), and spotted a couple outside on 20" bikes. He was riding a 20" recumbent and she was on a Reach, the flat-bar version. I went outside for a chat; it turns out they were looking for a friend whose bike had a Brooks B17 saddle, they saw mine and came to investigate. She bought the Reach for a paltry $800, it was a demo model. Bargain! The suspension felt very stiff, just right for a road bike, and it felt very light.

Jealous!!

They were quite knowledgable about folding bikes in general, in fact the guy instantly recognised mine as a R20 despite only the frame being original. It's rare meeting people like that.

Well about 20% of the bikes around here are folders, and I've never seen a Reach. I've seen just about everythign else, including lots of vintage Moultons, BF Air Glide, even Pugeot and Bianchi branded Birdies from Japan. Was it the newer model? $800 Australian?

Amazing - I have visions of wide open australian spaces - i guess you are in a more urban area - but still thats an amazing co-incidence. I too find 'folder folk' are amazingly friendly, I guess because we are a minority - except maybe on the daily train/commute grind. And certainly more so than some other cyclist groups (CTC in UK, 'pooh pooh's' folders - their mission seems to be to get everyone on 'proper bikes').

Here in London there is less of a variety of folders than you might expect. Bromptons are numerous, they are all over (in fact the factory is just over the road from where I work), Dahons of all ilk are not un-common, after that you are down to the occasional Moulton (F-Frame & spaceframe), R20 Stowaway, Universal U-Frames & the odd Trek, Giant, and ebay sourced folder. I've seen one Birdy Red, and one Downtube FS in the wild, but that's all. The Downtube rider was waiting at the traffic lights and i shouted to him how did he like it, he just gave me a big grin & a thumbs up, so i guess he had no complaints.

Flat bars and m/guards....I'm tempted to get one...

Flat bars and m/guards....I'm tempted to get one...How's it going with your Swift? Today I rode mine to work due to the R20 being sidelined (again), and boy it is fast! I easily repeated a previous best time made about 2 years ago. I can forget about it on the R20.

Flat bars and m/guards....I'm tempted to get one...

I thought you had scored a Curve & had a Swift on order ?
I had a test ride on the Pacific Reach from Bikefix in Lambs Conduit St, it was very fast running on Primo comets, but the suspension did seem a bit noisy, good value for money though, about the same as the Airnimal, and a lot less than the Pashley Moulton 8 speed.

Thous shalt not Covet!

Too late :)

I think mine is the only folder I have seen in my town in the year I've lived here. I see 5344 other "normal" bikes every day here in the college town

I don't know how rare folders are around where other forumers live, but they sure are rare here.

I've only seen one, a Brompton, in the village here, but only the once, & surprisingly none at all in the nearest big major town. I have seen a couple of recumbents there over the years though.

...I guess because we are a minority - except maybe on the daily train/commute grind. And certainly more so than some other cyclist groups (CTC in UK, 'pooh pooh's' folders - their mission seems to be to get everyone on 'proper bikes').

Yes, that does seem odd. I occasionally read & contribute to their forum (I am a CTC member) but there's rarely much folder content, & they don't seem to have a high opinion of them, in spite of folders being potentially more practical for some of their members who struggle with big wheel bikes in some situations.

A while ago, I saw a very rare sight, it was a Moulton disappearing along a cycle path, here in the large rural city I live in, in Oz, whiles I was :o:o driving my car :o:o.

It was a fleeting moment, my whole attention was captivated, I nearly ran off the road,
I felt an overwhelming urge to connect with another small wheel rider, but alas, he was gone,
My feeble mind quickly calculated the possibilities of meeting him at the other end of the path,
To communicate on the fellowship of these wonders, my heart raced, until my 16yr old son,
Told me I was an idiot, and made me start thinking rationally again....damn it.

Here in London there is less of a variety of folders than you might expect...the occasional Moulton (F-Frame & spaceframe)...

Which as we all know are actually not folders. :)

TCS

Which as we all know are actually not folders. :)

TCS

Well perhaps not strictly folders, but both the F-frame Stowaway, and most of the spaceframe Moulton & Pashley models are seperables. Either way, there are still not many of them on the streets !!

I saw one of the Ikea blue bikes the other day, looked like pretty good value if you can pick one up for 50 pounds or so.