Folding Bikes - 20-inch wheels

“You’re not going to ride our granddaughters bike”
“You bet I am. I’ll put it back how it was before she visits next”

Weld two seat posts together and whack up the bars and go for a ride.
Now this is what BMX bikes would look like if they put the seats at the right height
{Just because you think they are wrecking their knees having their seats to low doesn’t mean they are}

http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee220/Leigh_caines/Br001.jpg

:beer: :)

Leigh: You work wonders with a welder!

Low seated bikes do not hurt the knees. extending the knee infront of the toes does absolutely no damage at all. It is a cheap myth.

Dr. Klein's can take the credit for launching this one. Studies carried out over the past twenty years have rejected Klein's findings. In a study that looked at the effects that full squats and half squats had on knee stability showed no change, over eight different tests for stability, when compared to a control group. To determine the long-term effects the same researchers looked at the knees of competitive powerlifters and weightlifters and found that powerlifters and weightlifters had tighter knee joints than the controls (Chandler & Stone, 1991). Another study found that the involvement of the hamstring in full squats plays a role in helping protect the anterior cruciate ligament (Manariello, Backus & Parker, 1994). In a less scientific approach, the late John Grimek (1963) pointed out, in Strength and Health, that if squatting were bad for your knees we would have a lot of people walking around with bad knees since we perform a squat every time we sit down and stand up. When done properly the exercise actually helps develop the muscles utilized in stabilizing the knee.

http://www.usapowerlifting.com/newsletter/11/coaching/coaching.html


To simplify a complicated issue, the more time you spend with your knee past your toe-line, the more you teach your nervous system to activate the protective soft tissue around the joint therefore PREVENTING injury during athletic situations (Supertraining, Siff & Verkoshansky, 1993).

Close your eyes and think of a highly successful strength coach. Yep, he agrees. Somehow, this news just doesn't buy column space in Muscle and Fatness.

So remember this - the "golden rule" that the knee should never cross the line of the toe during any type of lunging exercise should be buried in the ocean with the lost city of Atlantis. (Of course, if this position causes consistent pain, then you should avoid this particular variation of the exercise).

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/berardi83.htm

>Low seated bikes do not hurt the knees<
That is interesting
but
and I can only go on what I feel...
Low seat hurts my knees...

I hope your right
and then I can stop wincing when I see the young ones with their knees almost up to their chins

Well think about it, why exactly have you been wincing whenever you see kids on BMX bikes? It is because you decided to thoughtlessly buy into what someone else told you and thereby you may have limited some of your potential in life. Think of all the other millions of myths you have bought into and think of all the paths in life that have been closed because of this. Paths that open up other paths.

You might be totally wrong about something or everything. Your assumptions might be based on something someone else told you that sounds good but lacks any basis in truth. If you really want to know then throw everything away and start over.

Don't think that I am lecturing you. I love you...I love you very much and since I love you so much...I...I...I guess I just need to keep on loving you.

Yamcha: Perhaps you should think in terms of maximum power transfer. Legs work best when there is a relatively small knee bend. BMX saddles are low for a specific reason.

jur, that is obviously true. Do you think I am stupid jur? BMX bikes were not designed to ride, they were designed to go off ramps, half pipes and mounds. The seat on a BMX bike is never actually sat on and is just there as something for your ass to hit if you land too hard. A BMX bike should always be ridden in standing bursts in order to get the most power transfer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0t5pPZ4AXX0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2LTVhqHAdo

Well think about it, why exactly have you been wincing whenever you see kids on BMX bikes? It is because you decided to thoughtlessly buy into what someone else told you and thereby you may have limited some of your potential in life. Think of all the other millions of myths you have bought into and think of all the paths in life that have been closed because of this. Paths that open up other paths.


In opening up one of those paths in life a couple of years ago, I moved to a tiny island where bicycles were the primary means of transportation. The bike I bought from the local store was too small for me (I bought what they had...) and until I was able to order, and then install a longer seat post, I rode with the saddle set too low.

It hurt my knees. A lot.

I'm don't mean that it might eventually have damaged my knees. I mean that it hurt my knees right there and then. Once I had the extra long seat post installed, no problem.

Speedo

Actually I had an idea not long ago for a long BMX seatpost that would also include an extra pair of "seat stays" (if thats the right word). They would be clamped under the rear axle nuts and at the top of the seat post. That would allow a much longer and more stable seatpost.

If you don't actually need a folding bike, BMX bikes are pretty compact, cheap and really sturdy!

or you can get a banana seat and pop wheelies all the time

Yamcha

You know very little about me…
So you are making a lot of assumptions about how I think

I have ridden many 1000’s of mile and for me… I’m not saying about anyone else’s knees… but my knees hurt if the seat is low.

There is a BMX park at the bottom of my street so I see the kids every day riding.
They do ride sitting on their seat about 50% of the time…
Most have the seat pointing up as an odd [to me] angle
They do ride with their knees almost hitting their chins…

<Your assumptions<
No at no point have I assumed anything.

And Yamcha I don’t love you…
I like to get to know someone before loving them
But that’s just me

Ha!

Leigh: Dont fret over yamcha. By now we know he is from a different planet.

Planet dork.

Leigh: Dont fret over yamcha. By now we know he is from a different planet.

Planet dork.

+1

Quintessential troll. Don't feed him...

That is soooooooo cool !! :beer:

As a recent convert, but one who the size, manueverability and 20"
wheels appeal to moreso than the foldability of a bike, I was scouring
the DansComp.com catalogue to see if I could build the exact type of
bike you did ! Im more stoked than ever, now !!
:beer:

Leigh, what's the distance between seat tube and steerer tube, ie effective top tube length?

Deleted post

:roflmao:

http://www.spreadtheiris.com/images/smilies/fridayyet.gif

:lol:

I love how people make fun of the way we have the seats set up on our bikes without knowing that they are like that for very specific reasons.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v419/wethepeople101/103_1908.jpg

http://www.spreadtheiris.com/images/smilies/fridayyet.gif

LOL!! That is a keeper!

Haha!

I love how people make fun of the way we have the seats set up on our bikes without knowing that they are like that for very specific reasons.

Apparently, you must love it or else you would tell us the reasons and we would stop making fun. :)

I've explained it so many times it's not worth it anymore.

I've explained it so many times it's not worth it anymore.

Well I, for one, am ignorant to the advantages of a low seat and would love to be enlightened.

http://www.fatbmx.com/uploads2/user_Jos/200610/.thumbs/.thumb_Franky_Elshof_tailwhip_tailtap_barspin_in.jpg

Helps when imitating helicopter rotor or other krazy stuff.....

Well I, for one, am ignorant to the advantages of a low seat and would love to be enlightened.

Quick search of my posts yielded this, I'm sure there are more:
There are a few reasons why we have the seats like that:

#1 is because the toptubes are so short we need the room to put the foot under them when we do tricks like can-cans and such.

#2 is because the seat is so much lower then the bars and just the geometry of the bike makes it a bit more comfy then just having it flat.

And #3 is because it's a lot easier on the seat rails/post guts when the bike falls down and smashes the seat into the ground.

Or so you can get your feet underneath on no foot/one foot cans and because when the bike hits the ground this is easier on the rails and seat.

I've explained it so many times there isn't much sense anymore. There are more reasons to have it pointed up then you would think.


#1: Because it's loose, so it isn't really at that angle.
#2: Because thats the way they are run on BMX bikes.
#3: Because you can't really sit on the seat and pedal.
#4: Because it's better then no saddle. Blunt foam>Sharp ****ing stick.


In the BMX world it's called the dildo stance :p.

[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v419/wethepeople101/hofmanday2.jpg[IMG]

It's actually angled for a reason though, keeps the seat out of the way on can cans, easier on the rails when it falls, looks better, actually comfier, and other reasons I cant think of anymore.

Since when do you really sit on a BMX seat other then when your waiting to drop into a half pipe or bowl? It's so you dont chafe your theighs or something when manualing, you never land on the seat.

Jur & Sesame… I think your right… no more feed/food for Yamcha

Jur…. 20 inches between seat tube and steerer tube [not quite enough but remembering this bike is my granddaughters and she is only 6 years old… when she gets [or when I get her] a bigger BMX I’ll have another go J

How did it ride?
Well I like clip ins … with those BMX peddles been a narrower thread I couldn’t put my ones on… so that I didn’t like

Clocked it at 58 kph off the headland hill and it road well at that speed.
On the flat it needed a higher gear [peddled out at 25 kph so the dog beat me]
Up hill it was hard to get out of the seat [been to short between seat tube and steerer tube] so I had to sit and spin.
3 boys yelled as I went passed the BMX park
“Cool bike”
”I want one”
“Sick”

All in all a fun experiment

>>
Since when do you really sit on a BMX seat other then when your waiting to drop into a half pipe or bowl? It's so you dont chafe your theighs or something when manualing, you never land on the seat.<<

This is true if you are at the rink
but the kids in my town also use their bike to get to school [and any where else they want to go]
and this is when I see them [50% of the time] sitting and peddling with their knees up their chins.
Sure if you are doing tricks get rid of the seat..
but the rest of the time??

Can one of you send me a pie from Harry's?

Thanks.

:roflmao:

http://www.spreadtheiris.com/images/smilies/fridayyet.gif

:lol:

That is one funny GIF. Congratulations on a wonderful find.

Avoid the troll.

To : Brian, New forum janitor

This forum can use a janitor. I hope you have an itchy delete finger.