Folding Bikes - Considering a folder

Selling the car off at the end of the month and I am finding the bikes to be a bit much in my new apartment.

I'm pretty much sold on replacing the one with a folding bike. Anyone here use nothing but folders? How does it work with groceries? Winter (I know schwalbe has 20 inch snow tires)? Hauling a trailer?

Thanks

Selling the car off at the end of the month and I am finding the bikes to be a bit much in my new apartment.

I'm pretty much sold on replacing the one with a folding bike. Anyone here use nothing but folders? How does it work with groceries? Winter (I know schwalbe has 20 inch snow tires)? Hauling a trailer?

Thanks

They work great with all of the above. See the Bike Friday website (http://bikefriday.com/) with its links to trailers -- both the suitcase model and the evolution trailers. Although, given your question, I should also tell you that bikes with full-size wheels are also in my stable.

Mind you, even though I copied a link to Bike Friday -- I have a NWT -- other manufacturers produce bikes that are more than competent as utility bikes.

When you do think about joining the fold -- they really are great bikes -- the important questions are ...

* how compact/fast of a fold do you need?


using public transport?
bringing it into restaurants/office?
just storing in your apartment?

* how important is ride quality?
* what is your budget?
* do you live in a hilly area?
* what are your physical dimensions?


most folding bikes are built for the population average
so if you are in the tails for height, for instance, your choices are much more limited

I use folding bikes exclusively now. I don't have much storage space for anything, much less a full size adult bike. I do strongly recommend to test ride any folding bike you consider, no matter what the asking price is. Quality,fit and a good match is a great ideal to strive for.

I don't drive a car and I use folders exclusively.

I do have a couple of walmart specials with regular sized wheels rotting away in the parking facility, but I would never consider anything other than a folder as a serious bike to use every day. Nonfolders are toys for recreation, unsuitable for traveling between the cramped theft-prone offices, shops, and apartments found in the kind of dense urban environments where bicycles are most practical and incompatible with social interaction with nonbicycle fanatics (no matter if they drive cars or use public transit).

I can't speak of trailers or snow tires because I don't use them, but grocery getting is fine with a folder; just stack on top of the wheels instead of relying too much on panniers (the best balance depends on your wheel size, but 20" wheels seem to accommodate a paper grocery bag quite well on each side, with a super low center of mass that makes the load very stable...put everything else on top). I even get groceries on my 8" wheeled folder...I just hang the bags off the back of the seat (no special kit).

The apartment has bike storage, but I don't trust it. Nothing to physically lock to, just a locked storage/laundry room.

Budget wise is probably under $500. Most of ride will be under 10 miles round trip. Work is about 6 RT and I have plenty of grocery options in the area.

I'm 5'11 and 190. Bus only here, but I really won't be using that much.

I have a vintage 3 speed and a Bianchi hybrid at the moment. The three speed was going to have some work done to make it an all around bike, once I sold the car and had a bit of extra cash. Now I am going to sell that and look at a folder with a similar setup to what I planned. IGH, dynamo lights etc.

The hybrid will be the utility bike, may replace that someday too. I was looking at the Dahon Jack as a possibility to fill that role.

We have only folders - but not car-free (pretty bad with three of them, still).

I could easily do 10 mile or less round trips on my Boardwalk single-speed over flat ground. My S1 is equipped with a Milk crate for carrying groceries, but a trailer attached to my Bike Friday NWT would haul a whole lot more.

If we ditched the three cars (a 40MPG econo-box, an SUV to pull our folding trailer, and a 34 yr old Italian Sports car - purchased new) we would likely add a couple of BF tikits for use on public transportation.

Folders are a heck of a lot easier to store than regular sized bikes.

Storage is the concern right now.

:)

The good thing is my job changes in 2 weeks. Instead of worrying about carting business casual clothes (Pants, belt, shoes, and a polo or button down) back and forth, I just have to worry about a bathing suit and t-shirt. So day to day cargo needs won't be as bad.

Stopped by the LBS and took a look at what they had in stock

I was really liking the Dahon Boardwalk S1 as a good base to build up, but was disappointed to see the handlebars welded on.

May be scrounging ebay for some vintage folders.

Xootr sells a rack called the Crossrack that lends itself very well to grocery trips--though not if you tend to spend $200 at the market.

It's shown here (http://xootr.com/xootr/swift/Eleven81GroceryBag.shtml) with a grocery-specific bag attached, but it'll accept any pannier that isn't too tall for the space above the back wheel.

They work great with all of the above. See the Bike Friday website (http://bikefriday.com/) with its links to trailers -- both the suitcase model and the evolution trailers.
[/INDENT]

You can buy the same trailers refurbished on eBay for around $100. I have one. Though I love it, I'm going to have to sell it soon b/c it doesn't fit anywhere in my low square footage life.