Folding Bikes - Strida-5 24/7/365 Apology to Pacific Cycles Carry-Me

When testing folding bikes earlier this year I tested a China knock off of the Carry-Me. I did not enjoy the bike at all.

Well I have now ridden a 2007 real Carry-Me and had a blast and I am going to buy one.

For business trips into cities with good roads I will take the Carry-Me. For business trips into less developed areas I will take the Strida-5.

I apologize for my review of the China knock off, the bike used the same configuration as the real Carry-Me but was junk. The real Carry-Me is well built and I found fun to ride.

After the snows are gone I will be commuting to and from work 2 miles one way on the concrete streets of Racine Wisconsin. The surface of these streets are horrible so basically I will be riding the Carry-Me on roads the US Army could use for Tank testing. Will let you know how things go.

Again I apologize to Pacific Cycles for my negative review of their Carry-Me when in fact I was testing a very poor copy of what is really a good machine.

TBakel

Thanks for letting us know!
Yeah, CarryMe is a surprising machine - better than expected from the looks :-)

I went to the local shop a couple days ago and messed around with one. Gotta love the way and size it folds to.

They have one out front unfolded which I think I posted a pic of a week or two ago and I asked one of the guys if I could take a couple cranks on it. I was kinda surpised at the thing. It doesn't look like it can do what it can do.

At any rate you probably can't make out the price tag on this thing but it says roughly 68,000 yen or over $700 at todays (rotten) yen rate. If I drop another $700 I'll tack a few more on and get something else. I think i'm saving my nickels for a Bianchi road bike.

John

Drop even less and get a Bianchi Pista. It's a fixie but I ride it as a single-speed (flip-flop hub) - every cyclist should have a fixie/SS. It cost less than my other single-speed, though. That would be the Strida.

When testing folding bikes earlier this year I tested a China knock off of the Carry-Me. I did not enjoy the bike at all.

Well I have now ridden a 2007 real Carry-Me and had a blast and I am going to buy one.

For business trips into cities with good roads I will take the Carry-Me. For business trips into less developed areas I will take the Strida-5.

I apologize for my review of the China knock off, the bike used the same configuration as the real Carry-Me but was junk. The real Carry-Me is well built and I found fun to ride.

After the snows are gone I will be commuting to and from work 2 miles one way on the concrete streets of Racine Wisconsin. The surface of these streets are horrible so basically I will be riding the Carry-Me on roads the US Army could use for Tank testing. Will let you know how things go.

Again I apologize to Pacific Cycles for my negative review of their Carry-Me when in fact I was testing a very poor copy of what is really a good machine.

TBakel

Let us know how you like it on rough roads. I think it handles them rather well because the short wheelbase and small wheels allow me to better apply "active suspension" (that is, purposely weight/unweight the front/rear wheel to reduce the force of impacts in addition to maneuvering around obstacles).

Obviously its a different experience from simply plowing over everything as one might do with a mountain bike, for example, but I think its fun and very practical.

Yes, there are limitations to the CM 8" wheels but dont dismiss it. It can handle rough roads if ridden carefully. Here's proof - in Pai, Thailand (posted this before I think).

:)

At any rate you probably can't make out the price tag on this thing but it says roughly 68,000 yen or over $700 at todays (rotten) yen rate. If I drop another $700 I'll tack a few more on and get something else. I think i'm saving my nickels for a Bianchi road bike.


I could read the tag as 68,250 yen and with today's exchange rate of 1 U.S. dollar = 90.5 yen....(gasp) 753.61 U.S. Dollar! :eek:

I bought my 2007 Carry-me only three months ago for $424 (including shipping).

You would think that Taiwan being closer to Japan than U.S. would be cheaper. :(

I bought my 2007 Carry-me only three months ago for $424 (including shipping).



Not to hijack the thread, but if you don't mind my asking, where did you buy from? I live in San Francisco, so I expect my shipped price would be similar. I'm guessing this is for the single speed- any idea on how much the 2-speed runs?

As the thread suggests, I have only read good things about the Carryme- it seems like the smallest viable package currently available (I don't count A-bike as viable).

I currently use a Strida 5.0 almost daily and I love it. That said, the Carryme is even smaller and might be able to go places even my Strida can't- Is this the beginning of the folding bug? ;). Considering the new 2-speed Strida will be over $1,000 (eek!), perhaps the 2-speed Carryme would be a good fit for my needs.

The 2 speed Carry Me's other gear is essentially a downhill gear and too high unless you are a relatively strong rider. After test riding both, I think the single speed makes better sense and value.

I believe its 77" and that its happy to cruise at 28-30kmh, if you can maintain it. I can't.

The 2 speed Carry Me's other gear is essentially a downhill gear and too high unless you are a relatively strong rider. After test riding both, I think the single speed makes better sense and value.

I believe its 77" and that its happy to cruise at 28-30kmh, if you can maintain it. I can't.

Plus IMHO the loss in efficiency from the Schlumpf isn't worth just one extra ratio.

Plus IMHO the loss in efficiency from the Schlumpf isn't worth just one extra ratio.

The Schlumpf is not inefficient with efficiency ratings in the range of 95% to 98% .. unless you rode a bad unit, my guess is that trying to spin up an 8" wheel fast enough to yield speeds that an 80 gear inch final drive are capable (using same general cadence as low gear) in a bolt upright seating position is the source of the sluggishness .. the Schlumpf in 1:1 low range, direct drive, 48" gear inch, even with 8" wheels should be pretty transparent.... at least mine is.. but I do agree that it is 'too much' gear for the bike..

The Schlumpf is not inefficient with efficiency ratings in the range of 95% to 98% .. unless you rode a bad unit, my guess is that trying to spin up an 8" wheel fast enough to yield speeds that an 80 gear inch final drive are capable (using same general cadence as low gear) in a bolt upright seating position is the source of the sluggishness .. the Schlumpf in 1:1 low range, direct drive, 48" gear inch, even with 8" wheels should be pretty transparent.... at least mine is.. but I do agree that it is 'too much' gear for the bike..

Not to start a fight, but Schlumpf's claim is:
"High quality planetary gearing systems have efficiencies of about 95 - 97%. By using only the best technology for gears, bearings and lubrication, we try to get to the highest possible level."
In other words, they hope the Speed Drive has 95-97% efficiency because they use high quality materials and they were told that high quality internal gear systems have 95-97% efficiency.

However, independent testing has found that high quality internal gear systems are actually more like 88-95% efficient (http://www.ihpva.org/HParchive/PDF/hp52-2001.pdf) (and only achieve 95% efficiency in "transparent" direct drive). So, by Schlumpf's logic, the Speed Drive is at best 88% efficient in high gear and 95% efficient in direct drive under ideal conditions.


But the truth is that there are too many variables to analyze things this way. It's not as if shop mechanics use an ergometer to tune their bikes to specified efficiency. For whatever reason I wasn't satisfied with the perceived efficiency of the Schlumpf version of the Carryme when I tried it. It wasn't due to an upright position because I don't sit upright on the Carryme (I put the seat level with the handlebars and bend over about 45 degrees until my shoulders are directly over the handlebars, comfortably supported by my arms reaching straight down with typically locked elbows) and it wasn't my cadance because it also felt inefficient in low gear or even on the work stand. The shop agreed with me and said they would look into it and call me once they found out what the problem was, but I never heard back from them and I don't imagine they keep the lights on by letting their stock gather dust.

I hope it was a bad unit because it would be easy to lower the ratios with a smaller front sprocket or bigger rear sprocket (it's larger front sprockets and smaller rear sprockets that difficult to find) to yield a nice leisurely granny gear and a higher cruising gear.