Folding Bikes - Mercedes Benz Folder...

Any one have or tried one of these?

http://www.besportier.com/archives/mercedes-benz-bike-collection-folding-bike.jpg

apparently it was launched sep 11 2007. this is the article. but can't find the cost of owning one.

http://www.autospectator.com/cars/mercedes-benz/0028792-new-folding-bike-mercedes-benz-accessories-gmbh

thanks,
vic

^ Probably in the overpriced side of things...

Kudos to MB for developping stuff like this.
It is a "one touch folding" (I guess?).
It is full suspended.
Considering the size of an average MB car trunk that thing fold small enough to fit into the trunk easely.

Man does that look good.

To me the gearing looks low.

And the phrase "discerning buyers" annoys me to bits. I suppose us who buy anything from Flying Pigeons to Moultons are just the local rabble who don't appreciate stuff that "discerning buyers" would carefully choose to waste their blooming executive payouts in the midst of the economic woe on.

Though not a strict rule, more often than not any bicycle with a car brand for a name is usually a dud.

BTW, did you know that Ducati started out as a bicycle maker not motorcycles? At my LBS there is a nice shiny red Ducati roadie....with chrome bar tape, I wonder what it's like?

Brochure, here:
http://www.mercedes-benz.pt/content/media_library/portugal/mpc_portugal/accessories_boutique/bikes_mb.object-Single-MEDIA.download.tmp/Bicicletas_MB.pdf

bikes with cars were born out of a necessity ...... at the time some 10/20 years ago the law in Germany and oyjer European countries were not allowing car dealers to give any discount more than 3 % of the value of the car( usually these discounts were mad e up in parts for the car) ...... In the 60 that worked out to be a pair of mats or maybe a free radio ...in the nineties every car had a radio and the mats overpriced as they can be never made it to that 3 % hurdle.....

SO some car companies " invented" bikes to give away with a car to close the deal ..... Porsche Mercedes BMW and many others ....

Usually these bikes are not worth the money they were supoosed to fetch on the open market , as they were in the 3 % range of the car compnies most sold vehicle , rather than what they were worth at a bike dealer .....

The R D for these bikes was never done by Car company people ( even if they tell you so ) The RD was always done by a bike compmapany or somebody like Leitner ( ATK fame , Horst Link) who designed the first Merceds folders ( which were modified AMP bikes and rather nice)

Today all the laws about discount are gone ( European union) and the bikes are just meandering along as being a huge pain in the butt for the car dealers.... who usually really hate them ..

lol

thor

still no price. anyone has an idea on how much this will cost ? i assume since it was built by mb, it will be in the vicinity of 2k.....

thanks,
vic

Unfortunately not that specific MB folding bike listed but instead some other German car make bicycles:
http://www.radkom.de/shop/fahrraeder-mercedes-benz-c-1_298.html?sid=37937252bc6ebfe23ef01a34a8cf0c16

If the link above doesn't work browse this
http://www.radkom.de/shop/
and then "fahrräder" followed by "Mercedes Benz"

As the mountain bike costs 2790€ and the racing bike 3990€ I'm afraid the folder is not cheap either.

BTW, did you know that Ducati started out as a bicycle maker not motorcycles?

I think that needs some clarification..... They started off making radio parts. After the second World War, they bought the rights to manufacture a small motor, designed to be bolted onto bicycles...

I think that needs some clarification..... They started off making radio parts. After the second World War, they bought the rights to manufacture a small motor, designed to be bolted onto bicycles...

Ok thanks, I learnt something there :)

bikes with cars were born out of a necessity ...... at the time some 10/20 years ago the law in Germany and oyjer European countries were not allowing car dealers to give any discount more than 3 % of the value of the car( usually these discounts were mad e up in parts for the car) ...... In the 60 that worked out to be a pair of mats or maybe a free radio ...in the nineties every car had a radio and the mats overpriced as they can be never made it to that 3 % hurdle.....

SO some car companies " invented" bikes to give away with a car to close the deal ..... Porsche Mercedes BMW and many others ....

Usually these bikes are not worth the money they were supoosed to fetch on the open market , as they were in the 3 % range of the car compnies most sold vehicle , rather than what they were worth at a bike dealer .....

The R D for these bikes was never done by Car company people ( even if they tell you so ) The RD was always done by a bike compmapany or somebody like Leitner ( ATK fame , Horst Link) who designed the first Merceds folders ( which were modified AMP bikes and rather nice)

Today all the laws about discount are gone ( European union) and the bikes are just meandering along as being a huge pain in the butt for the car dealers.... who usually really hate them ..

lol

thor

Now that makes perfect sense to me... and satisfies my curiosity as to why these big car name brands even bother with such things. And yes, most of them seem to be duds in terms of cyclist acceptance - but obviously if it serves as a deal maker and the deal has been made, then it has served its purpose - not so much a folding bike, but rather a marketing bike.

So only available in Europe and only with the car?


.

Scroll down to "The Topeak Jango 'Multi-Mobility bike'"
http://www.velovision.co.uk/cgi-bin/show_comments.pl?storynum=997

Miles

http://www.flickr.com/photos/aimelise/3372011055/in/set-72157615717836034/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/aimelise/3372011479/in/set-72157615717836034/

This bike came free with a new Merc car during a promotion a few years ago. I don't know if its buyable otherwise. It is not the best folding shape I have ever seen. Form over function? if its got discs brakes it must be good sort of thinking?

Looks like the sort of item one owns, rather than uses.

I don't know if its buyable otherwise.

Errrm See the preceding two posts........:)

Yeah, looks like a bike made by Jango with a Merc badge... either that or a Merc instigated design project, produced by and licensed to Jango. I wonder what the inside story is? Or then again maybe there is none... could be just another one of those automotive-branded merchandise items.

Good spotting MilesH

Pocko,

I doubt that Mercedes had much to do with the design. They probably just commissioned it from ADP. I guess there was then a deal to allow Topeak/Jango to license the design.

Errrm See the preceding two posts........:)

NOt sure if the "MERC" badged bike is availalbe not the Jango. Sorry if I was not clear

I never tried such kind of folding bikes but looks great and hopes to be a great utilitarian bike. I really wish to buy one if its not over priced.

I would imagine depending on where you're from or if you know someone in Taiwan, that you should be able to buy the Jango version. It's the same bike without the Merc badge one would think... so it shouldn't be over priced. The Merc version was never over-priced in the first place because it is not for sale to the public, as bhkyte mentioned earlier. Apparently it came free with the car during the period when it was used as a promotional item.

.

LIke to see a review? and prices

I dont know if it was always given for free with the car. that was at the discretion of the dealer.... I think anyhow.. they were supposed to actively sell them as well..... albeit for horrendeous prices usually ...

Another Mercedes Bike Story
way back ..too long to count the years..... Bike Trade SHow in Philadelpia .. next door neighbor was selling Mercedes bikes ( the cheapest and most laugable MTB around,, hideous... I still cannot see that Mercedes ever allowed to use their name ..... )
Anyhow after the first night ALL bikes were stolen from the MErceds booth .I mean ALL of them .... while right next door there were custom one off from Bilenky and a couple other real cool bikes still standing in their booths.....

I can see the bikes on the streetcorner .. look man I got a Merzedeees Benz..... ...

It was somewhat funny, except for the folks who were trying to sell them at the show.....
Thor

Yeah, looks like a bike made by Jango with a Merc badge...

Bingo!

It's priced at 1,600 euros which is approx U$2,225 according to latest conversion rates.

I would imagine depending on where you're from or if you know someone in Taiwan, that you should be able to buy the Jango version. It's the same bike without the Merc badge one would think... so it shouldn't be over priced. The Merc version was never over-priced in the first place because it is not for sale to the public, as bhkyte mentioned earlier. Apparently it came free with the car during the period when it was used as a promotional item.

.

I've seen this Merc folder and never made the connection to Jango until now! I still didn't believe it & so I dug up some pics I took of the Jango and what do you know??!! It's the same bike! Me slow today.

Incidentally, I know someone who know the someone(s?) who designed this in Germany. Here are the pics of the Jango...

http://i563.photobucket.com/albums/ss73/AbioBikes/Picture056.jpg

http://i563.photobucket.com/albums/ss73/AbioBikes/Picture057.jpg

http://i563.photobucket.com/albums/ss73/AbioBikes/Picture060.jpg

I like the look of that bike. Looks very well thought out. It'll be under-geared, though. Nice for commuting with an IGH.

Thanks for the new pics!

Interesting little wee linkage there behind the front fork suspension boot. That wasn't there on the previous model. I know Cannondale owns the IP for the central "headshok" central style fork suspension. I wonder if that's a clever way of circumventing the feature that keeps the fork from swiveling awry from the steerer tube?

.

Now that makes perfect sense to me... and satisfies my curiosity as to why these big car name brands even bother with such things. And yes, most of them seem to be duds in terms of cyclist acceptance - but obviously if it serves as a deal maker and the deal has been made, then it has served its purpose - not so much a folding bike, but rather a marketing bike.

So only available in Europe and only with the car?


.

honda had the motocompo...
small 50cc scooter only weighing 42kg and hitting speeds of 50km/h
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b0/Motoco_01.jpg

Thanks for the new pics!

Interesting little wee linkage there behind the front fork suspension boot. That wasn't there on the previous model. I know Cannondale owns the IP for the central "headshok" central style fork suspension. I wonder if that's a clever way of circumventing the feature that keeps the fork from swiveling awry from the steerer tube?

.That is a 'plain old' knuckle design used in just about every single aircraft front landing gear. There's a few forks around that use this feature. Dunno what the 'headshok' looks like inside but Moultons had that ages ago on the very first ones, a spline. It's either that or some linkage system outside. I like the outside linkage better, less friction.

That is a 'plain old' knuckle design used in just about every single aircraft front landing gear. There's a few forks around that use this feature. Dunno what the 'headshok' looks like inside but Moultons had that ages ago on the very first ones, a spline. It's either that or some linkage system outside. I like the outside linkage better, less friction.

+1 and easier to maintain too. The downside is there's a bit that sticks out, but for where it is and for such a small travel application it's not an issue. The resulting links are smaller and won't pose as a hazard.

The Headshok Fatty has an octagonal-ish steerer tubes flanked by rows of needle bearings (four cluster banks). An all-internal solution for the same function. Could be similar to what Jango had on their earlier model... not sure tho...

http://www.cannondale.com/bikes/03/images/fsbb_tech_03.jpg

Another clever feature of the jango is the handle bars which are clamped by a stem-like clamp. To increase cockpit reach, very simple and straightforward - loosen the clamp and tilt bars forward.

Me likey! :thumb: