Folding Bikes - Barcelona, Quick Impression.

I goofed and posted this in 50+ yesterday so sorry for the repost.

The bicycle arrived last night.
Well packaged, no apparent damage.
First words from my wife, "It's adorable!!"
Yes, she's a girly girl.
Took about an hour to put it all together.
Added air. Checked a few screws.
Adjusted seat height.
And off she went, just around the block a few times.
I then took it for a spin.
Shifting was flawless.
Brakes good.
She loves the bike, I do to.
Eight people took test rides on it,
all replies were favorable.
Total mileage about 10.
So far the quality seems at least as good as the Downtube 8H.
Hope this picture makes it with the post, I know it's crappy but it's proof!
I'll write up more a little later, just too busy at the moment.
Attached Thumbnails

Dropped stepover like the Dahon Ciao, a lot of women love that feature. Good luck with new bike, Citizen seem to make good frames.

$349 not bad at all! Seems pretty solid.

Any new updates on your Barcelona?

I'm in PDX, I'll keep my eye out for y'all.

:)

Hey Rosiebud, I'm waiting for a reply from Citizen Bike. There is what I consider an issue with the frame hinge.
I emailed them Wednesday explaining my concern. SO, the bicycle has been sitting in my living room. Actually I
like it there all nice and clean looking. I have an autistic son that is not able to ride but can sit on this one, he likes
it there too. Anyway we have totaled about 13 miles on it so far. If we are going to return it
I don't feel we should be riding it. I'm hoping we don't have to go that route, everything else
about it is fine. Meanwhile Beverly anxiously wonders if she will ever have a bicycle. This is
certainly one of the pitfalls of mail order merchandise, but that is understood. If we do send it back, or need parts the cost of shipping falls on us, which means the price is effectively rising.
This is known going into the sale so no complaints about that. However, Downtube replaced
two parts on our 8H, there was no cost to us. Just keep that in mind, but Downtube didn't
have the bicycle Beverly wanted. Since I have not yet heard from CB and this is the start of the weekend my review will need to wait a few more days. I have roofing to do anyway.

Hey randya, were you the tall girl sitting on the Barcelona in the ads?
We ride mostly NE and SE.

Bikekraft, I assume that is you on the bike and not your son?

The bike is really nice looking, but, after looking at it with you on the bike it looks like it might be too large for my 5"1" frame. Is your wife short?

Why could Citizen not replace any damaged pieces for free? Why would YOU have to pay for shipping if something is wrong with THEIR bike?

That does not seem fair to me at all!!

Bikekraft,

What seems to be wrong with the frame's quick release? Do the two halves of the frame not "mate" correctly (bad hinge or bent plates?), or does the quick release mechanism not seem to lock down tight enough? If it's the later, generally, there is an adjustment nut that you can tighten to make the QR clamp down tighter.

And though I have not dealt with Citizenbike personally, I have heard good things about their Customer Service. If it's an actual repair, it should be covered by the warranty.

Good luck on that.




Hey Rosiebud, I'm waiting for a reply from Citizen Bike. There is what I consider an issue with the frame hinge.
I emailed them Wednesday explaining my concern. SO, the bicycle has been sitting in my living room. Actually I
like it there all nice and clean looking. I have an autistic son that is not able to ride but can sit on this one, he likes
it there too. Anyway we have totaled about 13 miles on it so far. If we are going to return it
I don't feel we should be riding it. I'm hoping we don't have to go that route, everything else
about it is fine. Meanwhile Beverly anxiously wonders if she will ever have a bicycle. This is
certainly one of the pitfalls of mail order merchandise, but that is understood. If we do send it back, or need parts the cost of shipping falls on us, which means the price is effectively rising.
This is known going into the sale so no complaints about that. However, Downtube replaced
two parts on our 8H, there was no cost to us. Just keep that in mind, but Downtube didn't
have the bicycle Beverly wanted. Since I have not yet heard from CB and this is the start of the weekend my review will need to wait a few more days. I have roofing to do anyway.

I agree Ed, it should be covered by the warranty. Hell, I told that guy in Jersey that if anything was wrong with the bike I got from him I knew where he lived and I would be back. LOL!!

I agree Ed, it should be covered by the warranty. Hell, I told that guy in Jersey that if anything was wrong with the bike I got from him I knew where he lived and I would be back. LOL!!

Oh yea, definitely!

And there should be no problem with you fitting on the Barcelona. I believe Beverly, is your same height, 5'1". There is a picture of her sitting on the bike in the other thread, "Just Got The Citizenbike Barcelona...", and here's the link to that page: http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?617007-Just-got-the-Citizen-Bike-Barcelona.../page3

Just scroll down about half way, and you'll see the thumbnail of the photo.

Oh, I see her. She looks taller then me. Like I said before, let me test ride this baby and we will see.... LOL!!

I had a problem with the pin on the hinge when I first got my Tokyo - it wouldn't slide up and down freely. But I couldn't see repacking it and shipping it back to Citizen. I looked carefully and found that the sockets were slightly out of alignment. Gave it a careful, very slight twist with a pair of pliers cushioned with a paper towel - all fixed.

Ok I'm back, like I said I was roofing for the day, UGH.
That is actually my son Brian on the Barcelona, he is about 5'9 or 5'10.
Rosiebud you would fit this bike, no problem.
I ride a Fuji mixte most days, after working today I could have used a
lower step through,
Yes the hinge.
As soon as the locking mechanism is opened the bike drops down in the middle.
For you older folks that may have had an early Ford Mustang (or many other crappy American
cars from that era) when you start to open the door it drops down about 6".
Oh god I'm tired and this no doubt not clearing up the explanation.
I'll try again in the morning.
And I am in no was trying to talk down Citizen Bike, they have not responded is all.
I'm sure it will all be fine, Beverly really likes the bike.
I guess I could do a little video of Beverly riding it so all could see how the bicycle
works for a 5'1", 53 year old lady (still a girl in my mind).
More soon, got to shower.

Bikekraft,

May I humbly suggest that Beverly stop riding the bike until that problem with the hinge is resolved? Sounds like the hinge has some play. You can imagine how critical that area is on the bike's frame.

Is the hinge pin held in place on one end by some type of fastener, such as a nut? If so, it may just need to be tightened. But if there is nothing that you can adjust on your own, Citizenbike will have to let you know what the procedure is to resolve this.

Good luck with that, please keep us updated.

Edward, Thank you for your concern. We did stop using the bike as soon as the issue was found.
It is currently another piece of furniture in our living room.
The hinge assembly could be broken down in to four parts.
Two hinge plates, one somewhat permanent hinge pin and lastly the locking mechanism.
The problem (sloppiness) comes where the plates and hinge pin come together.
Not being an engineer I can't come up with the name for that extra motion,
but I know there is one. So I just call it sloppiness.
I also have The Downtube 8H that has many more miles and folds on it, the hinge is very snug.
So when folding and unfolding the Downtube I don't feel any of this slop.
I have never actually folded the Citizen bike yet, just loosened the locking mechanism to
isolate the problem.
And now let me express my admiration for those that posses the gift of technical writing.
You are probably good a telling jokes also.

And now let me express my admiration for those that posses the gift of technical writing.
You are probably good a telling jokes also.

Well I try! :lol::lol::lol:

Just came back from taking 'Lucy" for a little spin. OMG!! I am sooo out of shape, my legs feel like rubber now....

She is one sweet little thing, that she is...

Never realized how hilly Bayside was, what a thrill going downhill. I got flashbacks on how fearless I was in my youth, zooming down hills never bothering to think about cars or crashing and cracking my head open. LOL!!

I think I will need to get a wider seat at some point and the hand break lever needs to be moved closer to me. This is something that I can do with the little screw on it right??

Sometimes I feel like a "little person", small hands, feet and head, Thank goodness this bike seems to be adjustable for me.

I raised the handlebars up alot and if it was a tad closer to me sitting, it would be perfect.

Need to get my husband to take a picture of me riding it so I can post it here.

Rosiebud - Are you talking about your ECO? If so, you may want to post it in its own thread. It can act as a review for those considering the ECO.

Bikekraft - Sorry to hear about your Barcelona. Definitely can relate to online ordering bike problems. Hope your hiccup with the Barcelona has a happy ending like mine did with the Speed D7.

Your folder does look cute.

Need to get my husband to take a picture of me riding it so I can post it here.[/QUOTE]

No hands and feet off the pedals! And a big wild eye smile.

Good idea Sunny..

I saw a lady with a Citizen Barcelona at Summer Streets this Sat.
the beige/cream colored tires are very chic in that dutch bicycle sort of way.

Wish I could see someone riding it. Did it look nice?

I talked with a pleasant man from CB this morning. Avery is the name.
He seems committed to making things right.
He mentioned some tightening/adjusting things to try.
I tried those but I could see right away it would not resolve the problem.
But it did give me courage to disassemble the hinge.
Fairly simple setup. I was able to measure the pivot pin and the openings it passes through.
It is very similar to the door hinge (called butts for some reason) that is common throughout
your house. I could compare the one on the Barcelona to it's counterpart on the DT 8H.
Essentially the same. The Barcelona hinge is divided into nearly equal thirds, the DT has a
a large central part with much smaller ... oh crap I wish I was an engineer.
I do have photos, but it's time to eat and collect my thoughts.
I will post them soon, the long and the short of it, I'm afraid I will have to repackage
the bike and send it back. Or maybe get sent a new frame with a hinge that has closer tolerances.
Poor Beverly!
It gets comical, and summer gets shorter.

Bikekraft, this looks like a Raleigh RSW small wheel. They had 16" rims and a three speed. That is cheap. Nice backup bike.

I hope the hinge issue gets sorted out, BikeKraft--how sad to have to pack up the bike and send it back!! My Barcelona doesn't have that play in the hinge, but I have worried about it loosening over time; it feels like a very small area to have the pressure of the weight of the bike on it when it's open (I hope that makes sense...). Keep us posted!

When my Barcelona arrived the little plastic cover for the internal hub thingy (technical language, forsooth!) was broken. I emailed off a photo of it to CB and they had a replacement in the mail that day free of charge. It seems like a return, for manufacturing problems at least, should be on their dime, too.