Blackberry

When I pulled up to the start of the Blue Ridge Extreme Road Ride on my Bike Friday. The ride was 100 km with about 7000 feet of vertical climbing. As my little orange folding bike and I rolled along among the carbon fiber rocket ships and other high tech wonders, I got every kind of response imaginable from "Wow! Great bike" to "Are you really gonna ride THAT?"

I didn't have time to explain that the Pocket Rocket Pro is reasonably light, and the gearing is perfect for the big climbs. Many people thought that for some reason, the Bike Friday would be somehow harder to pedal than a traditional diamond-frame bike, but we know better of course

Have you had similar responses to your folding bike? Do others you've ridden with think it's somehow not quite a "real" bicycle?

Guest

On a regular basis. People would tell me it's such a tiny bike, and I'd remind them that other than the fact that there's no top tube, I have the same sized frame as my road bike. That's pretty much the most common comment I get.

Koffee

cooker

How was the ride?

Blackberry

Fantastic. Beautifully scenery. Great support. Lots of fun. I recommend it. It's mostly rolling hills, but there's one incredibly tough climb from the base of the Shenandoah Valley to the Blue Ridge Parkway.

james_swift

I often follow roadies on exoti-bikes on my daily commute. One guy attacked on a long flat, thinking he'd drop me. He had no idea that I had been drafting him the entire distance with my Swift, and the expression on his face when I pulled up and passed him as I hung a hard, fast left to beat the redlight at the intersection was priceless.

Have you shocked a roadie today?

farrellcollie

I think it is the smaller tires that throw people off- I have been asked if it is harder to pedal with little tires.

Blackberry

Agreed. I hear it all the time.

folder fanatic

The "Teeny" size (especially the 20 inch wheels) of my folder is one of the benefits of owning one that I really did not anticipate when I purchased mine. People are still shocked and amazed by this little bundle of suprises (folding ability, speed, manuverablilty, low center of gravity, stable ride, fits in a bag and tight spaces, etc.) that even my "cheapie" model still produces after almost 2 years of ownership.

oboeguy

Heh, I hear ya. I'm riding the NYC Century on my Dahon SpeedPro this weekend. I expect a lot of looks and general incredulity.

af895

Heheheheh. I'm looking forward to being in good enough shape that I can show people what a folder can really do.

I passed some kids today and one stopped to stare and said, "whoa! sick bike dude!"
("sick" being the same as "phat.")

giantcfr1

My friend has an absolute rocket ship folding bike. Of course it goes better with peddles.
Steve.

14R 

One day I went to a local coffee shop here in Orlando with my girlfriend (both riding Giant Halfways) and 2 different, independent groups at different times said the same thing:

-"How cute, look those two little bikes!"

The second group actually stopped and asked if the bikes were for "adults" or something "adapted from kids' bikes". They got quite offended when I mentioned that those bikes are "quite popular" and became rude saying things like "you 2 must be the only ones riding this crap, otherwise I would know better". I could do nothing but smile...

You may be an Atheist, but Satan has several faces and the most common is ignorance

Rafael Guerra

Dahon.Steve

Several years ago, I did Bike New York on my 3 speed, 16' inch wheel Dahon Piccolo. During one of the climbs up the bridge, a couple of people on hybrids were amazed at my climbing abilities and thought I was pushing hard on a single speed! At that time, I was used to having only three gears and 1st gear on a Sturmey Archer AW3 was fine.

Needless to say, I beat them to the top.