Fixed Airnimal
 

http://www.foldsoc.co.uk News Section

V nice job - using the White Industries ENO hub. The riding position is TT-esque and I doubt he will still be in that tuck in 10 years time! The fold is bad, (the Chameleon is a travel bike really) so it is unfair to criticise the partial fold. Anyway, good to see another fixed folder in London, but I would not like to come up against him at the lights!

A few things in the write-up could be challenged a) 3/32 chains are plenty strong enough, b) on a 20" folder with (406s) a 53/13 combo will give more gear inches than the 53/16 he is running with 24" wheels without recourse to a large chainring c) 300 rpm without resistance if you are an ultra -spinner/freak, but not on the road!

I am still waiting to hear when the ss/fixed Rhino will be available...

Seems damned expensive for a fixie to me....

From his article:

4355 is me! :)

I thought his point for getting a folding bike to begin with was because his wife only wanted bikes that folded in their apartment. Nevertheless, I still think non folding full-sized frames are the ideal frames for fixies because of all the stresses, chain issues, and gearing headaches he mentioned.

He got a bigger apartment...

Certainly is expensive - you could do a much cheaper Airnimal conversion with the Joey.

I didn't bother to check the FGG refs, I take it they are all fixed folders?

He missed my Twenty! (2373). The Rotter! The Snob! :)

Wow, cool that all of you have read my article.

Sorry LittlePixel, I generated that list of bikes on FGG using 'fold' and 'folding' etc as search strings and you didn't use those words in your description. Very nice bike though.

The point of getting my first folding bike 18 moths ago was originally to fit it into my flat, but that then got me used to the feel of a nimble small-wheeled bike, I could have gone for a 700c bike now in the bigger flat, but I just don't like the feel of them. Also, the smaller wheels mean no toe overlap with the front wheel (something that scared the hell out of me the first time I rode a fixed). - and yes I know that you don't havo to have toe overlap on a 700c, but if you want a short wheelbase bike...

Thank you.

I agree that 3/32 are probably strong enough, but I was really put off by my experience with the Dahons that I broke, so I wanted everything to be as strong as possible on this bike. Yes you can even have a 54/12 in 1/8" width on 406 wheels giving about 91 gear inches, but the smallest free cog I could find to fit on a flip/flop hub is 16t. So, 54/16 gives only 72 gear inches and at the time I was not convinced that I wanted to ride fixed everyday. - maybe I should have gone into this in more detail in the article. Sorry the 300rpm is a typo, should be 200rpm you can read more here http://www.fixedwheel.co.uk/fixedwheel%20stories.htm

Yes it was a lot, but a lot of people in London spend £80+ a month (about £1000 a year) on travelcards to use the public transport here -(the bike allows me to spend only about £100 a year). So it is not that expensive in comparisson and since I was putting so much effort into the bike, I thought it was worth putting the money in too.

I would not want to make a fixed with a joey as I think I would have problems with the rear triangle joint being metal meeting metal, rather than the elastomer on the chameleon. Also, most things on the chameleon seem stronger/lighter.

Cheers for the comments.

AC racing makes a 15t freewheel that goes on an english/standard threaded hub.

http://harriscyclery.net/itemdetails.cfm?ID=1094

Why did you leave so much of the steerer above the stem?

54/15 on 406s is still only 73 gear inches though,

I just haven't got rid of the steerer yet, I am waiting to see if I my body starts complaining after riding a few months.

The new ss/fixed Rhino will be know as the Rhino Street. Cost: £1250 - at that price it should have some nice kit!

Because it's unofficially named the 'Dahon and Downtube' forum: ;)

A quick count of threads that contain the following brands gives the following tally:

Swift: 32 threads :(
Downtube: 63 threads
Dahon: 150 threads :eek:

@ Mintyai: Did I see you doing some rinky-dink trackstands at the junction onto Bloomsbury Way tonight? I would have said hi but the lights changed and you were off like a rabbit. I wasn't on my Twenty so you wouldn't have known who I was anyway. But if you see a white metallic Peugeot 700c roadbike with a small welshman with an orange karrimor coat on - that'll be me... :)

That was probably me, I am still a bit shakey on the trackstands, cleats feel very new still, but I have had to learn quick because I am so bad at getting my feet out of the pedals that if i don't trackstand, I fall over.

Hey, thanks for the comments, I have now updated the article and put it on my own site so I can keep updating it:
http://www.minty-ai.net/bike

:D LOL ... I thought it was the US downtube forum :D

I thought this was the happy clan of r twenty disciples :)