smallwheeler

here's another view set up with electric assist. speaking of beefy, look at that swing arm hinge assembly.

smallwheeler

more like a NWT, llama, or pocket rocket..

smallwheeler

maderna cruiser/touring folding recumbent. the "cargo hold" is very appealing.

smallwheeler

maderna also makes the "city scooter" with 18" wheels. i like this kind of solution. it's essentially an update of the daewoo shuttle.






this removeable/foldable handlebar stem is most likely a braided steel cable inside a rubber housing with the cable looping or held by a grommet attached to the caliper brake through bolt.

cplager

Where do you find these things???!!!

That's really cool.

smallwheeler

badass daewoo shuttle:

smallwheeler

i knew you would like this.

noglider 

That folding touring recumbent has a lot of intelligence built in. Extremely clever.

Those short-wheelbase bikes look scary to me. You have to have a lot of coffee before you ride it, no? What's it like to ride such a short bike?

cplager

The wheelbase looks longer than some of the folders here. It probably wouldn't be too bad.

That being said, while I'm very used to my FWD MBB (front wheel drive moving bottom bracket like my Cruzigami Mantis) bikes, I did try to ride to ride a RWD SWB (rear wheel drive short wheel base) bike and I did find it quite twitchy. I only rode it for 5 minutes and it would have been fine with more time (although you have to worry about your heels striking the front wheel when you're turning sharply at low speed).

smallwheeler

you can expect super-nimble, tight handling. a lot of fun and feeling the bike as an extension of your body.
looks scary to you because you're not accustomed to it.
a few weeks ago i was visiting my sister down in charleston and i used a beach cruiser to tour around town. i nearly wrecked it a couple of times because i wasn't used to the b-i-g w-i-d-e handling and needing a 3 + meter radius to make a u-turn.
characteristics, man. characteristics...

noglider 

Charles, I'm reading several of your posts about that bike on your blog. Fun!

The only small wheeled bike I have is a Raleigh Twenty. I shortened the rake of the fork by bending it back a bit, following rhm's advice. I can't say I noticed the difference, but I didn't do careful before and after tests.

smallwheeler, you're right, that it depends on what you're used to. When my daughter tried my Twenty, the short turn radius fooled her, and her reaction was to say that it did NOT make sharp turns very well. Of course, she really meant that it DOES but her interpretation indicates her unaccustomed-ness.

BassNotBass

I agree, this is pretty friggin awesome.

noglider 

And the cargo weight lowers center of gravity. Freekin' brilliant.

cplager

Here's a homemade example of low carrying cargo:



He recently took a short trip of only a couple thousand miles with this setup.

He has previously ridden a similar bike around the world.

smallwheeler

that guy is amazing and his 1975 trip right out of high school is inspirational. the newspaper clippings were great. sad also, because surely an 18 year old kid from wisconsin would not be cycling through iran or pakistan today. i enjoyed reading his comments about the general friendliness of people he encountered in his travels. i had a similar experience traveling through indonesia in 2000. if i needed help or a place to stay, somehow, it would work out. the world has changed a lot in such a short time. but, i believe there are still good people everywhere. travel proves it.

bhkyte

I had a dawooe shuttle so here goes...
Ok handling despite short wheelbase.
When you first pedal you get tourque steer to the drive side. You get use to this quickly.
It pops wheelie uphill if you get out the saddle , or if you acceletrate quickly in sitting
You need to find a way of getting a forward areo postion on longer fast rides. I held to stem and tucked a bit.
Carefull on front brake.
Careful on poping up curbs keep weight on front, don't pull up to high.

You could english bunney hop it really high and spin it in the air quickly. Wheelies difficult.

Having said all this its so easy to dismount if you get it wrong. Never really had a problem despite a 10 mile commute.

ThorUSA

how you like this one :-)
Jetstream XP with German A Kilo fork and German A rear air can, Formula hydraulics, Sram XO derrailleur, lower front sprocket ( 48 teeth ) real nice wheels with 20x 2.15 Big apples, Carbon Handlebar, bar ends, seatpost, Brooks saddle ...
:-)
Thor

BassNotBass

I like the Brooks saddle and Kilo fork.

smallwheeler

and those velocity double-wall rims..

smallwheeler

hey, hey. we are the daewoo shuttle club

it's a very enjoyable ride. i've imagined it would be fun to "upgrade" to 349 wheels. maybe a 3 speed hub. some primo comets or other similar skinny slicks. a lighter, more efficient crankset- maybe sugino track cranks. bullhorn bars.. what do you think?

Ozonation

Nice... very nice. Is this a regular sale item, or a private mod?

BassNotBass

and the water bottle cage.

ThorUSA

I built it for me, but everything in my garage is for sale :-)
I can always built me another one during slow times.

thor

smallwheeler

but, not the frame, the frame hinge assembly (or, "patented folding technology" as it is euphemistically called), the folding stem and it's associated parts, or the integrated headset. but, other than that - cool bike.

Ozonation

Ha! Now I just need to convince my wife I need yet another bike...