P7HVN

I originally bought one for storing inside an upstairs apt and occasionally riding on transit, in the SF area. I found the overall size so convenient, that I rarely ended up folding it, but it was a nice option if I wanted to put it in the back of my hatchback. Now I have a truck and live in an area without transit options, but am being drawn more & more to small tired bikes. Their tire size & geometry make them quick steering and fun to ride. The overall size makes them convenient to walk among peds on sidewalks. And I can put them in the back of my short-bed truck, without dropping the tail-gate.

Funny for me, as my other recent bicycling interest has been fat(4")-tire bikes....

overbyte

They are like the Dr. Seuss book "Green Eggs and Ham":

bhkyte

I didn't realise I had so much writing talent!!
Time to give up my day job.

Winfried

Exactly. Few people are still aware of folding bikes, and they always look at me funny when I bring a folder on the métro/bus/train

As gas is going to get more and more expensive, I guess more people will look into going multimodal, but there's a need to advertise more so that newbies know which good brands to get and not be disappointed.

fietsbob

My house is so close in now I could walk .. but my Brompton has a parking spot inside the Favored Bar.

Shaunbee

I bought a folding bike, not out of necessity or need although from where I come from, the folding bike is indeed an asset. I bought them initially for a most ridiculous reason - I was curious. Having laid off from riding for about 15 years, I strolled into a folding bike shop out of curiosity. The super friendly and knowledgeable stuff attended to my questions and even offered several models to test ride. I was sold. Coming from land-scarce Singapore and nearly 80% of the population lives in highrise apartments, it seemed a logical choice. Yes, I folded them a couple of times until I realized that my spare room could easily accomodate both foldies, unfolded. And then there were three, all unfolded.
The novelty of riding a foldie has made many a friend during my rides and only now do I realized that there's actually a foldie community here in SG. Like some of you out there, I too, wanted to be different. Perhaps I get a kick being out of the ordinary. Being different usually means having a hard time being accepted especially when herd instinct is so prevalent here. However, when I get up to speed with the "big boys" and some times overtaking them, I get nods of approval and this is very satisfying.
On my last trip to Japan, I was no longer a novelty as the foldie population there is huge. Usually I would be stopped by a stranger and we would exchange notes with my atrocious command of the Japanese language but the bond of being two-wheelers soon overcomes that.
Still on the issue of being different, there has been a proliferation of recumbents and tadpole trike here. I had the chance to ride a tadpole trike and is now itching to get one but as I mentioned, the apartment is just too small to accomodate a non-folding trike.
Dare to be different and be happy with it, is what I always say.

Winfried

+1. A folder is a conversation starter, especially if you ride an unusual brand like OriBikes/Mezzo, Pacific Cycles, etc.

BassNotBass

Every folder is unusual. Most people, let alone 'cyclists', know one folder from the next. "Hey, is that a Brompton?"... "uh, no, it's a Bike Friday like the sticker on the frame states". Now excuse me while I go make Xerox on my Ricoh printer/copier.

smallwheeler

your comments always give me sensible chuckles. thanks, Bass.

Shaunbee

I ride the Tern X10 and it's usually the aero rims and low spoke count that starts the conversation. For my Tyrell FX, it would be the additional trusses that catches their eyes and again, it's a conversation starter. Make no mistake that I'm an attention seeker but I do enjoy the attention.

koolerb

My wife doesn't know it yet; she thinks I'm currently at my number of bikes, "upper limit." If I ever see a good Craigslist deal on a folder I'm going for it. They look pretty interesting.

Shaunbee

The name Brompton is synonymous with folders and this is something that even my niece asked when I posted pics of my bike on Facebook. Like BassNotBass, I have often been asked this same question. Strange the Tern or Tyrell sticker is being overlook. Bring a tear to my eye that I have to get a piece of "Kleenex" and wipe it away. While it can be annoying, it can also be amusing. On the other hand, I hate it when my bikes are being touted as "You mean you paid S$xxxx for that? Wow! I got mine from Giant Hypermart (read Walmart) for S$80!"

mconlonx

I didn't see a general "Why do folders rule so much?" thread, but this one will do.

I do a bike-bus-bike commute, started last Fall, and got a Birdy for the job. Worked out excellent until winter, where snow and ice forced me to run studded tires and I couldn't source 18" studded tires. So I switched to lockup non-folding bikes on both ends of the commute.

Very often, I find an excuse to drop the longer part of the commute and turn it into a drive-bus-bike commute and to lessen that tendency, was recently considering going back to lockup full-size bikes on both ends.

Until today.

There was a snafu with the bus service and the bus I boarded early, with bike stowed underneath, was repurposed into a direct/express bus. No one told the replacement driver I was on-board; no general announcement made that the bus was skipping my stop. So we pass my stop and I ask the driver about it, he gets grumpy and says he will have to backtrack. Those trying to make flights at the airport are not amused. As we are approaching the highway exit for the return to the passed station, I offer to get out at the end of the ramp and bike from there so the driver can get right back onto the highway at the onramp across the street.

He agrees, we haul my bike out onto the traffic island, I unfold it, the bus takes off back onto the highway and I'm off to work no further and maybe closer than if I'd started at the station. Airport peeps were happy to not be much delayed. Everone won, all because of my folding Birdy.

Yay, folding bikes!

tdong

ok my reason is kinda dumb. I just want a fold bike so that if I am too tire i will just take a taxi home lol. Now i have two fold bikes and didn't touch my road bike or mountain bike this year

keyven

I bought my Brompton because of the possibilities it offers. I may or may not use 50% of those but I just love knowing I have the options.

So far I've accomplished a good chunk of what I envisioned - ridden to work, taken it into a mall, onto public transport like trains and buses, hospitals, even a toilet once or twice. I've driven it to different neighborhoods and rode around taking photos. I haven't flown with it either, but it's definitely in my plans.

I couldn't do most of that comfortably with my last Dahon, which was cringingly awkward to carry even if it was the lightest non-special-edition Dahon. The key is that it needs to look (almost) effortless while doing it - whether it's a secure fold or carrying it without poking someone in the ribs.

bhkyte

The main reason for a folding bike is;
n+ 1bikes in the garage looks more reasonable to the wife if the bikes are hidden!!!!

905

One benefit I hadn't considered when entering the fold:



thus removing my bike from what can be mean streets. (Though perhaps it would've been more appropriate to park it near the Elgin Marbles.)

Unfortunately the BM later instituted a size restriction because too many tourists were using it as a left luggage facility; don't know if my Dahon would fit. Here it is unfurled.

marxmini

i love looking at my folding bikes (engineering, design, etc.) from my lazyboy :-)

cplager

I love riding my bike while sitting on a lazyboy.

(The advantage of riding a recumbent. )

905

The best of both worlds.

Ideally that would be a hideaway.

marxmini

that's the way to go :-) maybe a recumbent will be perfect for me as well.

cplager

Ha!

If you put a crank on the wheel itself, you could make it a tandem....

Heck, we could probably convert your folding bike into one...

Elvis Shumaker

I didn't need a folder either, but I had Raleigh and Moulton small-wheelers as a kid so was familiar with them and liked the aesthetics.

I feel they are particularly suitable for shorter cyclists and at the time this was just the easy way to get a well-fitting bike. A fully equipped folder is also generally a bit lighter than the equivalent full sized bike. I like the nimble handling and shorter length, and load carrying has been easy especially with all that space above the rear wheel and the low crossbar. The fact that, folded, they can go in the car or indoors is quite a big plus.

Sixty Fiver

I missed having a car friendly folder...