Originally Posted by
Jerrys88
Thanks, badmother - I was not aware of that. Of course, now we're talking about adding weight back, but still worth considering. I wish I had taken notes on each bike I tried because by the time I tried the third bike I sort of lost track of what the first one (Tern) had felt like. If I try it again (knowing now that a rolling rack is available) I wonder if I could bring my own saddle and have them put it on for me. As I mentioned, the saddle was really hard (I went for a ride today and my butt was SORE from it), making it difficult to evaluate the rest of the bike. I think I found the handlebar a bit low and its height is unadjustable. Another difficulty in evaluating bikes is that I've gotten so used to the Brompton, anything else feels strange at first, but not to say I wouldn't become comfortable with it with a little time. Still, eager to look at Mezzo and revisit the Tikit. If all else fails, I'll be happy to hold on to my Brompton. The issues I've stated in this thread are really minor compared to the convenience and all else about the bike. Incidentally, riding my Brompton today I realized that I could easily dispense with the 2 very lowest gears, so a 10 speed would be sufficient if it had the right range.
You have to be aware that the tern trolley rack ONLY works for the LINK models and not the verge models that you have tried. it makes pulling your bike as easy as dragging a laptop bag around, and stands on it's own. But the lightest link model with gears is around 11.5kg and that rack is 1kg itself. that's around 25lb already. But you get 9 speeds from that link p9 model, the frame would feel different than the brompton so you would have to decide for yourself whether that's what you want or not.