Well a nice green frame arrived yesterday!


I was keen on a Birdy after riding one in Japan but they're quite pricey and shipping from Singapore to NZ seemed difficult and expensive and the essential rear rack wasn't in stock. The FN Hon GT 20 also seemed a bit difficult to ship. The FN Hon Storm frames on Ali Express didn't seem to have a pig nose, and having had the Terns for a few years we thought a different fold might be interesting. So we thought we'd try one of these. I did read all the helpful comments on the similar Al Packa including Dave's "neither fish nor fowl" but think this might suit our use (not commuting, not much multi modal, folding for eg car or cab convenience and particularly for overnight security while travelling)


We're now looking at:

- wheels and tyres - thinking 2.4inch tyres for trails

- drivetrain - considering putting the schlumpf on - I really like low gear to be less than 20inches, and it did me well on the Tern in Japan on steep hills, but just a 1x10 is nice and simple

- racks - TQIQT do a rear rack that might work with panniers ok, I'm hoping my Spartan front rack might cope with a wide tyre. The pignose bolt holes don't line up with the Tern luggage truss so I guess its a brompton fit. Might go for a brompton style block - their bags look good, not so sure about their front racks.

- mudguards for those wide tyres


Any thoughts or advice appreciated.

When there is some progress I'll try to post a photo.


Cheers