Never saw these posts ... sorry for the delay.
Originally Posted by
Sammyboy
The seatpost rack on my Mini doesn't interfere with the fold, unless you count that the folded article is somewhat bigger.
It does count if you have to take the rack off -- quick release I assume -- and do something with it; i.e., carry it, throw it in a bag, whatever. Of course everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but my own experiments with commuting led to a position where having to carry anything else is a pain in @ss. And anything that slows down the folding process past say 15-30 seconds ends up being annoying glip-glop that I rather not deal with. Judging from some discussions with locals, I think that everyone came -- all of eight people ... so we are not talking about a large sample of people -- to the same conclusion with carrying stuff off the bike being a pain in the @ss but probably less sensitive to the folding time. Guess from their responses, the population median would be happy with something around 30-40 seconds.
Originally Posted by
neilfein
I use a backpack. I don't think any folder is all that good at hauling stuff, since it would more likely than not interfere with the fold. Folders with suspension (it seems like that's almost all of them) can also be tricky to put aftermarket racks on. I think the Mini needs some mods to take a rack.
Does anyone ride a folding touring bike?
Assuming that you are talking about sub-20" wheel bikes, my experience with the Brompton and Merc was that it was excellent at carrying stuff. The best in the aforementioned class, IMO. If you were willing to slow down the fold, you could use the rear rack to carry enough stuff for a long weekend ... camping. EvilV has a few pictures on the Merc that I always thought was impressive.
For a multi-mode commute, I would not say that any small-wheel bike is great at carrying stuff since it is trying to arrive at an optimal compromise, but I always thought that the Brompton/Merc's front bag was the best because of enormous capacity, it could remain mounted on the bike while folded, was quickly removed/mounted, and was carried easily because of its handle.
I have never ridden a tikit nor a curve. The tikit looks like it would be a pretty good tourer. I think that with a rear top mounted bag and the front bag, the curve could probably carry a decent commuting load.
Anyway, I still like my Mini. It works for me since there are showers at work and our dress code is very casual. So I don't have to carry much.