Ha! Ha! No Chucky, at least on my part there is no "small wheel hate"! Small wheels, and micro folders have their place. Else why would I even start this thread? For stand alone transportation, I just prefer the more mainstream 20" size.
Speaking of recumbents, I've owned 3 CLWB's with the 16"/20" wheel configuration. Those were a ReBike Leisure (1998), a BikeE CT (2001), and an EZ-1 SC I bought used. All 3 put me in a high enough seating position for traffic. Those were fun.
Getting back to the topic, I'm certain the Carryme is an excellent bike. It is probably an underestimated folder, and I bet many folks would be pleasantly surprised if they ever ridden one.
Edward Wong III
Qile Duo 5 Speed 20" Folder
Originally Posted by
chucky
What's up with all the small wheel hate? Frankly, I'm not a fan of 16" wheels because they're too large to really exhibit the advantages of small wheels such as lighter weight, more aero, compactness, more possible frame geometries, etc and so close to 20" that you might as well go with the more popular/available/cheaper 20" rims and tires.
IMHO you really can't appreciate these advantages until you've ridden a very high quality micro folder like the Carryme which I find to have better quality wheels and bearings than bikes costing 4-5 times as much. After riding one for a number of years there's no doubt in my mind that apart from the gearing bottleneck micro sized wheels are much faster than standard bmx or road sizes and the comfort and safety drawbacks are massively overblown and misunderstood. Unfortunately it won't fit you if you're taller than average (which a lot of folder fans strangely seem to be...I guess because shorter folks are instantly turned off by the bulk of the common 20" format folders), but personally the only reason I even bother with larger wheeled folders is when I want more gears or a cheap 20" beater that I can lock outside while still being technically allowed on the train.
Strangely the only place I prefer larger wheels is on a recumbent because I don't think it's safe to lay down in the road at bumper level and there's no equivalent to a long seat post for recumbents. I know you guys are thinking that I'm just a contrarian since recumbents are one of the few bikes where small wheels are commonly viewed as advantageous, but I kid you not that I started out shopping for a small wheeled recumbent (16" or 20" for gearing reasons) and ended up buying 700c as a compromise to get myself above the car hoods.
Although I can't say I've ridden a 12" or 6" wheel of sufficient quality for me to like it, I love Pacific's 8" wheels.
