Multi-modal mini-Velo meander

Ok, put the bike and me through the wringer. Too much to do today, including dropping the car off for work, and getting to Allston.

Enter the mini-velo!

Thing goes in sideways across the back seat of a Mazda Protege5, no need to take off even the front wheel. Take it out at service station, ride 6 mi, get to the bus depot. I ask the driver if they will take a bike, and he says "if it fits."

C&J bus service from Portsmouth NH to South Station. Love the service, but they have a bikes are secondary policy -- if there's passengers with luggage enough, you and your bike can get bumped. In practice this rarely happens; tip the driver heavy if you bring a bike.

Removed pedals, rotated the bar down, removed front wheel. Fit easily in the space provided, with room to spare for luggage at the next stop.

South station, reassembled the bike and set off for Allston, probably another 6 mi.

Already the St. Paddy's day faux Irish drunks were rolling in...

Spent some time at Geekhouse bikes, then reversed the process: Allston to South Station, bus to Portsmouth, bike to Kittery, get the car, stuff the bike in the backseat.

Awesome day, warm and clear, just a perfect day to be out riding.

Have a seatpost rack and a trunk bag for carrying necessaries, and that was all I needed.

Size of the bike makes it perfect for carrying around without a fold. Fiddly, breaking it down, but lays pretty effectively flat. The way it fits in a car is amazing. Mid- of full-size car would swallow the thing behind the front seats, maybe even across the back area of a seven person vehicle.

Not the lightest bike to heft, but it's more centralized and manageable than a full size bike.

Ride on the 28-451 tires isn't as harsh as I thought it might be, but I was paying extra attention to avoid holes, big road irregularities, and really sandy shoulders.

Wicked fun bike, seemed more in its element in an urban setting. Easy and quick acceleration, quick steering, and small size add up to a bike that is very comfortable mixing it up with urban (Boston, St. Patrick'sDay...) traffic.

Again, this will be down in Boston next week if anyone wants to check it out, take it for a spin.

Does anyone know where I can get hold of a mini-velo in the UK? Ebay hasn't turned anything up, and google doesn't seem to have any helpful results. I've seen some 20" polo bikes that look to be suitable for conversion into a mini-velo, but again, those seem to only be on sale stateside. If there's no way to get the genuine thing over here, is there a UK supplier of polo bikes which might have a suitable bike for conversion?

I have been under the impression they were easier to find over there because you have more reason to use them because of space etc. Other than that I can't help, much, but I think you would get some good answer if you asked over in the folding bikes forum.

So here is the testing stage of my Miniish Velo. Its a mid 1980's Peugeot US Express mountain bike with 24 inch wheels. It rides pretty smooth and I am actually getting pretty excited about it. I am trying to decide what shifters to throw on it. With a stem extender I can pretty much get it where I want it to be for fit. I need ot dial it in some more, but its really coming together nicely.

http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/a...e/IMG_2285.jpg

Here is a poor size comparison pic to the Windsor Shetland. The Peugoet has fairly long chainstays so that might mean its going to be my new commuter. I have to get it all set up first.

http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/a...e/IMG_2286.jpg

OK, so, here is final reportage on the Mercier Nano, now officially looking to get rid of it.

Again, not particularly unhappy with the bike, just not the right tool for the job; as in, not the best bike* for my 38mi r/t rural commute...

...but fantastic in the city.

I was down in Boston for a framebuilding course through Geekhouse bikes. They are over in Allston, I was staying in Somerville, about a 2-3 mi commute depending on which route I took. Pretty flat, only a very few low, low hills and overpasses to deal with. But city traffic with Boston drivers... Roads are typical New England springtime city mess.

Friend I was staying with is a courier, and he encouraged me to bring my bike inside each night, a stairway, narrow corridor, and a couple of sharp turns from street to storage.

Great way to test out the mini-velo in an environment more suited to it's purpose in life. And in the city, it totally rocked, definitely in it's element.

The nimble steering and quick acceleration with the small wheels were more than worth the tradeoff of a slighly rougher ride over road irregularities. Steel frame and extended seatpost with 32 tires took the sting out of anything that would have rattled teeth on an aluminum racer with 23 tires pumped up to max. Easier to thread through traffic, with less overall length to deal with.

Morning or end of the day, again the centralized weight and compact size made maneuvering it around a tight apartment much easier. And at the end of the week, it went right into the back of our subcompact with a bunch of other gear, no problems, no issues.

This is a perfect style of bike for urban dwellers. Still not a multi-modal standout, without foldability, but does fit in a car, small apartment, or under a bus in luggage much easier than a full-size bike... without even taking the front wheel off. Also easier to find a slice of rack to lock up to.

Regarding the Mercier specifically, the parts are what you'd expect on a budget bike, but worked well enough to be invisible in use. The traditional double chainring with the 20" wheels and a med-range cassette was overkill in the city--you could easily do a 1x8 for flat, short distances--but is extremely useful if your adventures take you a bit farther than city limits. And this bike will encourage longer rides a bit more than perhaps a folder might.

Again, I really loved getting around the city on this bike. But I live in a much more rural area, and just built a custom commuter for 90% of the riding I do. Mercier Nano test is over for me, PM if interested in purchase.

Soma has a non-budget model

Yes; and they are on the water - with new 406rim; wider spacing; 20x1.5 stock tire; room for at least 20x1.75

I want people to try these bikes out; so I am doing a 'pre-sale' on them at $269
http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/mercier/nano.htm

They should ship to customers by May 20th
and likely will sell out on pre-sale

Once we get more feedback; if the demand is there we can start more models with different options etc

I like fun new stuff

Sweet. I brought the Shetland back out this week... I swapped seats as it turns out the original was a little wide for me.

I love that the production models will have 406-40s. they will be easier to replace and ride better than the 451-28s on my Shetland.

... is there a retrofit kit available? ;)

I really want to buy an orange one, but I really want something with canti brakes so I should hold out for something like that hopefully you have the interst (besides me) to build some. I have the Silver Shetland and its still my favorite bike. I rode it to work today. These are such a good deal. Nice work if you have more configurations I might have too many of these little things to ride. =)

I posted in the other thread, but I'll just drop here the thought about a mini-velo tandem with low standover for family use (much like Bike Friday's tandem). That'd be fantastic for riding with kids and for easing the usual tandem storage/transport issues. Seems like a mini-velo tandem with the front wheel off would be about the same length as a 700c road bike (at least mine, at 6' tip to tail).

Oh, and BikesDirect: your site says "Geometry Sizing Coming soon" but then has an incorrect link later on for the aluminum Mercier frames (not these frames).

What? You have some of the mini's in stock- NOW?!? I thought they weren't going to be available until end of May or the beginning of June. Gonna have to go on a full fledged Ramen diet for a while...

I built this up a little more than year ago from a kids bike frame.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4154/...8a388feae4.jpg
Packed it up in a cardboard box and checked it as luggage, without getting dinged!
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4117/...1a1f3f6d1f.jpg
Planning to convert back to a geared bike soon.

Any chance for an extra large model in the near future?

I off-roaded my Shetland prototype on Friday over about 4 miles of gravel road and hardpack. The tires*, aired down to 85psi, actually ride pretty well. If I hadn't been the only guy on the trail, I am pretty sure someon1e would have looked at me funny.

*still the original 451x28s, which I believe is the only tire size available to fit this bike. Production bikes with 406-40s will not have this problem!

The highest I run my tires on my Shetland is 85 psi LOL. When these wear out I think I can fit some 20 1-3/8 on there (probably going with Primo Comets) and those would be perfect for everything I would do with this little bike. Have you had any more problems with the seatpost slipping? I haven't had any issues yet. I put a Ritchey Pro seatpost in yesterday and a Bontrager Race Lux saddle on which should lighten up the bike a bit (not that it really matters) and make it more comfy.

I swapped the original saddle for my WTB Speed V Comp that is the correct size for my posterior and the seatpost issues went away. I think the OEM seat was a little wide and I was pushing it further back... you do have to tighten this seat clamp like you mean it.

And as to the tire size, I think a 451x38 (1 3/8) would fit in the front, but do you think it would fit in the rear? My rear wheel seems off-center between the stays and a 38mm tire would likely rub. Unless the guys at the LBS dished it wrong...

I think the 20 1 3/8 would fit under the brakes (although it might not), but if they did getting them past the brakepads might be a chore. I wonder if maybe just some 20 1 1/8 with a different profile (maybe more round) might be the way to go. I have tried to come up with reasons to buy some of these ITS Micro knobby tires. The Kevlar bead is 2 for $25 and the wire bead is 2 for $20.

https://www.jrbicycles.com/storefron...productId=2219

Why? Its best to stay with 406. Wider tire selection.

... because the prototypes were 451.

After riding some 27 1-1/8 tires the last couple of weeks on my Le Tour I am tempted to go thinner with my next tires instead of trying to fit something wider on my Shetland. The Shetland tires almost seem fat now. LOL Part of the reason is I could get ITS Micro knobby 20x1 tires for $10 a piece which could be pretty zippy.

I decided to sell ny Dahon so I figured I would try out the fenders from it on the Steland and hey they fit with some squeezing and some ingeuity. I rode the bike around a bunch last night to get the hardware I needed for the fenders and test them out and it was so fun.

http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/a...e/IMG_2378.jpg

Any of you 'early adopters' have friends/family members who own a Suburban? Curious to see if a mini would fit behind the third row with the seat back up or folded down.

I have a friend that has a late 90's Tahoe, but I won't see her till next week. What year is your Suburban? I could take my Shetland to a car lot and try it out. =P

gorgeous.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say it will fit behind the third row seat. Maybe some issues at the handlebars--they might have to hang over the top of the third row seat with the wheel on, but if the front wheel is removed, I'd be a lot that it would fit easily in the back of a Suburban, no problem.

Okay, from following the majority of this thread, it appears that the minis are stellar at densely populated, close quarters commuting or on the MUPs, but come up a bit short in Suburbia or the open road. Would that be an accurate statement? If so, then one of these things may not work for a new route I've been mulling...

I'm not sure that's true, I think the production machines with 406 tires will fare better than the prototypes with 451s. Better tire selection, frames designed for wider tires, better ride on bad roads.

I like mine quite a bit, I just can't ride it all the time because I'm quantifiably slower over the same commute route on the Shetland v. my MTB-with-drops and I have been unable to determine why.

Probably because your too busy having fun on the Shetland. :thumb:

This may be part of it, it also may be that certain rough spots on the route work/feel better on 26x1.5s (40-559s) than on 28-451s. Even once I got the fit worked out, I'm still a few minutes behind no matter how hard I push. Production bikes will have more rubber and have a more substantial feel to them on 40-406s.

There's also my nagging worry about the bent rear hub... again, production bikes will have 406 tires/wheels and will be able to take more abuse. Part of me is afraid that I will destroy the original 451 wheels... and I have looked, 451 wheels are pretty hard to find for less than I paid for this bike. 406 wheels... sure, any old bike shop has those. But not 451.

I don't have the cashola right now (I blame a toddler, a fence, and a trip to Hawaii), but if I did, I might get a set of long-reach brakes and retrofit 406 wheels to the Shetland... or trade the prototype for a production bike... :)

I'm running 26x1.5s myself and just now getting my average to about 15 mph on the mostly flat MUP that is my primary commute route. Though as you pointed out, the 451's aren't 406's (and you might want to look over that first paragraph ;)), how much of drop in speed are you seeing?

It's about 3-5 minutes on 11+ miles of uninterrupted suburbia (mix of expressway, street, and a tiny bit of sidewalk). On my 26" road/touring/MTB monster, I can do the ride in 44 minutes door-to-door consistently. My record is 40. On the Shetland, it is a minimum of 47 minutes and more like 50ish. And I am always more tired on the Shetland at the end of the ride. I think it's the extra work of momentum-keeping on the expressway.

Not the end of the world time-wise, but it is noticeable.

I was worried bout ruining my 451 wheels too. I decided I shouldn't worry so much. On the folding bike forum a member found this wheelset thats interesting. Shipping makes them jut under $60 and they are supposed to be 451. The front wheel would need to be spaced wider. Maybe I'll pull the trigger on a set of them when I have extra cash floating around in a few weeks. I don't know what kind of quality they are either, but they look cool. =P

http://www.amazon.com/wheel-Complete...602880&sr=8-10

Also I personally think the Shetland bikes are superior to the Nano's in a few ways. The Shetland frames we have are put together much better than the Nano's that are being sold right now. I think the frame dimensions and geometry are a bit different as well and I think the Shetland has longer seat tube and headtube based on my comparison in measurements from my Shetland to the biggest Nano in production now. If you ever consider getting rid of your Shetland please contact me I would be very interested in that sweet Yahoo of a bike you have. =) I like my Shetland, but I wouldn't mind one with a larger frame.