Not only will you get absolutely stoopid suggestions that completely ignore everything you're discussing, but now YOUR THREAD is about to be hijacked with people discussing anything but what the thread is about, and how it's all pertaining to their singular "needs". Ah, yes, complete hilarity is about to commence...

Are you going to try to standardize wheel sizes, tires, tubes, chains, etc... to try to reduce the amount and variety of spares or replacements that you might need? Or standardize the adult and kids bikes separately?

That ship has sailed. I suggested as much weeks ago. This is one way how I would have played it differently myself. A related issue is standardizing or normalizing the gearing for rider strength so the party of four is able to travel together at a common pace.

yup! We are doing that to the extent we can, but prioritizing bike fit and gearing for each family member first. My youngest for example will need an overall smaller/lighter bike with lower gearing. Both children will be carrying less so the grownup bikes will need to have more carrying capacity. The original idea was to get four identical bikes but that was scrapped early on. Besides since we are all learning about folding bikes it’s more fun to build four different bikes. And having fun is what it’s all about!

nope. Ship won’t sail for another 3 weeks

not a problem 😂 let the fun commence!

Yeah, for identical bikes won't be happening for the age/size range that you need. Bike Friday used to make bikes with telescoping main tubes that made the bikes adjustable for a wide variety of riders. I think the acronym they used was OSATA, which stood for "One Size Something Something Something". Or something like that. But aside from the Tikits, Bike Fridays are not designed for multi-modal commuting.

One thing that did help on the train legs of my last trip was this oversized Ikea bag/backpack. It was big enough to hold two 17l panniers plus smaller bags. When riding, I folded it and stored it on my rear rack.




Sounds like a great family adventure that you'll be talking about for years to come! Be sure to post photos when you return!

yeah we figured that out pretty quick. And anyways, besides a couple inner tubes each and maybe an extra chain and multitool, how many spare parts do you really take with you in your? We’ve done couple thousand mile trips with just that. Who carries a spare derailleur or bottom bracket around with them?

We may visit IKEA in Tokyo for some bags. Thanks for the suggestion!

Swapped the woefully inadequate calipers out for some old diacompe I had lying around. I know the cable frayed a little on me, might replace that before we leave.

The levers are t pretty but they’re very sturdy and much better than the crappy ones that came with the bike in which one of the clamps was already stripped. We have big mountains here and I felt the old levers were about to snap in me on a test ride. These are very solid.

Any recommendations for very grippy caliper pads? I looked at the koolstops but they’re $60USD a pair now! Plus $15 shipping to Mexico

I usually add a chain breaker tool, some quick links, a patch kit, and a kevlar spoke to your list. But with smaller wheels, spokes are not as likely to break.

If you haven't purchased all four bikes yet, it might be cool* to buy some bikes in Japan. I recently watched this video



* but also logistically challenging.

You already bought the bikes. The ship of outfitting the tour with four similar bikes or two/two similar bikes has sailed.

That was the ship. 🚢

No, its not simpler nor mature: there are a lot of differences in the way the center hinge and the locking system of the hinge of the several manufacturers are designed and manufacturers who have an engineering department and devote some effort in bike design are still working on improving the center hinge to make it more reliable.

And for the manufacturers who are just copycats like Litepro, anything is simple and cheap, bi-folds as well as Brompton clones tri-folds.

Manufacturers and users who try to save planet resources are making and buying serviceable bikes, not throw away bikes.

Price is not the only criteria to choose a bike.

Fair points, of course. As you mention it seems hinge technology has come a long way. This is obvious in the quality of both of the Chinese frames I have shown here - the FnHon and the Takachia trifold. It’s obvious these Chinese builders have benefited and learned from the engineering of Brompton, Dahon and I’m sure others. The financial benefits of “copycat” fabrication are passed on to the consumer. As for “throwaway” frames, these chromoly ones seem anything but. Although when/if they eventually fail steel is an eminently recyclable material.

Edit: I should add that it seems some companies like Brompton have basically stopped innovation and improvements on their original designs, whereas “copycats” have taken up that slack with offers of better drivetrains, standard hub dimensions, brakes, racks, components… and at competitive prices

Just watched the video - so cool! That green bifold with the front and rear racks and dynamo light looks very interesting

Please go to this shop for us!

Japan is so damn cool!!!

Japan has always been a kind of paradise for small wheels and folding bicycle lovers.

thanks for sharing! Unless they have a branch in the Tokyo area I don’t think it’s in the cards for us on this trip. If anybody knows of a folding bike shop in Tokyo though, please recommend!

Next up is the cromo framed Mint purchased directly from the factory in China via Alibaba. With a claimed maximum rider weight of 150 kg, the frame does seem very robust, although the componentry is bottom of the barrel plastic.

The ride is very nice, although it is definitely a bike for a smaller rider. Which suits us since both my wife and daughter are about 140 cm tall.

The mechanical disc brakes work well, although I did have to reroute the front table to keep it from binding when turning hard.

On the fence about whether to replace this derailer now or wait until it breaks.

Another thing to replace would be the square BB, although it could see some service time, especially as the bike as a whole is not very heavy.

Compared with the Takachia, the Mint is several centimeters smaller, not jus in its effective top tube, but also when folded.

The Takachia also has much more robust plastic frame components, such as the twiddly knobs for the clamps and latching mechanisms. Those will have to be gradually replaced on the Mint.

The folded Mint has a smaller footprint, and it’s also lighter weight

3 out of 4!

The two Trifold’s are definitely not built to the same design, with small, but significant differences in shape and dimension. The welds on both bikes look good, although overall, I would say the fit and finish on the Takachia are nicer. I have been told that disc brakes on Trifolds created problems with the fold, however the 140 mm rotors on the Mint do not rub or interfere with anything as far as I can tell.

The L-twoo Fold-B is the only derailleur able to keep the chain tensionned when folding the rear triangle.

The type of chain tensionning with an extension arm added to the derailleur cage of the Takachia was used on the Birdy 1 and Birdy 2 (mounted at factory by both Riese & Müller and Pacific Cycles and also several different design from several third party components manufacturers like for instance Ridea) and has never been 100% reliable = without derailling sometimes when unfolding the bike.

It would be better to keep the L-twoo Fold-B derailleur.

tanks! That’s good to know. So far, I’ve had no issues folding or unfolding either bike - but was not aware the L-twoo was the most reliable. Do you know if it can take a larger cassette? I’d like to get at least a 42t sprocket on there. I imagine the extension arm on the Takachia could work with a different derailleur, like a Shimano Zee maybe?

No, I have a L-twoo Fold-B derailleur but haven't tried a very big cassette. On my folding bike, the biggest I have is 34t and with a 50t chainring its short enough for me (I have a factory installed double chainring on one of them and never need the small 36t chainring).

With the extension arm, part of the chain tension comes from the derailleur cage, a shorter derailleur cage will reduce the tensionning capacity.

I have no issue of cage hitting something with a medium cage derailleur (Shimano Ultegra medium cage) and 50x355 wheels.

Ah, yes, the gode ole medium-cage Ultegra RD rated for 34T max that miraculously hangs lower than a short-cage RD. Right.



This is on 50-355, which means that on 37-349 it'll hang about 1.6cm even lower. Great recommendation. 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

Takashia trifold has 35x406 wheels, not Brompton size 35x349 wheels.

35x406 wheel has an overall bigger diameter than 50x355, so medium cage derailleur like the Shimano Ultegra or Shimano 105 are OK.



BTW, Ultegra or 105 medium cage (Ultegra RD-6800-GS for the picture below) are also OK with 35x349 wheels: