Official Carryme Owners QA Thread (tips, tricks, fixes, mods, etc)
 

I had a few questions asked to me via PM. So I thought it would be better to have this question and answer thread for posterity.

carryme and big people
 

Is 210lbs too big for a carryme, would anyone say ?

Officially, yes, but my wife and I rode home together 2.5 miles on mine friday night and my frame doesn't have any visible cracks. Yes, that's right, the two of us were on a single Carryme: me in a normal riding position and her standing on the rear rack trying to put as much weight onto my shoulders as possible (240 pounds total).

It was a bit chilly and when the diner surprised us by cutting back their hours to 3AM we didn't want to wait for the next bus. So it was a good thing I had my bike with me.

The official weight limit can, naturally, be found in the owner's manual and although you can probably take it with a grain of salt I think the Strida, with it's 100kg weight limit, might be a better choice for larger individuals like yourself.

just curious, how did you get this thread to become "Official"? Did you have to talk to a moderator or something?

Thanks for starting this thread makeinu :thumb:
I always felt, how good it was to have for example one huge "swift thread" to make it easier to search and such.

Here is a first question: on my Carryme the seatpost seems to be rather narrow (standard 27,2mm) for the seat-tube. Or the other way round: I wonder if the tube is too big in diameter. The tube looks too big already when I insert the post. In other bikes I have, the posts slides more skintight into the tube.

What happens is, that when at maximum extension, I can move the post slightly in the tube with my hands. There is for/aft play even when QR is pulled very tight. When moving the post, I can hear the post "clacking" inside against the tube. The post is not slipping when I ride and it feels very stable, so I thought this maybe normal with such long post at maximum extension? Do people get this with long posts a maximum?

Oh I just typed the word "Official" :o

Hmmm, since you say you have fore/aft play and not up/down slippage are you sure it's coming from the post/tube interface and not the seat-tube/seat-stay interface? I have a lot of fore/aft play in my seat-tube/seat-stay interface which is also accompanied by "clacking". I just put a rubber band to fill the gap and call it suspension.

Hi, all:

I did experience some play in the seatpost as well. Although I did not have the clacking sound it does need a tighter lock to support my weight.

I like the rubber band idea and would like to learn/share some mods/fixes as I commute more often.

Question ... at the max extension of the seatpost, what is the total length to the center of the crank?

thanks all for answering :)

hmhm, not sure if I understood what you mean? Well, its 80 cm from seatrail to center of pedal adapter. Its 64,5 cm from seatrail to center of bb und 27,3 cm from top of tube to saddlerail. The seatpost is only 8cm inside the tube at minimum insertion...but...

I looked again more carefully. It seems that actually my impression was mislead and "the play" is actually not at the seat clamp but a little lower, where makeinu said:
the seat-stays being not welded to the seat-tube but snap into a lock for folding issues and the tube clacks against that "lock":
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/e...som/IMG_78.jpg

Still I feel the post is unusually small in diameter for the tube. The tube has to be pressed very hard. After closing the seatclamp the ***** in the tube is, at the top, a whole 1mm smaller (3mm) then at the bottom (=4mm), feels much for me. What you think?

After all it should be fine though, sorry for hassle, I will try the "suspension" idea.

Sounds like a seatpost shim would be a good idea.

I don't know what you mean by a pedal adapter. But I am interested in the distance represented by the red line in the attachment.

Is the seatpost replaceable? Could one just use a longer seatpost to get more extension? Of course, there would be a limit with regards to maintaining its small fold when one inserts the seatpost as far as possible.

Hi, thx for caring.

Ah the red line. That is 64,5 cm (I call it "from seatrail to center of bb"). Yes, I will swap the seatpost for a longer one. The regular seatpost is already 35mm so I will have to look for 40mm or more which are not that frequent. I spoke to Tom from Pacific Cycles about this issue of swapping the post. He warned me, that the tube might be bent then because of higher leverage, no guaranty any more then. (I don't have that anyway, have no bill) Then I spoke to Mark Sanders about this issue and he said with my weight I could relax and do it. The bike is free for 85kg and at that weight, he would not recommend to use a longer post.

Yes, folding size will be compromised but footprint here seems more crucial to me then folded height, so no matter. And perhaps I also try a shim or a slightly bigger in diameter post (which would have to be an unusual diameter of 27,3 -27,4mm then). My worries are solved for the moment as the post is actually not moving, it was the "connection between Seat stays and seat tube.

What is the horizontal distance between seat post and stem riser (which is called stem in the pic)? I found the CarryMe too cramped when I tested it, but that may be better with a longer stem (which was called 'extension stem' in the pic).

Does anyone know what bags you can fit in the front? Who sells them? Do you have to rig your own system?

Hmmmm, interesting. Usually my top of the saddle to center of the BB measurement is 75 cm. I figure the distance from the rail to the saddle is probably another 4 cm ... perhaps one could move the saddle back a bit to get a couple another two cm (since I care about the hypotenuse, the distance will be less than the amount the saddle slides back).

Anyway, it is something to mull over. Thanks for the clarification.

Yes its quite cramped - the distance between top of seat post (I measured from middle/center of clamp area - of laid back stem) to top of stem (center) is 45cm (when all extended to the max). I had the same idea like you Jur and think about ordering a longer high rise "extension stem" to get the bar higher and more forward, in addition to that perhaps some bullhorns - or some drops:
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/e...ewithDrops.jpg

With the narrow wheelbase and my planned modifications it will probably be a "almost unicycle" experience :D

Michael Lin said that I was too long for the bike and that they will think about a slightly bigger Carryme for the West.

The Carryme front carrier that can be ordered extra is a simple tubeframe where bags can be strapped to:
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/e...gepcktrger.jpg

Here is a pic of a modified adapter for klickfix:

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/e...fixadapter.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/e...cageholder.jpg

- but Pacific also sells a special bottlecage holder that is fixed to the same spot

I personally like the short saddle to handlebar distance because:
1. It allows you to put more weight on the handlebars without sacrificing an upright position. The typical "begging" upright position with the hands up high or far in front is very uncomfortable to me. I figure a lot of people like to ride flat backed because they really want more weight on the hands than because they actually like being stretched out, but with a short cockpit you don't have to. It's not aero, but anyone that thinks drop bars are aero when they could be riding a recumbent is just kidding themselves.
2. It allows you to better pull on the handlebars without standing and when you do stand you don't have to lean as far forward (which is good because the really short wheelbase makes the handling sensitive to changes in the weight distribution).
3. It keeps the stem riser from flexing when you pull on it because you're pulling it more lengthwise instead of backwards.

Honestly I think it's a better configuration that's not traditionally used simply because the toe overlap of larger wheels doesn't allow it.

makeinu, I can see your points and want to say that the narrow posture is comfy - but so far I could not get used to the knee/bar collusion risk, maybe with more practice.

Anyway, in another thread there arose the question how much weight you trimmed of your bike and if it was possible to get rid of 3lbs so get it to 15lbs.

Thats what my scale says about Carryme parts (and some expensive ideas):

Total =964 g ~ 2,1lbs

some weight loss if one files away the to rear brake cable holders, polishes frame, changes screws to ti or carbon, probably bb, stem and headset are candidates.
More difficult:cranks (160mm and 4 arms) and the axles?
no chance to save weight in wheels, chain, chainwheel.

Sounds like you have access to an accurate scale.. have you weighed your new CarryMe in its 'ready to ride' state ?

No, my skale is only up to 5kg. I will scale the bike in parts the next days.

• stem is w/o bolts 163 gr

• additional rear rack = 144 gr

• front rack = 144 gr

1. I did rear brake, kickstand, seatpost, and saddle. But I believe my Carryme started out a bit lighter than the newer ones (not sure why, but mine has a few less extra bits attached to the frame, a front freewheel, and a slightly different frame). My stock bike was 17.5 pounds or so on my bathroom scale.

2. I'm surprised that the Brompton grips are so much lighter. Does your Carryme have regular foam grips like mine or something else?

3. It would actually be very easy to save weight on the chain as there are plastic and mixed plastic/steel chains available in this size. There are also regular #25 chains (as opposed to the 25H, with thicker sideplates, that the Carryme is equipped with). Not sure if these would all snap in half on the first ride, but they are available and would certainly be lighter.

Grips came on my carryme look like solid rubber in grey and black certainly more heavy than foam but I believe brompton grips are within category of the lightest one can get.

Thought I'd share some pics of my CM mods.

I put an Easton CT2 carbon fiber seatpost ($27 shipped on ebay) to save weight and eliminate the dirty metal filings that rub off aluminum seatposts:
Attachment 85573
Speaking of saving weight, the kickstand is completely unecessary even for the unfolded bike:
Attachment 85574

I also put an ISM Adamo Race saddle ($105 shipped from bikeisland.com with a no questions asked return policy) to save weight, increase comfort, and...
1. decrease the size of the fold:
Attachment 85575

2. make the folded bike tightly lock together for easier handling:
Attachment 85579
Attachment 85580
Attachment 85581

3. make it easy to hang off..
the side of a bar, table, or desk:
Attachment 85576
Attachment 85577
or coat hook:
Attachment 85578

Very nice makeinu. I lusted after the Carryme a long time for basically a 5~6 km commute to the light rapid transit train station in a city setting. However, the price and lack of availability in Vancouver meant that the only viable option for a USA purchase + shipping. I ended getting a Xootr Scooter and have no regrets. Goes easy on the bus between my legs, at 10 lbs, is light, no chain, no pneumatic tires, I can maintain 20 km/h on a level asphalt surface with sprints of 23~24 km/h and is a zero-maintenance personal mobility device.

In your experience, what is a comfortable cruising speed on the Carryme?