New Birdy Titanium
 

OMG!!! That bike is SMEXY!!! :love:

Wow, that is nice. I like that it is a different design than the last version. Too bad they didn't hydroform the frame like the AL version. Although it will probably be much heavier than the AL version, it should be more durable against dings and scratches so better for travelling. I'm sure it will be quite limited and expensive like the last one too, but you can pass it down to your kids since it will look the same decades from now.

Installing new brake cable
 

Sorted my chain issues. Now my attention turns to the brakes.

I have bought some Avid SD7 brakes but found that I need to replace my old cable due to wear/damage. How one earth do I install the new cable and sleeve through the front swing arm?

I haven't done this on the Birdy yet, but general advice is: Before removing the hold cabling, take careful note of how it's routed. Then, find a way to attach the new cabling to the old (duct tape?), so that when you pull out the old, the new one gets pulled in. If you manage this, you avoid fishing blindly inside the fork tube for the loose end.

If you've already removed the old cabling, it may be easier to poke a wire through the fork first, and use that to pull the housing / sleeve through afterwards.

You know what? It was actually a complete non-event. Feel a bit silly asking now, as it took all of 2 mins, with no major hassles or snags. Cheers.

I added a light switch. Most modern dynamo headlights have a switch, some even have automatic daylight sensing. Most cost less than this switchless E3. Really odd choice by R&M. "People who want a dynamo must want to have the light on all the time." No thank you.

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1965/...65180fa5_c.jpg
IMG_20181108_200000821 by gunnsteinlye, on Flickr

That's a tough one if you want to see the raw aluminum. You can polish with metal polish, and then send it out to get a clear powdercoating, that's probably what Birdy did. Or you could send it to get clear anodized. Either way might be expensive. There are many other sources saying you can clear spray aluminum, but from my experience spray paint doesn't want to stick to a smooth surface for long; it just chips/peels off over time. If you want to save money and time just sand it with 600 grit sandpaper, then spray can metal primer, then a color coat.

Klickfix rackpack
 

Does anyone here know if the Klickfix Rackpack adapter fits the current Birdy rear rack? This is a simply a claw that grabs a transverse bar on the rack. The only fitting issues are the allowed thickness of the bar, and the width of the adapter, which has to fit between the long bars of the rack. It looks like this:

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...f03fb38e05.png https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...95c375b22c.png
Rixen & Kaul Rackpack

There is a universal Klickfix adapter now too, but it's not in shops yet, and it's 20€ more expensive than the other ones.

Second mod: Replace the stock 52t with a LitePro 45t chainring, to shift the gearing range about 1 gear downwards. Also saves 164 grams (not that this matters). The chaincatcher on the downtube had to be flipped around, but still fits nicely. The chainring itself is some distance inboard from the tabs that are bolted to the crank, so I had to add 3 mm chainring spacers to move it back out far enough to keep the chain from rubbing the "chainstay". Will also need to shorten the chain to keep it taut when folded.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4805/...21cf03b6_c.jpg
LitePro chainring 45t by gunnsteinlye, on Flickr

Imperium Cycle Multi-s kickstand is overpriced junk.
 

Beware of the Imperium Cycle Multi-s kickstand because it is overpriced junk. Only 100km of riding and my kickstand bent a little. Then in another 50km it bent enough for the bike to fall over on it's own. So I decided to see why the kickstand bent so easily by breaking it open. This is a very amateur and bad design. Only a 10mm tube with 1mm wall thickness is used to support the bike. The strong spring is inside the tube so it is constantly fatiguing this tiny aluminum tube. It is where the spring meets the inner steel insert that the outer AL tube bent. I was lucky the bike didn't fall into the car next to me.

https://i.ibb.co/LnCg9N6/20190103-220756.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/jJQRWxf/20190103-214952.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/VLyYm3g/20190103-214934.jpg

According to Daniel, it should be March this year.





https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...a0b82118a7.jpg
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...39aa49d278.jpg

To answer myself, it does not fit. The Birdy rack is too narrow. But I got one anyway and trimmed about 5 mm off each side of the adapter. It is very sturdy plastic, looks like it will be fine. (This is the same adapter that Tern is using for its rear rack luggage.)

I'd love one of these, but the distributor for Pacific Cycles here in Japan has been very lax in recent years, and as a result, most shops stopped selling Birdies and are focusing on Bromptons. It's a shame, because having both bikes, the Birdy is much better. An odd thing about Japan is that it's a stupid-silly place when it comes to the distribution and retail of some products, and Birdy bikes seem to have come a victim of this nonsense.

The old Birdy titanium bikes were sold in Japan, but used examples are now selling for about $3500.

I suppose I'll have to buy one in Taiwan the next time I visit.

Birdy BD-1 mystery thingamajig
 

What was this piece designed to do on the BD-1?
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...0e95d55cc0.jpg

Act as a bumper against the seatpost or bottom bracket when folded? I have similar bits on my new Birdy. Only I'd expect the black bumper material to be facing the other way.

Ah. Since my seatpost clears it by 5-6mm in its present configuration (not put that way by me but by the former owner) I thought it might be a place to attach some little roller wheels, though I haven't seen any roller-wheel assembly that would use those bolt-holes in that manner.

A word of warning/caution to Birdy-riders: A couple of days ago there was another report of a spontaneous break of the rear fork on a Birdy in the German folding bike forum. This is the third report about that in that forum within the last years. Two of the breaks ended with a crash, one was discovered in an early stage by the rider during maintenance, thus avoiding a crash and complete breakage.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...6131c31590.jpg

(picture source: Twitter: )
Edit: Bike Forums seems not to display links to Twitter. However: The link can also be found here)

The bikes affected were made in 2008 (broken in spring 2015), 2009 (broken in Jan. 2019) and 2012 (broken in Oct. 2016), according to the reports. Though the Birdy manual outlines pretty rigorous maintenance and exchange intervals for things like stem, front fork and bars the rear fork/rear frame is not covered. Yet it seems worth inspecting it on a regular basis. All three bikes seem to have been maintained properly and ridden normally within their spec.. Two of them seem to have been ridden more intensively on a almost daily basis, no info about the third. All breakages happened at exactly the same location on the rear swing arm, directly behind the welding of the stiffening arms that come from below.

Disclaimer: I've neither personal experience with the topic nor do I know any of the riders or bikes personally.

Thanks, I'll be sure to look out for it. I've had another full suspension bike (old Kettler) break in a similar place. My Birdy from last year seems to have a bit of extra strengthening in this place, though I can't really see from that picture if that bike has the same or not.

That's definitely odd. Birdies are popular in Japan, but in the clubs here I have not yet seen or heard of a similar breakage. The only common breakage here is in the front fork assembly where it is boiled to the steering tube, and this is usually caused by collisions or improper tightening of the bolts.

It may have something to do with the average weight of Japanese vs. German people. (No offence etc, I'm heavy myself.)

The front fork is a well known issue, there have been mentions of the issue in Germany as well. The maintenance plan in the manual from Riese and Müller requires since 2006 the replacement every 3 years or 20.000km, whatever happens earlier. So they know that this is a weak point of the bike. This makes the Birdy a pretty expensive bike as these parts are not cheap. Possibly most people do not care about the scheduled replacement. Is this topic mentioned in the manual of the Pacific Cycle Birdys as well?

R+M do however not mention the rear fork in their maintenance plan. I have no ideas how many Birdys have been sold over the years (and even less how many of them have been ridden more than just occasionally) but would assume at least a couple of thousand. 3 reports are not much so I'd assume it is not a huge, generic problem (but maybe still a generic weakness of the construction). On the other hand: If you are affected in the wrong moment that does not help. I'd assume that these breakages do not happen spontanously but rather a crack builds up over time and probably start on the lower part of the arm on the chain side. Over time the crack develops further from there until the swing arm chain side breaks and then instantly the other side as well. At least that's what I could imagine - plain speculation. So it is possibly a good idea to have a look at this area from time to time, especially on the chain side and if there is something nasty to take appropriate action.

That is scary. A bike that requires regular replacement of a core frame part isn't very confidence inspiring. The manual of my Euro Birdy from 2018 says:
- Replace front swingarm "at least every 20.0000 km"
- Replace stem and steerer "after a crash or 10.000 km or 3 years (whichever comes first)"
- Replace handlebars "after a crash or 10.000 km or 3 years (whichever comes first)"

If the Birdy was my main bike, I'd have to replace core parts nearly every year!

Jup, the follow-up cost were one of the reasons why I lost interest in getting a Birdy a couple of years ago.

https://www.ndt.net/search/docs.php3?id=15232&content=1

I haven't ever used it, but maybe local bike shops could offer a "frame review" service that would be better than eyeballing.

Anyone know the hardness (durometer measure) of the foam insert in the Birdy front spring?

I bought a second-hand BD-1 a while back. Can't seem to get the left-rear brake-shoe aligned parallel to the rim. It toes in towards the front of the bike, and I can't see how it would be otherwise, given the angle of the rear triangle. Am I missing something?