I haven't timed myself folding the bike at all. But one thing I've noticed is that initially my chain almost always fell off and got folded/kinked - required dirty hands and swearing to put right. Now that I'm more used to it, I swing the back wheel under faster (or with less hesitation), and that seems to make all the difference. The chain rarely falls off.

Oh, I've not had trouble with the brake stopping the wheel from coming out. On my bike it's tricky to get the wheel out with the rear skewer in place, and impossible to get the wheel back on. The skewer catches on the derailleur, where it mounts to the frame. This is a minor annoyance, not really a big deal - but it strikes me as bad design.

Jur--The "low frequency shimmy" does not sound like shimmy at all, but rather a dangerous speed wobble. In the hands of a less capable rider, that can cause some big problems. This is not a known problem with the Birdy from what I've read on the forums. But Martin Donnely on the Yahoo groups forum experienced speed wobble on a 1990s era Birdy that was heavily modified (and cracked). You might want to contact your dealer and try to get Pacific/R&M to replace the frame for you. That would be totally unacceptable in my book. Unless I'm in sand or powder, I find both of mine to handle well at speed.

Are you certain that there isn't anything pressing against the moving arm of the front suspension?

Jur:
I had a stabilty problem which was caused by a removeable bag I mounted off the stem of a mountain bike.

While the mounting was solid, the weight in the bag would flex the bag and oscillate from side to side, turning the steering and causing the wobble.

Could your problem be in part due to oscillation of some of the loads you have attached to the front fork?

David

The load I had on the front was none too rigid, I admit, and I also considered that to have a significant influence. On days where I had some stuff in the loosely-slung backpack, the tendency to wobble was a lot worse.

I still have the bedrolls assembled; I'll check them again with no load on the back and with extra strapping to make the load more rigid.

Perhaps there is something wrong with the frame on the whole - I have had the riding no-hands problem since the beginning. So I'll give it a good check-up. It's just that the bike felt really unstable while loaded.

Oh, and another thing - on coming back home, I found the front tyre quite soft - and I know that is a major factor too. I let some air out for the dirt roads, but don't recall that it was that soft.

This is how I do my grocery shopping (it's not a long ride), just wanted to share. :p

http://www.paularickert.net/albums/u...e-shopping.JPG

BTW, I don't get shimmy riding like this.

That looks very familiar! I'll post my grocery set up when I get back to the States.

By the way, I'll be in the Bay Area in Feb. in the event that you Bay folks all are still taking rides together.

Good timing! We were just talking about it. :D

http://www.bikeforums.net/showpost.p...&postcount=206

I have asked St Kilda Cycles to get some Kojaks in; some weeks ago I went there to get a spare tyre and the Kojaks were in. I bought one but haven't tried it yet. I'm just back from a 10-day loaded tour of Kangaroo Island, so the Kojak is still awaiting testing.

Are there any dedicated luggage racks or bags for the birdie,like the mezzo or brompton?
If there are\how easy are they to get hold off ?

The Birdy folding racks are on a number of bikes in this thread.
For an unobstructed view of these racks, try this link to the Australian Birdy site http://www.birdy.com.au/carriers.htm
David

Black Dog Bicycles is your best bet for anything Birdy if you live in the U.S. They should have all the racks and carriers.

On another note, check out the new Tune catalog. It has a rocket propelled Birdy on the cover.

My Birdy has picked up a few creaks after the tour of Kangaroo Island. The creaks are only there when I stand on the pedals; that's when there is more torque on the frame. I haven't yet spent effort to trace it, but this is what I intend doing:

Checking the Birdy for creaks:

crank arms on BB spindle (RH side done)
BB spindle in BB shell (a likely suspect)
pedals in crank arms (I greased those on installation, so not likely)
chainring bolts (done)

handlebar in stem clamp (likely)
stem in stempost clamp (I see the anodising under the QR has rubbed off a little bit; I think this indicates micro movement)
stempost hinge (small chance)
fork clamp on steerer tube (fair chance)
headset bearing cups loose in frame (small chance)

seatpost in frame (not likely since it happens when I stand)
saddle rails in seatpost rail clamps (ditto)
seatpost tilt clamp (ditto)

wheel quick releases (small chance it's the rear one, since I have removed the front wheel since)
spoke crossings especially rear wheel (confirmed on my Swift rear and Connie's Reach front wheel - both times I first thought it was stuffed bearings)
loose spokes
cassette lock ring (unlikely)

crack in frame
crack in seatpost (this once caused a very persistent creak in my Swift - that adapter I made, see my Swift essay last pic, cracked where the seatpost ended inside it. I would grease the frame's seat tube interfaces, and tighten the QRs, with little success, until I one day found the crack when I wasn't looking for it.)

rear swingarm on spindle clamps
spindle bearings dry or moving in frame

The method that works for me is to twist things around until I find an action that can reliably produce the noise. Then I get my son to do the action while I listen and feel around on the frame for the loudest spot.

Good checklist - thanks Jur! I'll print it out and go over everything.. The thing that reliably seems to produce the sound (when not on the bike) is to lift it up by the handlebars & saddle, then place it back down and press down on the saddle. It sounds like the noise comes from the front - but I should get a second person to do it so that I can listen more closely.

2 items that I left off the list are the elastomers. A spray with WD-40 can silence them for a short time, so that can be an indicator if they are noisy.

Well I put a very thin film of grease between the stem and stempost where the QR clamps, and between the stem faceplates and handlebar, and this cured my creaks. :thumb:

Jur (and friends),

About a double crank vs a hub for the Birdy? Don't want to loose the clean feel / efficeny of a derailer setup? Or is the range of say a Nexus 8 not enough for your commute / touring?

Bob G.

I put a double chainwheel on my Birdy just to see, but the chain rubbed so I took it off again.

The 300% gear range of 11-32T cassette is adequate for me. I have a Schlumpf bottom bracket ready to go but due to the fact it's not absolutely necessary, it's still sitting there...

May I recommend an Aussie product, Inox-MX3.

http://www.inox-mx3.com/images/productimages/group2.jpg

So, I went through Jur's list, point for point. And I think I've finally solved it :) The bearings on the front suspension pivot were dirty with a black powdery substance. I think the fork may have a slight manufacturing defect, because the alignment of the bearings was a little off - this may have caused the rubbing. On one side the bearing just slipped out. On the other, I had to twist and wiggle the fork because both sides of the pivot were not aligned 100%. Not far out, but not quite right.

Anyway, I cleaned them up and packed them with grease before reassembly. I did a quick test ride, and it was smooth and quiet. Joy! I'm going for a 40 mile ride tomorrow, so that would be the final proof... I'm hoping for the best!

[EDIT]: to anyone who has a creaky Birdy and wants to grease their pivots - note that the manual states when reassembling you must use thread locking compound to hold the two halves of the pivot bolt together.

And that's the one item NOT on my list!! :roflmao2:

He he, yeah. Well, your list got me warmed up, and while I was at it I just kept going trying one thing after another..

Phew, the ride was great - no creaking.

Now I can start ponder whether or not to fit Stelvios... :rolleyes: The Mrs' TSR has Stelvios on, and she consistently rolls away from me downhill. Could of course be her smaller aerodynamic profile ;)

:beer:

My Birdy seems about 5% faster with the Kojak on the front compared to the Maxxis on the front. Back is same, a Plus, pumped to 90psi.

I have been logging some commuting times...
Birdy with Maxxis Birdy tyre on the front, and Marathon Plus on the back, both pumped to approx 60-70psi - 60min for med-hard effort.
Birdy with Kojak on the front, Plus on the back - 57min for med-hard effort, so perhaps 5% faster.
Swift - 58min medium effort.

I find it quite hard to judge effort level on the Swift. because it is so light and nimble, I think perhaps I put in slightly more effort that what I feel.

Anyway, it is slightly surprising to see that there is actually very little difference between the Birdy with good tyres and the Swift. Where the Birdy feels a bit harder is on uphills - maybe that's why I think the Swift effort is medium and the Birdy med-hard.

So perhaps if I go the weight weenie way with the Birdy it will be as fast as the Swift. Right now I am toying with the idea of 20" 406mm wheels.

so.... if you could only have ONE folder??

Interesting! I wonder what the time would be on the Birdy with a Kojak on the back as well plus a few other parts upgrades? Schhwalbe North America shows the Kojak as being a much faster tire.

I'm not sure why you want to go with 406 wheels. Is is to get a lower cadence at top speed? It sounds like a lot of work, Don't you need to add special fittings on the drop outs?

David

One of the reasons is to get the same wheel size for all my bikes. Right now, besides the brakes that won't work, I can put my Swift wheels on the Birdy with no other problems. If I put Paul MotoBMX brakes on the Birdy, then I can freely choose.

But you're right... if the Kojaks by themselves yields great performance not to mention light weight, then there is little reason. In that case the only remaining reason would be to go off-roading with fat knobbly BMX tyres (which I don't know if they would fit without hitting the crowns).

Time to hook up the HRM on your commute... it'll be easy to see your exertion level with a few averages logged... Birdys on Stelvios fly also.. but the Kojak is probably a better compromise..

Darn, I had pretty much decided to get Stelvios. Black Dog has them for $27. But now this second mention of Kojaks, and Calhoun has those for $27.99...

So, the Kojak is heavier, but in return a little more robust? On the Schwalbe site they rate it a bar faster than the Stelvio - really?

SWMBO has Stelvios on her TSR, and hasn't had a puncture since she got the bike 2 years ago. And she doesn't just ride it in Marin either, it gets punished commuting in SF.

Obviously, I don't want to invite more punctures than necessary. But the Birdy isn't my primary commuter (more my weekend fun bike) so I'd rather go with whichever tire has the performance edge.

I'm wondering about getting a rear rack too. I already have the front lowrider which covers my everyday needs. I would only need the rear rack for occasional short tours - hence I'm wondering if the $140 is really worth it, since I won't use it that frequently. ThorUSA has a Pletcher seatpost mounted rack for $45-ish (that he tells me can easily be adapted to the Birdy's 35 mm seatpost), and it's rated for 18 lbs which should be enough for my tent, sleeping bag and sleeping mat (stove and other stuff in front panniers). Ok, it won't fold with the bike, but on the other hand since I won't use it that often it'll be easier to take on and off than the Birdy rear rack.

Any ideas on pros and cons of either approach?