All Asian OEM are allowed to sell parts and accessories for the Birdy in Europe and US.

But they don't do it because nowadays the amount of Birdy sold in Europe is too small and in the US its even smaller.

The pnly thng that isn't allowed its to sell complete Birdy in Europe and US which market are owned by R&M who is the owner of the intellectual property of the Birdy (they designed it). Pacific Cycles is allowed to sell outside Europe and US but not allowed to modify the Birdy. They can only make some special series Birdy with other frames (like the Titanium Birdy and 40 year Birdy, at a certain moment it seemed this one would become a standard model of Pacific Cycles but then Pacific Cycles denied that this would happen)).


Having both a Brompton and two Birdy, I can attest that it is the case: the Birdy is stabler and equipped with a derailleur or Rohloff its also quite faster than the Brompton.

The bottom bracket box of the frame is standard too, its only the front hub of the Birdy disc which is proprietary (the one of the Birdy with rim brakes is also standard).

The Pacific Cycle e-Birdy uses a Zehus rear wheel with everything in it, motor, battery, controller. But its a bad solution because the battery is very small and only one speed (seems Zehus will have a 4s version). The reason they did that is probably because its very simple to make and more important it doesn't require any frame modification that they aren't allowed to do without approval of R&M.

For R&M itself, they were only using Bosch system that requires a specific frame and doesn't fit into a small folding bike like the Birdy

They now have also a series of ebike with the new Fazua system, its a little bit smaller and weight less than the Bosch system (not that much anymore since the latest Performance Line CX Bosch motor is smaller and weight much less than previously) but it also requires a specific frame. Putting it into a Birdy would require a huge and complex frame modification and would result in a very expensive eBirdy what would limit the amount sold (the Birdy is already close to the price of a Brompton Electric, adding a high end expensive Fazua motor would end up with a close to 5K€ eBirdy).

A simpler solution would be a eBirdy with a Mahle Ebikemotion rear hub motor that accepts a real cassette and derailleur transmission but R&M doesn't work with Mahle and its also a relatively expensive solution.

I am pretty sure that R&M would never use a Chinese ebike solution.

Asian OEM producers are not selling this bag in Asia either nor the other under frame bag that R&M offers in EU. Instead they sell their own design of under frame bag. This allows me to assume that R&M do not allow them to distribute these R&M bags for whatever reason.

for the BB I got mixed up because if we want to upgrade to a double chainring (or a crankset that supports either 1-by or 2-by chainring) then a longer BB is needed.

Hi,
I've found a pre-owned MK1 for fairly cheap. There are plenty of photos, and the owner seems to be responsive/genuine, however I would still basically have to buy this bike 'blind'.
Is there anything I should know before buying such an old Birdy? Is there anything I should ask the seller specifically? I should mention, this would be my first folding bike, so I'm totally unaware of what to be looking out for.

Would appreciate any and all advice re. purchasing pre-owned Birdys - Thanks!

Hi! I know nothing about MK1, but in general terms: Beware of any signs of it having crashed before, and ask about this. Check the pictures carefully for any signs of cracks. Especially if you or the owner are heavy. The MK3 was strengthened in strategic spots, afaik because MK1 and MK2 were breaking (afaik mostly the rear swingarm, but also the front swingarm). Ask how far it has been ridden, that's nice to know. Beware that for MK3 the manual specifies that certain frame parts should be replaced after X kilometers, see earlier in this thread. Ask about cracks in the elastomers, I guess? I don't know if MK3 replacement parts will fit an MK1. Better not go mountain biking with it

If/when you buy it, maybe check for play in the swingarm bearings and headset bearings. Check if rims are worn (this is a rim brake bike I guess). Best of luck!

Better find some pre-owned Mk3 or even Mk2 - given that the oldest Mk3 is already 7 years old - the price should be cheaper? If it’s the real Mk1 the youngest one is like 17 years old? I’m not sure when did the owner change the parts.. this is very important. But the frame - like glye said, better check for cracks etc.

Old folding bikes (even very old) can be excellent opportunities because many folding bike owners don't often use their bike and for very small distances. Its for instance the case of boat and small airplane owners.

So, its possible to find very old folding bike in a like new state.

Since its a Birdy 1, it has rim brakes, look if the rims and brake pads are the original ones and at the wear of the rims and brake pads to estimate how many km the bike did.

I went for a ride yesterday evening and tried the light in unlit road. Wasn’t confident to do any decent speed with it at all. If I wouldn’t have Edelux II on my Brompton I would probably say meh, but once you used Edelux II illumination you can’t unsee it. And Supernova E3 Pure3 simply doesn’t deliver. When I returned home I did some measurements and am confident that Edelux II will fit just fine without any major modifications. In fact it should even be better positioned as it will sit a little further to the front and upper which should clear more of the front fork interference. clearance to the stock suspension should also be fine.

That said I didn’t check it against the low rider as I removed it and also front luggage blocks if anyone use them. Can anyone confirm if stock Supernova rear light will work connected to Edelux II?





I also checked how to rout the cable to the rear rack and am not sure how to route it best with minimum visibility and avoiding long term damage to the cable considering constant pivot point. So if possible I’d want to keep rear light as is.

Thanks, the rim brake tip is super helpful, I'll keep an eye out on the rest too.

The cracks to be most concerned about would be on and around the folding mechanisms obviously, right?

My concern is that the bike has a fair bit of cosmetic damage so it must have had some use.

I wander if anyone routed dynamo tail light loom to the back of the rear rack? And if yes what’s the best routing? Placing it above/below rear rack reflector seems the best option for visibility, yet I’m not sure if there is a workable rout for cable.

Jipe I think you’ve recommended this rear light in one of your posts. Did you actually use it? If yes where did you mount it? Thanks.

For this price, I would prefer one having auto brightening during braking, like this one:

XlitET Smart Bicycle Tail Light
or this one
CubeLite II Smart Tail Light


Edit: oh I forgot you have hub dynamo to power the lights.
Forget about it then.

Yes, its on my Ti Birdy, look at picture below, as you can see, its very small !

For the Supernona tail light with Edelux II, it won't work well since the Edelux II just provide the same voltage output as the dynamo, it only has a switch between the dynamo input and rear light output while the Supernova tail light expect a DC viltage and expect that the standlight is provided by the front light, it has no own stand light supercap -> light will go off as soon as the dynamo stop producing electricity. The BUMM My is made to work directly on a hub dynamo or rim dynamo output and has its own built-in supercap for standlight.

Thanks. Do you think it can be mounted on the same bracket where Supernova tail
light is mounted on Birdy Touring? If I can’t use Supernova tail light with Edelux II I’ll need to think of other options.

Also found this in the internet which seems to be an adaptor of some sort which allows SON Edelux or similar standard horizontal light be mounted vertical like stock supernova light is. Wander of these are available to buy.

I think it should be possible to mount the BUMM My at the same place where the Supernova tail light is mounted.

The SON rear light that I have on my Brompton is much bigger than the My.

I did. No problem there. I simply routed it along the rack stay and then along the rack itself. Attaching the cable in strategic places with black tape, leaving enough slack to ensure folding will not pull the cable. I also wrapped some black tape around the cable in places where it might rub against things. I removed the rack reflector and put a standard format taillight there instead (5 cm bolt distance). Those lights have a reflector in addition to the light, so it's all good. There is also a reflector on the mudguard, but the more the better.

If you are going to use panniers with hooks that wrap completely around the rack tubes, you may have to adapt the cable routing to that. Should not be difficult, just add slack sections in the right places, or route it along the middle bars.

Busch + Müller have several dynamo taillights with brake light function. They depend on the dynamo pulses to function, so according to what Jipe has said they will not work if connected to the Supernova headlight, but they will work with most other headlight brands and also if connected directly to the dynamo. Example: "Busch + Müller Toplight Line brake plus". I use this one on another bike, and the effect is very visible.

I don't see "small" as a positive feature for a light. In my view the Busch + Müller My has the same problem as the original supernova taillight: It is tiny, and has no reflector. Sure it may be bright, but regardless of brightness, a visible size has advantages over point-shaped lights, in helping other estimate your distance/speed.

Beware for any light mounted down near the hub axle, like the original supernova: There will be certain angles where the rim/tyre blocks the light, making you hard to see from that direction. The rack or seatpost are safer locations, in that sense.

Thanks glye
The best option I see is rear rack, it’s high up and can’t be blocked by anything. Would it bee to much to ask you to post some pictures of how you rooted the cable to rear rack?

Black rack, black cable, black tape. Not easy to see anything. But here you can see the cable coming up the rack stay by the elastomer.
(Old photo with red elastomer and SRAM NX 11-speed. Now it's got a green elastomer and Alfine 11.)



Here you see it taped to the left main bar of the rack and going to the light.

When I use the Birdy for commuting and shopping I replace the seat quickrelease with a hex bolt and secure it with HexLox (I do the same with my wheels). This to prevent some idiot thief from stealing the seat & seatpost (it won't be worth much to them, since it's a size and length very few are interested in). For shopping it's quicker to leave the bike locked outside, than folding it and bringing it inside. On tour however I mount the quickrelease, and bring the folded bike inside my hotel room at night. But then the seatpost is vulnerable when I stop for shopping food for instance.

Has anyone come up with a way to prevent seatpost theft while using the standard quickrelease? It doesn't have to withstand heavy tools and criminal masterminds, just quick attempts by opportunistic idiots. I was thinking to make a plug that's too big to go through the seat tube, and attach it to the seatpost end plug with a wire. It would sit invisibly in the hole down by the bottom bracket. Then you can't pull the seatpost out, and the opportunist thief is hopefully frustrated enough to give up and go away. When folding, the seatpost knocks out the plug and it hangs from the wire. Maybe if I add a magnet to it I can snap it to a steel bolthead so it doesn't get tangled up in anything.

Thanks

I believe you may use some sort of very thin steel wire with small combination lock




Put it through the saddle and rear rack. Should be fairly light and small if you will use really thin wire. You can put it on before entering the store. Visible to thieves, not easy cut quickly. Probably will have the effect you’re looking for.

I did something like you ask for : a steel cable with one extremity attached to the bottom of the seatpost and the other to a round aluminum plate with a diameter slightly bigger than the seatpost diameter so that it cannot pass into the seatpost tube of the frame.

When the bike is folded, it hang under the the frame, when its unfolded, I choose the cable length so that the aluminum plate come almost against the bottom of the seatpost tube of the frame.

Of course, with tools, its possible to cut the cable but it prevent somebody to easily/quickly remove the seatpost+saddle with only opening the quick release.of the wheels and replace them by titanium 5mm axles that need an hex key to be dismounted.

There are special axle that require a keyed tool to be dismounted (from Pitlock for instance) that are safer but its made for expensive wheels, the Birdy wheels aren't very useful since they almost only fit for a Birdy.

You can see the round aluminum plate just under the bottom of the seatpost tube of the frame in the picture below (its the Birdy Touring with the Shimano Ultegra RD-R8000GS derailleur and Tune hub + 11s 9-34 Ethirteen cassette):

your bike looks so nice! Do you have the pic of the whole bike? 😍
I like how the Big Apple tyre retains the white reflection ring.

This picture was taken this winter just after installing the new 11s rear wheel in place of the original 10s (+new rear derailleur and new chain), its now much less clean! As you can see, the crap H&H Ti rear rack is now replaced by the excellent R&M rear rack. And you can see the wear on black the rear mudguard stay due to the use of rear pannier.

Jipe I can see that you replaced stock ergon grips. I have Brooks ergons on my Brompton which are fine, but for some reason ergons on Birdy are not as comfortable. Probably because they seems to he wider/thicker.

Why did you feel a need for double seat post clamp?