Still Pedaling

Every now and then we read about where is the best place for cyclists. Of course when they rate cities, for example, they don't base their report on what kind of bike you ride. So in regards to their ratings it doesn't matter whether you ride a mountain bike, road bike, recumbent bike or a folding bike. But when it comes to folding bikes, there are different areas to take into consideration -- carrying your folded bike on public transportation -- taking your folding bike into your office or place of employment, public buildings, restaurants, grocery stores etc. So then -- based on your experience, how do you rate where you live or commute to under those situations? Perhaps you could include a photo of your bike in one of those locations -- bus, train, store, any public building, restaurant, and place of employment.

So far, I have used my FB in grocery stores within the Phoenix area with no issues whatsoever, but I do get a lot of attention. Mostly curiosity, and I have even been asked to demo how the bike folds inside one of the stores.


Cheers
Wayne

bhkyte

I had a unfolding race against a futon, with a sales staff in a " the futon company" shop.
Futon won.
I have also been asked to unfold my bike by my GP.

York works well for folders. I will see if I can snap an insitu example.

cuzzinit

For me it's more issue of how i live... i'm a Trucker and space is at a premium.... So a folder in the closet is the way to go when you live in the space of a bathroom.

DAME

I'm in the military and my bike allows me to get around when deployed. Can't do that with a full size bike. I do plan on some short tours this summer/fall. Nothing in the town I live in makes a folder better than a regular bike.

SixRaven

I just got my FB. So far, have used it for commuting to office, grocery shopping, going to restaurants or other shops and even joy rides over the weekend. I've practically stopped using my car, which I'm about to sell (actually, the idea from the start was to get a regular bike to commute to office, but then I discovered folding bikes existed.) The FB does bring a lot of attention. Some people stand around while i fold/unfold, and some ask how much 'something like that' costs. I'll snap some shots of the bike in the wild! So far, it has changed my lifestyle completely.

DoubleDiamonDog

I live in Seattle, but don't use my folder in town a great deal. I don't commute as I work out of my home office, while my wife rides a full size bike daily to her job where she parks it in a full size locker outside the hospital.

Travelling is another story. Portland and Vancouver BC are fantastic cycling cities - excellent network of separated bike lanes and relatively flat, along with outstanding mass transit - Seattle lags those cities in all three areas. Taking Amtrak or BoltBus to Portland or Vancouver is a great inexpensive car-free weekend getaway. We haven't done it yet but imagine that a trip to Victoria on the Clipper would also be fun. Have traveled many other places with the Brommies. Bike-a-bility (along with availability of transit) of cities is one of the big factors in deciding which places we would like to travel to.

This doesn't exactly respond to your question, but even though we don't use the FBs as much in the city we live in, being able to hop on cheap transportation for a nearby great place was a consideration when we bought them.

fietsbob

It's largely unrelated , since there is a suck intermodal transportation system in the US in general.

the sell out to the oil powers and automobile infrastructure with out regard to alternatives

is near complete .. and a navy at the service of resource extraction ..

now that im in close and mostly out to pasture, but too old for a stud farm , It pootles me along

and my favorite bar, lets me park it inside.. it goes under the wallmounted juke-box..

Snow on the ground ..so I brought the Studded 26" tire bike back out ..
the fact that 2 bikes are folders ..+ two that don't .. also fit in the Mud Room -entry..

mconlonx

I don't live in a place where a folder is the optimal bike -- semi-rural, own house with extra room, full size bikes make sense -- but I have a commute for which a FB is extremely useful.

Bike-bus-bike commute: currently, I have a bike locked on one end of the commute and ride another one to the station because it's winter and no one makes 18" studded tires for my Birdy. Drivers don't like tossing full-size bikes into cargo and bikes get bumped for luggage if needed per bus policy. Outside of snow/ice weather, I much prefer taking the folder with me on the bus. If I thought I'd stick around for another winter, I'd be looking to trade the Birdy for a folder with 20" wheels.

Now that I have a folder, I'm finding uses and convenience I would not have imagined. Takes up less space at home, unfolded, and disappears folded. Fits easier into the car unfolded; folded, it will fit in a trunk with the seats up. Recently, I took it cross country by plane in checked luggage--much better experience than renting at destination. Comes with me in the shopping cart at the grocery store. I will sometimes visit the city (Boston), using the same bus service I do for commuting, and all the same reasons a folder is so great for commuting by bus apply to travel for leisure.

So, if pressed, I'd say where I live is best for riding a folding bike because I'm easy folding biking distance (5 mi) from a local, commuter bus line, which can be the first leg in taking me and my folding bike anywhere in the world...

DoubleDiamonDog

Hey - I thought of a nice Seattle FB advantage. Seattle has an interesting car rental by the hour service called Car2Go. The cool thing is, you can grab a car in one location and drop it off in another - a one-way car rental in the city. There are some restrictions on where you can park but it is very nearly any legal public parking space, including metered spaces and you don't have to pay to park. Portland also has this service so we can use it down there and they use the electric version of the car.

They use Smart cars and I can just barely fit my wife's any my Bromptons in the back - this won't work if you don't have a bike that folds as small. A few times a year well hop on the bus a couple of blocks away and ride up to Capitol Hill, avoiding the sweat inducing climb up the Madison hill. Then we'll grab picnic supplies and head to the waterfront bike trail, maybe hang out awhile at Olympic Sculpture Park - very cool - but walk those bikes! Then we'll cruise over to the passenger ferry and ride it over to West Seattle and cruise along Alki Beach and have a picnic. Here is where the Car2Go comes in. We could ride back on the Brommies but the routes are busy with heavy traffic and not the most enjoyable riding, or work out travel by bus, with transfers but they run less often on weekends. So we snag a Car2Go, place the bromptons in back, drive home, park the car and leave it for whoever needs it next.

wahoonc

The folder is not at an advantage where I live... need a bike with a gun mount like a 50cal...

Where I use my folder is for traveling. It rides in my car trunk. When I get where I am going I can tour the local landscape. I try to choose my hotels based on a place to ride, or if there is a bar in the parking lot...

Aaron

Sangetsu

I live in Tokyo, and there are few places which are more advantageous to owning a folder. The public transportation system in Japan is great, and is very efficient and reliable. It doesn't get you everywhere, but if you bring a bike with you, pretty much every part of the country is within your reach.

After the big East Japan earthquake a couple of years ago, blackouts and repairs affected the train service, and rolling blackouts occurred. It became wise to take my bike with me on the train to work, as it was sometimes necessary to ride my bike home. I was glad to have it at these times.

Folding bikes are very much part of the Tokyo cycling culture, and there are many clubs for fans. Most shops have a good selection of folders, and countless parts and accessories. The Japanese love to accessorize, and as most people don't have the space to keep a car, they often spend a lot money on their bike. I recently saw a Brompton with tooled leather bags, mudguards, grips, and a handle, looking much like the stuff I put on my horse back in my horse-riding days.

Ekdog

I live in Seville, Spain.

More and more people are buying folders here (mostly cheap ones, but you do see a few Dahons and and an occasional Brompton). This is a great city for cycling because of the mild climate (although August is unbearably hot), the lack of hills, and the excellent cycling infrastructure (140 kms. of physically-separated bike lanes).

One problem we have here is that most people live in flats and there is often nowhere to leave a bike other than inside one's home. In my case, my wife won't allow a regular-sized bike inside, but she's cool with my Brompton.

As far as inter-modal travel is concerned, you can travel on any train, even the high-speed AVEs, with a folder.

cuzzinit

Too much recoil, it will slow you down.... now maybe on the back, then a Desert Eagle might have a boost effect

edwong3

Well I believe the more accurate title for the topic should be whether where one lives is good for cycling...period. And where I do it is.

But in my particular case, having a couple of folders has to do more with the space available in my small habitat (I have room mates), and the fact that I can take it into the office where I work (I ride a Greenzone Value Edition as my commuter). The small size of a 20" inch folder means that I don't even have to be concerned with folding it at all when I get to my place of employment. I just roll it in. In fact, just last yesterday, I didn't even fold the bike in my bedroom. It was perfectly fine, and wasn't in my way at all.

My other bike is my trusty Qile Duo which I've had for almost six years now, and it "lives" in the kitchen, and I never fold it there either. I did have room mates before who had full size bikes there, and they weren't in the way either. They have since moved out a good while back, and now I have that space all to myself;-)

I guess one's living arrangements, and lifestyle dictate which type of bike is best for one's circumstances.