stevegor

I took my 406 wheel with Conti slicks R20 single speed, 58x14, for a 55 km spin this morning.

The course involved some undulating hills and one vicious hill climb. I found that the rolling hills were OK to climb, most of them in the saddle and when I stood it was no problem. Not sure if it's as easy as my 700c bikes but it was enjoyable. The real test was on the hill climb, my gearing was way too high and the gradient in one section is easily over 10%....it was tough!!

Descending and high speed cornering are my favorite cycling thrills, I love the white knuckle experience, I've had my wife give up trying to keep up with me in our car as I came down a mountain. So how did the small wheels go? Good, I was impressed by the speed and agility in high speed corners, and the sharp right hand bend at the bottom taken a full tilt was a REAL BUZZ.

All in all a great ride....now if I can just get some more gears on this bike.......

AEO

I find that the lower center of gravity makes it harder to really lean it into corners.

owenfinn

I think that's true - and it was a little frightening the first time I experienced the sensation. I have an '07 Curve SL. With my seat post nearly extended to the limit, the rather heavy Big Apples act like ballast on a ship. I almost have to force the bike down on the curves at high speed.

SesameCrunch

This is not scientific, but I sometimes believe that my small wheels actually help me climb better. On my XX Helios, which weighs 17.5 lbs, I am able to climb better than my full size Fuji, which is 17.3 lbs. They say rotational inertia is very key in accelerating and climbing. The wheelset on the Helios weighed 995 grams vs the Fuji's 1550 grams.

On downhills, though - one person's thrills is another's chills. I find the smaller wheels less stable. I don't dare go as fast.

Sixty Fiver

My folder is fixed so fast descents take on an added thrill although the bike does handle like it's on rails and I have never struck a pedal.

cyclistjohn

Interesting. I don't find that riding my Brompton, & I now take corners faster after recently fitting 140 mm. cranks. I'm slowly increasing speed, & take one corner at 17 mph, pedaling through it, as I can't get pedal strike now

I do find cornering by leaning trickier though on my recumbent. I'm about a foot lower than on the Brompton, & a slightly too fast lean means I'll be on the ground. Mind you, as I'm already in position for a soft landing, it's not too bad if I do

John

Folder4life

I get really scared on downhills on my Brompton. The stelvios feel like they jump when I hit small pebbles and if there is a crack in the road, the tires will sometimes follow into it.

cyclistjohn

I think that's true of any small wheel (depending to a large extent on the tyre fitted though)? A few weeks ago, I just could not avoid riding into a Stelvio sized parallel channel at the edge of the narrow cycle path I was on, & of course, in it went. Luckily I only went about 1/2 way up in the air, not going right over the bars!

Anyway, won't be a problem soon, as Stelvios are no longer available in 349 mm., so we'll see how Kojaks do instead, but they're nearly twice the price!

John

stevegor

Descending and cornering at speed are an acquired skill, it takes time to build up the confidence to do it properly. I've seen strong riders back off on corners where I've lent the bike over and gone 'round the outside close to top speed then kicked away for a sprint, that's called a Criterium.
I've also seen a rider nervously descending a mountain at speed as I was climbing it, he was braking as he was cornering and the bike was twitching all over the place.
Better to go slow if you don't know.
but it's a blast to go fast

stocksy

Oh man! I knew they'd been renamed Duranos (which sounds like a condom to me), but I didn't know they'd killed off the 349. I'm actually upset.

yangmusa

I find my Birdy rock solid on descents. I had a front tire blow out a few years ago (on my recumbent) that has been messing with my head. But I'm starting to rediscover how much I like descending fast, and on most rides nobody can keep up :-D Fun!

cyclistjohn

I can't see a 349, can you post a link please?

https://www.schwalbetires.com/durano

lets us add comments, & it seems there's more 349 users upset about no Stelvios!

I actually carry one as a spare in my bag, as they bend easily, are small cross section, & it saves me having to carefully go over the entire tyre cross section in case I've missed a thorn or glass splinter - especially important if I've had a puncture, & need to catch a train, & or, it's the back wheel (which is quite straightforward to remove & refit but takes longer owing to the chain tensioner)!

John

cyclistjohn

What tyre on your Birdy, out of interest please, & is it 355?

I mostly ride my recumbent in summer, wearing just sandles, shorts, tee shirt, & I've come off it several times, almost always on gravel, yet always feel safe on that bike, getting no worse than a scratch, perhaps because I'm already in a good position to land

I would really like to get a recumbent conversion for the Brompton, but (even if still available) the German one only works on the old SWB Brompton frame.

Agreed about fast descents, but I do need to keep a keen eye on the road surface!

John

KoYak

I completely agree. Both my pocket rocket and MU P8 are very good climbers. In addition, the pocket rocket is a great descender with ride-on-rails like handling at high speed (Which for me is about 35-40 mph). Actually, what BF says about the pocket rocket is true. It rides like a normal road bike. The MU, on the other hand is, overall, just a little twitchy. I’ve only had it up to about 25 mph. but it think that’s gonna be about the max speed for this bike.

datako

I suspect it has a lot more to do with the wheelbase, frame stiffness, and trail rather than the wheel size.

On a particular high speed descent on my Dahon (20" wheels) I feel nervous about its ability to respond safely above a certain point. On my old Moulton (16" wheels) the same descent feels perfectly ok although I have to take into consideration the anti-lock braking characteristics of the spindly steel brakes on it

LWaB

Suspension helps a lot. Nobody passed me on any downhill at the last PBP, including tandems. I was on a Moulton TSR30.

rhm

So you say, but as I recall I have yet to beat your speed record on the Downtube Mini. Somewhere around 36 mph, wasn't it? I need better hills.

feijai

Speaking of twice the price, I've been testing the Greenspeed Scorcher TRs in 349, and they're very impressive tires when it comes to eliminating road harshness: also supposedly pretty good rolling resistance too, though that's not my top priority.

SesameCrunch

Yeah, but my max on a 700C wheel is 52.3mph. that was a thrill. I don't aspire to that any more.

stevegor

Was that downhill or pacing behind a vehicle?

jur

My Swift is a downhill machine par excellence. It carves through those corners like it's got ice skates for wheels.

As for climbing, well what can I say but that I sit back and enjoy the ride uphill.

mlau

I've found that my CarryMe climbs easier than my Swift.
On everything else, the Swift does better.

I'm not sure if you can extrapolate that to other things...

franchezsg

Hi all,

I am thinking of buying a 16in foldable bike and my main concern is really the uphill climb in my campus. I have tried climbing those hill with my mountain bike at lowest gear (my mountain bike has 21 gears) and it really takes a lot of effort to climb. I am just wondering whether a lighter foldable with 3 gears might make the job easier or it would be an impossible feat to accomplish.

Any insights into this issues would be much appreciated as I intend to buy a foldable bike already and the cycling uphill issue is the only think that is holding me back.

Thanks in advance.

franchezsg

Oh.. just to add, the ascent is about 30-35 degrees (estimated)..

bhkyte

Mountain bikes are often set up with low seats so if that is the case it will not help. It is unlikely that many 3 speed small wheeled folders would climb better than a good (hardtail)mountain bike even if you lower the gearing on the folder. This is due to longer seat posts and stems. Alternative is possibly working on a climbing technique. ie getting to the front of the seat, bending your arms,alternate "honking" with sitting. However it also depends on the weight and tyre diameter and pressures. Often a mountain bike has good climbing gears, but even it is heavy and has slow underinflated tyres. If it is a full suspension MBT then much of this energy is wasted espically if you stand up on hills.

So I would not have thought so but it depends what your MBT is.