Fly like a Birdy!
 

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I was lamenting on this forum that I've never run across a Birdy to test ride in all my travels when I rec'd a PM from David, a fellow BF Folder member, who had not one, but two Birdy's and was willing to let me try them...:thumb:

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He works a couple blocks from my house so we met for Coffee yesterday and traded bikes [I rode my fixed gear Bike Friday Tikit]. I won't try and get into a huge comparison between the bikes since I only rode his older bike for 15mins and it wasn't setup for me really well, but I did have some general observations:

- the Birdy was quite light despite the suspension bits...probably about the same as my Tikit +/-1lbs
- handling was similar to my Tikit...a little fast, but only took 10' to be comfortable on it
- Birdy was fast...responded well to hard pedaling...didn't seem to suffer from suspension bob
- suspension was quite stiff...I think my Tikit with GS Scorchers was more plush on rough pavement, they were about the same on the dreaded wooden bridge deck I ride regularly and the Birdy was better for bigger bumps/holes
- I think a Birdy with Scorchers [or equivalent tires] would be the best combo for a comfy fast ride
- I didn't notice any brake dive in the front suspension
- I didn't try the fold
- Birdy looks weird, but rides normal!

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I want to say thanks to David for being very kind in letting me try his fine bike...:thumb: I really enjoyed finally getting to see what that crazy German folder...;) was like to actually ride.

Based on this experience would I buy one?

Well I enjoyed it enough that I could see myself riding a Birdy or at least spending some more time checking them out. I didn't find the ride or the suspension particularly revolutionary for the city riding I do in Victoria, but at the same time there didn't seem to be much downside to it either and perhaps riding a Birdy more I'd come to appreciate the suspension better and/or ride faster and attack bad roads more aggressively???

I wouldn't pay a premium to own one or spend a lot of time hunting one down online, but if one crossed my path in good condition for $1K or less I'd be tempted...:p

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What did surprise me is how well my Tikit with Scorchers performed in the suspension/comfort department compared to the fully suspended Birdy. David commented that on the wooden bridge from hell we rode that it seemed about the same as his Birdy and I agreed with that observation.

BTW - David has a newer monocoque Birdy he has offered to let me try so I'll update this thread when that happens with some additional comments.

Vik-

Thanks for the info. It's good to hear that the Tikit performs so well comparably

Very informative as always. Nice shots too. Interesting to hear the Tikit rides so smooth on rough surfaces.

The Birdy is really a partnership between the 2 German partners of Riese & Muller and some great engineers at Pacific Cycles in Taiwan who helped refine the bike to the production stage. A marriage of 2 fine cycling heritages. I'm really want to test ride a Pacific IF Reach.

A Birdy Rolhoff on the horizon lol?

Thanks for the comparison review. :thumb:

I'd like to offer so observations regarding the similarity on the wooden bridge (which btw seems like a smooth piece of pavement against my rough slatted monster wooden bridge).
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Bike suspension is vertical compliance so that vertical road roughness gets attenuated. How this happens on the Birdy, is straightforward to understand. On the tikit, the things that come into focus are the long and relatively thin seat mast and steering riser. These are the items that must be doing a large part of the vertical flexing. Especially if one considers that the Birdy's aluminium larger diameter seatpost and steering tubes are MUCH stiffer compared to the thinner steel tubes on the tikit. The seatpost and steering riser on the Birdy can't be contributing much at all.

These differences come from the fact that for aluminium to be suitable in design, the tubing must be of such stiffness that the stress on that tubing does not result in appreciable bending, since aluminium can't bend very far before getting over-stressed. The stiffness comes from the particular alloy combined with the diameter of the tubing, and the tube wall thickness to a lesser degree. The tikit's thinner steel tubing is whippy compared to the birdy's.

The tyres are of course very important too - a concrete dougnut will wreck one's riding pleasure faster than a tax bill arriving in the mail. The Scorchers have very compliant sidewalls compared to that rear tyre on the Birdy - that is a Maxxis which is a POS for ride comfort. The Maxxis will be transmitting quite a bit more high frequency to the frame, most of which the suspension will remove but certainly not all. Being aluminium, that buzz will be felt keenly especially compared to the steel tikit with scorchers.

If I got a Birdy first thing I'd do is fit Scorchers or the most Scorcher like tire if that wasn't available in the necessary size.

It's gotta be the Scorchers. The Birdy's got Kojaks on the front and what-the-hell-is-it on the back, neither look particularly comfy. I'm likewise guessing that if you slapped Scorchers on the Birdy it'd be something pretty impressive ridewise. Unfortunately, the Birdy is 18". How easy is it to move to 349?

Vik, I take it that the Birdy's got lower trail than the Tikit. How low, like Brompton low?

*edit*:

Aaahh.

pppft. I was commuting on daily this Rome: :p

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Also this:

http://nakedjason.com/images/Italy/1...cusMaximus.jpg

I've no doubt the Birdy would handle crazy rough roads better than the Tikit and I'm sure it would be a nicer ride with the Scorchers as well, but ultimately I only care about the demands of the roads where I live when evaluating a bike. If I had a 20km cobblestone commute everyday I'd probably own a whole different fleet of bikes then I do...:twitchy::cry:

Nice writeup and photos Vik.

I really enjoyed riding your Tikit, it's a very nice bike. The Tikit I rode when I visited Bike Friday was OK but yours was noticeably more solid and had a better ride. Presumably the optional heavy duty construction had a lot to do with the greater solidity of the bike and the Scorchers were responsible for the better ride.

The tire pressures on the Birdy when I checked them this morning were 105 psi for the Kojak on the front wheel and 80 psi for the Maxxis on the back wheel so most of the work on bumps was being done by the suspension.

This morning I tightened up a few things on the Monocoque so I'll commute on that this week and if the weather is good and our schedules synch. we can get together again and you can try Monocoque with Marathon Racer tires and Capreo Nexave 24 speed gears. My turn to buy the coffee!

We will have to get some photos of the surface of the trestle bridge. It certainly can get pretty mean if you take it at speed. I think that the rough ride is due to differential wear between the thick softwood planks but I have not looked closely.

Awesome....I look forward to it...:thumb: I'll bring my New World Tourist this time as that's probably a more comparable bike to the Birdy...:)

Do tell! I've never heard of that hub. I have the Capreo 9 spd. How do you like the 24?

"pppft. I was commuting on daily this Rome"

@ feijai You ride through the Circo Maximo on your daily commute? That's cool!

*Rode*. Every day, straight down the Circus Maximus on my sabbatical. (Video). But sadly I'm back in DC now.

Circo Maximo is the Spanish name, right? Interesting in-between of the Latin and Italian names. In Italian it's the Circo Massimo.

I had not been familiar with it either before getting the bike.

It runs and shifts cleanly and with little effort.

You can see it in the photos below. The right gripshift and gear cluster are 8 speed not 9 so it is a 24 speed not a 27 speed.

The chain ring looks like a 58 tooth but I have not checked the count.

That was a very enjoyable and informative video. Bet your missing that place.

Thanks for the info and pics. Looks like a cool setup!