BruceMetras

You can see the frame hoop in the above photo from SesameC..

SesameCrunch

He probably didn't see the frame loop in the picture because he was distracted by the spectator in the background...

BruceMetras

I didn't find the orange jersey clad spectator distracting in the least ..

bhkyte

I have never riden a mini ,but I was pleased with my 8NS. I have owned a Curve.Diblasi,Giatex,merc,Dawoo shuttle,brompton, and 2 Mezzo. and feel that you proberly right about the mini being amounst the best 16" folder. Shame they pulled it.

jur

I was distracted by the passenger sticking out of the Mini rider's backpack. Looks like she would have had a stiff neck at the summit.

chagzuki

Could anyone tell me the diameter of the top section of the handlepost on the old-style mini (with the outside-folding handlepost)?
And also the steerer tube diameter if possible?

Urbanis

Well, you'll just have to come back and visit us, then!

airwulf

On my 08 Mini the top handlepost measured 29mm, steerer tube 33mm. Handlebar is 22mm.

jur

Both 1".

chagzuki

And I guess the seat post is 27.2?

invisiblehand

I think 27.2 is the inner diameter of my 2007 post.

jur

No, the seatpost is a weird number, 30.4mm I think.

SesameCrunch

According to Yan himself, older seatposts were 30.4mm, newer ones were 27.2.

Sammyboy

I loved my Mini, but I don't have it any more. Bottom line, it wouldn't go big enough for a 6'3 man. I had a Butt Buddy, but even then, I couldn't get proper extension, and the Butt Buddy didn't impress me much. Without that, I would have kept it for sure; it folded small, rode great, and carried an amazing amount of stuff. Pics below are how I used it for multi day commuting trips (my day job is as a leadership development consultant, and takes me all over). It folded impressively small, not as small or tidy as a Brompton, but for the money saved, small enough, and significantly smaller than any other bike I ever saw folded. Loaded up like this, it did tip backwards easily, but again, at the price, no biggie. I was over 250 lbs at the time, riding with the seatpost at least all the way out, possibly a little over, and with all that mounted on the rack, and suffered no frame damage.

Ultimately, not being able to get proper leg extension was too much, when I wanted to be able to go out for pleasure rides, so I switched to using my full suspension Downtube, and just dealt with the hassle of it being bigger. That's still the situation today, but the Governments Cyclescheme thing means I can now get a Brompton tax free, with an interest free loan from my company spread over 12 months. It works out at £50 a month for a P type with mudguards, rack, 6 speed, T bag, and cover, so still a lot more expensive than the Mini was. If only there had been a telescopic seatpost. I do still plan to build a 305 bike; I'm looking out for an SA8 so that I can put together my Mini Moulton project.....

Chagzuki; if you saw one on eBay in the last 6 months, it was probably mine; ultimately if I wasn't going to ride it, and it wasn't a demonstrater any more, I needed the money. It went for only £200.




At the station

Hotel room

All lit up on the way home

Sammyboy

This is how I'm currently rolling for such trips. When the Brompton arrives, it'll be the T bag on the front, and hopefully the Ortlieb case you see on the Mini on the rear rack (heel strike permitting)

chagzuki

I have a vague recollection of seeing a mini on ebay and assuming it must be yours Sammyboy. I don't suppose there are many more in the country?

SesameCrunch

I may be selling mine soon. Trying to whittle down the collection.

Sammyboy

Yeah, probably was. I only ever sold 2 or 3; thought they'd fly out to people who wanted to save on a Brompton, but in reality, I've probably sold 5 full suspension to every one of any other model.

Urbanis

Sammyboy, do you think that's due to the "cycle to work" scheme? Why bother getting a Mini when you can be subsidized for a much higher-end bike?

Urbanis

Sesame, what is your current collection? I checked your profile page but it seems out-of-date--for example, no mention of Moulton and it sounds like you have hundreds of them at this point.

Sammyboy

Urbanis - yes and no. I think my inability to offer C2W has hurt sales a lot in the last 2 years; "I can get the slightly more expensive Dahon tax and interest free - no brainer!", but I'm not so sure about the Mini. When I got started, if C2W existed, very few places offered it, and it just wasn't a factor. I think it's more that the Full Suspension looks alternative to EVERYthing else, and therefore has its only little group of enthusiasts. Without more brand publicity, hurting Brompton or Dahon was always going to be hard, and that publicity would only ever have come free of charge through PR, since we had zero budget. I just didn't have enough hours to put in to making noise.

gringo_gus

San Antonio August 2011 if I get my way... thank you kindly..

chagzuki

The only bike listed on the Downtube website now is the Nova. Even the FS isn't available. . . there's nothing to indicate that there'll be new ranges of bikes arriving any time soon.

JosephLMonti

I just pulled this off of the Downtube website's bulletin board:

2011's have arrived. 9FS's and 9 front suspensions will be posted as soon as our Indonesian container arrives ( about one week ). However they are available in the USA now!

Yan

Sammyboy

Yeah, there's what Joseph just posted, plus Yan has been on here and posted pictures of them, and here's me, the European sales partner, saying it too. Maybe none of that's true though, eh?