thehammerdog

I want something different to ride when I am not in the mood to ride a racer or mtb.
I came across the mini velo idea. Looks like a real road bike but with small 20" wheels....I assume the thing is quick as a cat. Anyone ever ride/see one. I did see one once breifly in NYC but never road one.
Check out the photo, the price is right

https://jeromes-bikes.blogspot.com/20...mini-velo.html

kbro1986

similar to this?

thehammerdog

That would be a super mini.....I doubt it would make for a fun and fast ride around the lake.

alexvpaq

reminds me of these foldable bike
https://www.dahon.com/bikes/2011/vector-x20

carpediemracing 

Rode a Tern, which is a really solid riding folding bike (Dahon lineage).

They accelerate so quickly that I quickly shifted into way too big of a gear.

They are harder to handle properly when out of the saddle, but otherwise felt pretty good on the good pavement I rode on.

On potholes and stuff it may be a bit different.

The Tern guys were riding 10 miles to Interbike every day, 10 miles back, and they were on crazy jet lag schedules (they'd spent a few days in Taiwan just before, a week in Germany before that, then Taiwan before that).

You get better draft (closer to the next person - one of the reasons the 1984 Olympic team used 24" wheeled bikes in the team pursuit but a 24"/700c bike in the individual pursuit). You have way lower moment of inertia. Easier to pack too.

ahsposo 

I know a guy that owns a Moulton similar to this:



The Moulton Speed

He rides it a lot.

DanBell

Mini-velos have become super popular over here. I'm thinking about picking up one of these wee beasties when they come back in stock next month. Seems like a great city bike.

thehammerdog

That looks very cool, Sadly I do not read the language is there an english web site.....what do they cost....I would love that bike.

DanBell

It's a Japan-only model for the moment as I understand it. It's ¥68,000ish here including tax so at today's crazy exchange rate it's a pretty absurd price in dollars, about $890!!!!

bbattle

Get a Brompton; race in style.

Crappymonkey

Bikesdirect has them for $299 if you just want to pick one up for fun

https://www.bikesdirect.com/products/mercier/nano.htm

GP

On this type of bike, do you clips and straps or clipless? Do they make clipless pedals that will fit clown shoes?

ahsposo 

Bad link. Is it missing an "L" at the end?

EDIT: Never Mind. Server must have crashed with all the traffic from this thread.

DGozinya

Fun stuff! Link works for me...

pgjackson

Looks pretty cool for city riding or camping...not for road use. It's a moped version of a road bike.

jeebusaurousrex

Heh, those little guys can be surprisingly quick.

ahsposo 

But I'm not quite sure I get this.

The Mini-Velos don't fold do they? What's the point?

I've got a Dahon folder and get a fair amount of use out of it but it's the least comfortable bike I own and these things don't look any better.

DanBell

What I've heard bandied around, and I don't know if this is totally true, is that they became popular in Japan due to the smaller spaces that people have available to live and store their stuff in. Smaller wheels, shorter bike, smaller storage space needed.

For the minivelos, you can recreate your normal-size bike's fit on a much shorter bike, so it shouldn't be uncomfortable at all. For zipping in and out of heavy traffic like I do on my commute, a shorter, nimbler bike seems like a good option.

Finally, the first link on a google search for "small bicycle wheel benefits" yields this paper from 1997. If you don't wish to read the whole thing, here are two lines from the conclusion:

"For a given tyre construction, cross-section, inflation pressure, load, road surface and unsprung vehicle mass, a bigger wheel will roll more easily. However, this parity of conditions is not necessarily met. Furthermore, it can often be influenced in favour of the smaller wheel.

Small wheels are stronger, lighter, stiffer, more compact, have lower wind resistance and offer more design options. They facilitate faster acceleration and more responsive handling. Used in conjunction with suspension and supple high pressure tyres, they can be particularly effective."

All of that being said about small wheels and whatnot, I think they just look cool. I love the technical bling of the Moultons, and I love the ingenuity of the Bike Friday line. I want the Masi I linked to earlier because of the beauty of the simplicity of it... and because I already have two bikes taking up space in my apartment, so the next one has to be a bit smaller.

tero

I've seen a lot of these in Korea, something like this one with full 105 groupset:


I'm not sure why you would buy this over a standard road bike. The frame and the wheels are probably lighter. Major difference is the huge chainring. Price-wise they cost as much as regular bikes. Probably not more aero, at least I've never seen one with aero wheels.

I don't think people who ride these are quite as "serious" cyclists (just based on the fact that I've never seen anyone ride these 20+ miles outside city limites), but I might be completely wrong.

thehammerdog

[QUOTE=tero;13266119]I've seen a lot of these in Korea, something like this one with full 105 groupset:


I'm not sure why you would buy this over a standard road bike. .

I don't think people who ride these are quite as "serious" cyclists

As a person who never saw one in person I luv the idea as a second 3rd or for me 4th bike. Not a primary but then I do not live in an apt in a city. The idea of pounding down th eroad all aero passing some dude inhis full pro kit on 20" tires is something I'd like to do....I bet the thing is quick and agile and just fun.....bigger tires = smoother riding Again, looks cool and that MAsi was very nice.....