I'm planning to get one of these in the future.




Do you think this can be ridden just as fast as a racing bike?

It's got the right handlebars, I say yes.

'Seats too high.

How fast is fast?

Small wheels make for nervous if not downright twitchy handling, not ideal for paceline riding where precision rules.
Any respectable club ride would drop you immediately as a safety hazard, guess you'd find out if it's fast enough then.

-Bandera

Depends on the rider and group's speed. My club(New York Cycle Club) doesn't allow
anything but roadbikes. One member argued that his Bike Friday was basically a road
bike, he's a lawyer I think Anywhoo, they let him come along and was able to hang
with the group. So, I guess he and his bike are the exception. Although there's another
guy that leads rides on a bent, but that's another topic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jea4l...6zPoymgKaIoDLA

Incorrect.

Need to slam that stem!

I take it you've never ridden a Bike Friday.

The smaller wheels do make the handling a bit quicker, but you quickly get used to it, and a good rider can hold a straight line, and ride safely with a BF, as well as any other bike.


As for speed, BF's can be fast. They tend to be a bit heavy, but the smaller wheels are very aero, particularly in a paceline, where the smaller wheels allow for a better draft.

I've ridden a BF tandem at 50+mph with no problem. And pulled pacelines at 30mph.

The bike the OP posted is totally a road bike, and a capable one at that. It's not UCI legal because of the small wheels, and the non diamond frame. But they typically are allowed to race at local races where UCI rules don't apply.

https://www.bikefriday.com/blog/?p=423

Personally, I'd choose not to ride with a group that was so ignorant as to not to allow Bike Fridays.

If you can match weight, aerodynamic efficiency, and gearing a folder / small wheeled bicycle can compete against standard bicycles and does gain some edge as smaller wheels are often lighter and more aerodynamic.

If you are fast on a road bike then you will be fast on a road bike that just happens to rock smaller wheels.

Moulten was able to demonstrate that small wheeled bicycles could be extremely competitive back in the 1960's... the UCI ( bunch of French surrender monkeys ) quickly implemented a ruling that banned small wheeled bicycles with non diamond frames from sanctioned racing.

Correct, the last folder that I rode was a Raleigh 20. I bow to experience.
I'd still position myself well away from one in a paceline.

-Bandera

+1. For years I commuted fast in traffic on a BF NWT. While touring out west (on a different bike) I rode off and on for a week with a couple crossing the country on a BF tandem towing the wheeled suitcase as their gear trailer. They were fast. In fact, they initally dropped me going up Hoosier Pass outside of Breckenridge, but I caught back up. They flew down the descent to Fairplay where we parted ways.

A stock Raleigh 20 is not a fast bicycle... the upright position and three speeds limit things a little.

After some work they can be made to go much faster... my P20 (custom) is set up for touring and I am pretty much spun out at 50 kmh with the gearing I have. The modifications to the frame and fork make it a very stable bike at speed and it will cruise at 30kmh all day (solo) and plays well in groups although people complains there is less draft behind the 20 so they don't get the same pull as I do.

I'm think that may be perception as much as reality. You sit 3 inches or so lower on the smaller wheels, but they can also draft 3 inches or so closer, so I'm thinking its close to a wash.

Probably... this usually came from bigger riders who didn't like chasing my skinny butt on any bike.

Nice work, hardly a garden variety 20.

Anyone with an overblown ego should be forced to commute for a month on a Raleigh 20 in downtown traffic, life seems far less like an epic struggle of Nietzscheian will after a few miles and more like a good joke.

-Bandera

The stock R20 is actually fairly ideal for stop and go traffic and middle distance riding if you are not looking at setting speed records... it is much like a classic roadster in this.

I am more concerned about the riders in a group, than the bike they are on.

Flip it, & slam it!!!

i ride extensively on SS bikes with 630mm rims (old 27"), 622mm rims (current std road bike rims size), 571mm rims (old 650c), and 559mm rims (MTB).

i have a clear preference for the 630mm rims for speed and comfort. the smaller the rim the worse it gets, IMHO, of course.

Are you sure about sitting lower? The bottom bracket height and therefore the seat height have to be fairly standard to accommodate the crank arm length. Three inches lower would make the crank strike the ground on every revolution or at least certainly in the corners. I think the rider position and height must be the usual.

Flip and slam it, then yes.

Swiss surrender monkeys, I think you'll find.

Anyway, I think the diamond frame rule is from the late 90's.