makeinu

I can't really be bothered with a speedometer so it's difficult to say how fast I could cruise in ideal conditions, but looking at gmap-pedometer what I can tell you is that it takes me about 15 minutes to commute ~5km with 6~7 traffic lights up/down 3-4 hills ranging from 3-5% grade on badly rutted roads.

However, since the singlespeed Carryme is geared so low I think the distinction wouldn't be in terms of speed as much as:
1. Effort- the larger pneumatic tires are much more efficient for coasting as are the gear driven wheels much more efficient for propulsion.
2. Maintenance- polyurethane wheels wear down rather quickly and their bearings are usually quickly destroyed by wet and grit.
3. Versatility- surface roughness, minor debris, hills, and wetness can transform problems #1 and #2 from minor drawbacks to showstoppers for polyurethane wheels...plus a seat gives you more ways to control your balance which is very important with small wheels (ex you can't wheelie a kick scooter).

I have to admit that I've never used a kick scooter for more than a couple blocks, but I think a good pair of inline skates is a better way to build a vehicle with skate wheels and I've been thinking about getting a pair of these:

which are way smaller and lighter than even a razor scooter when you consider that the bulk of the device replaces your normal shoes. I have a lot of skating experience, so I don't think they will replace my Carryme for the same three reasons outlined above, but if I end up liking them for good weather then I might increase the gear on my Carryme or upgrade to a two speed.

BruceMetras

Xootr Says

makeinu

Yeah, but what about what they don't say? I think it's pretty well accepted by scooter, skate, and bicycle enthusiasts alike that as surface roughness increases optimum rolling resistance shifts from harder to softer wheels. Feel free to disagree, but I have not found the hard Xootr wheels to coast as well as my Carryme's on typical road surfaces.

somnatash

yes, and let alone mild off road surfaces like bike paths and footpaths.

EvilV

My son's used to be great skate fans a few years ago (maybe about 8 or 10). I had a go with them and their skates since as they had grown bigger than me in their early teens, they had a few pairs that fitted me, but it has to be the worst ever way to travel. A bike is vastly easier - any bike - even a strida. We had a good laugh, but I ended up head first in mud in the park, had very sore feet and put more energy and skin into that trip than if I had done ten times the distance on a bike.

There are several really beautiful and extraordinarily efficient folding bikes. If you don't go down below sixteen inch wheels you will usually get a serviceable form of transport from any of the usual makes. In comparison to skates or scooters they will all be sheer heaven and will last far longer.

makeinu

In all fairness I think that inline skates can be just as misunderstood by cyclists as bicycles are by motorists. There's a big difference between a quality skate and a cheap one, between a well maintained skate and a poorly maintained one, and between the technique of a good skater and the technique of a poor one. Moreover, skates with bigger wheels are actually faster because a bigger wheel imparts more mechanical leverage to the skating motion (as opposed to bicycles for which leverage can be set independent of wheel size); Since this was only recently recognized today's skates have bigger wheels and are much faster than what you would've found ten years ago. So I'd liken your experience to someone taking his kid's rusty old undergeared department store for a ride without even setting the seat high enough for a good stroke.

Save offroading, people do many of the same activities on inlines that cyclists do. Speed skaters boast that they can beat the pants off of cyclists when sprinting and going up hill and I just read a guy's blog who used the detachable skates above to complete a 250 mile three day tour of Belgium (and he was concerned that his 80mm wheels wouldn't keep up with the 90mm wheels sported by his mates ). Many skaters also claim that inlines are faster than bikes for suburban commutes up to ten miles due to the ability to take pedestrian shortcuts, seemlessly walk up/down curbs/stairs, board transit, etc (obviously there's a bit of overlap here with folding bikes) and blow bicycles out of the water in urban environments for the same reasons.

So I think skates are an excellent way to travel. Although they suffer from the many disadvantages I outlined in my prior post, they are still tremendously smaller and lighter than even the smallest folding bike, as they are way more maneuverable, and cheaper.

Unfortunately I can't don the same praises on scooters, which seem to combine all the worst qualities of skates and bicycles:
-scooters have all the disadvantages of small polyurethane wheels
-scooters are less maneuverable than skates
-scooters have an even less efficient method of propulsion than skates
-scooters have big and heavy frames like bicycles
-scooters force you to stand like skates

One thing I've glossed over (and I think is the biggest disadvantage of skates) is that they are way more cumbersome and annoying to "fold/pack" than even the worst folding bike. Hopefully detachable models have solved this problem, but it depends on if they aren't too uncomfortable as shoes and if they skate as well as regular skates.

somnatash

Does anybody know where to buy a chainring for the old (I believe 2006) model with 90t?

Reason: Sometimes I find the gearing on my carryme too low. I tested the dual speed but was not convinced and would like to try to swap the chainring -my chainring has 84t. (I did pm makeinu and I will ask Pacific also but thought, I try here first.)
Thx in advance

invisiblehand

Pretty cool Makeinu

puppypilgrim

the tugnuts and the rear axle bolts may need some adjustment. The tugnuts are the nuts covered by the black rubber caps at the end of the horizontal track ends. They adjust the amount of chain tension in the system.

In my case, I felt a measurable amount of rolling resistance which I put down to the small wheels. The rear wasn't able to freewheel very well at all. Loosening the tugnuts and holding the inner axle lock nut tight while tightening the outer axle lock nut did the job.

When you turn the pedals, the rear wheel should freewheel and spin easily then slow down gradually. If the system is tight and doesn't spin freely in proportion to the speed of your pedal turn, you need to loosen the tension in the system.

mlau

I'm glad to see this thread.

I'm actually thinking of increasing the weight of my Carryme-to-be with a suspended saddle or a Thudbuster. (Am I just defeating the purpose?)

Any thoughts?

itsajustme

The way the seat tube hinges foward to fold is already similar to the thudbuster motion and I've always thought it ripe for suspension modification or redesign. It hinges at the frame tube and has two contact surfaces:
1. At the seat stays.
2. At the frame tube.

Thudbuster will obviously be more refined, but I'd try sticking an elastomer at one of those contact surfaces first. For example, a rubber band at the seat stays is an easy and popular mod which I've found very comfortable, but YMMV.

itsajustme

What happened? Change your mind about the effectiveness of retensioning the chain? The hubs are a sealed custom design and I haven't tried to disassemble mine yet so I don't know if they have replaceable cartridges or not. Why don't you take it apart or contact www.pacific-cycles.com or www.alternativevehicles.com and find out for us?

All I can say is that if yours aren't worn out, my front wheel spins easily enough for the lopsided weight of the tube valve to completely obscure my observation of bearing friction and the rear wheel is dominated by freewheeling friction (which isn't noticeable under load). But I've been off my Carryme for a few months due to decreasing brake performance (I live in a hilly area and after servicing my brake made it worse I decided it wasn't safe to ride until I have a chance to upgrade to something more reliable...cheap single pivot calipers with long cables are the absolute worst combination).

A few questions:
1. Does the problem affect both wheels? If it's rear only then it's probably a drivetrain issue. Like I posted in your inaugural Carryme thread, logic says that decreasing wheel size has to begin favoring front freewheels, so perhaps the Carryme has crossed that threshold.
2. Do you detect a problem on the work stand? If you only feel it while riding then I think you'll get much better results by switching back to pneumatic tires than messing with the bearings. I don't think small tires deflate faster than larger ones because there's less surface area to cause leakage and pumping up is easier because you need fewer pump strokes. Also, while the 8x1-1/4 tire size is rare, the 8x1-1/4 tube size is surprisingly common (I guess electric wheelchairs are easier on tires than tubes).

quasar

Hello everyone,

I just bought a pre-owned 2008 CarryMe based on your reviews and comments yesterday and do not regret it... It has flat tires and I think there's a chain tension problem as mentioned by puppypilgrim in another post but it was still riding well so far! Attracted a bit more attention than I wanted on the train while going home though!

My 2008 Carry me weighs 8.1kg on my digital bathroom scale with no mods...

I'm new to fixed wheels so I have a few questions...

How would you do an emergency stop if needed?? Normally I would just flat out brake on both front and back... but if you do that on the front brake alone, won't you go flying off over the handle bars???

Wow sounds like nice upgrades... I'm planning to upgrade to an ISM Sport saddle, which is about half the price of your Racing model, costing only $US50 shipped. While it weighs 417g, which is heavier than the standard saddle by 100 grams, it seems much more comfortable, and the 'mouth' in the saddle will probably avoid me having to move the saddle sideways... I don't mind the extra weight, since weight will be cut in other places... I don't feel like spending an extra $50 to cut down 100g at the expense of comfort Thanks for the reference to BikeIsland by the way, they're much cheaper than Amazon!!

By the way, I was doing some research and found the luggage rack has been beefed up each year, which may explain in part why the bike became heavier each year!!

Pre-2008 Carryme:


2008 Carry me


2009 Carry me


2010?? Carry me. Slightly angled at the back

jur

Makeinu has been banned and I not aware that he maintaining a presence under another name.

quasar

Banned? oh no... what happened?!!! Seems sad to bad someone with such valuable contributions!

vmaniqui

yes. any reason why ? we wanted to know the reason so that we could avoid being banned, too....

thanks,
vic

jur

I don't know... I can only guess he repeatedly insulted someone, that's usually what will get you banned. (I have had a warning myself. ) I also enjoyed his contributions.

quasar

I dismantled my Carry me's wheels (ver. 2008 with rear freewheel) and found out that the front wheel uses bearings that seem to be the same size as for skateboard wheels. However, while one of the bearings came out, the other one seemed to be stuck in.

As for the rear wheel - the freewheel comes out, but again, the bearings on the other side refused to budge... Don't know if it was due to tightness or if it was glued in!! Out if curiosity, I tried hitting it a few times with a screwdriver handle to see if it would come out but I was afraid to break it so I gave up when it refused to budge.

The bearings look like this, and just like skateboard wheels, there are two per wheel (one on each side):

Arste

Ahhh technology. Used my computers web cam to explain the unfolding of my girlfriends recently acquired Carryme what a fiasco that turned out to be, but in the end success

chucky

I have this problem on another bike, but not my CarryMe. Probably the bottom bracket needs to be tightened, but I don't know how.

Is the freewheel and cog one single piece or two separate pieces?

I have a 100/16 ratio (50 gear inches) on my front freewheeling CM, but I want to go higher. I wonder if the 14T cog will fit.

gganio

Lately I had the chance to exchange a few emails with aka Makeinu. I asked him how he got banned. He said that it has been due to a discussion over clean un-greased chains that he did in other areas of the forum and that gathered a lot of trolling. Banning happened after several warnings. Banning sucks, because it is linked to the IP, therefore right now he is back again under another nickname but he keeps a low profile not to get banned again.

His Carry-Me is doing pretty well. He is using it and modding it.

owenfinn

That truly sucks - hope he eventually can come back and contribute as he did before.

His enthusiasm and advice really helped to sway me towards towards taking the plunge and buying my first folder a few years ago. Turned out to be one of the best decisions I have ever made. Sooo, if you are reading this - Thanks a ton Makeinu!

virajmaster

Makeinu's enthusiasm and knowledge about the CarryMe was most helpful in enabling me to feel confident in buying one. I love it!

chucky

Had to ride a huffy the other day to transport it for a weak friend. It made me realise what a great little bike the carry-me is.

I'd rather ride the carry-me five miles than a single mile on that huffy (and that day I did both back to back).

invisiblehand

Really? I should drop him a line since he is not far at all. The kiddies have temporarily quashed a lot of friendships.