ksstathead's car and bicycle fleet changes

[ksstathead]

Thanks, lightfoot! I saw a Dahon (I think) under the Breezer brand at my local bike shop. The Bike Friday is purported to offer a real bike ride such that folks tour on them. I have no great place to lock the bike at work, so a quick fold with their Hyperfold will let me keep it in my office. Unlike the Breezer, the BF retains all positions (e.g., seat height) when unfolded, so that is the other BF claimed advantage. I think my rear panniers can remain in position when folded, and I know the right front bag is left in position folded (but not the left front). Not sure I'll get the front rack. The rear rack sticks off the back far enough to avoid the folded front wheel, I think.

Hadn't thought about restrictions like the hospital. I'll need to carry a lock when such a situation could arise.

[ksstathead]

I have shelved the Bike Friday idea for now, and added rear rack and front fender to the MTB. I like the wide gear ratios of the 3x7 setup versus the internal rear hubs I was specing on the BF. Also a lot of cash saved. The rear rack and front fender allow commuting in dress clothes in light rain and wet streets.

On the cars, I plan some test drives soon of c, v, Leaf, iMiev, Volt. PHV not yet available here, but perhaps a list I can get on... It's the odds-on favorite.

[ksstathead]

Sat in a c and a v on Saturday. The newbie salesman was confident and uninformed.

I was starting to explain the absence of a power button on the c to my wife, but the salesman interrupted and we learned that they are selling so fast they are having to mass produce them now and couldn't get the power button done.

We left. Glad we got our gen3 when they were still hand-sculpted from high-grade steel. None of this mass-produced stuff will do.

[ksstathead]

Ordered a Bike Friday Carbon Drive Tikit with Alfine 11 internally-geared rear hub today!

Don't take delivery until mid-April, but looking forward to my Christmas present until then.

It's the second bike down on this page:
http://bikefriday.com/bicycles/commuter
only in orange with black trim since I am an OSU Cowboy.

[WriConsult]

Wish I'd taken note of this thread earlier. I have folding bike experience.

In August of last year I bought a Xootr Swift. Like the Bike Fridays, the Swift was originally designed in Eugene, OR, and (unlike many folding bikes) was designed to first be a no-compromises performance bike based around relatively conventional geometry and componentry, and secondly to be a bike that folds. Fortunately i got mine used for a pretty good price.

I was pretty happy with it initially, after converting it to drop handlebars and a wide-range 11-34 cassette, and I got the fit dialed in superbly. Took it on an 85-mile overnight tour shortly after I bought it, and commuted all winter on it. Then, as spring rolled around and slow-riding season came to an end, I started to notice that it seemed like everyone was passing me. At first I thought, "well, maybe I'm just out of shape after winter." Then I tried swapping out tires and upping the tire pressure to make the bike faster.

Then, after several months of exhaustive comparison testing my times on my commute routes vs. my cyclocross bike, and a fair amount of coast-down testing, I came to the inevitable conclusion that the small wheels were costing me a lot more speed than i imagined: 10% or more at crusing speeds. My hour-plus commute was taking 5-8 minutes longer on the folding bike, and on hillier routes I might average, say 10.5mph instead of 12mph. And it was a LOT less confidence inspiring descending on steep, rough, slick potholed streets, and on the gravel back streets that Portland has a LOT of.

And I wasn't using the folding capability as much as I expected. I'd bought it because I take my bike on the light rail trains in the morning to get over the West Hills, and then bike all the way home in the evening. The Swift does fold quickly -- well under 30 seconds -- but it is a bit fiddly, and wants to flop around and unfold itself if you don't carry a couple of straps to cinch everything tight -- which makes it even fiddlier. And as it turned out I haven't usied the folding capability as often as I expected to get on the train in the morning, and really only genuinely needed it a handful of times. A folding bike would be great if (1) I just used it to ride a couple miles to the station in the morning AND the afternoon, and so I didn't care that much about performance, and (2) I had a REALLY small one (like a Brompton) that I could lean up against the train wall without alarming anyone else. But that isn't really my situation: I just take my bike on the train to hop over the hills, save time and avoid getting to work sweaty in the morning, but then I bike the 12-14 miles all the way home in the evening, and that's long enough for performance to matter.

So this fall, after putting about 1500 miles on my Swift, I switched back to my 700c bike and I am having SO much more fun again. I'm not hardcore speed rider by any means -- I mean, I'm riding on cyclocross tires here -- but I'm a lot happier being back on the big wheels. I'll probably be putting my Swift on the market soon. It's a fantastic bike for what it is, but I've learned that 20" wheels are inherently much slower than I had imagined and to me it's not worth it unless I NEED a folding bike, and as it turns out I don't.

[ksstathead]

New Bike Friday shipped today! Hope to have by weeks' end.