This is a brief report on my folding year so far - brief partly because I don't seem to have done much cycling this year. I'm not sure why this is - please don't blame it on the fact that I gave in and bought a car in April, as I don't think that has had any effect at all, as I would still rather use the bike and train when I can.
As far as the folder scene in general goes, there don't seem to have been any particularly earth-shattering developments so far in 2003. Most of the news and reports from owners that I have received, and which have appeared on the web pages, so far have come from Dahon. Their range continues to get wider, and their process of continuous improvement is highly commendable, and the owners certainly seem please with the products, but I don't own one myself, and apart from the loan of a test bike for a week last year, I haven't received any benefit from them, so the degree of coverage on the web pages is not a result of any bias on my part.
I'll have to own up - so far this year I have only covered just over 1500Km so far, and some of that was on a conventional mountain bike! The league table so far is as follows:
Moulton APB - 622Km
Brompton T6 - 314Km
Birdy Red - 219Km
Bike Friday New World Tourist - 197Km
Marin East Peak (non-folding mountain bike) - 103Km
Airnimal Chameleon - 84Km
Brompton T5 - 15Km
The T5 has only been out once, for the V-CC Memorial Ride, for which it seemed the most appropriate machine. The Airnimal has also only been out once, but as the distance might suggest, this was my longest ride of the year so far - an indication of how good it is to ride. It's in an accessible place, ready for another longer, exhilarating ride, when I'm read, and with the taller handlebar stem now fitted, it will probably be even more entertaining, without the discomfort which a back problem recently has tended to inflict. The non-folding Marin has been used several times recently as I have been using canal towpaths a fair bit - I don't particularly enjoy towpaths, but the Marin is easily the best under these conditions, though it feels very sluggish on the road - a change of tyres to a heavy touring tyre may help on the road, without hindering off-road performance too much, at least of the kind I do. The Newt was my main bike for the first few months of the year, but it was then taken out of service to try to overcome the dreadful problems of dropping the chain. I hope that I have solved those problems now, but I haven't yet brought it back into service to find out - partly influenced by the back problems referred to earlier - the harsh ride of the Newt is not particularly appealing in these circumstances. I continue to have a love-hate relationship with the Birdy. Continuous improvement means that this bike is much better than the earlier Birdy I had, and they have made more improvements since I had this one. In terms of compromising between foldability and ride, it is a great idea, but, even with the improvements, I still see it as a triumph pf style of functional engineering, and perhaps rather luck than judgement that it works as well as it does. Recently I switched it back from the Schwalbe Stelvio tyres to Marathons - this certainly detracts from the on-road performance, which is back to being rather lethargic, but as the bike excels on towpaths, bridleways etc, it seemed rather illogical to compromise its performance in these conditions by using the Stelvios, even though they made it much better on-road.
So to the top two. The (or at least a, Brompton) is as always in a high position, both in overall distance and the number of times used in the year. It may not be my first choice for longer rides, but it is unbeatable in terms of folding, practical luggage carrying etc, and it will do almost anything you ask of it, even if not the best in some situations. A triumph of engineering, and it creates its own style. Normally the rather upright riding position is not entirely to my taste, but the back problems mean that this is an added bonus. Arguably, if you want something suitable for longer rides, then the answer lies in an SP Brompton rather than any of the other alternatives, though you will have to live with the upright riding position. Were it not for the clearance limits on my early SP Brompton, that would would have figured prominently in the league tables as well.
The Moulton APB is another example of the triumph of engineering over style and marketing, and very well it works too. As the recent attempts at fitting it in the boot of the diminutive Smart car prove, for use with a car its separability is no real problem, and it feels very robust and solid - you should be able to go over or through almost anything on an APB. But it ISN'T much good for use on trains where you need to bag it - I took it to the Lake District for a week earlier in the year, but laden with luggage, so I opted to pay for it as a bike rather than attempt to separate and bag it. I've recently changed the handlebar stem to assist with the back problem, and it remains one of the most comfortable bikes to ride that I know. It's not as exciting to ride as the Airnimal (or a Bike Friday Pocket Rocket, or a New Series Moulton, come to that), and it lacks the portability of the Brompton, but it's a great machine. If only it was a bit lighter (my early model is rather heavier than current production models, but even so, weight is still a bit excessive), and a bit more portable, it would be a winner. Oh for a cross between a Brompton and an APB (along the lines of my 1st April spoof of a few years ago, the 'New Series Brompton').
Now I just need to try to clock up some more kilometres during the rest of the year ...
Copyright (C)2003 Ferrets Anonymous
Last updated: 30 June 2003
URL: http://www.foldsoc.co.uk/cyc20031.html