The Folding Society

More News - pre 2005

(Continued from the news page and more news page)

Christmas Festivities

The Midlands Section of the V-CC regularly holds a ride just after Christmas - on the 27 December this year (I won't start a boring debate on whether it was the 26th or 27th this year that was Boxing Day - 26th fell on a Sunday). A very good turnout of bikes, of which the majority were small-wheelers, and a very small minority were pre-1950. Let me make it clear I'm not trying to score points here - it is to the V-CC's credit that everyone is welcome, and it is about an interest in cycles rather than an obsession with technical issues; I hope the same can be said for The Folding Society. A few of us met up at Paul Evans's house at the start (parking not a problem here), before riding on to the official start point, Sue Thorne's house, which was easily identifiable by the number of interesting bikes parked outside! After partaking of refreshments, we started the ride soon after 11:00 - a largely urban ride, though we did take in Canon Hill Park, and, for those who took the longer ride, some canal towpath as well. The lunch stop was at Paul Evans's house, where Paul, ably assisted by Dave and Susan, provided sustenance. For some of us, this was the end of the cycle ride, while others made their way from there back to Sue Thorne's, or home.  The weather was very good for the time of year - cold, and some very light snow still lying on some of the roads, but bright sun.

Many thanks to Sue for organising the ride, and to Paul and his helpers for the excellent lunch stop. For the record, the folders included several Bromptons, a couple of Birdys, some (non-folding) Moultons, and an Airframe (current version). [28/12/2004]

Photograph: Trevor Batchelor

Another interesting link
Not to be outdone by Dave, Susan Barlow sent me information on another interesting link which she had found, and which was new to me - visit Vaporum Bromptonaut here to see the site, which includes some details of an original 1983 model. [23/12/2004]

Other web site comment on folders
Dave Minter sent me the following link for Australian Cyclist (he is one, even if resident in the UK at present), where there are a number of comments on folders and Moultons: http://www.australiancyclist.com.au/products.php. Interesting reading over the holiday period - or indeed at any time. [22/12/2004]

Stolen Moulton AM7
Stolen on Thursday 16th December 2004 around 8.30 pm in Farringdon, London: Moulton AM7 - silver colour adjustable stem, silver colour straight bars, black thumb shifter and brake levers, white and pink 'barbie' bell, Brooks Professional woman's saddle, R&M Birdy Dotek chainset with plastic chainguards, AM large rear rack, brand new front wheel, new black Shimano rear mech, rear wheel from AM GT with 20 spokes and 8-speed Hugi hub - please call 07870 206 866 or email l.branston@virgin.net with any info. or sightings - cash reward for return. [21/12/2004]

A to B issue 45 arrives!
I was working this morning, so there has been a delay in getting to read A to B - it arrived while I was out. I'm not going to say much about it, as most of you subscribe anyway, and if you don't, you should! (Visit http://www.atob.org.uk for information about A to B , subscription information etc). Actually I've only taken a brief look so far, but there is lots that is of interest, as usual. The Brompton Developments news which I did say I would report here is a bit of an anti-climax. The changes are:

A to B finish their article as follows: "These changes don't sound very exciting, but there might be a tiny clue in the following exchange: 'Is this the 2005 Brompton?', we asked. 'No', they replied. Make of that what you will."

A to B have far better access to Brompton than I do (actually I have none at all, beyond that of any customer); this may mean that they know more than I do, but on the other hand it may mean that they can't speculate because they have inside information! The item I previously published here (see below) contains my own speculation. 

In the 'Letters' section, Avon Valley Cyclery take strong exception to the A to B report on the Birdy Black. I started reading one of the other letters on the subject which appeared under the A to B byline of "Dahon is Better", and then discovered that this letter was by me!! I really must remember to ALWAYS specify if I don't want letters published, which I hadn't done this time. However, with a minor qualification, I certainly stick with what I said in the letter to A to B, and A to B's test - the qualification is that it's always horses for courses; if you have a Birdy and like it and disagree, that's fine, just enjoy the bike. I guess that I will be entirely cast off by Avon Valley Cyclery after this letter - not only do I support A to B, but the final comment about Bike Fridays is bound to cause them offence as well, as they are the Bike Friday distributors. They also sell Dahons and Bromptons though. A to B have tried most folders available in the UK, and I've owned, or own, a lot too, including 2 Birdy Reds (both sold), Bike Fridays, Bromptons, SP, Airnimals, Dahons, etc. Obviously everyone is different, but I try to offer observations which are not too biased by personal preference - readers can accept or ignore them as they wish - in the end, they make their own decision. [20/12/2004]

More thoughts on Brompton and Sturmey-Archer hubs
A to B is still eagerly awaited to shed more light on the Brompton mods, but in the meantime I have received an email from a highly-placed cycle industry insider (absolutely no connection whatsoever with Brompton or Sturmey-Archer) who comments that the "Sturmey-Archer hub is quite a bit cheaper than the SRAM hub", and that "The Sturmey-Archer 8 hub is a ways off. We've been testing it and it's not ready yet." Don't try to persuade me to identify who it is who provided this information - I'll neither confirm nor deny any suggestions! [18/12/2004] 

December Origami Ride Report
The full report on the Origami Ride on 11th December is now available here - apologies for the delay in producing this. [17/12/2004]

Brompton Upgrades? Updated a second time on 17 December
Thanks to Dave Minter for pointing out that the A to B web site is trailing the fact that the new issue of A to B, due out any day now, has exclusive news of some Brompton upgrades. I don't know any more than anyone else at this stage, so I'm eagerly awaiting my copy of A to B - when I get it, I'll summarise any information gleaned. [14/12/2004]

17th December, and my copy of A to B is still eagerly awaited, so I still do not know what the upgrades are. However, one member emailed me with information obtained from an apparently reliable source: apart from some more minor changes, his information is that the rear forks are modified so that they will accommodate a Sturmey-Archer 8-speed hub (a special narrow version), though whether the 8-speed gear option is being introduced as well was not clear. As soon as A to B arrives with the news, or we get authoratative information, we will put it on the web site. [17/12/2004]

And more news - Velovision has a press release from Brompton on its web site which includes the following:

"From January 1 2005, all Brompton three speed bikes will use the new Sunrace Sturmey Archer 3 speed and Brompton 6 speed bikes will use the Sram Sachs 3 speed hub. The performance of the two hubs is similar. The SRAM 3 speed has a gear range of 1.33:1:0.75. The new Sunrace Sturmey Archer hub has a range of 1.36:1:0.73 and is 50 grams heavier. Both hubs fit a newly designed Universal rear frame: dual applicability being made possible through a combination of washers.

Brompton owners or customers considering a Brompton, will need to keep in mind that upgrading from 3 to 6 speed version will now no longer be possible without the expense of buying a new wheel and hub. This is because the Brompton derailleur system does not work with the Sturmey Archer hub."

On the face of it, this is a big anticlimax, and even a step backwards if the ability to upgrade from 3 to 6 speeds is lost. However, it's very difficult to believe they would do this just for the reasons quoted (to reduce dependence on a single supplier). It seems much more likely that the intention is to enable the 8-speed narrow S-A hub to be fitted at some point, and then to offer a 3-speed S-A and an 8-speed S-A hub, perhaps doing away with the 6-speed. There also seems an implication that if this supposition is correct, the 8-speed is still some way off, as one would not expect them to have publicised the change in this way if the 8-speed was very imminent. Perhaps all will become clear when A to B appears. [17/12/2004]

Stolen - Pillbox Orange Moulton APB Special
Frame number:5967. Wheels: Black, with Hope hubs, black spokes. Brakes: Magura, hydraulic, with red adjusters on callipers. Gearing: Shimano 105 groupset, Deore trigger shifts.Handlebar: Easton EA70 with Yeti grips and Short carbon bar-ends. The bike went without the saddle and seat-post. The bike also has DataTag stickers and a Tag, registered to its former owner. Please contact Mark Greene (mark@msg67.demon.co.uk) or Notting Hill Police with details (and quoting ref: BS 5630326/04 to the police). [14/12/2004]

When is a Dahon not a Dahon?
We commented a couple of days ago that the new "Land Rover" bicyle range included a couple of folders which looked like badged Dahons, a fact later confirmed by Cyclemotion, the UK distributors of Dahon. In his email, Mark Bickerton (yes, the son of Harry Bickerton, designer of the pioneering Bickerton folder, if there are any readers who didn't know that!) of Cyclemotion reminded me that their web site contains information on some other names under which Dahons are sold in the UK - the link is http://www.cyclemotion.co.uk/what.htm. This isn't new, but may be of interest to readers. [14/12/2004]

News 11/12/2004
A GREAT Origami ride today - our Christmas Ride attracted a very varied collection of bikes and riders; superb weather, a most enjoyable lunch and excellent planning by Trevor and Irene Batchelor. More details to follow. 

Velovision 16 arrived while I was out on the Origami Ride - not only tests of the Bridgestone Moulton and Airnimal Joey (both very favourable), but lots more of interest to folder enthusiasts. We will have a few more comments on this soon, but of course you really should subscribe to this excellent publication -see http://www.velovision.co.uk for more details. [11/12/2004]

Stolen - Moulton AM 14 (Grey) - now recovered
AM14 stolen from Islington, in London. It happened at night and the thief cut through the lock. Details ( unfortunately frame number is not known):
- dark metallic grey
- stainless steel rear luggage rack
- black, ladies Brooks' saddle
- Ultegra and Dura Ace compontents
- Bar bag fitting
- red drop handlebars with one end gear shifter
Contact Gabrielle Good, email: igab@blueyonder.co.uk or on: 07973 225580/ 020 7862 2306. [11/12/2004]
We are delighted to report that this bike has now been recovered - Gabrielle comments: "... my advice to anyone who has a bike stolen in London is - Go to Brick Lane market on a Sunday morning ..."[21/12/2004]

A new range of "Land Rover" bicycles? [UPDATED]
A new range of bikes is apparently being marketed under the Land Rover name - nothing particularly new, I suspect, but badged machines from other manufacturers (the Land Rover logo is very inconspicuous). The range includes 2 folders, both of which look as if they might be badged Dahons [Now confirmed that they are]. I've been sent a pdf file of the catalogue, but it is rather large, and I have not managed to locate a web site containing the information [A member suggests that you can find some information on www.bikearama.com]. [07/12/2004, updated 11/12/2004]

Coming soon ...
Updates to the site have been rather erratic recently - I don't want to bore or annoy readers with computer issues, but I've been trying to migrate web page maintenance from my main Windows-based system to one of another 2 operating systems. Apart from problems in trying to keep track of where the most up to date versions of the files are located in this transition stage, I have not been able to find a web page editor that is in the same league as the one I currently use on Windows, and the aggravation this has caused has discouraged me from updating the web pages as often as usual.

This year's end of year report should appear soon after Christmas, and in addition to the general review of the folder scene there will be updates on the reports of all the bikes I have used over the year. [07/12/2004]

Origami Christmas Ride
This coming Saturday, 11th December, is the second Saturday of the month, so there will be an Origami ride, and as it is December, our mid-day stop will be for (optional) Christmas lunch. We will meet from 10:30 at the Tearooms in Meriden for a ride starting at 11:00, and will follow a less than direct route to Hampton in Arden where we stop for lunch. I don't expect it will affect many people, but it appears from the train timetables that there are engineering works between Wolverhampton and Birmingham, so anyone planning to join a train at any of these stations will have to use a bus instead, with an increased journey time. Other trains which normally use that stretch of line may also take slightly longer than usual, so please check the timetables. [07/12/2004]

Folding Trailers
We sometimes get enquiries about folding or collapsible trailers, or trailers which are suitable for use with small-wheeled bikes. If you are on the look-out for such a thing, take a look at the Carry Freedom range (http://www.carryfreedom.co.uk) [07/12/2004]

Origami News
The Origami Ride at Milton Keynes on 13th November was blessed by beautiful weather – a bit chilly, but bright sun, good visibility and no sign of rain. Organisers Phil and Lorna Wray had devised an excellent route – quiet, flat and scenic. 13 riders on a wide variety of folders took part, and thoroughly enjoyed the day. Many thanks to all who took part, and especially Phil and Lorna. You can find a full report on the Origami Ride web pages. During the lunch stop the programme of rides for the first part of 2005 was finalised, and you can also find this on the Origami Ride web pages. [14/11/2004]




Classic Moulton poster now available [Press Release]
After several enquiries and suggestions from purchasers of The 'classic' Moulton, Paul Grogan has created a large A3 (420 x 300mm) sized poster based on the rear cover of the books dust jacket. It depicts all of the 16 different U.K. produced machines covered in the book.

Although it may be argued that not all the later Series Two machines are shown, the bikes have all been chosen to show a typical cross-sectional representation of the production years from 1963 till 1974. (Should there be sufficient demand in the future, it is possible another poster could be produced covering the later Series Two's and possibly Moultons with Accessories fitted.) The posters are printed in full colour on 170 gsm white gloss art paper and laminated on the front face.

You can see the finished poster and ordering information on the Classic Moulton website at: www.theclassicmoulton.co.uk
[12/11/2004]

Origami Ride on 13 November at Milton Keynes
It will be the second Saturday of the month on 13th November, so there will be an Origami Ride, open to all folder enthusiasts, Moultoneers, members of the V-CC, and indeed anyone interested in cycling. This month we are meeting at Milton Keynes railway station from about 10:30 for a ride starting at 11:00. You can find more details about this and other Origami Rides, including the plans for the December ride, on the Origami Ride web site. [07/11/2004]

ANOTHER 16 inch tyre?
I'm indebted to Dave Minter for the following, which comes from the September/October Newsletter of Greenspeed, one of the leading manufacturers of recumbent trikes, some of whose models use the 16 inch 349 tyre:

"We are getting some new tyres made which we have designed especially for our trikes. These will be in a new size of 40-349 or 16" x 1 1/2" to give a better ride than the current 16" x 1 3/8" tyres. The 1st samples of the new tyres have been received, and were shown at Interbike. Testing on our rolling resistance machine indicates a better rolling resistance at 100 psi than any commercial tyre. We will be doing more testing as we receive more samples in different versions of this tyre. The tyre will be known as the "Scorcher", and will be available by the end of the year.

We are also looking at a tubeless version of this tyre which should have even lower rolling resistance, and will be more puncture resistant than belted tyres."

This would be an interesting development - not just another tyre in this Brompton/Micro/Airframe etc size, but one which takes a rather different approach to design - wider rather than narrower to achieve good rolling resistance. The main problem I can see is that the miniscule mudguard clearance of the Brompton would probably rule out fitting it to some folders. [02/11/2004]

CycleFeast 2005 - Wednesday 3 August to Monday 8 August 2005 UPDATED
We've mentioned this new event before, but the now have an excellent web site, so you can find out more at http://www.cyclefeast.com - thanks to Seamus King for bringing this to my attention. I've already made my booking for the event, so I hope to see at least some of you there. Update: there is now a section on the web page to show who has already registered (and agrees to be named, so there may be more). Considering that the event is still over 9 months away, the number already registered is impressive. [21/10/2004]

A to B Issue 44 published
There surely cannot be many readers who are not also subscribers to the excellent A to B, but if you are one of the deprived ones, you may like to know that issue 44 is now available (it reached me today - some of you may have had your copies earlier!). Once again it is an excellent issue - congratulations to David and Jane and all the other involved in its production. A few immediate reactions:

I may add more when I have had a chance to read A to B again, more thoroughly. [18/10/2004]

For more information on A to B, see their web site at http://www.atob.org.uk, or email atob@onetel.com

October Origami Ride
The second Saturday of the month, so as usual there was an Origami Ride for folder enthusiasts, Moultoneers, V-CC members, and anyone with an interest in cycling. Nowadays our meeting points are quite varied, but this was one month when we were back to our original home, Meriden, chosen by our late founder, John Pinkerton, on the basis that it was easily accessible and would provide for many different rides. For the second month running, Paul Evans stepped in to fill a late problem with the original ride organiser being forced to drop out, and as always Paul found an excellent ride for us, and went to a lot of trouble to plan the route. A number of the regulars were unable to get to the ride this month, but we still had a respectable turnout with 13 riders, a mixture of regulars and some who had never been to one of the rides before (two from Manchester, plus one from Zurich, whose mode of transport to the ride was listed as PLANE and car!). For the first time ever, I arrived by car, which was apparently a very lucky decision, as Paul himself had terrible problems with the trains on the same route that I would normally have used. After a slightly delayed start, while we finished our meals and unpacked some not very portable bikes from cars, we set off for a most enjoyable ride to Corley, mainly along quiet country lanes. Fortunately none of us over-indulged at the pub lunch, or we might have ended up very confused over what we were riding:

The other bikes present included Bromptons, an SP, a Birdy and a Dahon Impulse. It's rather nice to see such a variety of machines, and, for the first time, two Bridgestone Moultons and two Dahons. It was also very good to see two new riders, and one only attending his second Origami Ride, as well as several of the Origami regulars.

As lunch came to an end, the sun which we had enjoyed in the morning disappeared, the wind increased, and some rather threatening-looking clouds appeared. Perhaps with this in mind, Paul's return route was via a shorter, faster, and largely downhill route back to Meriden.

As usual, this was a very enjoyable Origami Ride, and apart from thanking all those who supported the event, I'd like to thank again Paul for organising the ride. Next month's Origami Ride will be in Milton Keynes - please look at the Origami Ride web pages for news of this and future rides - a very interesting program(me) of rides for 2005 is currently being finalised. 

Oh, and if you are interested in my antics, my first experience of a recumbent bicycle, the Bike Friday SatRDay, will be reported on these pages quite soon - my thanks to Susan Barlow for letting me borrow her SatRDay. [9/10/2004]

Stolen - Brompton L5 Frame number 015631
Brompton L5,  black painted frame, brown old Brooks leather saddle, front dynamo, rear battery led. Jubilee clip around rubber suspension block. Non factory r/pedal. Black bell l//h/bar. Old leather toe strap wrapped around saddle. Frame number 015631. Left locked to a cycle stand near the Bentall centre in Kingston Upon Thames, Surrey, between 11:00 and 13:00 on Wednesday 29th September 2004. (Kryptonite Krypto D lock model). Contact: peteriches@hotmail.com. Tel: 0208-392-0217. I suppose this may be a result of the recently widely publicised method of easily opening a Kryptonite (and probably other makes) lock which use a circular type of key - not exactly a new development, as a cycling magazine described the problem back in the 1990s! [30/09/2004]

The GoBike in Europe
One of the new folders to appear during 2004 was the GoBike, launched this year in Canada and apparently due to become available world wide in 2005. Apparently distributors have now been appointed for Germany, Italy, etc, but not yet the UK. One GoBike was at CycleFest this year (see photo). At present the web site is a bit spartan, but we are told that "will be a lot more informative later this year". We'll provide more information when it is available - in the meantime you can find the web site at http://www.gobikeonline.com. [29/09/2004]

Improved folding for Slingshot
Slingshot have sent a press release regarding recent improvements to their rather unusual folder - "Slingshot Bicycle Company will now be specifying Easy Split cable separators on all of their folding bikes. The new components will allow for a cleaner and more efficient breakdown of their bikes for travel." You can find out more about the Slingshot range at http://www.slingshotbikes.com. [29/09/2004]

First impressions of the Airnimal Rhino
We carried some general news on the new Airnimal Rhino earlier this month, plus comments on its appearance at the Origami Ride on 11th September. Since then the owner of that machine, Pat Douglass, has sent some further news of the bike, with some additional photographs. You can find the report and pictures here on the web site. [29/09/2004]

CYCLE SHOW 2004
The report has now been updated to include web page links for the main companies mentioned - my thanks to Mike Roberts for making me aware of this omission! I have also added the special edition AM2 to the Moulton section, and a better picture of the Airframe with 8-speed S-A hub - both provided by Julian Kowalewski. [28/09/2004]

West Somerset Railway - even less folder friendly
Member Chris Eley contacted this railway to enquire about their attitude to bicycles on their trains. This is the answer:

Thank you for your email. We have very limited space on our trains for bicycles as the Guard's van has to be shared with people in wheelchairs.  We will carry them at a quarter of the passenger fare in future if space is available.  The charge will apply to folding bicycles.  We are providing (wherever possible) cycle racks for the parking of bicycles.  These will be available free of charge.

If there is anything else I can do to help please do not hesitate to contact me.

Kind regards,

Mark Smith, West Somerset Railway

At least NYMR have now agreed that folders should not be charged. Although the national rail network places restrictions on bikes, most of it does not now charge, and I don't know of any part which charges or restricts for folders. The preserved railway companies generally seem to be less cycle friendly (in my experience up till now the local. for me, Severn Valley Railway seems very cycle friendly). [26/09/2004]

CYCLE SHOW 2004

UPDATE: FULL REPORT WITH PHOTOS NOW AVAILABLE. 

First of all, apologies for the fact that this is only a very preliminary report - I had a dreadful train journey back from London (nearly all my train experiences seem bad at present), this time courtesy of Chiltern, and arrived home MUCH later than I expected, and consequently pretty shattered. I'm posting this preliminary report partly to help those of you planning your own visit, as it may help you to look out for the most interesting items.

The first Cycle Show was great for those interested in folders and other slightly less conventional bikes, in that it wasn't all mountain bikes and BMX. The second and this the third event are not necessarily inferior, but I suppose we now have accepted the format, and there isn't always a lot new to display. This year Brompton and Airframe were absent, along with Carradice and some other companies one would have liked to see.

For me there were really only 4 'must see' stands. It's a bit difficult listing them, as the order may be seen as having significance - well, perhaps it does, but don't make too much of this, as a lot depends on particular individual interests.

1. Mezzo - a completely new folder designed by Jon Whyte. There were lots of machines on the stand - made from production tooling, but hand assembled, and probably there will be minor differences in production models. This is one of the best folder designs to appear in recent years, and it could well pose a threat at long last to Brompton (in the past anything aimed at this market has frankly had little to offer compared with the Brompton unless it was cheaper, and this meant inferior performance too). There are many ingenious features about the design and folding. It does NOT try to copy the Brompton - for example, there is no frame hinge - but it is very compact when folded, weight seems very competitive with Brompton, and the riding position seems good . There are two models - hub-geared (4-speed Shimano) Commuter model and a 9-speed (Capreo) sports tourer. They don't have any suspension, not even the rather basic rubber bung of the Brompton, and don't yet have a quick release luggage system, but they still look very interesting indeed. Production proper is targetted for Christmas, and I hope they are going to let me have a bike to test. Incidentally (!?) 16 inch wheels, and ANOTHER new tyre for this (Brompton) format. By eye the tyre looks a bit bulkier than the Schwalbe Marathon, but if you want a slimmer tyre, the other tyres of this format are of course available. With the standard tyre the mudguard clearances looked a bit tight to me (and the front mudguard is actually a structural member), though a change of tyre would ease the situation (it is OK for road use, but I'd be slightly worried about even Milton Keynes Redways with the current clearance). Price is not finalised, but looks very much in line with Brompton prices. Well worth looking at, and I can't wait to try one (unfortunately when I went down to the test track there wasn't one there).

2. Avon Valley Cyclery - you must all know AVC (under this or other names) of Bath. Officially or unofficially they seemed to be the prime representative of folders. They had Moultons and Airnimals (both companies present themselves - see below), but they also seemed to be the official representatives of Brompton, Birdy, Airframe and Dahon, none of whom were present themselves (in the case of Dahon, apparently there wasn't room on the Fisher Leisure stand for them!). Grahame Herbert of Airframe was on the stand when I was there, though I didn't see reps of any of the other companies. They were also of course representing Bike Friday, for whom they are the UK distributors. Richard and Gary of AVC plus several other AVC people were in attendance, and it was good to see folders so well represented by them, though I must admit there were some pointed questions I would have liked to have asked the companies themselves, and of necessity the model range was generally not the complete one. The Airframe on display was a rather smart black colour, with the new Sturmey-Archer 8-speed gear. Nothing new from Brompton - we all hear rumours, but as yet nothing concrete has emerged.

3. Moulton - Shaun Moulton and Dan Farrell (of Pashley) were manning a stand on which pretty well all the range was represented, including the new twin-pylon model and the Bridgestone Moulton in the latest forms - the sport separable and the reduced price on the less highly specified models.

4. A combination stand - actually there were 2 of them, both featuring the excellent Velovison magazine, ICE (Trice recumbent), Airnimal and the very interesting KMX Karts recumbent tricycles (non folding). On the Airnimal side, the new, and very reasonably priced, Joey was on display for, at least for me, the first time. They also had the Rhino - we mentioned this in another recent report. I bumped into Pat Douglass and John Bradshaw (amongst many other old friends) on another stand, and Pat confirmed how delighted she is with the Rhino - more comments from her on this soon, I hope (and on her KMX!). ICE had their new, low price, T and Q models, not folders of course, but much more modestly priced than previous models, and the basic machine is still made to the very highest quality. They also had their most compact model, the Mini (which rather oddly is smaller than their Micro) broken down and stored in a large suitcase - perhaps I could get the machine sans-suitcase into the Smart - LUST!! Of course, even then the Trice is nearer £2000 than £1000, but the new KMX X-Class recumbent tricycle starts at around £600. It is a much cruder machine - no, to be fair, cheap and cheerful.  It's not as sophisticated as a Trice, and certainly not as stable, but in a way it isn't meant to be. Of course it does not even have the limited portability of the Trice, but if you have been tempted by a recumbent trike in the past, but just could not justify the price, at least until you knew you could live with it, the KMX could well be a good introduction. I tried one on the test track (4 laps of part of an underground car park, and found it fun under these rather unrealistic conditions, though the limitation were pretty evident even in these conditions).

There were other things of course which may interest some of you, including electric folding bikes.

FULL REPORT WITH PHOTOS NOW AVAILABLE. [24/09/2004]

NYMR and folding cycles - the sequel
The following reply has been received from NYMR:

Dear Ms Barlow and Mr Minter

Thank you for completing our comments/suggestions card during your recent visit.

I have noted your comments on folding bicycles and have passed them to the operating department to issue instructions that in the future we should not charge for bicycles that are folded down and do not require storing within the guards compartment.

Please accept my apologies for any inconvenience caused during your visit and I can only presume that the ticket office/inspectors were not fully aware that the bicycles folded away completely therefore charged you for taking them on the train.

Your comments are always appreciated and, as in this instance, wherever we can action them to avoid problems in the future we do so.

Assuring you of our best attention at all times.

Caroline Dickinson, Marketing Dept.

It's good to know that other folder owners should not be charged (though no suggestion of a refund for the 7 who did have to pay on Sunday). However, we did make it entirely clear at the time that the bikes folded, and that we would even put them in bags, but were still told by the Booking Office that this made no difference, and that there would be a charge of £2 for each folder. [22/09/2004]

Stolen - Birdy Red No. P0083949
Riese und Müller Birdy Red, frame no P0083949. Locked to iron drainpipe in Little Stonegate in York on Saturday 18 September at 12:30. Stolen between then and 14:45. Distinguishing features are :-

  1. “Mirrycle” mirror on the right-hand handlebar end.
  2. Aluminium strip over the black fabric chainstay protector.
  3. Paint on the inside of the front forks has been worn down to bare metal by the mudguard, and has been covered with thick clear sticky tape.
  4. Sharp kink in the rear brake cable about a foot from the brake lever, and a split ferrule at that end of the cable.
  5. Circular padlock (with a short curved locking bar that moves in a circular arc) locked around one of the saddle rails.
  6. “CycleHeaven” sticker above the bottom bracket.

If any information comes to light, please contact Keith Bowden, email  keith.bowden@costainhaswell.com, or telephone 01977 521848 (work) or 07764 522815 (mob). [20/09/2004]

Spam and email
The amount of spam and other unwanted email I receive on my usual email addresses has become totally unacceptable, as has the amount of unsolicited telephone traffic. I shall not even look at the old email addresses from now on - apologies if this means you don't get a reply, and it may take a while to work out a solution to this problem. [19/09/2004]

A Starring Role for the Bickerton on TV?
Folding Society member and Bickerton specialist Derek Baker of Poole Dorset has recently supplied a Bickerton Folding Bike to a BBC film unit for use in a new TV comedy series named Carrie and Barry. The star of the show is Neil Morrisey of "Men Behaving Badly" fame. The series revolves around a Taxi company comprising two driver owners and one cab. Hence the Bickerton is used between driver shifts. The bike has already appeared in two episodes and the program goes out a 9p.m every Friday on BBC1. [19/09/2004]

NYMR - The most folder unfriendly railway in the country?
Our visit to North Yorkshire on 18-19th September enjoyed good weather, and an enjoyably, if hilly, ride on the Saturday. Staying at the New Inn, which has its own brewery, at Cropton on Saturday night was a bonus. An exhilarating and mainly downhill ride to Pickering on Sunday morning was to be followed by a ride on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway. Unfortunately, we were confronted at the ticket office with the news that a single fare was £10, but cycles were £2 extra - this INCLUDES BAGGED FOLDING CYCLES. I haven't before encountered any railway which charges for bagged folders, and indeed you can (or should be able to) get them on Metro/tram systems and perhaps buses as well (somewhat dependent on the driver in the latter case, and the amount of luggage [s]he is already carrying). Reluctantly, the others accepted they would have to pay. As The Folding Society, I declined on principle (it also meant breaking into my last note [£5], which would have left me a bit short of ready money, and cash machines are not easily located), so I opted out and rode to York instead (using the route I took, this a ride to be avoided, at least with the wind in the direction it was on Sunday, and on top of this the views were non-existent, and traffic quite heavy). Despite this setback, this was as always an enjoyable weekend, though 4 hours by train from York to Birmingham New Street did not make me feel any more favourably inclined to the rest of the railway system under current ownership and 'management'. 10 of us took part, riding 5 Bromptons (1 an SP), 1 Dahon Impulse, a Birdy Blue and a Bike Friday New World Tourist. My SP somehow failed to perform properly (apparently something wrong with the cabling since I rode it 95Km a few days ago) for which I must apologise to the riders, and, after folding/unfolding, the gear change of the Newt became unreliable on Saturday - solved very easily on Sunday by a bit of tweaking of the cable adjustment. One Brompton also suffered a puncture - in the rear tyre of course. Thanks as always to Paul Evans for his meticulous planning - I don't think he or anyone else could have expected the NYMR to have such an anti-folder attitude. See update above. [19/09/2004]

Above: 8 folders arrive by train at Scarborough. Neither Midland Mainline nor Virgin had any problem with these folders, even though most were not bagged.
Below: Susan and Dave enjoying lunch soon after we left Scarborough.

Dahon Matrix
Member Colin Tulleth has supplied a test report on Dahon's Matrix. This bike shares the same frame as the Zero G on which we have already reported at length, but is fitted with more basic components, and consequently is substantially cheaper. It seems aimed more at the hybrid/mountain bike market, whereas the Zero G is aimed at the more serious mountain biking market. You can read Colin's report here. [12/09/2004]

New Airnimal Rhino at September Origami Ride
Our monthly Origami Ride for September 2004 took place on 11th, and started from Wolverhampton railway station. I'll list the participants roughly in alphabetical order of the bikes - that way we give pride of place to the brand new Airnimal Rhino (Pat took delivery of the bike less than 24 hours before the start of the ride!):

Airnimal Rhino - Pat Douglass
Bike Friday New World Tourist - Paul Stobbs
Birdy Red - Trevor Batchelor
Bromptons - Susan Barlow, Irene Batchelor, Paul Evans, Dave Minter, Chris Read
Dahon Zero G - Myself
Moulton APB fx8 - Mike Roberts
Moulton New Series - Mark Singleton

What you are all most interested in I expect is the new Rhino, so I'll keep the report on the ride very short, and then say a bit about the new bike. We met at Wolverhampton railway station from about 10:30 and the ride itself started a few minutes after 11:00. Travel arrangements were complicated by the fact that only a few days earlier the railway companies cancelled all trains to and from Wolverhampton that weekend, due to work associated with the new platform at Wolverhampton. Chris Read and Paul Evans travelled from Birmingham via the Metro - no problems reported carrying the folded and bagged Bromptons. Paul Stobbs rode over from Uttoxeter, where he happened to be staying, and I rode via towpath from Tipton, while the others travelled by car. We followed the canal towpath from just by the station firs tot the junction with the Staffs and Worcs canal, and then south along that towpath via Bratch (where David and Susan left us to return to Wolverhampton, as they had other commitments for the afternoon) to the village of Swindon, where lunch was taken at The Old Bush. From there we returned by road to just beyond Trysull, where we rejoined the canal back to Wolverhampton. Rain overnight had left the towpath slightly damp, but no mud, and the weather was good throughout our ride - warm, some sun, and a bit of a breeze at times. All the bikes performed well. Our thanks go to all who attended, and of course especially Paul Evans, who took over as ride organiser at rather short notice.

The Rhino

I think the Airnimal Rhino first appeared at The Cycle Show in Islington in September last year, and the prototype(s) have been seen a few times since (CTC Rally at York, for example). However, production of the bike has only just started, and it is thought this is one of the very first bikes to reach a customer. Pat ordered hers some while back, but has only just received the bike. This was its first outing.

The Rhino is intended as an off-road small-wheeled (20 inch 406) folder. It has full front and rear suspension (suspension forks and a rear shock, with the integral rear triangle arrangement also found on the Airnimal Chameleon. The front forks are designed for conventional large wheels, so there is huge clearance around the wheel. There are two models of Rhino available, differing only in the quality (and thus also weight) of the components used. The bike is finished in a semi-matt black, and looks extremely smart. The integrated rear triangle is pivotted in a similar way to the Airnimal Chameleon, with the bottom bracket forming part of the rear triangle, rather than the main frame. The folding process involves the rear triangle folding under the bike and the seat post mounting folding down, again like the Chameleon. Apart from the other potential advantages of the integrated rear triangle, it means that when the bike is folded, the chain does not go slack, so no additional chain retention equipment is needed, and the chain is not going to come adrift during folding and unfolding. The bike arrived in the back of a Morgan, fully concealed under the tonneau cover - I missed the opportunity to photograph it when folded.

    

The Ahead set has multiple spacers fitted, allowing the height to be determined to suit the rider at the time of purchase, though as usual with this system it can;t be adjusted later (well, it could be shortened further by removing spacers and cutting the steerer tube down). Stem length can be chosen to suit the reach of the rider - Pat had a fairly long stem fitted, and the saddle can be moved backwards and forwards in the usual way to make adjustments to suit the rider (Pat had it set fairly well back). Seatpost height can be adjusted in the usual way - Pat had actually cut the seatpost down a little, as it was extremely long originally. A disc brake is fitted at the front, and V-brakes at the rear - an arrangement which is apparently partly used because of the folding, though experiments are being carried out using rear discs as well. Gearing is quite conventional, with a 9-sprocket cassette at the rear (11-23 on Pat's bike, but 11-32 can be used if the rider prefers), and 3 rings at the front, operated via Rapidfire shifters. Pat had fitted a Crud Catcher onto the frame to catch mud and water thrown up by the front wheel, and had a small plastic carrier mounted at the back which doubles as a rather limited mudguard at the back, and will also take a light load. I didn't check the model of tyre fitted, but it was a moderately knobbly and widish tyre, suitable for general off road and on road use.

The ride along a reasonably good towpath was not really very testing for a bike of this kind. I regularly ride this route myself on a very wide variety of bikes, from conventional tourers and mountain bikes through Moultons, Birdys, Airnimal Chameleon, Bike Fridays, Bromptons and SPs though to the Airframe. All these bikes can be ridden along these towpaths without any real problems, even in the winter when it is wet, but there is no doubt that it is much more comfortable with proper suspension, and on some of the cobbled surfaces larger wheels are appreciated too. The Rhino seemed to take all of it in its stride, and Pat reported herself very pleased with this first outing - she is looking forward to trying it in more testing conditions. Pat very kindly let me take a short ride on the bike during the lunch stop. I rode a total of about 3Km, along the lane from Swindon to Himley. This is a road I ride very frequently (though usually only in the Himley to Swindon direction). It's flat, with a reasonable road surface - no pot-holes, but a damaged top dressing which makes the rider appreciate some form of suspension, at least on smaller-wheeled bikes. The long reach which Pat had set up on the bike made the riding position a bit uncomfortable for me, but the ride quality was extremely good on this surface - the poor top surface was not at all apparent. Everything about the bike worked nicely, and I was very impressed.

I'm not sure about all the luggage options at present - standard seat post or saddle mounted products should be fine for day or weekend rides.

The Rhino is a most interesting new folder for those who want to ride off road. The combination of the long-travel suspension and wide knobbly tyres make it excellent for off-road riding, and it should have quite a compact fold, though not nearly as compact as the Brompton or Birdy in this respect. In really severe off-road conditions the 406 wheels would be at a disadvantage compared with conventional 26 inch mountain bike wheels, but of course help to keep the folded bike compact. Other possible contenders in this category are the Bike Friday Pocket Gnu and the Dahon Zero G, plus to some extent the Birdy and Moulton APB. The APB does not fold of course (separability is optional at the time of purchase), so much less portable, and its suspension, while excellent for road and lighter off-road use, is much more limited in travel. The Birdy does not have the choice of tyres, the wheels are smaller, and the rear suspension is less sophisticated; it's more compact folded, and probably quicker to fold, and handles milder off-road conditions extremely well, but is not as good in rougher conditions. The Gnu only has a suspension seat post at the back, and front suspension travel is probably much shorter than the Rhino, but it is otherwise the closest competitor. I would expect it to have a slight advantage over the Rhino in folding terms, though neither is particularly compact or convenient to fold, but in terms of riding the Rhino probably has the advantage. Here in the UK the cheaper version of the Rhino is substantially cheaper than the Gnu, though in other parts of the world this is unlikely to be the case. The Dahon Zero G is quite a bit cheaper than either of these, and the very similar, but less well-equipped Matrix, is substantially cheaper. Both have substantial front suspension travel, but no rear suspension (a suspension seatpost could be added) - the 26-inch wheels of the Dahons help the ride, and in the most severe off-road conditions would perform better, but the Dahons are bulky when folded (of course partly due to the wheel size), though the basic frame fold is very easy and quick to perform.

Two different approaches to the design of an off-road folder - the Airnimal Rhino on the right and the Dahon Zero G on the left. So why no picture of them folded - neither owner wanted the hassle of folding them!

From what I have seen of the Rhino, it is an excellent machine, and a very interesting addition to the folding off-road bicycle market. - if I hadn't recently bought the Dahon Zero G, I'd be very tempted, the final decision having to be based on the relative importance given to compact folding and proper rear suspension (where the Rhino scores) versus price and the advantages of the larger wheels in the most severe off-road conditions (where the Zero G has the upper hand).

I would like to express my thanks to Pat for bringing her new Rhino to the event, and allowing me to have a test ride on it. [11/09/2004]

PS: You can find out more about the Rhino by visiting the Airnimal web site.

CycleFest 2004 Report Update - more photos
Pat Douglass has kindly sent me an excellent collection of further photographs from Cyclefest, in particular covering Saturday and Sunday, for which I did not have much to show. Some of these pictures have now been added to the report - you can find it here. [10/09/2004]

September Origami Ride
The Origami Ride on 11th September will start from Wolverhampton railway station. As usual, we will meet from about 10:30 for a ride starting at 11:00. There is a car park adjacent to the station, but it is expensive, so we have identified an alternative spot for parking. Note that there will be no trains in or out of Wolverhampton on 11th & 12th September (apparently this was only decided a few days ago). The ride will be about 40 Km (24 miles), and will be on good towpaths and country roads. If you require more information about the ride and travel arrangements, please email origmai@foldsoc.org.uk - those on the Origami mailing list should already have received these details. [Updated 09/09/2004]

New Moultons
A new Dual Pylon Moulton was apparently on show at the Moulton Bicycle Club's (MBC) Bradford on Avon Weekend. In the same way that the seat tube was replaced by a spaceframe structure on the first version of the Pylon (or Speed), the front steerer tube is also replaced by a spaceframe structure in the Dual Pylon. Like the earlier Speed, the frame itself does not separate, though the front an rear parts can be removed to give some portability (though this is a relatively slow and complex process compared with the separable frame of most AMs and the original version of the New Series). A new version of the Bridgestone Moulton has also been launched, and the price of the existing versions of the Bridgestone Moulton has been reduced. You can see some pictures on the MBC website. [Updated 09/09/2004]

Dahon Zero G Test Report update
Now that I've completed just over 650Km on the Dahon Zero G, I've added a short update to the test report - you can read it here. It's still performing very well, and encouraging me to try some new routes. [29/08/2004]

Isle of Wight to Cape Wrath using a Birdy Grey
Member Robert Burn just sent me this link to report on a ride by Duncan Mackay from the Isle of Wight to Cape Wrath using a Birdy Grey http://www.england-in-particular.info/cymac.html - I think readers will find it interesting. You may also want to look at some of the other things on this site - I must admit it's new to me. [27/08/2004]

STOLEN - Black Brompton T5, frame no. 149451
"Black Brompton T5, frame no. 149451 was stolen from the bike rack opposite Post Office in High Holborn, London between 12.00 and 14.30 on 17 August 2004. Standard configuration including all-black zip pannier, except for Selle women's saddle, fitted on saddle adaptor pin, and handlebar brace fitted. Oddly enough, my helmet disappeared too (white Met, hooked through lock), and the Kryptonite Rock Lock was left in two bits without a mark on it, apart from a mashed-up lock mechanism. So I'd be glad of suggestions on what lock to get next. Contact Sally Jeffery, s.jeffery@clara.co.uk." [18/08/2004]

Using a Brompton with a Pantour suspension hub
Our thanks to John Burgess for sharing his experience of fitting a Pantour suspension hub to a Brompton (not to mention a Speed Drive), and using it for a journey from London to Paris. You can read about it here. You can find more information on the Pantour hub at their web site www.pantourhub.com. [17/08/2004]

The Airnimal Joey
The Airnimal Chameleon has been available for a few years now, and has proved popular with those looking for a fast road bike which can be folded - though other configurations to suit touring and off-road use are possible, and have proved effective. In the last few months Airnimal Designs have been working on some new designs, and the first of these, the Joey, is now available. This keeps much of the character of the Chameleon (which is of course still available), but in a simplified and much cheaper form. This is the press release describing the Joey:

"The Joey is an 8 speed folding sports/commuting/utility/leisure bike. It is a fast, versatile bike, and with its easy folding ideal for fitting into a busy lifestyle. It would make an excellent commuter or utility bike, but can easily be used for longer sport and leisure riding. The folding works quickly for car, train or coach travel or it can be folded to go into a protective suitcase for airline travel. In addition its quick release handlebar stem arrangement allows the handlebars to be turned or removed to provide a narrow package for parking, storage or packing. The bike features a frame made from 7005 aluminium and a steel fork and is built up with a combination of Shimano Deore and Sora parts. It costs £695."

You can find out more about the Joey, and the other Airnimal products, on their web site, http://www.airnimal.com [16/08/2004]

Bike Friday SatRday Recumbent
There aren't many recumbent folding (or portable in other ways - ie separable) bicycles (or tricycles) - I've been looking into this recently, without much joy. The Bike Friday SatRday recumbent was/is an exception, and highly rated by many who have owned or tried them. It seems that a major upgrade is planned, and that they are consequently currently unavailable: 
"The Bike Friday SatRDay 349 recumbent is temporarily unavailable while we complete work on a new and improved SatRDay 406/451 model. The new model, under development, will be lighter while easier to fold and pack. The seat is improved, located closer to the ground for easier starting and stopping, and for fitting shorter riders better. The position on the bike is more adjustable than before. In addition, the new model will feature 20-inch wheels, which will allow better gearing and will make finding replacement tires easier. We plan to release the new, improved, sportier SatRDay the first quarter of 2005. We like to make all of our models available all of the time but putting the current bike on hold was the only way we found to get the time and resources necessary to make this upgraded machine available. We feel you will find the new SatRDay worth the wait. Hanz & Alan"
It's sad that this highly-rated machine isn't available at present, but the developments sound interesting, although a change to a larger wheel size means that the design change will be pretty major, and might have its disadvantages. I'll try to keep monitoring the various sources of information on Bike Friday (they don't usually choose to send me press releases etc), and provide more information here when it is available. [14/08/2004]

Origami Rides
We had a great Origami Ride today (14th August), from Meriden to Atherstone, and a small brewery. Many thanks to Dave Minter and Susan Barlow for planning and leading a most enjoyable ride in excellent weather - and of course thanks to all those who supported the event. We will be updating and expanding the information on the forthcoming Origami Rides very soon on the Origami Ride section of the web site. [14/08/2004]

CycleFest 2004 Report
I've now got an illustrated report on CycleFest available on the web site - if you are interested, you can find it here. [12/08/2004]

Dahon Zero G test update
We have added some comments from Joshua Hon of Dahon to our test report on the Zero G. [10/08/2004]

CycleFest 2004
Another brilliant event - thanks to organisers Pat and John Bradshaw. Many thanks to them, and all the ride leaders, speakers, and all the rest involved in organising this memorable event. What a tragedy that this is the last CycleFest for the foreseeable future. But wait, we hear that there will be a CycleFeast in 2005 in Northumberland - unfortunately I did not manage to locate a form to register my interest, and I haven't yet found a way of doing so on the web, but when I do succeed, I'll provide a link and/or news to this event from here. I'll provide a slightly more detailed report on these pages when I have recovered from the journey back, and 'processed' the pictures. Suffice it to say at this stage that the weather was generally kind (forecast on Monday was atrocious, so I did not take part in the Monday ride), the long ride on Thursday was very testing, and the folder ride on Saturday attracted 38 riders (about twice what we expected). Apologies for the poor quality of the leader on the folder ride - a great route though, thanks to Pat who planned it. Personal disappointments were that I had hoped to see the new Airnimal models at the event, and test them and some recumbents. As I was out on the folder ride all day Saturday, and did my own thing on the Sunday, I perhaps missed the opportunity to try some machines I was interested in. Still, the end result was probably that I won't spend the money that I feared I might, so it may be a good thing after all (for me, if not the potential suppliers). [09/08/2004]

PS: Condolences to those who missed Derek's wonderful performance on Sunday evening.

Test report on the Dahon Zero G now available
There are not many 26 inch-wheeled mountain bikes which fold, but Dahon's Zero G is one. We now have a test report available. [04/08/2004]

CycleFest Folder Ride Route
The proposed route is now available on the web page - it's in the form of a Microsoft Word document. Right click here to download a copy. It is formatted for folding into A6 size for use with a mini map holder. Details of the lunch stop remain fluid at present - any local knowledge would be welcome. [03/08/2004]

TWO UNIQUE BROMPTONS STOLEN - HELP US RECOVER THESE BIKES
Dick and Hazel Hanson had their Bromptons (one an SP) stolen during a recent visit to Paris. The bikes were taken on the night of 19-20 July from the Hotel Le Home Saint Louis, 28 rue Saint Louis, Versailles. Apparently it was an inside job and the police know the name and address of the person who took them, but he is now long gone. No doubt the bikes will appear in some dodgy Paris sale, and some innocents may be riding round Paris on them as we speak! Details are as follows:

One black SP Brompton. Frame number unknown
The bike is very distinctive as it has disc brakes, one of only two in the world to my knowledge. I recently fitted a Brompton rear rack which had to have a special bracket as Steve's rear triangle is slightly different from normal. Also I had to cut the rear mudguard and bridge the gap with silver duck tape. The rear mudguard is silver whereas the front is black. The bike has a Stronglight Tarmac chainset with a distinctive light blue drilled alloy chain protector ring. The rear derailleur is SRAM. The handlebars are titanium on the usual Steve Parry suspension seat post and the seat post itself is carbon fibre.

One red and black L type Brompton, frame number 142140
This has had a Brompton rear rack fitted and the rolling wheels on the frame have been changed for green inline skate wheels. The other major modification is the fitting of a double chainring. The chainset is Stronglight Escapade and the front changer is a braze on Suntour XC pro. There is an extra Suntour handlebar lever for the front changer. The lever has a neat rubber cover. When the brazing was done the red paint was burnt on the frame, so the short seat tube is distinctive as it is painted black, as are the front forks and the rear triangle. The rest of the frame is red.

I am sure that all other members will be horrified to hear of this. We can only hope that everyone, especially those in France, will keep their eyes open for the bikes and help to get them recovered. Personally I still have not got over the theft of my New Series Moulton last year, so I can understand how shattered Dick and Hazel must be by this dreadful experience. If you have any information, please contact us asap. [02/08/2004]

CYCLEFEST 2004
This may be the last Cyclefest ever - certainly for the foreseeable future - so DON'T miss it!! The dates are 4 - 9 August - for more information visit the website at http://www.cyclefest.ucsm.ac.uk/. For those who haven't been before, this is an event orientated towards the unconventional cycle - folder, recumbent, Moulton, tandem, tricycle etc, but don't worry if you aren't in this category, as EVERYONE is made welcome. All levels are catered for - whether you are are cycle fanatic, or just thinking about buying a folder, you will find something of interest. There will be a folder ride on the Saturday - details of this ride have not been finalised yet, but should be available within the next 10 days. I hope to see LOTS of you there at some time during the week, and particularly on the Folder Ride.

News of another event
Below is information just received about another event, this time in the USA:

ROUND*UP at the NYC CENTURY: Small Wheels in the Big Apple -- SUN, SEPTEMBER 12, NEW YORK CITY
"Come one, come all on your folding or small wheel bike - Moulton, Brompton, Bike Friday, Dahon, Swift, Breezer, Bickerton, Raleigh, Birdy or what-have-you... STEP ONE: register for the ride (http://www.nyccentury.com - online, before Aug. 28 is best)...

Then - come early to the 7:30 start for the 35 mile ride. Look for the green flag with the wheel on it, fluttering 12 feet overhead. AD HOC MEET POINT-- the 24-hour deli just across from the MAKE MY CAKE bakery. We'll gather up as many folders for the start and ride together!

During the ride, we'll look for other small wheel bikes to roll with. Post-ride, we'll invite folder riders and folder fans for a beer or a tea down in Manhattan.  See properly British Bromptons, Flip-Top Fridays, strange new Dahons and high-tech Moultons ... talk with other folding bike folk and have a nice little time at one of the world's largest bike rides. Bestof all, your registration fee helps support the New York cycling advocacy group Transportation Alternatives.

To arrange meeting up at the NYC Century Bike Tour, email mcget@aol.com -- I'll send you a cell telephone number for ride day. You must register to ride in the NYC Century - go to http:// www.nyccentury.com for more info on the ride.

Michael McGettigan/trophy bikes phila 
producers of the ROUND UP USA SMALL WHEEL/FOLDER BIKE FEST JUNE 3-4-5 2005"

[29/07/2004]

CycleFest 2004 Folder Ride, Saturday 7th August 2004
The folder ride for the Saturday of CycleFest was recced on Tuesday 27th July. Basically the plan is as follows:

10:32 train from Lancaster to Grange-over-Sands, arriving 10:56
Ride generally north to Crosthwaite (lunch somewhere around there)
Ride back via Brigsteer and Levens to Arnside
Train from Arnside to Lancaster, OR continue riding to/past Silverdale and Carnforth stations, picking up train at an appropriate point, or even ride all the way back to Lancaster.

The distance for the ride from Grange-over-Sands to Arnside is 42Km,  or about 47.5Km to Silverdale, 53.8Km to Carnforth, or about 65Km riding all the way back into Lancaster. Those taking the train at Arnside should be back in Lancaster by mid-late afternoon, and even riding the whole way you should be back by late afternoon. There are about 4 sharp, but short, hills on the main ride, but it is otherwise generally easy riding, and much of it is remarkably flat. This will be a social ride, at a pace to suit anyone who wants to come.

Anyone talking part in the ride does so at their own risk, and is responsible for their own actions.

Full details in the form of the route sheet will follow in the next couple of days - the entire route is on Landranger 97 (not that you should need a map if you have the route sheet). [28/07/2004]

Full report on the Dahon Jetstream XP now available
The full report on the Dahon Jetstream XP is now available for you to read - a great bike! [22/07/2004]

Contacting Steve Parry
If you have received issue 71 of The Moultoneer, you will find reference in two places to the telephone number of Steve Parry (of SP, modified Brompton, fame, as well as the special APB rear rack). Unfortunately the number given is incorrect in the last digit (although I'm told the number came from some correspondence from SP himself!). The CORRECT number is 01934 516158, as shown on our web pages. Please correct the number in your copy of The Moultoneer (middle of the first column of page 48, and top of the second column of page 62) now, just in case you ever refer back to it! I'll just add that from my experience it is very difficult to contact him, even on the right number! [21/07/2004]

Choosing a folder section updated
While I was frenziedly making some edits to a lot of our web pages in case I had to move them to another location (see the story 'Don't Panic" below), I realised just how out of date the section on choosing a folder had become. The part dealing with the basic issues hadn't aged too badly, but the comments on some of the marques available was really of little relevance to the market today. Anyway, I've now updated it (one advantage?? of the cold and cough is that I don't feel able to do much riding at present, and so can spend more time on the web pages)! [21/07/2003]

New Airnimals
The Airnimal website (http://www.airnimal.com) now lists three more models in addition to the well-established Chameleon. The Rhino appears to be the 20-inch wheeled full-suspension folding mountain bike seen at Cycle 2003, but details are not yet available. The Joey looks to be a lower-cost version of the Chameleon, with prices starting around £700 - details are again rather thin. Finally there is the Mamba, a 24 inch wheeled diamond frame non-folder, on which the web site only says that more details will be available soon. Perhaps if Richard Loke is at CycleFest in just over two weeks time we shall find out more - and perhaps even see the bikes. [21/07/2004]

Don't Panic!
At 6:30 this morning these web pages were unavailable, and the message suggested that they had been suspended. I've been investigating ever since, but as far as I can tell, it was purely a problem at the ISP's end, and nothing to do with me, as certain other operations associated with using their services seemed acting strangely. I even got as far as editing a substantial number of the web pages with a view to installing them elsewhere using the alternative address http://www.foldsoc.org.uk. Anyway, all seems back to normal (10:30) without me doing anything to fix it. However, I will take the opportunity to mention again http://www.foldsoc.org.uk which I would suggest as the preferred address - both address currently take you to the same location on the web, but in the event of any problems in the future, I can easily re-direct this preferred address to somewhere else, whereas the older .co.uk address is not under my direct control. [21/07/2004]

The Sturmey-Archer 8-speed hub, and 'Cycle', the CTC's magazine
The August/September issue of the CTC's magazine 'Cycle' arrived yesterday. There are a number of items which may be of some interest to folder enthusiasts. Quite a lot of folders use hub gears, and there is no doubt that they have potential benefits for utility and commuter bikes. I don't want to get into a discussion of hubs v derailleurs, but the announcement of the Sturmey-Archer 8-speed hub some months ago was certainly an interesting development. This issue of 'Cycle' contains a report on it by Chris Juden, and it is not very favourable. For a balancing view, I asked Tony Hadland (I hope I don't need to explain who he is!) for his comments on Chris Juden's report, and on the hub itself - he has been using one for a while now on a Moulton APB. Here is Tony's reply:

I've got a few comments in the letters section of 'The Moultoneer', which should be with you soon [Issue 71, which reached me today. As well as some useful information on the S-A 8-speed this contains detailed information about Shimano's competing 8-speed hub - Ed]. You are welcome to report these, which represent my feelings on the hub a month or so ago. Since then, I've done the quite hilly Audax [Uffington - see report elsewhere on these web pages - Ed] and have encountered no real problems. For what it's worth. I'm 55, 6ft 2inches tall and weigh 13.5 stone (150 pounds). I'm not, and never have been, in the pay of Sturmey-Archer, though one year they did send me a Christmas card. They did provide the hub I have been testing - the first sample I have ever received from them.

In all, I've probably done about 300 miles on this hub. I have a major technical article on it coming up later in the year in 'Human Power', the IHPVA mag in the USA.

As for Juden's article, I have a Shimano 7-speed (I did have two bikes thus equipped) and don't feel the Sturmey is any worse, efficiency wise. The Shimano doesn't even have a direct drive, whereas the Sturmey's lowest gear is direct, gears 2, 3 and 4 use only one epicyclic train, 5, 6 and 7 use two, gearing up in compound mode, and only gear 8 uses three epicylic trains in series, all gearing up. Hence the lower the gear, the more efficient with the Sturmey.

Contrary to what Chris Juden surmises, in no gear does the Sturmey drive in compound mode gearing both up and down at the same time.

Whilst plainly not as efficient overall as a well set up, good condition derailleur, I would not have risked using the hub on my first Audax for 22 years if I felt it was like pedalling treacle!

I have some concerns about long-term durability. Shifting is pretty good but could be improved. But on the whole, especially for users of small-wheelers, it has a lot to offer.

Other items I thought of particular interest were:

[21/07/2004]

Longer Rides
Yesterday (Sunday 18 July) I should have done another of my longer folder test rides and reports - the Redditch 100KM Brevet Populaire. Unfortunately, immediately after the last of these rides a developed a cold, and by the weekend this had become a bad, chesty cough. I was in no fit state to do the ride, so very reluctantly I had to abandon the idea. The next one I had originally planned was at Tamworth, but that coincides with Cyclefest, so I won't be doing that either. However, I do have both the route sheets, and I plan to do the rides unofficially (and of course for no credits with Audax UK) in the not too distant future, so I hope that reports will follow in due course. [19/07/2004]

An Airframe at Herne Hill
Robert McCann has sent some photographs of himself riding his Airframe round the track at Herne Hill during a meeting of The Veteran-Cycle Club in June this year. Roberts says: "Although the banking at the ends of the track is very steep, the Airframe held onto the surface very well. In fact, it really flew around the track to the amazement of both onlookers and cyclists alike! It must be very disconcerting to be overtaken by a 16” wheeled bike - especially around the banking!

    

The Airframe and Robert McCann at Herne Hill - photographs courtesy Robert McCann

Stolen - Brompton T5
Brompton, stolen from Billericay Railway Station 3:45 16/07/04 seen being ridden through Shenfield in direction of Brentwood at 4:10. Skinhead riding it with other youth on MTB. Black T5 with upgraded front brake. Upgraded h/bar with plastic bracing strut. Red in line skate wheels on carrier. Front of saddle padding coming adrift. B&M Dymotec 6 to standard front light, no rear light fitted. Blue bicycle bell with inbuilt compass. Velcro material stuck on top of frame tube ( it once had an air zound horn ). Frame number 023688. Contact via email b.spencer3@btinternet.com or 07960442677. £100 reward for return or sufficient info to make recovery. [17/07/2004]

Contacting us
I think the links of the web pages are now all set to point to the foldsoc.org.uk version of the email address, but over the last year I think 5 emails were addressed to the foldsoc.co.uk version of the email address (together with over 1100 emails which were junk, spam or viruses!). Please be aware that if you use that older email address, rather than the new one, or my personal email address, there may be a very long delay before it is answered. My apologies for this, and to anyone who has not received a reply after using the old address, but not only was it deluged with unwanted email, but I have to pay telephone charges to use it, unlike the newer addresses. [16/07/2004]

Stolen - Brompton L3
The bike in question was an all red L3 with a rear carrier, front carrier block and front light post on the handlebars. The bike had the name Andrew Duerden in silver script lettering with a block font underneath (saying the same) on the cross bar. Taken from a guarded (!) security compound at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone on Sunday July 11, 2004. (I'm in good company - David Coulthard had his scooter taken from the same area!). Contact Andrew Duerden, Leicestershire, Tel: 0116 259 2640 [15/07/2004]

The Dahon Jetstream XP - first part of the test report
I've had this bike on test for about a week. The test is not yet complete, so a full report will not be available for 7 days or so. However, I rode it on a 100Km Brevet Populaire - one of a series of longer rides on different folders - on Sunday 11th July, and the report on that ride is now available, so you can find out a lot about how the bike performed by visiting that report. Overall I found it an impressive performer. When the full test report is completed, I'll provide a link to it on this main News page. [14/07/2004]

An enlightened public transport organisation
Many congratulations to West Yorshire for their excellent support information regarding using folders on the local buses - they even have some informed comment on a small selection of bikes, though they don't mention us, or even A to B! Take a look at http://www.cycletransport-westyorks.co.uk/. Also may thanks to Paul Evans for bringing this to our attention. [13/07/2004]

An Early Brompton
Member Anthony Pearson has just obtained, via the Sales & Wants List, an early Brompton, c 1983. He has created a web site about the bike, with some interesting documents - you can see it at http://www.vaporum.co.uk/bromptonaut [13/07/2004]

Blowingstone 100Km ride
On Sunday 11 July, the day after the July Origami Ride (see below), 5 folder enthusiasts travelled (by car - sorry) to Uffington to take part in a 100Km Brevet Populaire. Dave Minter and Susan Barlow were on their Bromptons, Dick Hanson rode a modified Moulton fx8 (a double chainring bringing it to a total of 16 gears), Tony Hadland had his very interesting APB, fitted with the larger 451 version of the the 20-inch wheel, and an 8-speed Sturmey-Archer hub, while I use the Dahon Jetstream XP which was on test. Despite overnight rain, and threatening skies, the weather stayed fine, which was  relief after the soaking that we had got the day before. The full report, including details of the Jetstream, will appear shortly - watch this space. [12/07/2004]

July Origami Ride
July - so it must be Cheltenham! For once, the weather was not very kind to us, but we still had a grand day out. You can read the report here. [12/07/2004]

Sinclair's A-Bike
The BBC web site is carrying a story (on their News page) about a new folder from Sir Clive Sinclair:

" The bike, which will cost around £170, weighs only 12lbs but is built to support riders weighing up to 17 stone.
It is to go on sale in Singapore shortly, followed by the UK, the US and Japan next year.
Zipped into a bag, the A-Bike resembles a large umbrella when folded - taking up 0.03 cubic metres - and can be stored away under a desk."

The picture shows a rather flimsy-looking machine with wheels about the size of those of a micro-scooter, but very compact when folded. If/when any more information emerges we will let you know. [10/07/2004]

The Airnimal Revisited
Our report on the Airnimal on a Brevet Populaire is now available. Now updated to include some comments on the report by Richard Loke of Airnimal Designs. [08/07/2004]

Origami Ride on 10th July
The Origami Ride on Saturday 10th July will be at Cheltenham, meeting at the station from about 10:30 for an 11:00 start. As for the past 3 or 4 years, Dick Hanson is organising the event, and I'm sure he will have a superb route once again. I am expecting to have a Dahon Jetstream XP on test by then; I'm not sure if I shall be bringing it to Cheltenham, as a number of us will be doing a 100Km Brevet Populaire the next day, so the same bike will have to do both events, and I'm not sure about using an unfamiliar bike for what is a long ride for me. If the presence of the Jetstream is a major factor in whether you come to the ride on Saturday, check with me on the Friday before the event to see if I will be bringing it. A report on the Jetstream XP will appear in the next coupe of weeks, after I have had a chance to test it properly, and a report on the 111Km Brevet Populaire which I rode on Sunday 4th July will appear soon - this was an opportunity to revisit the Airnimal.  [06/07/2004]

Improved specification for Slingshots
Slingshot will be specifying Easy Split cable separators on all of their bikes in the future. The new components will allow for a cleaner and more efficient breakdown of their bikes for travel. For more information on the Slingshot range, see http://www.slingshotbikes.com [02/07/2004]

STUNNING
Steve Parry's latest creation looks absolutely superb - actually, this picture was taken a few weeks ago, so knowing Steve, he may even have something more spectacular by now. Of course, appearance isn't everything, but most SP owners will vouch for how well engineered Steve's bikes are. Purely personally, I remain to be convinced about the Rohloff and disc brakes, but it's significant that Chris Eley, who kindly supplied this picture, now seems to ride his SP in preference to his Moultons, including a New Series model - can praise come any higher than that? Chris has a Rohloff-geared, disc-braked SP, and we hope to have a detailed report from him on the bike in the future - he seems very pleased, and the bike seems to perform well, apart from an extraordinary number of punctures! My own more basically specified SP continues to perform well - even better since Stelvio tyres were fitted - and I have to say that if I could only keep one of my existing bikes, the ***VERY*** difficult choice would be the SP. [01/07/2004]

Thought from the day - Jack of All Trades or Master of ONLY ONE?
or Horses for Courses, yet again
Today's ride (Sunday 1 August) prompted some thoughts on the advantages and disadvantages of a bike which is designed specifically to meet a particular need. I woke feeling unusually weary and lacking in energy, even for me, but the weather forecast was good (though likely to get very hot later), and it was too good an opportunity for cycling to waste. In view of how I felt, I decided to make an early start (7:30) to miss the heat later, and to just do a very short version of my favourite ride, limited to no more than 45Km, all on the road, using a bike which would make for the least effort for such riding. In the end, the lovely weather and the joy of cycling persuaded me to extend the ride to 94Km, of which 22Km were off road. Now there are a lot of people whose cycling is just of one type - they only race and/or time trial on the road, they only ride (competitively or for pleasure) off road, they only commute etc. There are a lot of bikes available which are very firmly targetted in terms of specification and marketing to one particular type of use, and from which those who ride in only one way will probably find something suitable. However, there must be a lot of us who enjoy cycling in a whole range of different conditions, and for whom multiple different cycles don't provide the answer either - for reasons of cost, space, or, like my ride today, because a single ride may involve very different riding conditions, or simply we like to be able to alter our plans during a ride. Some of the more specialised bikes can be very limiting in these situations - I have ridden high performance road bikes which are very poor performers in even quite mild off-road conditions - unsuitable gearing, uncomfortable riding position, fragile and rather unstable narrow high pressure tyres. Likewise, some bikes which are designed purely for serious off-road riding can be miserably tiring and lethargic on the road, and not particularly comfortable in such conditions either. Stir in the element of portability, and finding the bike that is just right for you can be a real problem.

Some people of course seem to have no difficulty in finding the perfect bike for themselves - and according to them it would be perfect for everyone else as well, at least until they find something which is vastly superior to their previous favourite, again not just for themselves but for everyone else. Then a lot of us are forever seeking the Holy Grail of the perfect bike, but never finding it. For many of us who look for versatility in a bike (folder or otherwise), machines in the tourer to audax range tend to be most appealing. However, even then a lot of us find that some modifications can improve the suitability for our particular needs, and less versatile machines can often be made more versatile with some fairly minor modifications and customisation. Bear in mind, though, that the more unusual designs of folder usually are much more difficult to customise than ones which use more standard components. Amongst the more enthusiastic folder owners (polite description!), versatility does usually seem an important factor, most examples of bikes showing customisation to suit individual owner preferences, and it's no coincidence that favoured models seem to fall into this category of basically versatile touring machines which lend themselves to at least some degree of customisation. 'Even' the highly popular Brompton, which sets the standard for compact commuting folding, owes a lot to its success amongst enthusiasts to the fact that it is quite capable of at least modest touring and light off road use (some people manage heavy touring and more serious off road use with them!). Although customisation is important, you do sometimes come across extreme examples which seem to fall into the category of "if I were trying to get there, I wouldn't start from here".

Oh, and the bike I rode today, which ended up being used for something different from the originally planned short on-road ride? The Airnimal Chameleon, with Kenda Koncept 26mm 90psi tyres - certainly more at home on the 72Km of road, but perfectly capable of tackling 22Km of dry towpaths on the same ride even on these tyres. [01/08/2004]

Giatex report
Over the last week I have been testing the Giatex S-port 500 Stretch Bike. As you might guess from the name, the main frame member slides to allow the length of the bike to be compressed for 'folding', or stretched for riding, and incidentally in the process allows the rider to adjust the reach to the handlebars to be adjusted to suit. AT £230, its very reasonably priced - so is it suitable for YOUR requirements, and is it good value? Read our report here. [30/06/2004]


Airframe report
I have finally finished the (first) report on the Airframe - you can read it here. I hope to produce a rather longer term report later, but in the meantime I have another 3 folders to report on! [24/06/2004]
IMPORTANT POSTSCRIPT: We hear that a version of the Airframe with the 8-speed Sturmey-Archer hub is coming soon, probably in August!

Why are folders like buses?
The report on the Airframe is at last in draft form, though it still needs tidying up, and I have to do some photographs. On top of this, I have no less than 3 other folders to test and report on. The Dahon Zero G (http://www.dahon.co.uk) is a 26 inch-wheeled folding mountain bike, which I have so far ridden for just over 100Km, including a very enjoyable ride yesterday. The report will probably appear in about 10 days time. I shall also be revisiting the Airnimal Chameleon  (http://www.airnimal.com) - I plan to use it for the next longer ride on 4 July, so a report should be forthcoming soon after that. Finally, I have a Giatex stretching bike for testing (http://www.junglebikes.com), which arrived today, and which I hope to be able to report on within the next 7 days or so. Please watch this space. [23/06/2004]

Choosing a Dahon Helios SL
Folder enthusiasts take the choice of a new bike seriously, and Jacob Kite is no exception, as his in-depth report on how he went about choosing a replacement for his Brompton, and how he finally decided on the Dahon Helios SL. Apologies to those who tried to access this page immediately after the news was published - I was keen to try out another new folder, and the link didn't work - it should do now! [22/06/2004]

Coming 'Real Soon Now'
Apologies if you have been waiting for reports on some new bikes - I hope to have them here Real Soon Now. The Airframe has been on test for a few weeks, though I'm rather selective about the situations in which I choose to use it. I plan to do a first report within a few days, and then at some time in the future a longer term report (if I'm allowed to keep it that long). I hope to be receiving a new Airnimal Chameleon by the end of the week, so I should soon be able to add comments on this high performance folder based on a recent model - our existing test reports were on a fairly early example. I am hoping that the Dahon Zero G will arrive next week, so a report on that should not be too far off, although usually I would tend to use this type of  bike more in the winter than the summer. [14/06/2004]

Impressions of a Dahon Speed TR
A short report on the Dahon Speed TR is now available - thanks to Dahon and Rob Tomalin for providing this. [14/06/2004]

Apology - sort of
Sorry for the lack of updates recently - I went on a (photographic, not cycling) holiday in Scotland. I don't publicise beforehand when I will be away for obvious reasons. I am now suffering from serious withdrawal symptoms - 6 days with no possibility of a cycle ride (one drawback of the Smart is that there is not room in it for a folding bike and all the photographic gear and computers I want to take on such a holiday, although by applying self restraint I used to go there with everything on a bike)! [14/06/2004]

Two Days on a Brompton in Belgium
Member Olivier Sels reports that he recently did a two-day ride in Limburg, Belgium, with friends. He rode a Brompton T5 connected to a Chariot Cougar 2 child trailer for four month old son Jobbe. (Regrettably) his wife and their friends rode 'normal' bikes - interesting though that the Brompton was the choice for the bike to undertake the more arduous task! His luggage was in a Brompton touring bag. They did 55 km each day on what is known as the 'Knooppuntennetwerk Limburg', a network of numbered cycle paths that is numbered (more info on this network is to be found on http://www.toerismelimburg.be/fietsroutenetwerken.html - though only in Dutch). Olivier reports that the Brompton performed wonderfully! You can find some pictures from this ride on http://homepage.mac.com/olidaf/PhotoAlbum14.html [26/05/2004]

Another longer/faster ride
On Saturday 22 May 2004 I completed the fourth of my longer/faster rides on a portable bicycle. The first 3 had been on Moultons, which of course separate rather than fold, so, even though it was not my first choice, I used a genuine folder this time. Overall, I enjoyed my ride, but as the full report will show, I was not entirely happy with my performance, the performance of the railway company, the folder or the organisers. I hope to have the full report available before the end of the week - watch this space.  I expect also to comment in the conclusions on some general folder issues. Report now available. [25/05/2004]

Folding Recumbent Contest 2004
Our thanks go to Peter de Leuw, Rainer Zenz and Hanno Hirsch, who have provided a report on this interesting competition - you can read the report here. [20/05/2004]

50 miles in 4 hours
The full report on the Wombourn ride which I did last weekend is now available. Apologies to readers for the fact that limited choice of suitable bikes meant that I used a Moulton again - though this time an AM7, rather than an APB or fx. I hope to do the 100Km from Meriden on Saturday, but choice of bikes remains restricted, and I haven't yet decided which to use. [20/05/2004]

Four different rides - four different bikes
I still regularly get requests for advice on what is the ultimate very cheap, very light, very compact high performance folder. It's a bit like the answer to life the universe and everything (42), magic elixirs etc, and as these web pages make clear, life, products and even folders are about compromise. Most cheap folders are not very good for riding or folding, and you have to decide your priorities and choose accordingly. 

Four rides in the last week have resulted in the choice of four different bikes to suit the circumstances, plus it has to be admitted, my enjoyment of using different machines, and the wish to provide reports on different bikes.

The first outing was on Wednesday 12th May, and was a visit to the university - ride to Tipton (2.5Km), train to Tile Hill (no need to fold on local services), ride 4 Km to the university. I used the opportunity to try the Airframe which I have borrowed. A full report on the Airframe should appear in the next 10 days or so, but suffice it to say that although it is very flexible compared with most folders (though not nearly as flexible as the Bickerton), I found it not as as disturbing as I had feared, and indeed on the way back I deliberately rode back to Marston Green station, extending the distance for the day to 32Km. I repeated this journey, including the extended ride back, on Monday 17th.  You will have to wait for the full report on the bike though - watch this space.

On Thursday 13th I took a train to Shrewsbury to join the local CTC group there for another of their mid-week rides. Portability was an issue this time, as the trains from Wolverhampton to Shrewsbury have limited cycle space. When I went to one of these rides a couple of weeks previously, I used the SP Brompton, which worked very well. Just to ring the changes, I used the Bike Friday New World Tourist (Newt) this time - the SP had proved excellent on the previous visit. The ride from Shrewsbury to Wem was quite flat, and was done at a very gentle pace, so the Newt was really an overkill from the riding point of view, and much more hassle to fold and bag on the train. The absence of suspension of any kind also made it rather uncomfortable on less than ideally surfaced lanes. The Newt acquitted itself quite well on the 60Km ride, but the SP would certainly have been the better bike for this occasion.

Sunday 16th was the date of the Wombourn 50 miles in 4 hours ride. Although this was not part of my original sequence of longer rides on folders/separables programme, I'll probably write it up fully in that section soon, so this is only a brief report. I reckoned that a ride of this distance at this speed was on my limit, even in the relatively gentle terrain involved. I therefore chose the highest performance bike that I still have (having sold the Pocket Rocket and Airnimal, and having had the New Series Moulton stolen) - a 20 year old Moulton AM7.  Portability was not really an issue (though to avoid having a serious uphill ride back after the event, I weakened and used the car to get to and from the start point, so a non-folder/separable would not have been an option). The AM7, with its narrow dropped bars went into the Smart very easily, and a simple frame split was all that was need, so disassembly and later assembly was very easy and quick. Mine was not the only small wheeled folder on the event - there was also an Airnimal (the same one which I saw at the start of the Hartlebury ride). The gearing of the Am7 (actually now fitted with 8 indexed gears) was more than adequate at the low end, though I could have used a higher top gear (I have fitted a smaller than standard chainring as I would normally prefer to be under rather than over geared) in view of the terrain and the need to ride fairly quickly given the time constraints. Full details will be in a later report (if I summon up the energy to write it), but suffice it to say that I got round in 3.5 hours without too much difficulty, and the Moulton provided a very comfortable ride. I appreciated its light weight, the gear range was adequate, and the portability - for putting it in the boot of a very small car- was quite satisfactory. I was probably on one of the oldest bikes present, with the fewest gears, and the smallest wheels, but these were not really relevant at all, and my relatively slow time was just down to lack of strength of the rider.

Finally, today - 19th May - I went out with a neighbour to cycle from Hampton in Arden to Kingsbury Water Park and back. My preference would have been to take a train there and back, but in the end we used his car - a Ford Focus (it took longer to get there than it would have done by train, though we did get back slightly faster than the train would have done). He was riding a Thorn Audax (non folder, 700C wheels), so just for the hell of it I got out my 24 year old Mercian 27 inch wheeled non-folder! Had we used the local trains, this would not have been a problem, as there are no restrictions or charges on bikes on that route. To fit the two bikes in the Focus meant taking out the front wheels - no more trouble (less really) than any kind of folder. There isn't much else to say really - we rode 53 Km, the lack of folding facilities was not an issue, and the bikes performed well, though it did seem very strange to have to cope with a crossbar after riding step through frames for so many years, the lack of any suspension seemed a bit painful after my recent Moulton rides, and the very limited number of gears and lack of indexing on this relatively elderly machine was noticeable even on such fairly flat terrain.

So, four different rides on four different bikes, ranging from a compact folder to a completely conventional large wheeled non-folder. The non-folder would have been a problem on a train to Shrewsbury, and would not have fitted very easily into the Smart, and the Airframe would really not have been a realistic contender to the 50 mile in 4 hours ride. The AM7 might have been a problem on a train to Shrewsbury (separating to the extent that you can bag it is a 7-minute job). The Newt could have done all these rides reasonably well, though the harsh, unsuspended ride is not ideal on British minor roads, folding for trains is a bit of a pain, and it would have been harder work on the 50mile ride. Most folders I own or have owned could probably tackle all of these rides (though perhaps not the 50 in 4), but I wouldn't regard any one of them as ideal for all these different types of use, so it is a case of horses for courses - you have to choose the folder that best fits the particular combination of requirements you have. [19/05/2004]

Coming Real Soon Now!
If you read not only my Folding Society but also some of my other web pages, you will realise that I have been rather busy over the last few days, so I have to apologise for not keeping this site completely up to date. We had a great Origami Ride at Leominster on Saturday 8th May (the report is now available on the Origami Ride web site), and I completed the second long distance ride (by my modest standards) on a separable on Sunday 9th - report now available. I now have a current Airframe to test (acquired on loan for testing only on Saturday), and I hope soon to have a couple of Dahons (one, Zero G, bought, and one, Jetstream XP, on test) as well. I'll be issuing reports as soon as I'm able to do so, so watch this space. I'm due to do another couple of long ride tests during the next two weeks as well, so I'm not slacking. [10/05/2004]

16 inch (349) tyres
The section of the Moulton Bicycle Club web pages on the 16inch (349) tyres for the old F-frame Moultons (and a number of folding bicycles) has been updated - you can read it here. [29/04/2004]

Report on the Folders on the Isle of Wight Ride
The report on our recent long weekend with folders on the Isle of Wight is now available - sorry for the delay, but other things (producing the video and riding bikes!) stopped it getting done sooner. [27/04/2004]

A to B Issue 41
Issue 41 of A to B reached me today - congratulations to David and Jane Henshaw on another excellent issue. [26/04/2004]

Two great rides
Some superb weather over the last few days must have encouraged many of us to go out on our bikes - folders or others. Today (Sunday) was the date for the Veteran-Cycle Club's Memorial Ride, held annually from Shenstone to Hartlebury and back. This is always a very enjoyable event, but the weather made it exceptionally enjoyable this year. As you might expect from an event of the V-CC, the range of cycles was enormous, and very interesting, and this time small-wheelers were better represented than in the last couple of years. Although there was only one folder (that I saw), in the form of Sue Thorne's Brompton, there were 5 Moultons, with Sandra Evans, Wim Bloemendaal and Mike Roberts on AMs (in the case of Wim, borrowed, as usual for these events, from Dave Westwood), myself on my 'new' Stowaway and one other rider on a non-separable. A number of other regular folder riders were present, albeit on older, non-folding, bikes this time (Paul, Dave, Susan, Dick and Hazel should be ashamed of themselves!). This was a very enjoyable ride, and many thanks are due to the organisers. It's worth noting that the Midlands Section of the V-CC is a very effective group, which has a highly effective organisation in which the role of 'Captain' is usually only held by one person for a maximum of two years - no one ends up being lumbered with the job indefinitely, and everyone pulls their weight. Apart from the Moultons and the Brompton, the bikes that particularly attracted my attention were the 1907 Rudge Racer, ridden very fast by Thomas Kennaugh - this machine was owned by his Great Grandfather (same name), the c1895 front-drive Crypto Bantam of Mark Harrison, the 1898 Alpha Bantam of Malcolm Young and the 2003 Thorn Triplet - the middle position of which was occupied (when I saw it!) by a rucksack, but still had three occupants, as there was a small(er) child ahead of the front rider!

At last year's V-CC Memorial Ride, the new plaque commemorating John and David Pinkerton was unveiled, but was not actually secured in place in the garden at Hartlebury Castle. This year it was to be seen fixed to the wall by the herb garden. Doug Pinkerton pointed out that there is a curry plant near it, which would particularly please John, who was well-known for his partiality to Indian dishes! Our photograph shows the plaque and members of the family.

I should perhaps add that my 'new' Stowaway (2-speed, unlike my other one, despite only 5 weeks difference in the manufacturing date), performed splendidly. It's now undergoing some minor refurbishment, but I'm looking forward to using it again soon.

Earlier in the week, on Thursday, I decided that I would like a mid week ride. However, the traffic and other factors make riding from Dudley during the week very unattractive, so I decided to use a folder to achieve the first stage by train, have a ride, and then return by train. Hampton in Arden is usually the easiest location for this sort of outing, but as it involves riding the same roads I use when visiting the university, and I have ridden it fairly frequently recently, I looked for an alternative. I discovered that the Shrewsbury section of the CTC (the Shropshire and Mid Wales DA may be the official name?) have not merely one but two mid-week rides every week, so I set out to join them. The train journey from Dudley to Shrewsbury is quite simple and quick - nearly half of the just over 1 hour journey time is actually taken up by waiting at Wolverhampton for a connection! I understand that normally these mid-week rides attract rider numbers in double figures, but evidently news of my planned attendance on this occasion had leaked out, and there were only four of us on the ride. Although my local trains have no bicycle restrictions, the Wolverhampton to Shrewsbury rail journey does have restrictions, so I chose the SP for this outing. I was the only folder or small wheel rider on the ride, but Bill, from California(!), one of the other riders, owns a Bike Friday New World Tourist, and at least had his BF water bottle on his bike.  We followed a very pleasantly quiet route via lanes to Church Stretton, where we ate our lunches in an attractive local park. The route avoided any serious hills, and was at what, for me, was a comfortable pace, the only downside being 400m or so of the dirtiest lane I have had the misfortune to ride for a long time. The return journey was equally enjoyable, though after the ride I became hopelessly lost in the one-way circuit around Shrewsbury - very cycle-unfriendly, and involving for me a lot of walking and what seemed a very round-about route back to the station. Once again there was a long wait for a connection at Wolverhampton (no doubt the trains are timed so that SOME people make a good connection there, but all my connections there seem to be arranged to be out of synch by the maximum possible time!). I'm lucky enough to be able to fit in some mid week rides, and I thoroughly enjoyed this one. Many thanks to the Shrewsbury CTC group for making me welcome on their ride - I hope to be back when I can fit another one in to my plans. 

PS: A word of warning - on the Friday, I set out from the university intending to take the long route home, which involves a visit to Kingsbury Water Park. Unfortunately the road and all access (pedestrian and cycle) on the railway bridge by the Water Works near Shustoke and Blyth End is closed - I did try following an unpleasant main road diversion for a mile or so, but then gave up. Quite what this has done to the North Warwickshire Cycleway, which goes this way, I do not know - but if you are planning to follow this route, be prepared for some diversions. [25/04/2004]

PPS: Yes, I know I have still not posted a report on the Isle of Wight Ride. I gave priority to producing the (very amateurish) video for the participants. Now that I have done that (despite various technical problems, which trebled the time), I hope to produce a short report here Real Soon Now. 

Dahon Speed D6
We now have a report on this Dahon model - many thanks to Andrew Macrow for providing it. [21/04/2004]

Hub dynamos for small wheelers
Thanks to the member who sent the news that "Schmidt have introduced their SON XS, a small wheeler version (16"-20") of the well known SON for narrower forks (mainly Dahon, Brompton and Moulton NS) in 74mm width on the SPEZI, the special bicycles show. A few of them will be made this summer and real production starts in fall. It will be available with 28 holes and later in other hole numbers. It is significantly lighter than the usual SON for 16"-20" wheels, but I've got no numbers yet. [20/04/2004]

Isle of Wight Ride
The visit to the Isle of Wight which a number of us made over the weekend  16-18 April went very well. Four of us met up at Birmingham New Street for the train journey to Southampton, where we were met by the remaining four members of the party for the 20 minute Jetfoil journey to the Isle of Wight. 7 of us were using either Bromptons or SPs, while one had a Micro. On the second day, three locals joined us, which brought some more variety in terms of cycles, with a Birdy Blue and a Bike Friday NWT, plus a conventional non-folding bike. The weather was excellent for the first two days, though it was wet and colder on the final day - less of a problem than it might have been, as on that final day we were mainly using trains, and hadn't planned very much cycling. Apart from 3 punctures and a bulging side-wall on another tyre, the bikes all behaved perfectly. This was a very enjoyable holiday - many thanks to organiser Paul Evans, who, as always, had planned the details meticulously. A slightly more detailed report will be posted in a few days time, with a link to it from here. [20/04/2004]

 

Our ride round the island took us through Ventnor, which many of you will remember as the location for the third, and final, Folder Forum, in 1998. If you were there, you will know that it is hilly, and that Zig Zag Road is quite a demanding climb. Our group stopped for a breather at the top. Left to right: Dick Hanson (Brompton), Susan Barlow (Brompton with some SP modifications), Paul Evans (Brompton), Rosemary Hadland (Micro), Tony Hadland (seated on his Brompton), Dave Minter (Brompton), Hazel Hanson (SP) and local Brian Wey (Birdy), who joined us for the day. I an on the other side of the camera, as usual, my bike for this outing being the SP.

Longer rides on folders
Those of you who have been reading these pages, and the emailed Folding Society News, for some time may recall that a few years ago I did a number of 100Km Brevet Populaires (report here), and used the opportunity to comment on how different folders performed in these circumstances. I'm hoping to do some more such rides this year, and you can read the background and the first report on the web pages here. [05/04/2004]

Origami Ride on 10th April - CHANGE OF LOCATION
As is often the case, engineering work is planned on the railways over Easter, and so the Origami Ride on 10th April is being moved from Tring to Milton Keynes, since some people use the railways to reach the rides. Please note that even with the move, there are problems in travelling there by rail, but Milton Keynes is rather more accessible by other means. Meet from about 10:30 at the railway station for a ride starting at 11:00. [04/04/2004]

Stolen - Brompton T3
T3 Brompton stolen on 17 March 2004 about 21.30 from a train. It was the 21.21 train from New Cross Gate to Sydenham. Description of bike : Black chipped frame, it was about 6 years old and in need of a service. Chain was rusty, right hand peddle squeaks, rear light cracked. Kevlar tyres. The frame has the postcode RG8 9NR stamped on it, silver/white large flexible bike chain was hanging on it. handlebars had the strengthening adaptation. Small black leather cycle repair kit with two silver buckles was hanging on back of seat. Any information please call or email: Caroline Fernandez food@wen.org.uk Tel:0787 6777327 [19/03/2004]

Successful Origami Ride at Stratford
The March Origami Ride was at Stratford-upon-Avon on 13th March, and proved very successful. We had good weather, and an excellent route planned by Paul Grogan. Many thanks to Paul, and to all those who attended the event - there is a more detailed report available through the Origami Ride web site. [14/03/2004]

Folder Sales Boom
Dahon has reported a 118% increase in sales for 2003 in the UK compared with those of 2002. [05/03/2004]

Brompton web site update
Many thanks to Emmanuel for pointing out that the Brompton web site has had a major facelift. No new products there, but well worth a visit for Bromptoneers, or indeed any folder enthusiasts. [03/03/2004]

2nd Annual Round*Up USA - "Three Days to Explore the Compact Bicycle Universe"
We have had some more information about this event, which is to be held 4-5-6 June 2004 in Philadelphia PA - see the events section for further details, including the tentative schedule. [29/02/2004]

Get well soon Chris
We were sorry to hear that folder enthusiast Chris Dent was taken ill at the weekend. We wish you a speedy recovery Chris, and we hope you will soon be back on the bike - but don't try too soon! [25/02/2004]

A Grand Day Out
It's still winter, but you can enjoy riding a folder any time. Our monthly rides at Bristol (first Saturday of each Month), the Origami Ride (second Saturday of the month, usually in the Midlands, but no longer as often at Meriden as in the past), and Swindon (Swindon Smallwheels ride, third Saturday of each month), are well established, but folders meet in other places too to enjoy rides. The picture shows a recent ride in the Derby area - Rhys Jones' report is below. [25/02/2004]

Attached is a photo of a recent ride on our folders, 5 riders in all. We met at Derby station, folded the bikes, and took the train to Leicester, where we got off, unfolded and cycled back to Derby on route 6 of the national cycle network. There were only two punctures, and it didn't rain! 3 Bromptons, 1 Dahon, and 1 Birdy took part. It was a great day out - and to the credit of Central Trains they were on time and we had no problems getting our bikes on the train. 3 Bromptons, 1 Dahon, and 1 Birdy took part, and the riders were Les Sims(taking the photos), Peter Ford (fixing the puncture in the picture), Jeremy Taylor, Neil Fox and Rhys Jones.

The Bliss Electric Folder - another opinion
One of the bikes covered in Issue 40 of A to B, which reached me yesterday, was the Bliss Electric Folder (which I had seen at the Bike Show late last year). A to B were not at all enthusiastic about the bike overall, but noted some positive aspects. Late yesterday I received a report from Peter Bruce who actually owns one of these bikes. Peter, like A to B, has serious reservations about the claimed range, which is a fairly fundamental aspect of the bike. His detailed report is now available on our web site in the form of a pdf file - ie, you need Adobe Acrobat to read it (I'm sure almost all of you have this anyway) - clicking on the link will usually open the reader on the file immediately, or right clicking gives the option of downloading the file and opening it with Acrobat later (specify where you want to save it, then double click on the file name using Explorer or the My Computer feature in the place where you saved it, at least assuming you have your system configured in the usual way). Peter's report is available HERE. This file is exactly as Peter sent it, and of course the Copyright is the author's and not ours. [21/02/2004]

Dahon UK web site update
Dahon's UK web site, at http://www.dahon.co.uk, has now been fully updated for the 2004 range. There are some rather nice looking machines there: the Jetstream XP is VERY tempting, but it's the Zero G I have on order at present. It is not due unti