rbent Forum - A practical purchase

Welcome, Guest. Please Login.

	Oct 3^rd, 2024, 6:29pm News: Want to join the rbent Forum? See this thread.

rbent Forum › General Category › Photos
(Moderators: FlyingLaZBoy, aikigreg, Bud_Bent)

‹ Previous topic | Next topic ›

Pages: 1 2

A practical purchase (Read 6288 times)

FlyingLaZBoy

Moderator

'16 ICE SprintX fs,
'16 Rocket, '12 KHS
Mocha

Posts: 5803

A practical purchase
Jan 24^th, 2010, 3:12pm

I ride DART enough that I've been thinking about (and doing some digging into) folding bikes -- lower-end ones, admittedly, but folding nonetheless. Whenever I do take DART, the furthest I have to go to or from the station is about 2 miles. Additionally, part of my DART riding is on the smaller "flex" buses, and I also want to be able to put the bike in the back of Terrie's Prius -- so for all the above, a folder seemed like a practical option. Mark Colletti purchased one back in the summer, but I forget the brand name.

After a bit of test riding, it came down between a used Breezer IC3 with 16" wheels, and a KHS "Mocha" with 20" wheels, both under $400. I wound up purchasing the KHS, because of somewhat more substantial fold interlocks, adjustable height handlebar, 7 speeds vs. 3, and the 20" wheels. It folds and unfolds in about 30 seconds, which is reasonable. It's certainly DIFFERENT riding a "DF" style bike again, especially with 20" wheels -- but I won't be using it for long distance or club rides. Here is a series of pics:

******************
"A hundred miles on a bike? How many
days does that take you?"

******************

IP Logged

Kwijybow Five Star Member mostly a commuter Posts: 1026	Re: A practical purchase Reply #1 - Jan 24^th, 2010, 5:06pm Cool! I've been percolating on a folding bike over a year now, and lust after a Bike Friday, but I'm more of Dahon priced kinda guy. Give us some ride reports after you use it a bit. Take Care, Nelson.
Back to top	Commuter 1avidson Impulse Commuter 2: Motobecane Fixie Commuter 3: Salsa Journeyman Recumbent 1: Schlitter Encore 20 recumbent 2: Bacchetta Ti Aero IP Logged

FlyingLaZBoy

Moderator

'16 ICE SprintX fs,
'16 Rocket, '12 KHS
Mocha

Posts: 5803

Re: A practical purchase
Reply #2 - Jan 24^th, 2010, 9:58pm

Rode it up to the Rowlett DART bus station and back, about 6 miles total -- it's no speed demon, and I could stand more than the 7 gears it's got to be able to go faster, but all in all I think it's going to do the job nicely. I put my old Performance Viewpoint 10W halogen headlight on it, which will work just fine for the occasional evening sidewalk commute.

******************
"A hundred miles on a bike? How many
days does that take you?"

******************

IP Logged

bryan.gibbon rbent member Posts: 5	Re: A practical purchase Reply #3 - Jan 25^th, 2010, 10:53pm That is a great bike for its intended purpose! Any riding is better than none...
Back to top	IP Logged

bob wand Ex Member	Re: A practical purchase Reply #4 - Jan 25^th, 2010, 11:11pm My Brother-in-law carried one in airplane for ground transportation. I wonder if one would fit in a Hugo.
Back to top	« Last Edit: Jan 25^th, 2010, 11:14pm by NO BATTERY bwand E-Bob » IP Logged

FlyingLaZBoy Moderator '16 ICE SprintX fs, '16 Rocket, '12 KHS Mocha Posts: 5803	Re: A practical purchase Reply #5 - Jan 26^th, 2010, 8:59am Oh, and just another note on the design -- the two hinges also have locking pin backup, in case the quickrelease happens to come loose... good thinking!!!
Back to top	**************** "A hundred miles on a bike? How many days does that take you?" **************** IP Logged

bent_eagle Recumbents Rock! Posts: 102	Re: A practical purchase Reply #6 - Feb 16^th, 2010, 12:51am Very nice! I'm also in the folder-curious group. Where did you find them to test ride, Paul?
Back to top	Steve W Bacchetta Ti Aero IP Logged

FlyingLaZBoy

Moderator

'16 ICE SprintX fs,
'16 Rocket, '12 KHS
Mocha

Posts: 5803

Re: A practical purchase
Reply #7 - Feb 16^th, 2010, 7:07pm

Quote from bent_eagle on Feb 16^th, 2010, 12:51am:

Very nice! I'm also in the folder-curious group. Where did you find them to test ride, Paul?

RBM Richardson location -- they've actually got a good stock on the floor, ranging in price from $300 to > $1000... Talk to Sam Montag, he's the one who helped me. Of course, you have to go into the CLOTHING section to find them... Roll Eyes

Paul

******************
"A hundred miles on a bike? How many
days does that take you?"

******************

IP Logged

Kwijybow Five Star Member mostly a commuter Posts: 1026	Re: A practical purchase Reply #8 - Feb 16^th, 2010, 9:41pm I saw a couple nice ones at REI this past weekend as well.
Back to top	Commuter 1avidson Impulse Commuter 2: Motobecane Fixie Commuter 3: Salsa Journeyman Recumbent 1: Schlitter Encore 20 recumbent 2: Bacchetta Ti Aero IP Logged

bent_eagle Recumbents Rock! Posts: 102	Re: A practical purchase Reply #9 - Feb 16^th, 2010, 11:40pm Cool! Thanks!
Back to top	Steve W Bacchetta Ti Aero IP Logged

MrOverdressed Five Star Member rbent member Posts: 569	Re: A practical purchase Reply #10 - Feb 17^th, 2010, 2:47pm I wonder what it would take to put a hub-motor on it.
Back to top	Happy Trails! Terry Pickl IP Logged

Opus the Poet

Five Star Member

rbent member

Posts: 1353

Re: A practical purchase
Reply #11 - Feb 20^th, 2010, 1:59am

Buying a hub motor and support electronics, and swapping a wheel out and mounting the electrical "stuff" required. Folders usually work out best with the motor and battery on the same side of the fold. A folder and a hub motor are actually a pretty good commuting option for office workers if you are allowed to keep it in your cube or office and recharge. Smiley

I ride my bike to ride my bike, and sometimes it takes me where I need to go.

IP Logged

Hurricane Dan

Boom chika wow
wow...

Posts: 296

Re: A practical purchase
Reply #12 - Feb 20^th, 2010, 9:06am

I just put an e-bike kit on my wife's bike and I don't think I'd want to add that kind of weight to something I had to haul around on a bus/train and in the office. I don't know how much the bike weighs, but the e-bike kit is pushing 30 lbs between the motor, battery, controller, throttle, brakes, wiring and hardware to mount it all. Seems like a lot to lug around.

Happiness is riding home into the sunset.

IP Logged

Opus the Poet

Five Star Member

rbent member

Posts: 1353

Re: A practical purchase
Reply #13 - Feb 20^th, 2010, 1:41pm

What kind of battery was in that kit, SLA (sealed lead acid)? Those are basically just bricks of lead with a little acid in fiberglass mats to make them work. The way to go on e-assist is either NiMH or LiFePO4 chemistry with the LiFePO4 having the best energy density (Wh/lb) Also since if you're toting the bike on the bus you don't have to actually ride it very much you can get a lighter battery with less range, but if you plan on riding all the way to work you need a bigger battery and just use the folding feature to reduce your parking footprint in the office/cube. You can get 10 miles of assist out of a bundle of AA size NiMH cells in series, but the pack needs to have monitoring electronics to prevent overcharging and a smart charger that can use the the electronics to tell the status of the pack and not burn it up. A 24V pack needs 20NiMH cells in series (@$4/cell, 1.2V/cell)

I ride my bike to ride my bike, and sometimes it takes me where I need to go.

IP Logged

MrOverdressed Five Star Member rbent member Posts: 569	Re: A practical purchase Reply #14 - Feb 20^th, 2010, 1:43pm This is my favorite EBike Kit. A Mid Drive unit (double freewheel kit) From: http://www.cyclone-tw.com/order-M.htm
Back to top	« Last Edit: Feb 20^th, 2010, 1:44pm by MrOverdressed » Happy Trails! Terry Pickl IP Logged

Pages: 1 2

rbent Forum › General Category › Photos
(Moderators: FlyingLaZBoy, aikigreg, Bud_Bent)

‹ Previous topic | Next topic ›