bicycle tech

I'll add some comments on folding bicycles. I have seen a few of them in 40 years of road riding. I can probably count the total number on my two hands. Maybe two hands and feet. Maybe. Most of those sightings would have been on RAGBRAI. 10,000+ bicycles per day on the road for a week. Most of my riding has been in the midwest USA. But I did ride around Europe back in 1992. And have ridden a few rides in other states in the USA. Its very rare to see a folding bike. Rare. Where I live mass public transportation means the bus. The buses here do have bike racks on the front. Hold 2 bikes I think. Rarely I see them in use. Rarely. I did spend a summer in Chicago back in 1990. Used the Elevated train in Chicago. Fairly certain bikes were not allowed on that mass public transportation system. And as I recall the train stations, I do not even think there was anyplace to park bikes if you rode to and from the stations. Being Chicago I am not certain you would want to leave your bike locked up anywhere unless you had 10 Kryptonite locks on it and many heavy chains wrapped around it. I'm doubting there were any folding bikes used for commuting in Chicago.

On 1/1/2021 11:15 AM, wrote:
I'll add some comments on folding bicycles. I have seen a few of them in 40 years of road riding. I can probably count the total number on my two hands. Maybe two hands and feet. Maybe. Most of those sightings would have been on RAGBRAI. 10,000+ bicycles per day on the road for a week. Most of my riding has been in the midwest USA. But I did ride around Europe back in 1992. And have ridden a few rides in other states in the USA. Its very rare to see a folding bike. Rare. Where I live mass public transportation means the bus. The buses here do have bike racks on the front. Hold 2 bikes I think. Rarely I see them in use. Rarely. I did spend a summer in Chicago back in 1990. Used the Elevated train in Chicago. Fairly certain bikes were not allowed on that mass public transportation system. And as I recall the train stations, I do not even think there was anyplace to park bikes if you rode to and from the stations. Being Chicago I am not certain you would want to
leave your bike locked up anywhere unless you had 10 Kryptonite locks on it and many heavy chains wrapped around it. I'm doubting there were any folding bikes used for commuting in Chicago.



Any and every bicycle can be folded. Just ask the CTA!
http://www.yellowjersey.org/photosfr...ast/BIACTA.JPG

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org/
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

On Thursday, December 31, 2020 at 3:13:21 PM UTC-8, sms wrote:
On 12/31/2020 2:25 PM, jbeattie wrote:

snip
Well, moron, see below. And I didn't say they were common. They are a "thing," meaning that they are becoming popular as an option -- as is obvious from the press and SMS' first-hand experience as a someone with a job and a commute.

The world is different at commute time, which you probably sleep through.

-- Jay Beattie.
Tom's experience on public transit is obviously very limited, probably
to BART and A/C Transit.

Actually "common" is an accurate description when it comes to folding
bicycles on public transit in the Bay Area, but it varies by location
and by transit agency.

On Muni Metro in San Francisco (light rail) only folding bikes are
allowed. Muni buses can take two full size bikes on a rack, but a folder
means that you won't have to worry about snagging one of those two slots.

Folders used to be the only bicycles allowed on BART during peak commute
hours in the commute direction, but now they no longer have any
restrictions. Still, folders are less of a hassle even on BART,
especially when the trains are crowded.

Folders are still common on Caltrain even though bicycle capacity is 72
to 80 bicycles per train. Without a folder there is a good chance of
being bumped, NB if you get on north of Sunnyvale or Mountain View, and
southbound in San Francisco, especially on the express trains. On the
local trains it's unlikely that you'll be bumped, it just takes a lot
longer (the express trains are slow, but the local trains are
agonizingly slow).

Ironically, the cheapest way to cross the bay into San Francisco by
transit is only if you have a bicycle with you: $1 on the Caltrans
shuttle
https://dot.ca.gov/caltrans-near-me/district-4/d4-popular-links/crossing-thebay-by-bike.
We continue to get these loony claims from Scharf. I worked for BART for three years. Had I remained with them I would have had a great deal larger retirement under PERS than I presently have. But there was NO limit to carrying a full size bicycle on BART and the club and all of its members did it commonly.

On Friday, January 1, 2021 at 9:15:37 AM UTC-8, wrote:
I'll add some comments on folding bicycles. I have seen a few of them in 40 years of road riding. I can probably count the total number on my two hands. Maybe two hands and feet. Maybe. Most of those sightings would have been on RAGBRAI. 10,000+ bicycles per day on the road for a week. Most of my riding has been in the midwest USA. But I did ride around Europe back in 1992. And have ridden a few rides in other states in the USA. Its very rare to see a folding bike. Rare. Where I live mass public transportation means the bus. The buses here do have bike racks on the front. Hold 2 bikes I think. Rarely I see them in use. Rarely. I did spend a summer in Chicago back in 1990. Used the Elevated train in Chicago. Fairly certain bikes were not allowed on that mass public transportation system. And as I recall the train stations, I do not even think there was anyplace to park bikes if you rode to and from the stations. Being Chicago I am not certain you would want to leave your bike locked up anywhere unless you had 10 Kryptonite locks on it and many heavy chains wrapped around it. I'm doubting there were any folding bikes used for commuting in Chicago.
You and I have more or less the same experience. While I have seen folders it has always been a unique experience that stood out sharply in the crowds.. I have taken many of the public transit in the bay area and on the one's in which you could expect it such as the San Francisco Ferry service since that ends on Market St. in the financial area of San Francisco and originates in Alameda, Oakland very close to Piedmont and North Oakland and Emeryville and Berkeley which all have upper class bedroom communities, if they were going to be common anywhere that would be it. Also from all of the Marin County area which are almost entirely the rich and ultrarich. I don't find it odd that Beattie reads a paper about San Francisco and believes it and is then supported by Scharf who probably has never ridden mass transit in his life. People who are crazy together tend to stay together. Hey Jay, how are those "mostly peaceful demonstrations" going where only one or two buildings are burned to the group and people with guns prevent the fire department from putting them out?

Op vrijdag 1 januari 2021 om 18:15:37 UTC+1 schreef :
I'll add some comments on folding bicycles. I have seen a few of them in 40 years of road riding. I can probably count the total number on my two hands. Maybe two hands and feet. Maybe. Most of those sightings would have been on RAGBRAI. 10,000+ bicycles per day on the road for a week. Most of my riding has been in the midwest USA. But I did ride around Europe back in 1992. And have ridden a few rides in other states in the USA. Its very rare to see a folding bike. Rare. Where I live mass public transportation means the bus. The buses here do have bike racks on the front. Hold 2 bikes I think. Rarely I see them in use. Rarely. I did spend a summer in Chicago back in 1990. Used the Elevated train in Chicago. Fairly certain bikes were not allowed on that mass public transportation system. And as I recall the train stations, I do not even think there was anyplace to park bikes if you rode to and from the stations. Being Chicago I am not certain you would want to leave your bike locked up anywhere unless you had 10 Kryptonite locks on it and many heavy chains wrapped around it. I'm doubting there were any folding bikes used for commuting in Chicago.


Dutch way:

https://l1.nl/l1nws-opening-ondergro...tricht-138655/

We have a similar parking in my city.

Lou

On Friday, January 1, 2021 at 12:15:37 PM UTC-5, wrote:
I'll add some comments on folding bicycles. I have seen a few of them in 40 years of road riding. I can probably count the total number on my two hands. Maybe two hands and feet.

I agree, regarding midwest bicycling. Our folders are unusual enough that pedestrians
have stopped us to ask about them. I've seen more folding bikes in Europe, but still
not very many, percentagewise, compared to "normal" bikes. (Around here, I actually
see more recumbents than folders, although both are vanishingly rare.)

Where I live mass public transportation means the bus. The buses here do have bike racks on the front. Hold 2 bikes I think. Rarely I see them in use.

We were in Helsinki when I came across a guy with the first Brompton I'd seen. I asked
him about it, and he was super-enthusiastic, saying "It's changed my life!" He said it
enabled him to efficiently use the train to get to his job in the city, instead of driving
in and searching for parking, or using other ways to get from the train station to his
office. And the lightning fast fold was very impressive.

Our Bike Friday NWTs are optimized for ride quality rather than quick folding. But while
in Helsinki, I found a shop that specialized in folders. I test rode a Brompton. Really,
its ride quality didn't seem bad at all; but then, the test ride was only a couple miles.
We've done over 50 miles on rides with the Fridays, sometimes towing trailers.

Our use of our Fridays is now different than it used to be. I'd now value a quicker and
more compact fold. I'd almost be tempted to resurrect the ancient Dahon, but it's
really heavy. Weight matters a lot more in a bike that you sometimes want to carry.

- Frank Krygowski

On 1/1/2021 11:15 AM, wrote:
I'll add some comments on folding bicycles. I have seen a few of them
in 40 years of road riding. I can probably count the total number on
my two hands. Maybe two hands and feet. Maybe. Most of those
sightings would have been on RAGBRAI. 10,000+ bicycles per day on the
road for a week. Most of my riding has been in the midwest USA. But
I did ride around Europe back in 1992. And have ridden a few rides in
other states in the USA. Its very rare to see a folding bike. Rare.
Where I live mass public transportation means the bus. The buses here
do have bike racks on the front. Hold 2 bikes I think. Rarely I see
them in use. Rarely. I did spend a summer in Chicago back in 1990.
Used the Elevated train in Chicago. Fairly certain bikes were not
allowed on that mass public transportation system. And as I recall
the train stations, I do not even think there was anyplace to park
bikes if you rode to and from the stations. Being Chicago I am not
certain you would want to
snip

Folding bicycles are definitely a regional thing. You see a lot of them
in New York City and a lot in the San Francisco Bay Area. In NYC it's
also because of the tiny apartments, in the Bay Area it's primarily to
be able to take it on all kinds of transit without any hassle, and to be
able to take the bicycle into your workplace for safekeeping.

And of course if you to Japan, Taiwan, or China, you'll see a lot of
folders in the cities.

I bought my Bromptons in Taipei, back when Brompton had licensed a
Taiwanese company to manufacture bikes for sale in Asia. I was going to
Taiwan a lot for work and every time I went I brought back another
Brompton. I had four of them at one time. $235 each.

It's amazing to see all the different kinds of folders that have been
designed, and the different ways that they fold. One nice feature that
is present on the Brompton, and on very few other folders (one Dahon has
it) is that it folds with the chain on the inside.

Folders for touring are also useful for when parts of the trip need to
be on some sort of transit.

On Friday, January 1, 2021 at 11:24:43 AM UTC-6, AMuzi wrote:
On 1/1/2021 11:15 AM, wrote:
I'll add some comments on folding bicycles. I have seen a few of them in 40 years of road riding. I can probably count the total number on my two hands. Maybe two hands and feet. Maybe. Most of those sightings would have been on RAGBRAI. 10,000+ bicycles per day on the road for a week. Most of my riding has been in the midwest USA. But I did ride around Europe back in 1992. And have ridden a few rides in other states in the USA. Its very rare to see a folding bike. Rare. Where I live mass public transportation means the bus. The buses here do have bike racks on the front. Hold 2 bikes I think. Rarely I see them in use. Rarely. I did spend a summer in Chicago back in 1990. Used the Elevated train in Chicago. Fairly certain bikes were not allowed on that mass public transportation system. And as I recall the train stations, I do not even think there was anyplace to park bikes if you rode to and from the stations. Being Chicago I am not certain you would want to
leave your bike locked up anywhere unless you had 10 Kryptonite locks on it and many heavy chains wrapped around it. I'm doubting there were any folding bikes used for commuting in Chicago.

Any and every bicycle can be folded. Just ask the CTA!
http://www.yellowjersey.org/photosfr...ast/BIACTA.JPG
--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org/
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That is a CAMPAGNOLO groupset! The tragedy.

On 1/2/2021 1:01 PM, wrote:
On Friday, January 1, 2021 at 11:24:43 AM UTC-6, AMuzi wrote:
On 1/1/2021 11:15 AM, wrote:
I'll add some comments on folding bicycles. I have seen a few of them in 40 years of road riding. I can probably count the total number on my two hands. Maybe two hands and feet. Maybe. Most of those sightings would have been on RAGBRAI. 10,000+ bicycles per day on the road for a week. Most of my riding has been in the midwest USA. But I did ride around Europe back in 1992. And have ridden a few rides in other states in the USA. Its very rare to see a folding bike. Rare. Where I live mass public transportation means the bus. The buses here do have bike racks on the front. Hold 2 bikes I think. Rarely I see them in use. Rarely. I did spend a summer in Chicago back in 1990. Used the Elevated train in Chicago. Fairly certain bikes were not allowed on that mass public transportation system. And as I recall the train stations, I do not even think there was anyplace to park bikes if you rode to and from the stations. Being Chicago I am not certain you would want to
leave your bike locked up anywhere unless you had 10 Kryptonite locks on it and many heavy chains wrapped around it. I'm doubting there were any folding bikes used for commuting in Chicago.

Any and every bicycle can be folded. Just ask the CTA!
http://www.yellowjersey.org/photosfr...ast/BIACTA.JPG


!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That is a CAMPAGNOLO groupset! The tragedy.


Not only. That was a real Italian built Bianchi race bike.
Fell off a CTA bus rack on Lake Shore Drive after our recent
service.

Notice the green sticker is still on that brand new
Campagnolo crank.

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org/
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

On Saturday, January 2, 2021 at 2:28:40 PM UTC-5, AMuzi wrote:
On 1/2/2021 1:01 PM, wrote:
On Friday, January 1, 2021 at 11:24:43 AM UTC-6, AMuzi wrote:
On 1/1/2021 11:15 AM, wrote:
I'll add some comments on folding bicycles. I have seen a few of them in 40 years of road riding. I can probably count the total number on my two hands. Maybe two hands and feet. Maybe. Most of those sightings would have been on RAGBRAI. 10,000+ bicycles per day on the road for a week. Most of my riding has been in the midwest USA. But I did ride around Europe back in 1992. And have ridden a few rides in other states in the USA. Its very rare to see a folding bike. Rare. Where I live mass public transportation means the bus. The buses here do have bike racks on the front. Hold 2 bikes I think. Rarely I see them in use. Rarely. I did spend a summer in Chicago back in 1990. Used the Elevated train in Chicago. Fairly certain bikes were not allowed on that mass public transportation system. And as I recall the train stations, I do not even think there was anyplace to park bikes if you rode to and from the stations. Being Chicago I am not certain you would want to
leave your bike locked up anywhere unless you had 10 Kryptonite locks on it and many heavy chains wrapped around it. I'm doubting there were any folding bikes used for commuting in Chicago.

Any and every bicycle can be folded. Just ask the CTA!
http://www.yellowjersey.org/photosfr...ast/BIACTA.JPG


!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That is a CAMPAGNOLO groupset! The tragedy.

Not only. That was a real Italian built Bianchi race bike.
Fell off a CTA bus rack on Lake Shore Drive after our recent
service.

Notice the green sticker is still on that brand new
Campagnolo crank.

Wow. Any insurance coverage?

- Frank Krygowski