Folding bike vs regular bike for 60 plus

I am now sixty plus, and was wondering if a folding bike might be a
good idea. If you fall, you fall a shorter distance. My inlaws biked
till they were seventy-five, but stopped because they worried about
falling, and breaking something. I have biked for thirty-five years,
and now I bike around thirty miles a day. So would a folding bike be a
good idea?

Thanks

Tom

" writes:

I am now sixty plus, and was wondering if a folding bike might be a
good idea. If you fall, you fall a shorter distance. My inlaws biked
till they were seventy-five, but stopped because they worried about
falling, and breaking something. I have biked for thirty-five years,
and now I bike around thirty miles a day. So would a folding bike be a
good idea?

Thanks

Tom

Why do you think you will fall at 60?

"Simon Lewis" wrote: Why do you think you will fall at 60?
I have two folding bikes, along with a couple of others. I am 81, and stil
ride some, though not as much as I did at 60. At 60 I was riding mountain
bikes, and I did sometimes fall--that's part of the challenge and enjoyment.
I cotinued to ride off-road after I had a hip replaced, even though my
surgeon warned me that a broken hip would ruin my life.

I recognize some advantages to folding bikes, but the distance to the ground
is not one of them. If the bike is properly adjusted to your size, the seat
height will be the same as on a standard frame. Advantages: easily stowed
in the car, easily stowed at destination, can be carried on public transit.
Disadvantages: heavier, may have fewer speeds, not recommended for rough
terrain.

If I'm going someplace where parking the car is going to be difficult or
expensive, I park a mile or two away, and ride to the event. I recently did
this at the Maker's Fair in San Mateo, CA, amd had a pleasant bonus. They
provided protected bike parking at the gate, and my check stub got me a $5
discount at the gate.

wrote:
I am now sixty plus, and was wondering if a folding bike might be a
good idea. If you fall, you fall a shorter distance. My inlaws biked
till they were seventy-five, but stopped because they worried about
falling, and breaking something. I have biked for thirty-five years,
and now I bike around thirty miles a day. So would a folding bike be a
good idea?

The saddle height on a folding bike is no lower than on any other
upright bicycle with a similar BB height and crank length.

If falling is a concern, get a recumbent trike (upright trikes tip
easily at normal cycling speeds).

--
Tom Sherman - 42.435731,-83.985007
Celebrity culture is an opposite of community, informing us
that these few nonsense-heads matter but that the rest of
us do not. - Jay Griffiths

In article
,
" wrote:

I am now sixty plus, and was wondering if a folding bike might be a
good idea. If you fall, you fall a shorter distance. My inlaws biked
till they were seventy-five, but stopped because they worried about
falling, and breaking something. I have biked for thirty-five years,
and now I bike around thirty miles a day. So would a folding bike be a
good idea?

Thanks

Tom

Folding bikes have many merits, but folding bike seats are the same
height above the ground as normal-bike seats.

The ultimate solution to not falling off would be something like a
low-set trike (Greenspeed, for example). But in between would be stuff
like the Electra Townie series, which is a not-quite recumbent bike with
a lower-than-usual seat height, and myriad recumbents and trikes.

If you're riding 30 miles a day, that's a lot of riding! What are you
using now?

On the whole, I'm biased against recumbents (funny handling, you're more
likely to fall down, albeit from much lower). I'd go with an Electra or
a trike.

--
Ryan Cousineau http://www.wiredcola.com/
"In other newsgroups, they killfile trolls."
"In rec.bicycles.racing, we coach them."

On Aug 9, 5:32*pm, "
wrote:
I am now sixty plus, and was wondering if a folding bike might be a
good idea. If you fall, you fall a shorter distance. My inlaws biked
till they were seventy-five, but stopped because they worried about
falling, and breaking something. I have biked for thirty-five years,
and now I bike around thirty miles a day. So would a folding bike be
good idea?

I'm your age. I've got two folding bikes. (Well, one's on long-term
loan to a friend.)

I'll begin by agreeing with everyone else: You'll fall just as far
from a folding bike. And unless you're unusual, you shouldn't worry
much about. I have a friend who is in his 80s and still touring. I
once had dinner with another 80-year-old who biked from Toronto to the
dinner in Indianopolis. We had a 76-year-old guy stay with us last
summer, during his ride from New Mexico to Upper New York State. All
those guys ride standard touring bikes.

If anything, most folding bikes may make you more prone to falling.
In my experience, most don't handle as well as a standard bike, and
some are downright twitchy. (My Bike Friday New World Tourist is a
definite exception.) Most have small wheels, too, which are a bit
more effected by potholes, bumps and loose gravel. And other things
being equal, small wheels have more rolling resistance.

One advantage for someone with your worries is the typical lack of a
top tube. You may feel more confident knowing that you can slide
forward off the saddle and have no chance of smashing anything
valuable and painful.

But you can get that advantage with a standard ladies or mixte frame,
or a sloping top tube bike - the new, fashionable frame style. And
based on my Friday, I think the lack of top tube is at least a small
irritation. If you get off the bike to straddle it, you'll find it
wants to tip; you can't hold it upright with your thighs aside the top
tube.

Overall, I'd say don't worry about it. If you're doing 30 miles a
day, you're probably not falling because you're probably pretty
skilled. Trust your skills.

- Frank Krygowski

Frank Krygowski wrote:
On Aug 9, 5:32 pm, "
wrote:
I am now sixty plus, and was wondering if a folding bike might be a
good idea. If you fall, you fall a shorter distance. My inlaws biked
till they were seventy-five, but stopped because they worried about
falling, and breaking something. I have biked for thirty-five years,
and now I bike around thirty miles a day. So would a folding bike be
good idea?

I'm your age. I've got two folding bikes. (Well, one's on long-term
loan to a friend.)

I'll begin by agreeing with everyone else: You'll fall just as far
from a folding bike. And unless you're unusual, you shouldn't worry
much about. I have a friend who is in his 80s and still touring. I
once had dinner with another 80-year-old who biked from Toronto to the
dinner in Indianopolis. We had a 76-year-old guy stay with us last
summer, during his ride from New Mexico to Upper New York State. All
those guys ride standard touring bikes.

If anything, most folding bikes may make you more prone to falling.
In my experience, most don't handle as well as a standard bike, and
some are downright twitchy. (My Bike Friday New World Tourist is a
definite exception.) Most have small wheels, too, which are a bit
more effected by potholes, bumps and loose gravel. And other things
being equal, small wheels have more rolling resistance.

One advantage for someone with your worries is the typical lack of a
top tube. You may feel more confident knowing that you can slide
forward off the saddle and have no chance of smashing anything
valuable and painful.

But you can get that advantage with a standard ladies or mixte frame,
or a sloping top tube bike - the new, fashionable frame style. And
based on my Friday, I think the lack of top tube is at least a small
irritation. If you get off the bike to straddle it, you'll find it
wants to tip; you can't hold it upright with your thighs aside the top
tube.

Overall, I'd say don't worry about it. If you're doing 30 miles a
day, you're probably not falling because you're probably pretty
skilled. Trust your skills.

- Frank Krygowski

Well guys, I'm 65, I don't ride close to 30 miles a day, more like 7-9,
I've fallen once, and that was my own fault. I ride 2 or 3 laps around
a 2 mile track that circles a county park. It's part asphalt path, part
street, some dirt trail and some grass. I have a cheap 26" trail bike,
weighs a ton but it's stable. I do it mostly to burn off some excess
glucose, I'm a diabetic.
I subscribe to the CPSC recall list. From time to time I'll get a
chuckle from seeing a recall on a $2000 bike because the fork splits or
the handlebars break or similar stuff. I'll keep my chinese made
stainless steel framed monster.

Tom Wyckoff wrote:
[...]
Well guys, I'm 65, I don't ride close to 30 miles a day, more like 7-9,
I've fallen once, and that was my own fault. I ride 2 or 3 laps around
a 2 mile track that circles a county park. It's part asphalt path, part
street, some dirt trail and some grass. I have a cheap 26" trail bike,
weighs a ton but it's stable. I do it mostly to burn off some excess
glucose, I'm a diabetic.
I subscribe to the CPSC recall list. From time to time I'll get a
chuckle from seeing a recall on a $2000 bike because the fork splits or
the handlebars break or similar stuff. I'll keep my chinese made
stainless steel framed monster.

A cheap, Chinese made bike with a stainless steel frame would be unusual
indeed. Almost all made for export are aluminium alloy.

--
Tom Sherman - 42.435731,-83.985007
Celebrity culture is an opposite of community, informing us
that these few nonsense-heads matter but that the rest of
us do not. - Jay Griffiths

On Aug 9, 4:32*pm, "
wrote:
I am now sixty plus, and was wondering if a folding bike might be a
good idea. If you fall, you fall a shorter distance. My inlaws biked
till they were seventy-five, but stopped because they worried about
falling, and breaking something. I have biked for thirty-five years,
and now I bike around thirty miles a day. So would a folding bike be a
good idea?

Are you developing any balance problems that make you nervous? A
folding bike won't mitigate that, they have saddles set as normally
high as a regular diamond frame, they just look strange and fit in
your closet. I'd certainly ride a higher end Dahon as a daily city
bike, but that's not what you're getting at.

There are these newer 'flat foot' bikes on the market. They have a
relaxed geometry so that you can have both feet on the ground while
stopped. The Electra Townie is the more common example. I used to
think they were ridiculous, until I rode one of the Euro models with
all the gee gaws. Super fun getting around scoot! And great at
intersections, you just relax on that stupidly wide saddle. My only
criticism of them is that because the geometry is so relaxed, steering
feels quite light. I'm sure that's something that would just take a
ride or two to get used to.

However, if you like to ride hard and fast, a tootlin bike like the
above isn't the thing and the only real alternative is a recumbent,
which involves a lot more money, specialty bits, and other
limitations. However, the fall to the pavement is a little more
doable. ;-)

landotter writes:

On Aug 9, 4:32*pm, "
wrote:
I am now sixty plus, and was wondering if a folding bike might be a
good idea. If you fall, you fall a shorter distance. My inlaws biked
till they were seventy-five, but stopped because they worried about
falling, and breaking something. I have biked for thirty-five years,
and now I bike around thirty miles a day. So would a folding bike be a
good idea?

Are you developing any balance problems that make you nervous? A
folding bike won't mitigate that, they have saddles set as normally


If anything they will increase the risk of a small because of the
smaller wheels surely?