The http://www.roof-rack-supplies.co.uk/cycle-carrier-quickball.htm roof rack is much quicker and easier to use than folding a bike and putting it in the car. Needs no light rig and comes with number plate. Access to boot of car solved by not having it full of folding bike! When not in use folds away small and goes in boot or under a seat. Easily the best solution I've seen to bike transport. Perhaps you are looking for an excuse to buy a folder in which case just ignore the above.
I can have my Brompton folded and in the boot of the car within 15 secs of arriving and without having anything left on the outside of the car like a rack for the local scallies to play with. The reverse between getting it out the boot and cycling off is the same. I challenge you to beat that with any rack system.
-- Tony
"The best way I know of to win an argument is to start by being in the right." - Lord Hailsham
The http://www.roof-rack-supplies.co.uk/cycle-carrier-quickball.htm roof rack is much quicker and easier to use than folding a bike and putting it in the car. Needs no light rig and comes with number plate. Access to boot of car solved by not having it full of folding bike! When not in use folds away small and goes in boot or under a seat. Easily the best solution I've seen to bike transport. Perhaps you are looking for an excuse to buy a folder in which case just ignore the above.
I can have my Brompton folded and in the boot of the car within 15 secs of arriving and without having anything left on the outside of the car like a rack for the local scallies to play with. The reverse between getting it out the boot and cycling off is the same. I challenge you to beat that with any rack system.
I am therefore looking for a bike that will easily go in the back of our fiat cinquecento
Hey, I've got one of those at the moment!
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The dahons look quite good. However, how does one adjust the reach?
I like the look of the Dahon Cadenza for the sort of application you're suggesting. The smaller wheel Dahons would be either more expensive or more compromised for commuting. I'd spend some of the rest of your budget on converting it to drop bars, though that is just my personal preference. I'd also measure it to see if it'll fit in the boot of a Cinq, as I'm well aware how small it is. The folded dimensions are 14" x 27" x 36", so I reckon it would just fit.
-- JimP -- "We don't have a plan, so nothing can go wrong" - Spike Milligan
Yes, but by the time you've fiddled with it and wiped the dirt off your hands your pal's Brompton is fully deployed and a good few meters down the road...
But it may save the chap £1000, for about 10 seconds fiddling.
Flick lever, wheel in, twist-turny quick release, flick back lever hop on and ... burn past pal's brompton, throwing £50 notes so he knows which way you've gone.
The http://www.roof-rack-supplies.co.uk/cycle-carrier-quickball.htm roof rack is much quicker and easier to use than folding a bike and putting it in the car. Needs no light rig and comes with number plate. Access to boot of car solved by not having it full of folding bike! When not in use folds away small and goes in boot or under a seat. Easily the best solution I've seen to bike transport. Perhaps you are looking for an excuse to buy a folder in which case just ignore the above.
I can have my Brompton folded and in the boot of the car within 15 secs of arriving and without having anything left on the outside of the car like a rack for the local scallies to play with. The reverse between getting it out the boot and cycling off is the same. I challenge you to beat that with any rack system.
-- Tony
Hmm, t'd be a close run thing. The Quickball really is quick and would win if you have a cluttered boot to sort out first. Also it's easy to remove (about 5 secs, sort of mole grip action) and put in the boot folded up small away from the local yoof. And its much cheaper than a folding bike.
cheers
Jacob
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"The best way I know of to win an argument is to start by being in the right." - Lord Hailsham
But it may save the chap £1000, for about 10 seconds fiddling.
But fiddly fiddling, every day. I usually ride my Brom around town because picking it up from the corner of the dining room is easier than going out to the garage. On a day to day basis I think that really /is/ worth the price of purchase spread over a few years.
And I wouldn't have thought that before I had one!
Pete. -- Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK net [email hidden] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/
But it may save the chap £1000, for about 10 seconds fiddling.
But fiddly fiddling, every day. I usually ride my Brom around town because picking it up from the corner of the dining room is easier than going out to the garage. On a day to day basis I think that really /is/ worth the price of purchase spread over a few years.
And I wouldn't have thought that before I had one!
Agreed - that plus clean hands/car when you handle it. For a B the dirt all seems to stay in places that don't get you and the oily bits are all on the inside when folded.
-- Tony
"The best way I know of to win an argument is to start by being in the right." - Lord Hailsham
Hmm, t'd be a close run thing. The Quickball really is quick and would win if you have a cluttered boot to sort out first. Also it's easy to remove (about 5 secs, sort of mole grip action) and put in the boot folded up small away from the local yoof. And its much cheaper than a folding bike.
YMMV but my experience is: a) on the back of the car it (and the bike) gets all the muck on it from the road so it gets your hands mucky and you need something to put it on/in if you want to keep the other stuff in the boot cleanish b) It takes time to strap the bike securely on the rack or take it off c) there's the matter of the numberplate and light board to be attached and plugged in.
-- Tony
"The best way I know of to win an argument is to start by being in the right." - Lord Hailsham
Curious that the blurb describes it as "Tow Ball Mount Cycle Carrier for saloon cars" while the picture shews it attached to an estate...
-- Dave Larrington - <http://www.legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.uk/> I thought I saw his name on a jar of marmalade the other day, but when I looked more closely, I saw it read 'thick cut'.
No it wouldn't, unless you particularly like leaving the brakes undone or have taken a special course in how to fold folding bikes tediously slowly...
Don't (better) brakes have an ickle lever thing that widens the brake arms so you can take the wheel off?
Shimano brakes have a magic little widget on the brake calliper which allows the tyre out and has the particularly magic feature that if you forget to reset it your brakes probably won't work at all. Campag brakes have a magic widget in the lever, which has the advantage that if you forget to reset it (as, I must confess, I often do) your brakes work normally.
And of course cheaper than a folder would be to trade in the car for a bigger estate. 2 normal bikes plus full camping gear and bike paniers etc fit easily into back of our Peugeot 405 (cost £800) with which we went all over France this summer. (Wife been poorly - we usually cycle tour without the car)
I would welcome any recommendations on folders I should consider.
I don't know if it's still available, but...
Cresswell used to make one called the Fold-it. Cresswell's cycle business was taken over by Pashley and their compact folder (the Micro) is still available under the "Brilliant" marque. Perhaps the Fold-it is too; I don't know but the people at AtoB will.
The Fold-it was a similar construction to the Micro but had bigger 20" wheels - similar to the traditional shopper bike but much, much better. It always got good reviews on its rideability but with the drawbacks that it was a bit heavier and didn't fold as small as the compacts - neither of which would matter for what you want.
While the Dahons are a good answer, and Airnimal might be worth a look. Chameleon range starts at £999, and it is said to ride pretty much as a normal bike. Having said that, even with a car as small as a Cinquicento, you'll probably find that you can get an ordinary road bike in if you just take the wheels off.
How does jacking it up and putting it on a pile of bricks help fit the bike in better? ;-) -- Tony
"The best way I know of to win an argument is to start by being in the right." - Lord Hailsham
Simon Brooke wrote: <snipped stuff about airnimal, thing of beaty that it is>
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Having said that, even with a car as small as a Cinquicento, you'll probably find that you can get an ordinary road bike in if you just take the wheels off.
You can, and I have, but not sensibly without folding the seats down, which I think he is trying to avoid if at all possible.
-- JimP -- "We don't have a plan, so nothing can go wrong" - Spike Milligan
Shimano brakes have a magic little widget on the brake calliper which allows the tyre out and has the particularly magic feature that if you forget to reset it your brakes probably won't work at all. Campag brakes have a magic widget in the lever, which has the advantage that if you forget to reset it (as, I must confess, I often do) your brakes work normally.
Shimano Sante had a little butto you could press and allow teh lever to retract further than standard. This allowed the tyres out. First time you use it the button pops back and it is as good as before. That is assuming you don't also use them with teh widgety thing on non-sante brakes...
It is possible to do the levers up while riding, but best not to have to do so in a blind panic.
Shimano brakes have a magic little widget on the brake calliper which allows the tyre out and has the particularly magic feature that if you forget to reset it your brakes probably won't work at all. Campag brakes have a magic widget in the lever, which has the advantage that if you forget to reset it (as, I must confess, I often do) your brakes work normally.
Some Shimano brakes have a widget on the lever and not on the brake. Your description might be true of all modern ones though.
I have both a towbar mounted rack and a folding bike, and I'm far from convinced. (And my folder is slower to fold than newer designs like the Brompton or Dahons.)
(My rack isn't as quick to take on and off the towbar (but can be used at the same time as a trailer), but putting the bike on is going to be similar. On the other hand the rack takes three bikes, so there are times when it's more useful than a folder.)
"Tony Raven" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...
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I am therefore looking for a bike that will easily go in the back of our fiat cinquecento
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Last on the list is get a cheapish road bike and have S&S coupling added so you can fit it in the boot.
Cinqucento boot is tiny though - would even a split road bike fit?
It would need the rear seat folded down. I doubt anything meeting his requirement would fit without doing that anyway. I'm told a Brompton does just fit in a Ford Ka boot with the back seat up.
If you want to combine it with driving, I'd suggest an alternative arrangement. Drive one way and cycle the other each day. That gives you 1x24 miles, which is a decent distance but not so OTT as doing it twice a day in the dark season. And it assumes leaving a vehicle overnight at work some days is an option.
