Anybody ride folding bikes?

Dr Kickstand said:

I ride a folding bike for daily commuting. They are starting to become common here in london,. Whats the story stateside and down under? Do you see many on the streets as commuter bikes?

DrK

I haven't seen any folding bikes here in the states. Unfortunately most riders in my area find it difficult to ride for daily commuting. There are too many housing complexes that have been built around here and you stand a good chance of getting killed by a half asleep driver in the morning, or one who is speeding to get home in the evening. Besides that, there is the rain, snow, ice, and humudity to contend with. Most workplaces around here do not provide shower facilities for thier employees. After a 10 or 12 mile ride on a hot, humid day, I stink awfully bad. I take the bus if there is one that runs near my destination, or (please forgive me) drive myself to where I need to go.

I have seen folding bikes on eBay but I haven't seen any in use, or even in a bike shop for that matter. They may be more common in an urban setting, but I do may best to stay away from the big cities.

I haven't seen any on the street here in Tucson Arizona. I worked for Learjet a few years ago and there were 2 very overweight individuals who had them. Normally cycling is a healthful exercise, but in their case they were using the bikes because they didn't want to take the effort to walk from our large parking lot to the buildings, and between hangars.

p38lightning said:

I haven't seen any on the street here in Tucson Arizona. I worked for Learjet a few years ago and there were 2 very overweight individuals who had them. Normally cycling is a healthful exercise, but in their case they were using the bikes because they didn't want to take the effort to walk from our large parking lot to the buildings, and between hangars.

Oh man.....that brings back a memory. On my very 1st job back in high school, there was this huge guy who used a golf cart to get around the *inside* of the building. The company gave it to him. Don't remember what he did but they must have thought highly enough of his work to accommodate him like that.

Can still picture him cruising around the hallways.

Might have been better off making him walk to lose the weight tho.

On topic....my area(North-west New Jersey, USA) is way too rural for a folding bike. You need a car for anything beyond recreation.

i see heaps of them round town in Brisbane (Australia) and also on the gold and sunshine coasts... but then again we have the weather for them 🙂
lots of students use them to get to and from uni, and i occasionally see one folded up on a bus or train, rather surprisingly with a suit next to it 😄