Birdy Frog

[Ian Walker]

Anyone here got any experience with the Frog (Birdy's fully-suspended micro-folder)? I picked one up
in AVC the other day and was really surprised at how light it was, making me think it might be just
the thing for my wife, who finds her Brompton a wee bit heavy on her multi-modal commute. I had a
quick spin on it, but not long enough to get a proper feel for how it performed. So any advice would
be appreciated.

Ian

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Ian Walker Remove the yummy paste in my address to reply. Homepage: http://www.drianwalker.com

 

[Peter Clinch]

Ian Walker wrote:
> Anyone here got any experience with the Frog (Birdy's fully-suspended=20 micro-folder)? I picked
> one up in AVC the other day and was really=20 surprised at how light it was, making me think it
> might be just the=20 thing for my wife, who finds her Brompton a wee bit heavy on her=20
> multi-modal commute.=20

Not tried a Frog, but note that the standard Birdy is probably lighter=20 than a Brom in any case.
The Frog is quoted at 10.5 Kg on the Kinetics=20 web site (http://kinetics.org.uk/), while the Birdy
Red is 10.6, Green=20
11.3, Blue 11.1, Black 9.8, Grey 11.5.

So it looks like it's not so much weight as compactness of fold which=20 puts the Frog ahead of its
larger wheeled cousin. The Birdy fold isn't=20 exactly bad though, so if it's good enough I'd think
a "normal" Birdy=20 would have it over the Frog. You've got a pile more options too, of=20 course,
and awkward to find 18" tyres instead of bloody awkward to find=20 12" ones ;-/

Frog is =A350 cheaper than a B-Red, but if you're spending =A3800 anyway =

that's verging on being a moot point!

Pete. --=20 Peter Clinch University of Dundee Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Medical Physics,
Ninewells Hospital Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK net [email protected]
http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

 

[Peter Amey]

Wasn't there a review in A2B recently? http://www.atob.org.uk/ might throw up a link.

Peter

Ian Walker wrote:
> Anyone here got any experience with the Frog (Birdy's fully-suspended micro-folder)? I picked one
> up in AVC the other day and was really surprised at how light it was, making me think it might be
> just the thing for my wife, who finds her Brompton a wee bit heavy on her multi-modal commute. I
> had a quick spin on it, but not long enough to get a proper feel for how it performed. So any
> advice would be appreciated.
>
> Ian

 

[Ian Walker]

On Thu, 03 Apr 2003 12:59:54 +0100, Peter Clinch <[email protected]> wrote:

>
> Not tried a Frog, but note that the standard Birdy is probably lighter than a Brom in any case.
> The Frog is quoted at 10.5 Kg on the Kinetics web site (http://kinetics.org.uk/), while the Birdy
> Red is 10.6, Green
> 11.3, Blue 11.1, Black 9.8, Grey 11.5.
>
> So it looks like it's not so much weight as compactness of fold which puts the Frog ahead of its
> larger wheeled cousin. The Birdy fold isn't exactly bad though, so if it's good enough I'd think a
> "normal" Birdy would have it over the Frog. You've got a pile more options too, of course, and
> awkward to find 18" tyres instead of bloody awkward to find 12" ones ;-/
>
> Frog is £50 cheaper than a B-Red, but if you're spending £800 anyway that's verging on being a
> moot point!

Pete,

Thanks for that. However, I think compactness is going to be a factor. A long-distance commute by
train every day is going to be easier with a less bulky bike. I've seen people on trains with
Birdies, and in that environment they really look big compared to the Brompton, which happily
squashes into luggage racks and between seat backs where the Birdy can't go.

Plus it has to fit into our hallway )

Ian

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Ian Walker Remove the yummy paste in my address to reply. Homepage: http://www.drianwalker.com

 

[Ian Walker]

On Thu, 03 Apr 2003 14:04:47 +0100, Peter Amey <[email protected]> wrote:

> Wasn't there a review in A2B recently? http://www.atob.org.uk/ might throw up a link.
>
> Peter
>

Tried their site this morning and it appears to be dead.

Ian

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Ian Walker Remove the yummy paste in my address to reply. Homepage: http://www.drianwalker.com