Which Birdy Folder?

[Tony Raven]

Don Whybrow wrote on 23/11/2006 21:21 +0100:
>
> It can take longer to get the rear wheel off if you need to repair a
> puncture. The first time I did it, it took about an hour, luckily in my
> nice warm shed. Then I RTFM and I have now got it down to a fine art and
> take about 5 min, but it is never going to be as fast as removing a
> wheel on a dérailleur system.
>

I had a puncture on my Brommie on Monday and repaired it with the wheel
in place. Located the puncture, took the tyre bead off on the side away
from the gear cables, pulled the tube out and inflated it inside the
rear triangle, located and repaired puncture, checked inside tyre, put
it all back together again. Voila!

I would only remove the wheel if I needed to replace the tube.

--
Tony

"Anyone who conducts an argument by appealing to authority is not using
his intelligence; he is just using his memory."
- Leonardo da Vinci

 

[John B]

Tony Raven wrote:

>
> Airnimal's big problem for this sort of thing is the front wheel which
> is left over when you fold it. Similarly with the Bike Friday but its
> the handlebars and stem, not the wheel that is left over.

Nah, the BF bars remain neatly attached by the gear and brake cables so you
don't lose them ;-)

John B

 

[Tony Raven]

John B wrote on 23/11/2006 22:50 +0100:
>
> Tony Raven wrote:
>
>> Airnimal's big problem for this sort of thing is the front wheel which
>> is left over when you fold it. Similarly with the Bike Friday but its
>> the handlebars and stem, not the wheel that is left over.
>
> Nah, the BF bars remain neatly attached by the gear and brake cables so you
> don't lose them ;-)
>

So where do you put yours?

--
Tony

"Anyone who conducts an argument by appealing to authority is not using
his intelligence; he is just using his memory."
- Leonardo da Vinci

 

[John B]

Tony Raven wrote:

> John B wrote on 23/11/2006 22:50 +0100:
> >
> > Tony Raven wrote:
> >
> >> Airnimal's big problem for this sort of thing is the front wheel which
> >> is left over when you fold it. Similarly with the Bike Friday but its
> >> the handlebars and stem, not the wheel that is left over.
> >
> > Nah, the BF bars remain neatly attached by the gear and brake cables so you
> > don't lose them ;-)
> >
>
> So where do you put yours?

The stem slots down beween the wheel and frame and the STI levers hook over the
folded down seat tube. Its not particularly tidy, but a toestrap and the bag
hold it all together.

John B

 

[[email protected]]

Chris Slade wrote:
> [email protected] wrote:
>
> > Yes the Rohloff would be the one I would buy in an ideal world. While I
> > can justify the cheaper models by setting commuting costs against the
> > bike costs it gets harder to do so when the bike price doubles simply
> > because of a different set of gears!
>
> Try offsetting against gym membership as well and see if you can justify it
> that way.

I find it easy to justify anything if I want it enough (and can afford
it), but in only one short week I've gone from thinking I need simple
folder for commuting to now being tempted (by you lot) into getting a
£2000 bike! It's all bit much I think for someone who is new to all
this.

Thing is I've scoured the Interent for info and, although everyone
sells the Rohloff to order, I haven't seen any reports from a single
person that actually owns this model Birdy. I wonder whether this is
just something that is too much of an indulgence for anyone to justify.
I certainly doubt there would be one to try in any London bike shop.

Tony
(who probably still needs to keep his gym membership regardless of bike
purchased)

 

[Noel]

On Thu, 23 Nov 2006 21:32:35 +0000, Tony Raven wrote:

> I would only remove the wheel if I needed to replace the tube.

With my Strida you can change the tube and tyre without removing the
wheel at all...

Cheers
Noel

 

[Tony Raven]

Noel wrote on 24/11/2006 11:19 +0100:
> On Thu, 23 Nov 2006 21:32:35 +0000, Tony Raven wrote:
>
>> I would only remove the wheel if I needed to replace the tube.
>
> With my Strida you can change the tube and tyre without removing the
> wheel at all...
>

But your Strida wouldn't get up Park St in Bristol without getting of
and pushing ;-)


--
Tony

"Anyone who conducts an argument by appealing to authority is not using
his intelligence; he is just using his memory."
- Leonardo da Vinci

 

[Noel]

On Fri, 24 Nov 2006 17:39:12 +0000, Tony Raven wrote:


> But your Strida wouldn't get up Park St in Bristol without getting of
> and pushing ;-)

Not familiar with Bristol but I am sure you are right. It is most
definitely not for steep hills. My routes are around London which is
pretty flat of course.

Cheers
Noel

 

[Nigel Cliffe]

[email protected] wrote:
> Chris Slade wrote:
>> [email protected] wrote:
>>
>>> Yes the Rohloff would be the one I would buy in an ideal world.
>>> While I can justify the cheaper models by setting commuting costs
>>> against the bike costs it gets harder to do so when the bike price
>>> doubles simply because of a different set of gears!
>>
>> Try offsetting against gym membership as well and see if you can
>> justify it that way.
>
> I find it easy to justify anything if I want it enough (and can afford
> it), but in only one short week I've gone from thinking I need simple
> folder for commuting to now being tempted (by you lot) into getting a
> £2000 bike! It's all bit much I think for someone who is new to all
> this.

And for that reason alone, I think its not the way to go.


> Thing is I've scoured the Interent for info and, although everyone
> sells the Rohloff to order, I haven't seen any reports from a single
> person that actually owns this model Birdy. I wonder whether this is
> just something that is too much of an indulgence for anyone to
> justify. I certainly doubt there would be one to try in any London
> bike shop.

I think that says quite a bit.

You could ask a few of the dealers if they have ever sold one, and if they
have, ask if they would contact the owner with your details, saying you
wanted to talk to an owner about their experiences.


Having followed the thread so far, if the Birdy is the right general
shape/fold for you, then I'd go with the simple 8-speed hub. Sane price,
and sane bike for commuting.

I doubt the retro-fit upgrade costs to a Rohloff is worse than the list
price differences; I can't see how a Rohloff wheel would cost £950, even
allowing for possible needs to change the chainring size, fitting a Rohloff
tensioner (rather than the one on the current bike), the Rohloff change
grip. Worth checking if the frame is any different at the rear drop-out
(not obvious from the R&M website).



- Nigel



--
Nigel Cliffe,
Webmaster at http://www.2mm.org.uk/

 

[Simon Brooke]

in message <[email protected]>, Noel
('[email protected]') wrote:

> On Thu, 23 Nov 2006 21:32:35 +0000, Tony Raven wrote:
>
>> I would only remove the wheel if I needed to replace the tube.
>
> With my Strida you can change the tube and tyre without removing the
> wheel at all...

You can on my Cannondale as well, and it's rather nicer to ride.

--
[email protected] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

Q: Whats a webmaster?
A: Like a spider, but nowhere near as intelligent.

 

[Noel]

On Fri, 24 Nov 2006 19:46:27 +0000, Simon Brooke wrote:

> You can on my Cannondale as well, and it's rather nicer to ride.

Is that a folder? I can't see one on their site.

Cheers

 

[Simon Brooke]

in message <[email protected]>, Noel
('[email protected]') wrote:

> On Fri, 24 Nov 2006 19:46:27 +0000, Simon Brooke wrote:
>
>> You can on my Cannondale as well, and it's rather nicer to ride.
>
> Is that a folder? I can't see one on their site.

Errr.... no.

--
[email protected] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/
;; We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other
;; languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and riffle their
;; pockets for new vocabulary -- James D. Nicoll

 

[[email protected]]

Nigel Cliffe schrieb:

> I doubt the retro-fit upgrade costs to a Rohloff is worse than the list
> price differences; I can't see how a Rohloff wheel would cost £950, even
> allowing for possible needs to change the chainring size, fitting a Rohloff
> tensioner (rather than the one on the current bike), the Rohloff change
> grip. Worth checking if the frame is any different at the rear drop-out
> (not obvious from the R&M website).

The germen site ( http://www.birdy-freunde.de/changelog/index.html )
has a change log which shows the history of changes

According to that since 2004 all birdys are compatible with rohloff.

knatti