Letters from America

The Los Angeles Times has an article on Bike to Work Week in the USA (12-16th May) with a chance to win a folding bike.


Velonews has noticed that Trophy Bikes in Philadelphia is sponsoring a folding bike class in the CSC Amateur hillclimb (6th June). The Folding Society had of course already mentioned it as part of ROUND UP USA, the folding bike festival.

London Strida Ride

There is going to be a London meeting of riders on Saturday 21st June. It will be in Dulwich Park, London SE22. Meet at 10:00 by the tea rooms for a ride to Crystal Palace park. This will be, as you would guess, at a leisurely pace. All Strida riders are welcome.
Our thanks go to Julian Kowalewski for this news.

Birdy World Meeting Berlin

The Birdy World Meeting Berlin will be held on the weekend of 13-15 june 2008. You can find out more at http://www.flickr.com/groups/birdy-berlin/.

Bicycle Backlash?

The BBC magazine has a rant about the combination of crowded trains and folding bike commuters here.

Special Bike Show at Germersheim

Jan Berkelder has sent us the following:

"Last weekend we had the Special Bike Show in Germany, at Germersheim. I made a photoreport on it.
There were two origami rides. One on Friday April 24 from Mannheim to Germersheim. The second one was on Saturday April 25, which was a short night ride. On the night ride we had about 12 Brits with us. Both origamirides are documented here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/janbeeldrijk/sets/72157604814024032/detail/
Apart from that I made a folding bike report on Germersheim, to be seen here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/janbeeldrijk/sets/72157604797751156/detail/
And especially for Birdy friends there is this report:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/janbeeldrijk/sets/72157604826391769/detail/
All the texts are in English, although I might make a mistake or two."

Many thanks to Jan for these reports.

.citycycling

The latest citycycling is up. Apart from the usual excellent photos, articles and the continuing pursuit of the elusive Bromptonaut, a folding bike is the bike of the month.

May 10th Origami ride - Oswestry

Our 10th May Origami ride will start at the wonderful Cambrian Visitor Centre in Oswestry, on the Welsh borders. More details are here.

Magic Bus

The Italian bike and component maker Cinelli has a long involvement with racing but has been branching out into other styles recently. The Magic Bus from the Bootleg range is their version of a folding bike, seemingly a rebranded Dahon with a Sturmer Archer 5sp hub.

London Time Out

The current London Time Out magazine has a 24 page bicycle section. Non-Londoners can get an idea of the contents from BikeBiz's report

Watford Spokes Group First London folding bike ride Saturday 26 April

As this is rather late notification, we are posting this on the News page rather than putting it on the Events page:
"Meeting point 11:30 BT Tower, 60 Cleveland Street (tour possible)
Approximately 20 miles around London from Oxford Street to Hyde Park. Kensington Gardens, Buckingham Palace, The Mall, Parliament Square, South Bank, Tower Bridge, Embankment, Trafalgar Square with possible stops for lunch and tea at places of interest.
All are welcome preferably with a folding bicycle.
Further details from David Turner 020-8429 2882 or 07745018288 on the day."

ITERA Sighting II

During a visit to Coventry Transport Museum today we spotted another Itera plastic bike (refer to Steve's post 22/03/08) in the Cylopedia gallery. Here is a picture of the Itera amongst the other bikes, including folders, on show.



We can report that further work to the museum has improved the showing of both the bikes and cars. Details here

April 12th 2008 Origami - Moira

Our April 12th Origami ride starts in the national Forest Conkers Discovery Centre in Moira, East Midlands, which is close to Burton-on-Trent. Details are here.

Note that the ride starts from the Discovery Centre, NOT Waterside as previously advertised.

Smithfield Nocturne Folding Bike Race

Entries are now open for the Smithfield Nocturne Folding Bike Race, to be held on Saturday July 7th 2008 and sponsored by Halfords Cycle2Work.

Brompton tweaks their brakes

BikeBiz reports that Bromptons will be fitted with Fibrax brake pads. Fibrax have been around for 105 years, a little longer than the London-based bike maker.

An unusual sighting

The Itera of the 1980's was an attempt to produce a bicycle largely made from plastic. It was not a great success, and I can't recall ever seeing one on the road here in the UK at the time, so it was a considerable surprise to see one parked outside Marks & Spencer in the centre of Wolverhapton yesterday. The Itera was certainly not a folder, so this posting is really just for the curiosity value! the bike seemed fully operational and apparently in regular use.

Taipei Show

Strida designer Mark Sanders has sent us a report on his recent visit to the Taipei Show. However, Peter Eland of Velo Vision was quicker off the mark (no pun intended) than I was and has already published the report. As might be expected, Mark's report concentrates on the Strida (made by Ming Cycles) and on Pacific Cycles, who have taken over Mark's new design concept from Ming. The pictures in the report show examples of that concept applied not only to a conventional large-wheeled folder, but also to a derivative of the Pacific Reach (which uses 20 inch wheels), which should serve to make it significantly more portable than before. By the way, he name 'Swivel-head' has not been dropped in favour of 'IF' (Integrated Folding). Don't miss the report on the Velo Vision web site.

The Dahon Ciao P8

With its exceptionally low step-over height, the Dahon Ciao is a most unusual design. William Reid has sent us a brief report on his experience with the Ciao, and you can read it HERE.

Mike Ives Goes Grand Touring

Cycling Weekly reports that Mike Ives this year will be raising money for the SPARKS charity, by riding the routes of the three Grand Tours (Giro d'Italia, Tour de France and Vuelta a Espana) in fewer days than the professionals. Ives has previously won 5 UCI world championships and 62 British championships and ridden the route of the 2005 Tour de France one day faster than the professionals. He is pictured on his Airnimal folder.

A S Bikes Explorer

Most of our test reports cover higher specification and performance folders, so it was interesting to have the opportunity to try a more basic machine from the low-price end of the market. The A S Bikes Explorer is aimed at the leisure user rather than the serious cyclist, and might typically be used for short shopping trips, towpath rides, and use in conjunction with caravanning, motorhoming or canal boating. The bike acquitted itself quite well for these sorts of application - you can read the full report HERE.

Photo Gallery for Folding Bikes

We hear that a new gallery has been set up for photos of folding bikes - see http://www.bikesTHATfold.com for more information (no connection with The Folding Society).

"All change at Strida UK"

We hear from Mark Sanders that there have been major changes in the way that the Strida will be distributed in the UK - one result being that the latest Strida 5 will now be available here. The main points from the press release that Mark sent are:
"From February 28th 2008 Strida BV will be the new distributor for the redesigned Strida folding bike in the UK. All existing business affairs of Strida Ltd will officially end at this date. Strida BV, the Dutch company that successfully imported the original English folding bikes in The Netherlands and Belgium over the past five years, will be responsible for all Sales and Distribution activities in Europe.
In the UK this change of strategy will have considerable effect. The selling of Strida folding bikes used to be exclusively through the Internet, but starting from February 28th a selected group of dealers will also be responsible for Sales and Service of Strida bikes to UK customers. One of the benefits of creating these new outlets is the opportunity for customers to test-ride their Strida folding bike before purchasing it. Next to this, Strida BV plans to appoint flagship-stores that sell the complete Strida product line, including all models, accessories and novelties. Strida BV’s corporate headquarters in the Netherlands will definitely continue the existing service and shipping terms. 'The level of service and ease of doing business will be upgraded to a much higher level', says Ties Carlier, co-owner of Strida BV.
For further information, please contact:
Strida BV.
Marjoleine van den Ende,
Wibautstraat 125,
1091 GL Amsterdam
T: +31 (0) 20 3307401
F: +31 (0) 20 3305132
info@strida.co.uk
www.strida.com
www.strida.nl
rik@strida.nl"

Origami Ride - March 8th - Solihull

Our March 8th 2008 Origami ride is from Solihull, West Midlands - more details are here. All welcome to join us on a friendly leisure ride.

"Smart Move" - a brief review of the book

Just before Christmas we reported on the Austrian Embacher Collection of bicycles. In that report we referred to the fact that a book of the collection is available, and subsequently we were sent a copy of the book (many thanks for that).
The book is in A4 landscape format, and is beatifully produced. The photographs are of a very high standard, all showing the individual machines against a paper white background, with no undesirable shadows, colour casts or reflections. For most of the machines there is a single side view, plus several more detailed shots. The machines covered are naturally limited to some of those in the Embacher Collection. As far as folders and small-wheelers are concerened, there are quite a number included, though not really a representative collection. There are two Moultons (an F-frame Speedsix and spaceframe Speed S), and a Bickerton and Mk I Strida, plus some more unusual folders such as the Skoot.
There is not much information provided about any of the machines - typically a single paragraph of descriptive text plus a date and weight; all the text is in both German and English.
I think folder enthusiasts will class this as a "coffee table book" - very attractive photographs, but not many facts, and covering only machines in the collection. It is nevertheless a superb production, and just looking at the pictures gives great pleasure. Please see the web site at http://www.smart-move.at for more information about the book.

Cyclefeast 2008

2008 is a Cyclefeast year. As mentioned a few weeks ago, this year's event at Berwick-upon-Tweed takes place from 4 to 11 July, and is aimed specifically at recumbent tricycles and their owners. Arrangements have now been completed to allow those who want to attend, but don't own a tricumbent, to hire a suitable machine for the event. The hire arrangements cover Greenspeed, KMX and Kettweisel. For more information about the event, and how you can arrange to hire one of these machines, please see the Cyclefeast web site.

Brompton maintenance

Life cycle UK is a cycling promotion charity based in Bristol. They run occasional short introductory ('bite size') Brompton bike maintenance courses - details can be found on their website. The next of these courses is on 27th February - more information on this particular evening course is at http://www.lifecycleuk.org.uk/events.php?id=207.

Sheldon Brown

Several cycling websites are reporting the death of SHELDON BROWN. His web site was a unique source of service information for many cyclists, and his gear calculator was invaluable to many of us, especially as it included a factor to account of crank length. He will be greatly missed by all.

Bicycle Ballerina

The Times Online has a feature on dancer Sylvie Guillem with her Brompton mentioned prominently.

Folders abroad

Those who attend our Origami rides may have been wondering why John Isles and Cathy Colless have not been around recently. The reason is that they are touring South India - by folder of course! They are using a couple of Dahon Cadenzas (26 inch wheels), much modified, including the fitting of Rohloff 14-speed hub gears. You can find out more about the bikes and their travels at
http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/southindia2008.

New Mezzo

BikeRadar.com has the first news of the Mezzo D10 with an aluminium monocoque frame, due in June.

Steve adds: Some clarification on the gearing - The D10 will have a 56T chainring and an 11-28T Sram Force cassette, giving a range of 32.1" - 81.8". It does not have a front mech, just a single chainring. The bike is due for release around June this year.

February 9th Origami ride

Our February 9th Origami ride will start at the Red Cone in Stourbridge. More details are here. All welcome !

Strida on flickr

Julian Kowalewski tells us that he has set set up a flickr group for Strida folding bikes. You will find it at http://flickr.com/groups/589956@N24/.
He is also thinking of arranging a get together in June in London - more information on this later.

Not a Folding Bike, a Folding Wheel

Duncan Fitzsimons has come up with a way of folding a large diameter bicycle wheel. Here are some photos and a video of a bicycle fitted with a folding wheel.

Scotland to Syria by bike and boat

BClocalnews.com has a story about Colin and Julie Angus' upcoming trip from Scotland to Syria using folding bikes, trailers and rowboats. Not the usual 'pie in the sky' dreams, they have a background of non-motorised travel. Colin has pedaled and rowed his way around the world and Julie joined him rowing across the Atlantic.

January Origami Ride

After several very wet days, we were remarkably lucky to have a lovely day for the Origami Ride on 12th January. Although a few regulars were missing, there were 15 of us at The Tearooms in Meriden for the start of the ride. The variety of bikes was less than normal, with an unusually large number of Moultons, several Bromptons, no less than 3 Airnimal Rhinos and just one Bike Friday. We set of generally northwards, and once we got onto the narrower lanes the roads were quite wet and sometimes muddy - at one stage it felt rather as though we were cycling along the bed of a stream! The outward journey was interrupted when Hazel Hanson suffered an exploded rear tube on her Brompton (again!). As we were a bit behind schedule, we left Dick and Hazel to carry out their repairs, with a map to help them get to the lunch stop. They rejoined us while we were enjoying drinks and food at The Admiral Nelson in Ansley, which proved to be an excellent choice for the lunch stop. Three of our group left us after lunch, as they were now nearer home, while the rest of us set out on the return ride, via a slightly different route. Meriden was reached without any further mishaps, but as the light was beginning to fail by then, the riders separated for their homeward journey quite soon. This was a most enjoyable ride, as usual, and our thanks go to leader Howard Easton (who also provided the photo) for a well-planned and well-lead ride. Next month's ride on 9th February will be from Stourbridge - please watch this space for more details nearer the time.

Visit to Spezi Show in April

Chop Rossiter tells us:
"In conjunction with Peter Eland of the cycle magazine Velo Vision plans are advancing for the proposed trip to the excellent Spezi Cycle Show in Germany, approx 26th -28th April 2008 (exact timings to be announced).
We would meet from outside Kings Cross, London and then travel in my Rock Band Tour Bus via Calais-Brussels-Aachen border-Koblenz-Mannheim-Germersheim (travel time 10-12 hours approx).
My bus has 14 bunks available all with 240v power, 3 lounges with media, kitchen and toilet
There is room in the luggage bays for bikes etc (most people are bringing folders); I will be bringing 3 or 4 folders, my Long-john, 2 BoB trailers.
We would park at a campsite nearby in order to connect to 220v and to use the toilets & showers.
Sleep on the bus saving the hassle of finding an hotel.
Then cycle to the show, any purchases could be brought back to the bus in the Long-john or trailers.
This is a unique opportunity to live the 'Rock' dream, meet fellow cycle nuts and enjoy a relaxed way to get you & your cycle to a great European Cycle Show.
Price will be in the region of £250 per person (final figure depends on confirmed bookings and expense costs).
Please visit the Velo Vision website and register your interest ASAP."

Unfortunately for me, I am a very bad traveller, especially by bus, so I won't be able to go, but if it were not for this I would be on for this.