The joys of folding...a bicycle (with small wheels)

Don't get me wrong. I scoot. I am dedicated to push scooting and I own and ride two scooters.

• a Kickbike
• a Mibo Folding scooter 

..and I've been scooting for years. So I know my onions.

It's not that I'm anti-pedals  or chains or gears  but I reckon that in many instances there is a lot of overkill in bicycling culture  and over short distances in an urban environment, push scooters are tops.

If I had to commute 10 ks every day to get to work, I'd probably ride a single speed bicycle. If it was a mountainous route, I'd consider getting gears.

But if I was hoping to ride my route, in part, on a footpath -- I'd not get a large wheel bike at all. I'd definitely op for a smaller wheeled bicycle or scooter.

My Mibo has 12 inch wheels and it's a dream on a footpath. And since I've had small wheel bikes in the past -- I owned a Moulton once (20 inch wheels)  -- I think small wheels are a great way to travel.

The Moulton model I used to ride to work in early 1970's.
8 kms in a suit.

With an uncertain surface underneath that may require you to weave around a bit, and the challenge of pedestrians,  small wheels rule . With your legs  closer to the ground , quick dismount and remount is easy.

That you could fold such a bike or scooter adds to its versatility especially when using public transport or packing up the bike to go into a car boot.

So if you don't want to scoot as I do,  then consider getting a folding bicycle because folding bikes usually have small diameter wheels...and they fold.

So why are smaller wheeled bikes so good?

Why smaller bikes are better:

 - Bike has bigger wheel-distance (given a fixed length of the bike) and its ride is therefore more stable.- Accelerates faster (because the wheels have less momentum) and therefore also decelerates faster.

- Accelerates faster (because the wheels have less momentum) and therefore also decelerates faster.

 - The rack (and therefore the cargo) sits lower, making the bike and the ride more stable.

 - Small wheels are more robust (lower leverage of destructive forces hitting the spokes).

 - Hub dynamo turns faster, thereby generating power more efficiently. (A lower-weight dynamo can be used.)

 - Bike needs less space.

 - Most small wheelers can be folded, needing even less space. [Source]

Maybe the fold isn't essential but that's what you get nowadays when your wheels are small.

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Cycling: I likem my two wheels cheap, simple and light

I'm not bike obsessed -- but this  is a cute Raleigh Pioneer I got for $40 from the local Sunday markets.      

We go to the Caboolture Markets every week and the bric-a'brac, seedlings, fruit and vegetables feed our lifestyle. 

If there is one thing I can do  in way of DIY it is fiddle with  bicycles.    So I tweaked it by cannibalising other stock and now the missus has a light  well-made bicycle to chuff around the township.   

When you straddle a peddle and chain driven bicycle  -- after all my years on a scooter -- it's the bulk and add on-ed paraphernalia  that annoy me.  The best peddling experience I've had for years was on a 'fixie' -- fixed wheel, single speed bicycle.

I'd never ever consider getting gears on a bike (that is if I was a bi-cy-clist).

Gears (and peddles) are for whimps.

A lot of cycling seems obscene to me: hyped up, consumerist, hardware driven, pseudo ... over done.

I likem my two wheels cheap, simple and light.

That's why I appreciate the way that  'fixies' are referred to as 'pub bikes': keep it cheap, simple...and expendable. [Ride it to the pub and if necessary leave it there and make your own way home...and maybe it will still be there in morning.]

So much of the stuff on a bike is add on...but seriously, what add ons do you really need?

My kickbike (no gears, peddles or seat) in all the years I've had it has never given me a moments angst. I maintain it. Had one puncture. I've replaced one tire due to wear. I oil it occasionally and pump up the tires.

But compared to a normal bicycle...what's not to like? 

Although us scooterers have to work harder to travel less at lower speeds we still get from  A to B with a relentless capacity to perform the task of transit we set ourselves.

And besides, I get to wear a cuter butt from kickbiking.

However, I am in the market for a Moulton bicycle as having owned one in the past I value its engineering niche and...simplicity of line.Just quietly I'd love to own and ride another Moulton before I die.  A Moulton is something you hand down through the generations in respect of of its attention to physics and ergonomics. So if you are on the way out and own a Moulton think of me in your will. But then they aren't cheap....But consider me a good home.

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Commuter Cycling : ' Fixie' or Scooter?

My son was in the mood for a means to get to and from a place of likely employment. The option being railwaying and riding the distance there and back.

In Queensland bikes are not allowed on trains during weekday peak periods -- morning and   afternoon -- unless  they folded and  bagged.

Between 7:00am - 9:30am towards the CBD
Between 3:00pm - 6:30pm outwards from the CBD

So what it the best tool for the job?

I was thinking through this as a problem solving exercise  and for my money scootering with a folding Mibo  came ahead of  the usual standard bicycle options.

That's how I'd rule on such a commuter  challenge: getting from 'a' to 'b'. So let's look at the principles I think are important for commuting as the properties relate to both bike and scooter.

#1 Light Cycling

If you are going to be using public transport you want to travel light. You'll need to not only carry your machine up stairs and in and out of carriages, but you'll need to support it while the train is in transit. So lighter is so much better than heavy.

#2 Shaped to Fit

If you are going to carry your machine on public transport you want to keep a low profile. So  the smaller your 'bike' the better. The smallest packaging is gonna be folded of course, but if you aren't folded keep your length down if you can. Nonetheless, the most cumbersome feature of cycling the railroads is the bike peddle which can be a weapon in crowded carriages. Peddles stick out to scrape passing heels -- and if bikes were more train friendly they wouldn't have peddles (hint: they' be scooters).

#3 Function Rules

If you are  going to commute how far are you going to ride? It's not worth the extra weight and outlay if you are going to be riding for less than 10 km. Don't overdo it. You won't be mountain biking or negotiating the Tour de France. Consider that what you want to do is get to work quicker than walking or some other transport option. So hone in on your basic needs and keep it simple.

#4 Price and Value for Money

Bikes can be expensive items to purchase, especially light ones. If you can spare yourself the hype the core fact is that you want value for money and a machine that won't be so attractive 'parked' that its going to be stolen while your working your shift at the coal face. If your bike is a theft option would you prefer to lose $1300 plus or $350? I paste up my scooters with stickers so that they are marked goods, less re-salable and more easily identified. But you don't want to be driven crazy by anxiety if you fear your expensive machine is a theft waiting to happen. Better to keep your outlay in the low figures so that you can keep going from 'a' to 'b'. It may happen that you don't ride your bike home from work one day and want to instead 'store it' by locking it up nearby. You want the confidence  to be able to walk away from your bike  knowing that (a) it's cheap enough not to be big time theft bait; and (b) it's cheap enough that you can wear the loss, and replace it, if it is solen. 

#5 Footpath or Road?

I really appreciate the ease with which a scooter can mount and transit  the pavements as well as the roads.Maybe it is because I'm not confident in traffic and a scooter has such slow pickup. But my travelling style is always opportunist as I utilize road and pavement to get around. Bikes can do this too except the jumping on and off isn't so straightforward and with the larger wheel diameter maneuvering on footpaths isn't as easy as scootering can be. With scooters dealing with foot traffic issues are simple: you hop off the scooter and walk around the pedestrian obstruction in your path, then hop back on again.

#6 Gears are for Whimps

As I say: keep it simple. Unless you are pushing great distances or climbing the Alps gears are extra weight you'll need to carry around on your bike. If you want to get exercise then the gears are going to make your life too easy for sweat.  Take up the purity challenge and ride your ride in the raw without these indulgent extras...luxuries.

So weighing up he evidence I think that if you don't want to scoot your best commute option is a  Fixed Gear Bicycle -- a "Fixie". 

• Light
• Cheap
• Simple
• Reliable
• Less prone to theft
• It's exercise plus
• Does the job: gets you from 'a' to 'b'.
• ...and it is ever so cool to be seen in the company of a fixie. Coolest dam thing on two wheels.

Click on image to enlarge view

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Biking USA

From CBS News Sunday Morning, 07.27.08:

Kickbikes versus utility bicyles

Always enjoy your posts to these forums and your MySpace(?) website. The kickbike is so magnificently uncomplicated it lends itself well to ingenious modifications. Like myself, you are shamelessly smitten by the whole kicking culture.

Thanks Bob. I hang out at KICKBIKE -- "a kickbikers journey" which is becoming a melange of sorts as I'm researching the whole bicycle culture thing as part of some local advocacy.

It strikes me that theres' a lot of confusion about bikes per se because there can be many functional applications for them and when you get into kickbiking -- and I AM smitten! -- you begin to appreciate the pure simplicity of two wheels moving in a forward direction driven by sweat.

The new vogue for set gear/single speed bikes and the new appreciation of old style utility bicycles ( between war design)dovetails delightfully with a kickbike approach to transit. Maybe you aint going to push your kickbike to work through traffic while wearing a suit or your Sunday best but if you want to bike it make sure to approach some of the core aptitudes that the Kickbike offers.

My kickbike straddles a few transit genres -- jogging, shopping, commuting and cartage -- and the more you 'push it' the more into the groove you become as you learn a lot more about what the hardware can offer you.

Among a few other aspects it is taking me to another level of fitness despite my chronic arthritic condition. I'm jogging but not weight bearing as if I was jogging per the norm. (And I can always get off and walk!)

Bikes are not as strenuous as people assume they are. That may be a good thing but as exercise machines you have to work very hard on the peddles over some distance to register the physiological gains you can achieve by kicking a kickbike.

Thats' why I think single speed bicycles are a well worth sponsoring back into the mainstream as we are part of the same biking niche.

PS: I'm going to build a ultility bike from scratch for my partner's birthday so we can ride together and she won't be able to peddle away from me so easily if impulse comes upon her.

The joys, oh the joys!, of single speed bikes

The Single Speed bike forum addressed the topic of Why single speed? In case you haven't noticed a kickbike is a single speed bicycle (without peddles). Here's an amalgam of the advantages from a subjective POV.

1. It makes me stronger.
2. It makes me more supple.
3. It works my entire body.
4. It makes me pick the best lines.
5. It makes me ride more efficiently.
6. In local terrain I'm certainly no slower (than those with gears).
7. It lets me ride through the woods and think of nothing but riding through the woods.
8. That's pretty much all I need.
9. It prooves that I'm not a lamb to the slaughter of the marketing men
10. Singlespeeding is almost silent
11. It demonstrates that I can assemble my own bike
12. It shows that I'm bohemian in outlook - finding the real truth in all aspects of my existance
13. You don't need much expertise to maintain it
14. Choose any currency - I can build a pretty good singlespeed for 50
15. It's less likely to get stolen
16. It's future-proof and will never look outdated
17. It engenders real faith and committment
18. I can enjoy all the qualities of a steel frame without an overall weight penalty
19. It has that clean, elegant look of pure simplicity and fitness for purpose
20. My SS bike is an instrument, rather than a machine
21. I can put it away dirty
22. "singlespeed make you strong"
23. SS is the way forward in claggy conditions.
24. "I like to ride, not operate my bike"

How drivers 'see' bicyclists

Comment to The Bike Show.

And when THE BIKE SHOW does return I hope it overcomes its chronic bias against scooters.

Well may the BS talk about anything on cogs --but as soon as you get pristine and groovy on two wheels without all this mechanical fillagree , bi-cy-lists don't want to know about it.

Whats' the beef? Scooters have transcended the Razor big time and there's a whole emergent culture kicking in across the world on diameters greater than 12 inches and up.

Then the Bike Show teams up with a purveyor of fine foods who passes itself off as a SCOOTERworks!

Whole duplicitous!

What we need from the BS -- when it returns -- is an episode on scooter/kick bike versus the bicycle. Let's get down to the nitty gritty because I think there's an argument to be had: no gears, no chain,low to the ground, total body engagement rather than a mechanical reliance on the lower limbs...Scooters have Zen big time.

No one writes a book, Zen and the Art of Bicycle Maintenance do they? A bike is a quintessential analogue of the industrial age. It is designed to function as a self contained up and down machine, driven by a series of pistons and energy quotients.

But watch a kick biker in motion and you know what the Buddha meant if he was prone to travel Asia on two wheels in a pair of close fitting knicks tucked under his beer gut.

Kick bikes are remarkably fast. I use them as a rehabilitation vehicle because with arthritis I cannot manage the bicycle. They lend themselves to nice sports -- like dogscootering. They cover most commute journey lengths especially the very short. They're ideal in and out of traffic as it is so easy to mount(and dismount onto) the footpath.

But lo! To the bicycle world the scooter is treated with arrogant disdain. It's dismissed as a kid's toy.

Not any more.... No more will the tyranny of the cog and chain rule the world!

Bicyclists of the world unite! You have nothing to lose but your chains!

Bikes I have known

Since I'm considering my two wheeler options I thought I'd review my history on two wheels:

• 1960s: I wanted a bike and my parents wouldn't let me have one. so I retrieved my father's old bike from the shed -- a bicycle he's ridden during the 1940s --and proceeded to renovate it. I stripped it down . Replaced all worn out parts. Re-galvanize(or is it chromed) the handlebars and cog. Got it painted a professional and dashing black with filigree...and thought it was so darn good. Back then we could only dream of gears -- derailleurs. I had that bike until 1968 when I gave it away to a youth at a children's' institution.
  
• 1970: I wanted an easy to use bike to get to and from the city. I purchased a moulton (example pictured). Great little bike but not as ergonomic as its inventor-- Alex Moulton --promised. Stupidly I sold it. Today classic Raleigh models like mine are worth a fortune.
  
• Late 1970s: I wanted a transport/commute vehicle and I got myself a Repco bike. Disk brakes/drop handlebars. This was serious biking. I rode it to and from work. Decked it out with panniers and planned(but didn't) to ride it on a tour through the Victorian North East.I used to ride from Melbourne down to the Mornington Peninsula. In 1981 I fell off it and cracked my wrist. When I moved interstate in 1982 I sold it.
• 1985:Living in Sydney I bought a bike from a dedicated bike shop in Marrickville. When I moved to Brisbane -- later that year -- I trained the bicycle up via Murwillumbah but when my illness set in big time (the same year --1985)that was it. I had enough problems walking.
• Into this century: Both of my kids had bikes which they hardly rode. So I adopted my daughters 'girl' bike for my occasional activities as a puppeteer and workshop facilitator. I appreciated the bike because it didn't have a cross bar I had to mount over. Mounting was hard because of my physical stiffness. My neighbor built me a bike trolley(picture to come) and with that I toured local schools giving mask making, theatre and puppetry workshops. On occasion I'd take the bike and its cart shopping.
• 2002 -- Ill health kicks in big time: Due to worsening ill health I had to give up the biking and the community arts stuff so I experimented with the new scooter craze and brought myself a Razor -- the scooters with the tiny wheels so I could get around without much effort. My daughter borrowed it and then left it in a public park from whence it was stolen. The wheels were too small to be safe. Don't ever buy wheels less than a 8 inches(20 cm) diameter if you want to leave the parking lot!
  
• 2005: After due consideration and reviewing my options I asked my neighbour to build me a dogscooter. I got the designs for it -- a cut down BMX bike -- from a local husky team club. I did dogscoot with it -- as one of my terriers loved to run that way. But he has died. Since I've been working on the physical rehab stuff I'm keen to move up to a vehicle that is more challenging and offers longer distances --such as a kickbike.
• 2007:.............My bike trailer