Folding bicycles

[pinerunner]

I've been eyeing those small folding bicycles as a kind of TEM (Terran Excursion Module) for my Mooney. Land someplace, pedal into town for a burger, etc. Has anyone done this and how did it work out?

 

Dave

[aviatoreb]

Yup - love it.  Do it!

[carusoam]

Dave,

There is a long thread that you can probably search to find some pictures and discussions on how to do it.

Erik must be busy today, because bikes are his other fascination...

Best regards,

-a-

[Bennett]

I used to carry one if the small wheeled Dahon (I think that is how they spell it) three speed folding bikes in the baggage compartment of my 261. Weighed under 30 pounds in its fabric case. Rode it into town from airports many times. It was not a great bike, but it did the job. I carried two of them on my trawler with baskets to haul groceries back to wherever I might have docked. My major gripe was the small wheels - 10" or so, that dropped into every pothole. The good part was that they fit through the baggage door easily, and were light weight.

[chrisk]

I had a Dahon for a while.   I was ok with the small wheels, but the shorts cranks were bothersome.  I'd love to find a moderately priced quality folding bike with good ergonomics.

[Joe Zuffoletto]

I have a Bike Friday Carbon Tikit:

 

http://www.bikefriday.com/bicycles/commuter/1537

 

Not a cheap bike, but I use it for a lot more than a Mooney TEM device, so it's worth it to me. It folds very small and has an internal hub and carbon "chain," so there's no greasy mess from a conventional chain and derailleurs to mess up the interior of your car or plane. Not to mention it's very low maintenance. Solid, comfortable ride, too.

[aviatoreb]

Dave,

There is a long thread that you can probably search to find some pictures and discussions on how to do it.

Erik must be busy today, because bikes are his other fascination...

Best regards,

-a-

 

Aha - yes I am - it SNOWED!  ANd I am busy waxing the family fleet of 20 pairs of XC skis prepping for the season that has arrived a bit sooner than typical years....  Im the family waxmeister.  Talk about an alchemy sport.

 

OK - I will recoup and post some new pictures of folding bikes big and small this evening...  back to the hot iron.  Then a bit of ski this afternoon.  No flying today!

[N201MKTurbo]

If you have the skills, don't forget the lowly skateboard.

 

The young boys in town are always thrilled to see someone our age riding one.

[KSMooniac]

I've got a pair of Birdy Bikes that I bought used from ebay for reasonable money, and I really, really like them.  Very well engineered, and handle/ride great, even compared to my "real" bikes that I enjoy.  I've also got a Trek F600 folding bike that is also very well done, but I plan to sell it since I got a second Birdy for the wife.

 

The Bike Friday Tikits like Joe mentioned are supposed to be extremely good too, and made in Oregon.  He went for the top of the line model, but there are others as well with a variety of options.  BF makes a lot of other "travel" bikes that pack down nicely, but only the Tikit offers a quick fold like most of us want for use with a Mooney.

[N601RX]

Has anyone tried one of these? Might be a little more challenging and painful to ride.

http://solowheel.com

[pinerunner]

Has anyone tried one of these? Might be a little more challenging and painful to ride.

http://solowheel.com

That would get even more comments than the plane. Costs almost two grand, though. Wonder how far a charge takes you.

[thinwing]

We hava had good luck with 2 Dahon Mu su  folding bikes...20 in wheels,quality components and very light weight..18 lbs.Folded in the travel bags there is no chain mess and use a single derailler for 7 speeds.We did change the seats to wide butted gel type...good for 15 miles out and back with average pedal speeds 10mph...k

[tsuttles]

Try the Brompton brand also in your search I seen a Mooney guy at Sun n Fun this year with one and have been on the search ever since. The only bad part is they are a little pricey but what is new in Aviation. It is the only brand that I know of that folds where the cranks is on the inside and keeping it from marking your carpet with grease.

[Cabanaboy]

My Citizen bike 16 inch Tokyo model only $169,works great and fits in baggage, It can fit in m20J thru the baggage hatch.

Is a GREAT Bike! Very high quality.

 

http://www.citizenbike.com/catalog.asp

 

[kmyfm20s]

I bought this electric folding bike and it is awesome! But and the big but is it's expensive! It can fit through the baggage door with a lot of struggle but through the cabin door no problem. I usually leave one back seat out of my J but I would think 2 would fit in the baggage area with the seats in, not like your going to have back seat passengers with 2 bikes:)

 

http://www.bikecraze.com/Prodeco-Electric-Bike-V3-Mariner-Folding-p/pt3.m.36.250.6.htm?click=4

[ghovey]

Yes I fly with a Dahon Pu folding bike. I take out one of the back seats and strap it down with the seat belt. No problems-they do have to go in through the front door. When my wife comes along we take 2 Dahons (a bike with fenders is a good idea) we take out both back seats. The bikes weigh about 23 lbs each. They have 20" wheels and ride great. Bike Fridays, Bromptons, birdy bikes are all worth looking at. And when we get where we are going we put them in the trunk of the rental car. Have fun. Go do it and while you are at it get an inflatable paddleboard.

[pinerunner]

I've been looking at these. Good to see your testimonial.

 

This was supposed to go with the post by Canababoy about the Citizen Tokyo model.

[takair]

I have a couple of Montague bikes. They are quite sturdy and can be used as a daily rider. That said, they don't fold up as tight as some of the others. They have to go in through the door and use up the back seat.

[Cabanaboy]

Add the back rack option ($5), it really helps when you want to put it in or take out as it makes a great handle. I take the seat post all the way out of the bike before putting in aircraft. I use a bungee cord to wrap around bike to keep it nice and tight when loading/unloading. It takes about 3 minutes max to unfold and start riding.

The bike also has a 6-speed Shimano grip shifter. Sweet bike! Love the colors choices to.

 

 

 

I've been looking at these. Good to see your testimonial.

 

This was supposed to go with the post by Canababoy about the Citizen Tokyo model.

[aviatoreb]

Has anyone tried one of these? Might be a little more challenging and painful to ride.

http://solowheel.com

 

That thing looks really cool - it would be fab for the purpose (highly portable and no assembly required ground transportation) I bet if I weren't really worried about a broken shoulder or wrist.  What do you guys think?

 

It reminds me a lot of a segway in terms of the engineering that must be going on with it.

 

When our town got a segway for a police officer to use in crowd control (stands up high in a commanding presence as if on a horse), that police officer promptly broke his wrist on day one, despite having gone through a NY State Police training program specifically for the segway.

[aviatoreb]

Dave,

There is a long thread that you can probably search to find some pictures and discussions on how to do it.

Erik must be busy today, because bikes are his other fascination...

Best regards,

-a-

 

Ok!  Here I am.

 

We have a pair of "downtube" folders that I keep in the hangar, in packing bags.  The bags are crucial for clean and quick packing into the airplane.  There are ALOT of folder brands with the basic 20'' wheels and they mostly copy each other.  I chose this brand because I got a pair of them new on ebay for ~$250 each.  They fit in through the baggage door.  20'' wheels are the minimum I think for a decent ride.  By decent I have ridden 5-10 miles simply at a strolling pace, not a performance ride pace.  They are lovely.  Folds pretty quickly and easily. See picture of my son and I in Maine with those folders.

 

http://www.downtube.com/ss-index.html

 

I also have a hummer/montague folder mountain bike.  It is a full sized 26'' wheel mountain bike that folds in half, and with the front wheel off and in a bag goes into the front door very easily.  It is a very good solution for ground transportation if the ride will be a bit more challenging and easily up to the task of real mountain biking - it is a real mountain bike and rides completely as any other mountain bike.

 

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://hummer-bike.com/bikes/hummer-bike-fold1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://hummer-bike.com/&h=946&w=1600&sz=300&tbnid=WcNJf4FB8ghi9M:&tbnh=90&tbnw=152&zoom=1&usg=__OGjjcGqVleu2xBg53aYrDqD7A0k=&docid=yyTPoOMRcTyXqM&sa=X&ei=a1WXUp6mOsHvoASa8oCQCg&sqi=2&ved=0CCsQ9QEwAA

 

I also have two S&S break apart bikes. One is my main road bike - that was built for me by Zinn in Titanium.  See picture.  The other is my 29'er Ti bike that I designed myself on a CAD with some bike geometry tricks I had wanted to try, and it was built by XACD for a crazy low price and now that I have had it for 6 years, I can say it was well built.  A S&S break a part bike IS a normal bike where the tubes have a special sleeve welded to the middle of the tube set that allows the frame to brake into two pieces.  That part of the tube is actually stronger than the original tube, and the bike rides completely normally as the original bike.  Only downside is the Ti sleeve adds ~0.5lb to the bike.  This is more so for airline travel as it allows your normal bike to fit into a standard size 26'' x 26'' x 10'' airline official luggage - it does take 15 min or so to assemble re-assemble but it is nice as I have ridden my bikes all over the world this way when on business travel to far away places like europe, or california, and so forth.  But a quick-brake in half only takes ~2 min and it does facilitate putting the bikes in the mooney.

 

That said, if it is just me, and a friend and two standard road bikes (or mtn bikes) and not much else in the way of luggage, I have found it pretty easy to put two bikes in the back through the main door. With rear seats removed.  The key is to use covers to keep the grease and pointy parts away from the seats and it slides in and out much more easily.  My big trick is I got some BBQ covers from walmart - this is tough tarp-like material that folds around the frames (wheels off) and I strap it around.  In and out quickly.  I have many times even packed my time trial bike - I fly to some race far away in the state, wearing bike bike cloths, with bike, assemble bike in 2-5 min, put on cleats, ride out the gate of the airport to the race 10 mi away as my warm up - race my 10mi time trial - ride back to the airplane, pack, change, fly home - two hobbies in less than the time of one!

 

Pictures you will see are my downtube bike (and son in Maine) with airplane.

My garage full of bicycles of all shapes and sizes (for my wife and sons too).  (My car hasn't fit in there for years).

My ti road bike by zinn with the S&S coupling.

My ti 29er mtn bike with S&S coupling.

 

No picture handy of my hummer - but do check one of those out as it is a very ridable real 26er folder.

 

Last but not least - I have a xootr scooter in the hangar - no kidding it is trivial to learn to use - anybody I have ever showed it too has found no problem just stepping on it and gliding - there is essentially no learning required - and it is a legit ground transportation for a mile or two - and it folds absolutely tiny - I got one on ebay for $100.  It is a large man-sized kids scooter.

 

http://www.xootr.com/kick-scooter_mg.html

[drapo]

My solution is a full size, folding Dahon Expresso. A bit on the heavy side (around 30 lbs) compared to my usual bike, but it's mainly due to the folding mechanism that is very sturdy. I often use it to travel on distances of +/- 50 miles once at destination, with side bags so I'm fully self sufficient for a couple of days. One fits perfect throug the front door and on the rear seat and two is a tight squeeze.