Skip to main content.
« Previous entry: ChurchRail Trail | Main page | Next entry: Heaps »

October 31st, 2007

Folding bikes (continued)

me on folding bike

As I have said before (hence the continued’) I love the idea of getting a folding bike. The picture above is me test riding a ‘Brompton’, the ultimate in folding bikes, at the Cycle Show. Bromptons cost about £600 once you have bought all the trimmings. As you can see I am blurred owing to my great velocity. The lady on the right is guiding the traffic as the test track is a figure of 8 – in other words it crosses over itself on a diagonal basis. This is to give an element of danger which adds realism to the test ride. The other lady on the right is the assistant to the lady guiding the traffic. I’m not sure what her job is, but it involves standing there. The figure on the left is a cardboard cutout for safety reasons as it would be too dangerous to have a real person there with all these test-cyclists whizzing around. This also adds a sense of realism for those who will find themselves regularly riding in areas populated largely by cardboard cutouts.

When I was in the supermarket yesterday I noticed that someone was advertising a folding bicycle for only £25 in the postcards. £25! Buoyed with enthusiasm I called up and made my enquiries. Unfortunately the man did not have the answers to my in-depth questions, like ‘What make is it?’, so I decided I had better go and see it.

I went on my folding bicycle inspection excursion this morning. Upon seeing the bicycle I instantly knew that it was not what I was looking for as it was a bit rubbish, so told him that I would not be buying it. I came up with a convincing reason involving the handlebars. He said that that was fine, not a problem at all. At which point in a moment of madness I said: ‘Oh, alright then, I’ll buy it.’

I am an idiot sometimes.

Unfortunately the bicycle really is rubbish. It is unique amongst folding bicycles in that it folds into a shape bigger and less convenient than the shape it started from. One popular folding bicycle website says this about it:

The Skoda of folding bikes – the Universal is still the cheapest folder available, but the Chinese are challenging. Made in Poland, the bike looks like a 1960s-vintage ‘shopper’, which is exactly what it is. It’s heavy, it doesn’t fold very well or clip together, and the ride and handling are poor. Yawn, yawn. Long, long overdue for a replacement

Does anyone want to buy a folding bicycle?

To you – £25.

7 Comments »



Share this on Facebook:

If you enjoyed this post you might also enjoy these (possibly) related articles:

If you liked this post why not send it to someone else by e-mail? Click here to do so.

This is a single post on the Cartoon Blog by Dave posted on Wednesday, October 31st, 2007 at 11:31 pm. Click here to read all of the latest posts. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

Other things technologically advanced people may like to do: trackback from another site, follow responses via the comments feed, bookmark on del.icio.us or digg.

7 Responses to “Folding bikes (continued)”


  1. Sam says:

    Accidentally buying a not very good folding-bike is the sort of thing I could imagine mysef doing in a similar sort of way. So you have my sympathy!

    If no-one wants to buy it, you could try Freecycle? (No pun intended.)

    November 1st, 2007 at 9:47 am
  2. Russ says:

    Dave, I think you should volunteer for the Government’s new Personal Travel Adviser scheme – where bods turn up at your front door and ‘advise’ you on how to use your car less, and instead walk, bike or go on public transport.
    You might be able to offload your folding bike on someone – perhaps a practioner of origami, or someone with a large boot.
    As a lapsed cyclist (I spent five years cycling to work at one point. Maybe I should have asked for directions) I fully support any initiatives to get people into greener modes of transport, but I think the Government could do rather more in terms of cycle lanes and better/cheaper buses and trains before they try to make everyone feel guilty for using the car.
    Anyone live in an area where they have trialled this … Darlington, Worcester and Peterborough, so I recall?

    November 1st, 2007 at 10:40 am
  3. Kennedy says:

    If the Brommie at 600 of your eenglish pounds is too dear, howzabout the new folding bike from The Edinburgh Bicycle Co-op. A re-badged Dahon it retails for 229 of them Scots pounds. See

    http://www.edinburghbicycle.com/ebwPNLqrymode.a4p?f_Keyword=8992&bGOkeyword=Search&f_SortOrderID=0

    Kennedy

    November 1st, 2007 at 2:15 pm
  4. ellen says:

    I had a folding bike when I was a girl. Unfortunately it folded at inappropriate times and was a danger to myself and other road users – I asked my mum and dad to take it back to the shop and get me a chopper instead. But they didn’t. I will NEVER buy a folding bike again.

    November 1st, 2007 at 11:55 pm
  5. steve says:

    Have you seen the Mobiky?

    Folds down really small and has great things like an actual carrying handle for when it’s folded. I am looking into getting a folding bike in the next few weeks and am seriously empted by this one. Now that i’ve heard the stunning pitch for yours though i’m torn between the two…

    There’s a nice promo video of it being ridden here:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptfBtjGE7jA

    November 2nd, 2007 at 10:08 am
  6. Paul Roberts says:

    This is probably obvious to you Dave, but worth it for the record. Even the best folders are, from the point of view of the frame, big compromises. The only exception to this may be a Molton, which is in a league (mechanical and financial) of its own. I tried my friend’s Brompton on a train commute to London, and while it was much better to cycle on it through the park to central London than to take the underground, I wouldn’t want to use it as a main bike around my home town. The frame was just too inefficient. Sometimes, however, the folding bike is the best all-round compromise given the circumstances – most bikes are, after all, compromises to match circumstances.

    November 2nd, 2007 at 7:03 pm
  7. Diseño Web says:

    The bike reminds me on the DDR. Now they are trend, before they where the only bikes in the whole DDR. Anyways funny to see them again.

    November 3rd, 2007 at 1:13 am