Folding Bikes

On Sat, 23 Nov 2013 01:39:21 -0600, Gregory Sutter
wrote:

On 2013-11-20, James wrote:
On 21/11/13 00:20, John B. wrote:

A good friend who lives on a 35 ft. catamaran is asking about a new
bicycle. He currently has a mountain bike of some sort and is lusting
after a folding bike and asked me what was best.

Your friend might consider buying a bicycle with a steel frame and
having S&S couplers installed.

Takes too long to set up and stow. Also, steel + sal****er don't mix
too well!

Therefore I recommend the intrepid boatman instead get a custom
titanium folding bike with all carbon fiber parts. In this way he
can be assured of getting a bike that will resist sal****er corrosion
as well as spending all possible money.

A serious answer, John B.: your friend should buy a cheap Dahon
folding bike and expect it to last only a couple years on the boat.
At that point, another cheap folding bike can be acquired.

Also get your friend a big can of WD-40 to spray down the whole bike
(but remind him that it's not chain lube).

He is, when he works, an off shore drilling superintendent and is
pretty aware of the effects of salt water and air. In fact he
mentioned something that I had never heard of the other day - "grease
tape". Says it is used when shipping stuff off shore to protect it
from corrosion.

I suspect that he just wants a new bike/different bike/another bike as
he had mentioned that he had cleaned up his old one and "it really
rode nice", so I doubt that he really NEEDs another bike :-)

I passed on the various recommendations and he has yet to mention
bikes again.

--
Cheers,

John B.

On Saturday, November 23, 2013 6:56:35 AM UTC-5, John B. wrote:

I suspect that he just wants a new bike/different bike/another bike as
he had mentioned that he had cleaned up his old one and "it really
rode nice", so I doubt that he really NEEDs another bike :-)

Buying another bike when he doesn't really NEED it? Who's ever heard of such a thing?? ;-)

- Frank Krygowski

On Wednesday, November 20, 2013 5:20:30 AM UTC-8, John B. wrote:
A good friend who lives on a 35 ft. catamaran is asking about a new

bicycle. He currently has a mountain bike of some sort and is lusting

after a folding bike and asked me what was best.



Since I know nothing about folding bikes does anyone have any words of

wisdom that I might pass on?

Brompton folds down to actually fit into a fiberglass deck box that someone can make,
with a rubber gasket seal around the top, to keep the Splash over the Deck, Out.

24x24x12 ", should do it.



I have heard that some makes have a weakness in the steering but

nothing beyond that.



As I said, he lives on a boat and if you do that you really want a

bike to ride for transportation around the marina and maybe short

trips to town. Not all day cruises.

As for storage, he has had the mountain bike for several years and

toted it around the world and a 35 ft. cat has a considerable amount

of storage (for a 35 ft. boat) so that isn't a major difficulty. I

think he takes the wheels off to stow the bike.

--

Cheers,



John B.

http://inhabitat.com/contortionist-f...-than-a-wheel/

On Sat, 23 Nov 2013 07:59:47 -0800 (PST), Frank Krygowski
wrote:

On Saturday, November 23, 2013 6:56:35 AM UTC-5, John B. wrote:

I suspect that he just wants a new bike/different bike/another bike as
he had mentioned that he had cleaned up his old one and "it really
rode nice", so I doubt that he really NEEDs another bike :-)

Buying another bike when he doesn't really NEED it? Who's ever heard of such a thing?? ;-)

- Frank Krygowski

I don't know about that. I've always thought most people only bought
things that they needed.

And there is no question that I only buy such requirements. My wife
asked me some time ago "why do you need another bicycle" and I
explained to her all about the various types of bicycles and how one
type was best suited to one activity and a different type to a
different activity.

Than I bought her a new cell phone and everything is hunky-dory.
--
Cheers,

John B.

On Sat, 23 Nov 2013 10:57:20 -0800 (PST), Zarniwoop
wrote:

On Wednesday, November 20, 2013 5:20:30 AM UTC-8, John B. wrote:
A good friend who lives on a 35 ft. catamaran is asking about a new

bicycle. He currently has a mountain bike of some sort and is lusting

after a folding bike and asked me what was best.



Since I know nothing about folding bikes does anyone have any words of

wisdom that I might pass on?

Brompton folds down to actually fit into a fiberglass deck box that someone can make,
with a rubber gasket seal around the top, to keep the Splash over the Deck, Out.

24x24x12 ", should do it.

He's got enough room to store a bike down below. At least he's got a
non-folder that he has been carrying around for the last couple of
years.
--
Cheers,

John B.

On Sun, 24 Nov 2013 23:41:53 +0000, Phil W Lee
wrote:

John B. considered Sun, 24 Nov 2013 10:58:03
+0700 the perfect time to write:

On Sat, 23 Nov 2013 10:57:20 -0800 (PST), Zarniwoop
wrote:

On Wednesday, November 20, 2013 5:20:30 AM UTC-8, John B. wrote:
A good friend who lives on a 35 ft. catamaran is asking about a new

bicycle. He currently has a mountain bike of some sort and is lusting

after a folding bike and asked me what was best.



Since I know nothing about folding bikes does anyone have any words of

wisdom that I might pass on?

Brompton folds down to actually fit into a fiberglass deck box that someone can make,
with a rubber gasket seal around the top, to keep the Splash over the Deck, Out.

24x24x12 ", should do it.

He's got enough room to store a bike down below. At least he's got a
non-folder that he has been carrying around for the last couple of
years.

OTOH, any saving in space is likely to be welcome in such a restricted
living environment, especially if it isn't at the expense of
convenience.

While perhaps theoretically true in practice it does not seem to be
always true. I've been aboard cruising boats that were crammed with
stuff. To the extent that there was a galley space and a place to sit
at the table and that was about all. Unbelievable clutter.

And moving a briefcase sized package from below deck to the quayside
or vice-versa is going to be far more convenient than moving a full
sized bike and having install or remove the wheels. so it's a gain in
space /and/ convenience.

Bonus with a Brompton is that you almost never need to lock it up
anywhere - you can just fold it and take it with you (they even do a
convenient bag for the few places which baulk at storing a bicycle,
like some cloakrooms might). It'll even hang on the back of a
shopping cart at the supermarket!

I had given him a list of folders that Frank and others provided and
he's found a place in Singapore that sells at least one of the makes,
I think Bike Friday. I expect to receive a report any day now about
his New Bike :-)
--
Cheers,

John B.