Bike Friday for a touring bike?

"David" wrote:

They bent your chain ring and yet your front derailleur survived?

Easy to imagine. The lower part of the chainring is relatively exposed, and
not close to the front derailleur.

With the Bike Friday and a Sachs 3x7 or a 3x9 hub, even if the
rear derailleur got snapped off, all I have to do is shorten the
chain to make it a single speed bike with a 7 or 9 speed internal
hub still intact.

The epicyclic part of the hub is a three-speed. The cassette body takes
seven or (eight or) nine sprockets.

James Thomson

With the Bike Friday and a Sachs
3x7 or a 3x9 hub, even if the rear derailleur got snapped off, all I
have to do is shorten the chain to make it a single speed bike with a 7
or 9 speed internal hub still intact.

If I do decide to go for a Bike Friday.....Im
definitely gonna go for the internal geared rear hub.

Is that a good idea in your mind??

The ride qualities of the 20" wheel size don't suggest touring to me,
but there's no disputing that the tires and tubes are available
everywhere.

Im curious why you think this?

What size do you think is a good size for touring?

bikerider7 wrote:
You can get ISO 406 (20" BMX) tires in many grocery stores and all
Walmarts. They are as broadly available as ISO 559 (26" MTB) if not
more so, and way more available than ISO 622 (700c).

There are no Walmarts in Europe.

Yes there are, in Germany and the UK (asda) for now. WalMart has ongoing
plans of expanding in those countries and others.

http://tinyurl.com/h8g3
http://www.asda.co.uk

Chalo Colina wrote:

You can get ISO 406 (20" BMX) tires in many grocery stores and all
Walmarts. They are as broadly available as ISO 559 (26" MTB) if not
more so, and way more available than ISO 622 (700c).

An anonymous poster sniped:

There are no Walmarts in Europe.

Carrefour!

Chalo is correct if the bike in question had the commmon-as-dirt 406 mm
size. Unfortunately, _some_ Bike Fridays use the much harder-to-find
451 mm size. I would agree that 451 is a very poor choice for touring,
but that 406 is a good choice if speed is not a major priority.

I don't think there is any other tire size in existence that is as
widely available as 406.

Sheldon "Ubiquity" Brown
+----------------------------------------------+
| I will be making my grand opera debut in a |
| Concert Performance of Bizet’s Carmen |
| July 31/August 1, M.I.T. Kresge Auditorium |
| Cambridge, Mass http://web.mit.edu/gsp/www/ |
+----------------------------------------------+
Harris Cyclery, West Newton, Massachusetts
Phone 617-244-9772 FAX 617-244-1041
http://harriscyclery.com
Hard-to-find parts shipped Worldwide
http://captainbike.com http://sheldonbrown.com

wrote:

Chalo wrote:

The ride qualities of the 20" wheel size don't suggest touring to me,
but there's no disputing that the tires and tubes are available
everywhere.

Im curious why you think this?

What size do you think is a good size for touring?

Smaller (e.g. 20") wheels translate much more surface bumpiness into
vertical motion at the axle. They fall deeper into holes and are less
capable of rolling out. At any given tire width, they sink more into
soft surfaces than larger diameter wheels and offer less directional
control under those circumstances. Their tires have noticeably more
rolling resistance and wear out more quickly than larger ones.

If pressures are lowered to moderate the ride quality shortcomings of
small wheels, rolling resistance climbs even more. The smaller the
wheel, the easier it is to pinch the tube (other factors equal). This
imposes a limit on minimum pressure which is higher than for a larger
diameter wheel.

Small wheels are stronger and lighter than large ones, and make
bicycles much easier to pack and transport. Still, I don't think this
makes up for their limitations except under circumstances dictated by
travel arrangements.

I think 700c is the best wheel size for touring. It is one of the
largest diameter rims, and the variety of tires available provides
lots of configuration options: From light wheels and tires in a
race-like setup for a lightweight rider on a sag-supported tour, all
the way up to 60mm wide tires that give an outside diameter of almost
30" and unmatched ride and traction qualities.

They don't fit in a suitcase, but once on the road, 700c wheels work
better for most roadgoing purposes than other wheel sizes.

Chalo Colina

I think 700c is the best wheel size for touring

OK

However I was gonna go for 26" inch wheels and tires if
I buy a Bruce Gordon BLT.

What's your thoughts on that.... i.e. 26"?

wrote:
I think 700c is the best wheel size for touring

OK

However I was gonna go for 26" inch wheels and tires if
I buy a Bruce Gordon BLT.

What's your thoughts on that.... i.e. 26"?

I think both 26" and 650c are adequate for loaded road touring, and in
my experience they're just as practical as 700c. Chalo mentioned some
benefits of 700c. The only other drawback is a gear-inch trade-off (on
the top end) because of the larger diameter of 700c compared to
MTB/650c, but you can remedy that through gearing. You don't need really
tall gearing on a touring bike anyway, especially if you're fully-loaded
and/or in hilly areas.

You'll appreciate wider MTB tires especially if you decide to do much
off-road, backwoods touring. If you have enough adjustment in your
cantilever brakes, you can also switch between MTB and 650c wheelsets
depending on your preference.

Talk it over with Bruce Gordon when you order.

A shy person asked:

However I was gonna go for 26" inch wheels and tires if
I buy a Bruce Gordon BLT.

What's your thoughts on that.... i.e. 26"?

The 559 mm (26" mountainbike) size is the best choice for heavily loaded
touring, i.e., camping with tent and cooking stuff, or for touring on
poor surfaces.

622 (700c) is the best choice for light (credit-card/B&B/hostel) touring
on good roads.

The 406 (20" bmx) size used on most folding bikes is also perfectly
satisfactory for touring when speed is not a major priority. Wider
tires in this size are very, very sturdy, and they'll give a decent ride
if not overinflated, though at some cost in rolling resistance.

For touring, the following are the only essentials:

•Durability

•Load carrying ability

•Comfort

Additional features that are highly desirable, but not essential would
include:

•Low gearing so you don't have to walk the steep hills

•Easy availability of replacement parts

•Weather protection (i.e. fenders/mudguards)

•Efficiency

•Beauty

Sheldon "Insert Nickname Here" Brown
+------------------------------------------------------------+
| Tour on popular routes like the Oregon Coast you will see |
| just about anything with two wheels out there, with any |
| amount of luggage strapped on in any conceivable way. |
| Everyone seems to be having a good time doing it. |
| However, certain choices will reduce breakdowns, and |
| make the trip less a project of transporting equipment, |
| and more one of enjoying the scenery and cultures. |
| --Eric Salathé |
+------------------------------------------------------------+
Harris Cyclery, West Newton, Massachusetts
Phone 617-244-9772 FAX 617-244-1041
http://harriscyclery.com
Hard-to-find parts shipped Worldwide
http://captainbike.com http://sheldonbrown.com

bikerider7 wrote:

: There are no Walmarts in Europe.

Recently I asked my Local Bent Shop if they stock inner tubes for
20" tires. They answered in negative, as you can get perfect inner
tubes for the size at Tarjoustalo (literally "discount house",
sounds a bit like Walmart right?).

--
Risto Varanka | http://www.helsinki.fi/~rvaranka/hpv/hpv.html
varis at no spam please iki fi