The art of bike folding
Mr. Bsag has just got a Brompton folding bike to replace his old Philips folder for commuting, which has now officially become a write-off (in the technical sense of costing more to repair than replace). Bromptons aren’t cheap, but you get what you pay for in a very solid build quality and a tiny folded size. He managed to find an ex-demonstration model at a big discount, which was great, but it didn’t come with any instructions, and arrived folded.
We spent the best part of half an hour last night trying to figure out how to turn the neat, but tangled mass of metal and cables into a ride-able bike. Like one of those infuriating linked metal loop puzzles you get in Christmas crackers, the solution was obvious once you’d actually done it. The bike folds in three places (four if you count the folding pedalâthat one really stumped us for a while), so there are lots of ways to get it wrong. He’s going to have to put a bit of practice in if he’s going to pull off the folding/unfolding trick smoothly enough not to get laughed at by the other Brompton owners at the railway station.
Of course, we should have just looked on the web in the first place, but that wouldn’t have been any fun.
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Wow. Bicycle origami. Very cool.----- Welcome to the Folding Society, Mr Bsag. I love my Brompton and, as one fellow rider stopped at traffic lights in Marylebone remarked, "It's very communitaire". Classy riders, us Bromptoneers.
BTW, tell Mr Bsag to make sure he does both the major screws up tight, otherwise he will have an embarrassing Buster Keaton moment. Don't ask me how I know...
If you are fans of Patrick O'Brian, you might also care for this little pastiche: http://www.jolyonpatten.com/wordpress/index.php?p=174
by Jolyon @ 27/10/2004 5:11 am • Permalink •
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Dorothea Salo: You haven't seen the Brompton folding tricycle!
Jolyon: Classy indeed. Coincidentally there was a letter in the last A to B magazine about just such a mishap, so he's under strict instructions to check the clamps, particularly if he's coming back from the pub.
I really liked your pasticheâI've also done the 'falling over slowly whilst still attached to the SPDs' thing. Twice.
by bsag @ 28/10/2004 9:10 pm • Permalink •
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I think that superman would be best to conduct the art of bike folding
by art gallery @ 24/05/2008 9:17 pm • Permalink •
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Google is your friend, but yes it can be highly frustrating trying to figure out how to "fold your bike" but the results can only be good.
That sense of accomplishment
by James Micargi @ 19/06/2008 11:44 pm • Permalink •
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