Your perfect folding bike..

[Fastpedaller]

I used to have a folding mountain bike - a Rudge Bi-Frame - basically a Raleigh

calling it a mountain bike was pushing it a bit but this was the 1980s and the market was flooded with "Mountain Bikes" that were just normal flkat bar bikes with knobby tyres

This was the same but worked better - and folded - pivoting around the seat tube and with 5 locks to stop it folding when you didn;t want it to

It was pretty good for normal riding and riding on trails and such

quite big when folded - but not greatly
not as heavy as our current folding ebike!!!


Legally I suppose I still have it - last time I saw it was when I left my ex - it was in the garage.
It is probably in exactly the same place but never worth the hassle involved in contacting her to get it back!!

I have 2 Rudge montagues...... Good as an off-road or on-road bike but not as compact a fold as the Brompton. The second one is now kept at my Daughter's house 100 miles away in case I want it for going to the shops or just for a ride. It's a convoluted story how I came to have 2.... A friend brought the Rudge to my attention as his FIL had one. A year later I bought one on the very week my friend gave me his (now sadly departed) FIL's Rudge. I sold the second one to a local cyclist and gave the proceeds to charity. Five years later the buyer asked me if I wanted it back FOC, and during the 5 years he'd transformed it from pristine to wreck . Local guy had been to LBS and had a new BB fitted after a couple of years and the 'expert' had decided to fit the cartridge by dremelling the tube away inside the frame. Selecting a different BB would have avoided this butchery - I know as I fitted a new BB to mine. I have also fitted a replacement to the butchered one - but only just as the 'expert' damaged the BB thread when he did his butchery. Rider had also ridden the bike with a knackered wheel bearing with the tyre rubbing the inside of the left chainstay. Suffice to say if he'd kept this bike any longer it would now be on a scapheap. Fitting a spare Shimano HG hub from my collection, spare V brakes, new tyres/tubes and all cables got it good again at £50 cost. Some people don't look after their bikes.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

I have 2 Rudge montagues...... Good as an off-road or on-road bike but not as compact a fold as the Brompton. The second one is now kept at my Daughter's house 100 miles away in case I want it for going to the shops or just for a ride. It's a convoluted story how I came to have 2.... A friend brought the Rudge to my attention as his FIL had one. A year later I bought one on the very week my friend gave me his (now sadly departed) FIL's Rudge. I sold the second one to a local cyclist and gave the proceeds to charity. Five years later the buyer asked me if I wanted it back FOC, and during the 5 years he'd transformed it from pristine to wreck . Local guy had been to LBS and had a new BB fitted after a couple of years and the 'expert' had decided to fit the cartridge by dremelling the tube away inside the frame. Selecting a different BB would have avoided this butchery - I know as I fitted a new BB to mine. I have also fitted a replacement to the butchered one - but only just as the 'expert' damaged the BB thread when he did his butchery. Rider had also ridden the bike with a knackered wheel bearing with the tyre rubbing the inside of the left chainstay. Suffice to say if he'd kept this bike any longer it would now be on a scapheap. Fitting a spare Shimano HG hub from my collection, spare V brakes, new tyres/tubes and all cables got it good again at £50 cost. Some people don't look after their bikes.

Well done for rescuing it - wish I had thought to take mine when I left my ex - it was a great bike

 

[Fastpedaller]

All the replies show how every bike is a compromise and we all have different needs. My 2-speed Brompton wasn't ideal (even in 'flatlands' of Norfolk) for my needs, but having now changed to 3 sprockets and added a front derailleur and 52/36 chainrings I've now got a gear range from about 40 inches to 70 inches, which will suit me fine as long as I don't stray across any borders .

 

[Dadam]

Why don't all 3 of you whip the posts out and measure them so we know for sure if you are comparing like with like?

Measure from the highest part of the post down to the minimum insertion line, and from that line to the bottom of the post.

I reckon we will find that @Drago just prefers a lower saddle position?

Empirical evidence? Whatever next!
This is the internet you know, what's wrong with good old-fashioned hearsay, speculation and misinformation!

I mean you may be right, but I felt it impolite to suggest my own theory, that @Drago might have short stumpy legs and an unfeasibly long torso!

 

[Drago]

I mean you may be right, but I felt it impolite to suggest my own theory, that @Drago might have short stumpy legs and an unfeasibly long torso!

It is unfeasibly long, but never heard it referred to as a "torso" until today.

 

[Jenkins]

Why don't all 3 of you whip the posts out and measure them so we know for sure if you are comparing like with like?

Measure from the highest part of the post down to the minimum insertion line, and from that line to the bottom of the post.

I reckon we will find that @Drago just prefers a lower saddle position?

Here you go - the start of the measure was at the very bottom of the minimum insertion point where I set it in use

I later swapped the seat to the Spa one taken off my new delivery which will be getting the Spoon and re-measured at...

 

[Dadam]

Length of post tube 55.3cm


Top of post tube to bottom of insertion lines 37.7cm


Bottom of insertion lines to bottom of post 17.7cm


The astute amongst you will note a discrepancy (aka "that don't add up").
This is due to it being bloody cold in the garage, and thermal contraction of the tape difficulty holding the bugger in place with cold hands.

Never been really sure where the actual max point actually is, I've always taken it as the top of the seat tube on the bottom of these lines.

 

[Drago]

Mine is at my oldest lasses house so won't be measured until next week.

 

[JohnHughes307]

I started looking for one to look at due to the unstinting praise on here but couldn't find a new one anywhere. Halfrauds only seem to stock the 8 speed rim brake version ☹️

I checked in Halfords today - they reckoned the manufacturers had cocked up the wheel size of the IC9 and there were no tyres available to fit 😲 They seemed to imply there would be another one eventually...

 

[Drago]

I checked in Halfords today - they reckoned the manufacturers had cocked up the wheel size of the IC9 and there were no tyres available to fit 😲 They seemed to imply there would be another one eventually...

They're a 451, or 20 x 1 3/8 or 1/8. Not the greatest range and it was never a popular size for anything other than BMX, but availability is no problem...unless you're shopping in Halfords...

The usual suspects such as Schwalbe, Conti, Michelin, Maxxis, etc, all do rubber in the size, not difficult to obtain.

 

[Schwinnsta]

They're a 451, or 20 x 1 3/8 or 1/8. Not the greatest range and it was never a popular size for anything other than BMX, but availability is no problem...unless you're shopping in Halfords...

451 was used on the Raleigh shoppers sold in UK and were Raleighs most popular design. That is my understanding. The 20s sold on this side of the pond were 406 sized.

 

[brommieinkorea]

Brompton fold. Titanium , no carbon. Mechanical disc brakes. Seatpost that doesn't slip like a Brompton. Rohloff hub, belt drive. Schmidt dynohub. B&M lights. Real effective mud guards. When I acquire it , the frame is full of £100 notes.

 

[EckyH]

B&M lights. Real effective mud guards. When I acquire it , the frame is full of £100 notes.

If the frame is full of £100 notes, then Schmidt lights instead of B&M is by very far the much better choice.

Imo the B&M lights are much too expensive for the value they provide: the housings seem to be "price optimised". Several of my B&M front light fixing eyelets broke, scratch-sensitive plastic front lens, plastic housing for a high power LED which needs cooling is... nah...

E.

 

[brommieinkorea]

If the frame is full of £100 notes, then Schmidt lights instead of B&M is by very far the much better choice.

Imo the B&M lights are much too expensive for the value they provide: the housings seem to be "price optimised". Several of my B&M front light fixing eyelets broke, scratch-sensitive plastic front lens, plastic housing for a high power LED which needs cooling is... nah...

E.

I agree, Schmidt headlights are nice, I still prefer the B&M line tech on the rear..

 

[Tenkaykev]

I met Herr Schmidt many years ago on their trade stand at the Bike Show which at that time was held at Edexel ( sp? )
I was admiring the working cutaway dynamo and my wife's eyes were glazing over with my talk of low residual drag, lack of " cogging ", ratio of commutator segments to winding slots etc etc when this chap approached. It turned out he was the founder of the company. He was so enthusiatic and went into detailed explanation which rapidly became too technical for me to follow.
A true " nerd " in a nice way.