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A-BIKE with 8" wheels

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A-BIKE with 8" wheels

Postby mrecht on Thu Jul 30, 2009 6:07 am

I now have two A-Bikes. The original Sinclair A-Bike with 6" wheels and I have just obtained an 8" wheel model. There is a marked difference between the 2 bikes. The handle bars on the 8" are wider so providing a less twitchy ride. The saddle stem now has a locking pip that fits into drilled holes on the stem. This provides extra security in holding the stem in place additional to the holding lever. The only problem is that this locks the seat into predetermined height levels. The larger wheels make it it 100% easier to access the valve stem for pumping up the tyres.
On the road the 8" model gives a better ride and a more secure feeling on bumpier surfaces.
The gearing seems to be different as I can cycle faster with the same effort. However, I do need to clarify this further by doing more rides on both models. I will take some photos of both bikes side by side. In the meantime I will carry on with comparing the 2 models and report later.
I recently riding the 6" bike on the Gold Coast of Australia. The area concerned had a bicycle path which was smooth and flat, ideal for the A-Bike. The only problem I had was number of comments from people that I passed. On the whole the comments were of admiration for such an unusual bike. I took the bike up in a mid sized suit case together with my clothes. I was still within the 20kg limit. I am a lover of 2 wheel transport and also own 2 Bickertons, a Dahon and a Benq. Just obtained a Strida 5.0. Also, a various assortment of road, hybrid, mountain & single speed bicycles. Also 2 motor bikes.
Last edited by mrecht on Thu Aug 06, 2009 3:36 am, edited 1 time in total.
mrecht
 
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Re: A-BIKE with 8" wheels

Postby triple7driver on Sun Aug 02, 2009 5:05 am

8" wheels.....WTF ???? Where did you get that ? I am guessing it's a conterfeit as the Mayhem site makes no mention of anything about 8" wheels. Where can I get some of these wheels ?

Thanks,
Randy
triple7driver
 
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Re: A-BIKE with 8" wheels

Postby Artefex on Sun Aug 02, 2009 3:21 pm

I have seen photos of a chinese copy with 8" wheels before on his forum somewhere. Sounds liike a good idea as it should improve the performance with only a small increase in size.
Hows the build quality? Are the wheels fitted in the same way? (Perhaps it would be possible to put the 8" wheels and forks on a genuine A-bike).
Artefex
 
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Re: A-BIKE with 8" wheels

Postby mrecht on Thu Aug 06, 2009 3:35 am

I purchased the 8" wheel A-Bike from the following site:- www.priapus.com.au
The build quality at this stage is OK. They do sell the wheels separately, however I don't think that you can retrofit to a 6" model. As there are quite a few differences with the bottom part of the bikes construction to accommodate the larger wheels.
mrecht
 
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Re: A-BIKE with 8" wheels

Postby Guest on Fri Sep 25, 2009 1:56 pm

I just ordered a Chinese clone with 8" wheels as well. Couldn't afford the original...hoping the build quality will be ok. I'm not intending to put heavy use on the bike, just toy around at the park from time to time. I drive a MINI and refuse to have a roof or tow rack so this is pretty much my only option for a bike that fits in the trunk without folding down the back seat...
Guest
 

Re: A-BIKE with 8" wheels

Postby Freddo on Tue Oct 06, 2009 6:24 pm

Is this copy (and spare parts) also available in Europe? I live in a city with lots of tramway rails and the tiny wheels of the original A-Bike would make my face kiss the concrete, so slightly bigger wheels would be far more secure. Also, what's the average price of this copy?
Freddo
 

Re: A-BIKE with 8" wheels

Postby Perihelion on Thu Oct 08, 2009 1:21 pm

Got my clone in the mail the other day. So far so good. I got it off of EBAY so I wasn't sure what to expect. Build quality is adequate although its clear that it was assembled in a hurry. The individual components are fine but I'm going to give it a bit of a tune up before I take it out for a longer ride. I gave it a short test around my house and everything seemed fine so far.

The 8" wheels are fine, I didn't try the 6" model so I can't compare but I'm not anticipating any issues.

Immediate to-do items are:
- reinstall the front brake band as its a bit crooked so the band doesn't line up nicely with the drum.
- swap the left and right brake levers so that the right is the rear brake...I can't seem to get used to the rear brake on the left side.
- adjust the brake tension as they didn't seem to do it at the factory.

All in all though, considering the price point, its a great deal. :D
Perihelion
 
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Re: A-BIKE with 8" wheels

Postby 190E.sg on Mon Oct 26, 2009 2:29 pm

I'm new here. Having interest in the A-Bike, I have read most of the your discussions to gether more information before getting one. The A-Bike is indeed a great invention. From what I learn the 6 ins wheels is not so practical and it seems that the 8 ins wheels is now a talking point.

I'm quite convinced that the 8 ins wheels is a better buy with improved saddle and wider handle bar. I hope mrecht can provide some more feed back.

Thanks :wink:
190E.sg
 
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Re: A-BIKE with 8" wheels

Postby KLO A-Bike on Tue Jun 21, 2011 9:29 am

I own three 6" and one 8" A-Bike units.

I received the 8" unit from China the other day and I am delighted to say that the pedaling is noticeably easier and offer slightly more the speed and the distance per stroke as compared to the 6" unit. The 8" unit is definitely much better. For reference against the Strada Bike, the 8" A-Bike is a little slower then the Strada per pedal stroke, but the 8" A-Bike folds much smaller and I will go with the 8" A-Bike because of my person needs and usage. I had used the Strada bike, nice ride, but don't fold up to be compact for my needs.

The 6" is a pedaling is a chore. It does get peoples' attention and they are surprised because of the small wheels used. People can't believe it that it is rolling on such small wheels. In my opinion, the 6" unit looks more "cute" in terms of what it is designed for... As a foldable compact bike!

The 8" A-Bike is slight larger in size and especially in the lower half. The heights are the same for both bikes unfolded is 37 3/8" high. The length unfolded for the 8" is 37 3/8" long and for the 6" is 34 9/16" long, a difference of 2 13/16". The unfolded width for the 6" is 11 7/8" and for the 8" unit is 13 7/8". The major difference is because of the designed of the crank pedal arms for the 8" is not straight as on the 6" unit (at least on the unit that I have), but slightly curved outwards from the frame's cranking axis, as an "S" shape. This new shape does adds and aid in the pedaling to be much easier, but you are STILL pedaling harder then the other brands of folding bikes. You can really feel the difference in the ride of the 6" and the 8" units because of the longer wheelbase and the larger wheel as the difference in the gear ratios. When they are both folded up, the 6" is 26 3/8" in height, 12 1/2" length, 7 3/8" width and the 8" is 26 1/4" height and 16" length and 10" wide. The 8" A-Bike is still compact.

For what it is worth, I got three 6" units. One unit from Mayhem (the original distributor from England) and the other two are from China. The Mayhem unit is made BETTER and looks better probably because it is from the Spring of 2010 and may have all the updates, improvements and refinements in many of the failed areas; such as the beefed up in the plastic areas as with the clamp's levers and the main clamp locking assembly that sits on the front steering post and to the rear post. The two 6" units from the Chinese distributors are the earlier versions and are without the updates or improvements and those clamps had failed on me as with other owners had.

About a year ago, I had motorized one of the 6" Chinese unit. It runs on a 300 watt motor with 24 volts. When fully charged on one battery pack, it will offers 5 miles (real miles) distance with the payload of 200 plus pounds at a continuous full speed of 17 miles per hour (20 mph limit in NYC for motorized units without license and insurance). Can get more distance and speed if there is less weight. The realistic payload numbers in my case are as following: for the bike is 27 pounds with the total weight of two battery packs in a custom housing (it is made selectable for either battery pack for supplying power and charging); the motor unit with the chain and two sprockets, the motor's mounting bracket and various hardware; all the additional wiring and harness and the electronic controller. Then there is my weight of 175 pounds and at times with an additional backpack of 10 to 15 pounds (and a coat and winter gear, if in the winter). Yes, I know, that the payload has exceeded the capacity of the A-Bike of 187 pounds

By the way, I did have a mishap last December while riding when I had hit a small size famous New York City's "pothole" that was covered by snow. The front wheel caught the hole and the bike came to a fully stop. Because of the force and weight, the plastic frame holding the front wheel shared off at the base of the post. Since I was still in motion, I was slight projected up in the air and came downward pile driving hard on the seat and cracking the bottom of the plastic rear frame holding the rear wheel. I was almost home, so I folded up the bike and walked home. I did transferred all of the parts to the Mayhem unit. The Mayhem unit is more durable and for the last six months from cold to hot days and I had not had any structural failures so far on a daily usage when the weather permits. So, the motorized unit got a real live usage test in all of the four seasons and the NYC's horrible roads.

Now that I got the 8" Chinese unit, I will start to motorize that unit in the next several weeks. I will see if this 8" unit will hold it's worthiness before I purchase a Mayhem unit to motorize it as well.

Many of you are wondering why I am doing all of these motorized A-Bikes? for me it is necessity!!! I live in NYC and although there is mass transit, the travel pattern to my work site by subway and then by bus is a "U" shape in the lower part of Manhattan and that takes forty minutes. With the motorized 6" A-Bike, I get to work in NINE minutes for a two-mile distance right across town (a straight line is the shortest distance) all while obeying the traffic lights and rules of the bike laws of NYC. I save at least an hour of travel time to and from work daily!!! And, the big advantage are that I can take the A-Bike with me indoors to my work area, as well as to my home or just do light shopping with it. I don't have to lock it up out in the streets to be vandalized or stolen as with conventional bikes! Besides the savings of the mass transit fares and in not deal with the riders and the transit system’s nonsense. Just of short of owning a Vespa and hoping around locally.

So, I hope that helps....
KLO A-Bike
 

Re: A-BIKE with 8" wheels

Postby rigiancarlo on Mon May 14, 2012 10:50 am

My friend has the 8'' model, I've the 6''...well, after a test I can say that the 8'' one is much better!
rigiancarlo
 


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