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New A-bike owner

Chat about your A-Bike, post details of your exploits, ask advice from other owners, etc.

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New A-bike owner

Postby garryl on Thu Sep 13, 2007 10:20 pm

Hi all,

Having thought about getting an A-Bike every now and then over the last year, I've finally taken the plunge and bought one! I got mine from www.iwantoneofthose.com (total cost was only £138.05 including delivery, since I found a voucher code for a 10% discount with a quick google search).

Being a long-time (10 years+) Brompton owner, I've been curious to see how the A-bike compares. Certainly weight-wise it is a real winner - it's just *so* much lighter than the Brompton!

I haven't had any chance to ride it for real yet, as it was delivered to my work, and I brought it home this evening strapped to the back of the Brompton. I've been practising folding and unfolding, which I haven't quite fully got the hang of yet, but I'm getting there!

One thing I noticed, and wondered if it was normal; the rear freewheel seems to have quite a high resistance. If I spin the rear wheel with a turn of the cranks, it very quickly comes to a stop (around 2-3 secs). The front wheel runs for much longer if spun. The freewheel also has quite a loud "whir" - louder than I'd have expected. Is this normal, or should I be checking for any problem? The brakes seem to be fine.

Hopefully I will be able to do a bit of riding on the A-bike at the weekend :-)
Garry
garryl
 
Posts: 4
Joined: Thu Sep 13, 2007 11:58 am
Location: Westbury, Wiltshire, UK

Postby ATMP on Fri Sep 14, 2007 7:17 am

Garry,

Based on my A-Bike what you have experienced sounds about right.

I would be interested to hear you opinions on the handling of the bike once you have had a chance to ride it. Please don't make the mistake I made of not checking you have completely locked off the bike before you ride it. I only made the mistake once, but I ended up flying over the front of the bike as it collapsed beneath me.
Paul, A-Bike owner
ATMP
 
Posts: 14
Joined: Tue Mar 06, 2007 4:50 pm
Location: Crawley, West Sussex, UK

Postby garryl on Fri Sep 14, 2007 12:33 pm

Thanks, Paul. That's reassuring.

I'll certainly report back after a couple of test rides. I'm slightly apprehensive about the handling, but I have some nice quiet roads to practice on.

I once started riding my Brompton without remembering to clamp one of the hinges, and soon collapsed in a heap ;-) So I'm going to be extra careful and make sure the A-bike buttons and clamps are fully locked each time.
Garry
garryl
 
Posts: 4
Joined: Thu Sep 13, 2007 11:58 am
Location: Westbury, Wiltshire, UK

Postby garryl on Tue Sep 18, 2007 8:15 pm

I had a couple of 20-25min rides on the A-bike at the weekend. I was pleasantly surprised to find it handled quite well, not tricky to ride at all. What I did find was that it was much harder work than I expected - no coasting possible except on the downhill. So I was quite "warm" by the end of it, although it was certainly a fun ride.

The saddle height concerned me a bit. I'm only around 5'5" and I needed the seatpost fully extended to get something approaching a comfortable height. I could still do with an inch or so extra height, so I have ordered a standard seatpost from eBay and hope that will do the trick.
Garry
garryl
 
Posts: 4
Joined: Thu Sep 13, 2007 11:58 am
Location: Westbury, Wiltshire, UK


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