Drop bars and the joys of fresh handlebar tape

For road cyclists, there are few tactile delights as quick to transform and rejuvenate your bike as freshly wrapped handlebar tape. After all, it is one of the three primary contact points you have on a bike, and it is also arguably the one through which you communicate the most with the road.

HAVE YOU GOT OPTIONS

Bar tape comes in many different forms. Traditionalists and the truly old-school swear by classic cotton tape, with a layer of grip-enhancing twine wound on top and finished off by a protective brushing of glossy shellac. Nowadays though, many bar tapes are made up of either cork or EVA foam (for shock absorption), leather, or various rubbery materials that become tacky when wet. Some people even use butyl inner tubes as bar tape.

Common to all of them is that they will wear out with use, becoming knackered and tattered with time, so they do need to be replaced every now and then. (This is especially true for white bar tape!) It is usual practice to change bar tape at the same time you replace your brake and shift cables and cable housings, since these are hidden under the bar tape.

Selle Italia Smootape bar tape in white

Mine is the “Granfondo” variant

“Smootape” is so named due to how it supposedly avoids the lumps that form on wrapping and overlapping of the tape on itself

FRESH CABLES, FRESH BAR TAPE

It just so happens that I recently sent my Giant TCX SLR 2 to LifeCycle for brake cable replacement, a maintenance job I don’t yet have the tools for. While I was there, I bought fresh bar tape for me to install at home. It is a simple enough job, requiring only a pair of scissors and some electrical tape.

The finishing strips in this case are basically long stickers, not electrical tape

The box of bar tape itself usually includes everything else that you’ll need:

• Two rolls of handlebar tape (obviously)
• Two extra strips of handlebar tape
• Bar end plugs
• Finishing strips – these can either be tape or stickers

WRAP THAT BAR!

Now, there are a great many ways of wrapping bar tape, and each one has its fans. The method I’ll share today is just one of them, and notably it doesn’t make use of the two extra strips of bar tape that come in the box. These are normally used to cover up the clamp band on the brifters. As a general idea, I will be wrapping the tape from the outside in, then transitioning from back to front as I move to the bar tops.

We begin by first folding back the brifters’ brake hoods and stripping the old bar tape off the handlebars. Doing this exposes the cables and cable housings; make sure that they are securely fastened to the handlebar with electrical tape. The old bar tape may leave some adhesive residue on the bar itself; you can clean this off with some alcohol.

My bars with the old bar tape

Brake hoods pulled back

Undoing the electrical tape at the end

Unraveling from the bar tops

As more of the old tape unravels the brifter clamp band gets exposed

Old tape off

Bare aluminum alloy handlebar

A quick inspection of the engraved markings shows that this drop bar is made by Satori for Giant as an OE item. Width is 400mm.

I start wrapping at the bottom edge of the very end of the drops. Place the tape so that half of it is on the bar, and half of it hangs in the air. Then, wrap one full turn around this initial bit of tape, toward the outside in, while pulling and keeping tension on the tape. Keeping this tension is important; this is primarily what keeps the bar tape wound around the handlebars, with the underside adhesive performing only a secondary role.

The underside of the bar tape has either conventional adhesive or a tacky rubbery layer; this is an example of the latter and it’s usually better if you want to reuse or re-wrap the bar tape

Beginning the wrap

The initial full turn of half-overhanging bar tape

Wrapping at an angle or bias upward from the end of the bar

IMPORTANT: Keep tension applied on the tape as you wrap

After this initial turn, I start to wrap diagonally along the drops, going up toward the brifter, while overlapping some of the tape upon itself. You can use the adhesive strip on the underside of the bar tape as a sort of guide to determine how much overlap you want. The amount of overlap will tend to vary as you go along, especially around curved portions of the bar, where you want smaller overlap on the inside curves. Remember to keep that tape under tension!

With half the bar tape’s width remaining from the brifter clamp band it’s time to think about the figure-eight

Approaching half the width of the tape to the clamp band of the brifters is when we perform the figure-eight bend that will cover up this area in lieu of the two bar tape strips. The trick to this method is to look at the brifter from the side as a fixed point of reference.

1. First, feed the tape along the underside.
2. Then pull the tape upward, wrapping once around the same plane as the brifter hoods.
3. As you pull the tape downward, wrap it once around the back underside of the brifter lever, then wrap around the front. This is your chance to cover up any exposed clamp band or bar.
4. Wrap once around the same plane as the brifter hoods again, as in #2. This is also the final chance to cover up any exposed clamp band or bar.
5. If you did the figure-eight bend correctly, after clearing and wrapping the bar tape around the brifters, you should now be continuing your wrap from back to front.
6. Remember to keep that tape under tension!

To begin the figure-eight, wrap behind the bar to cover the clamp band, then go over the brifter hood body

Next, go back under the bar to cover the brifter clamp band a second time, then wind the tape forward to cover the bare bar underneath the brake levers

Finally, wind the tape to the back again and pull upward on the outside to continue the wrap and finish the figure-eight. Done correctly, this should mean you are now wrapping back to front

For the bendy bits of the bar, tighten the overlap on the inside of the curves, but maintain enough overlap on the outside to keep the bar covered up

After varying the overlap for any remaining bends, you should be thinking about how to finish off the bar tape wrap as you approach the stem. You do this by scribing or lightly scoring the bar tape with your scissors at an angle, so that the end of the wrapped tape lines up straight. Once satisfied, you can cut the excess tape off. Remember to keep that tape under tension!

Scoring the final bit of bar tape in preparation for the cut – do this at an angle and it should leave you with a straight finish

At this point you should have your roll of electrical tape ready. Wrap the final bit of bar tape, then stick the electrical tape directly on top of it, some way behind the very end of the bar tape. Do not stick the electrical tape to the bar itself as this just makes the finish sloppy and the adhesion uneven. The electrical tape is nowhere near as elastic as the bar tape, so ideally it should be put under just a little tension, relying mainly on the adhesive to keep it in place – wrapped around itself. Wrap the roll of electrical tape around the bar tape three or four times, then cut so that it terminates on the underside of the bar, making it invisible.

Terminating the bar tape

Stick your electrical tape a short distance before the bar tape terminates, then start wrapping

Three or four turns of electrical tape should suffice. Cut the tape so that it terminates on the underside of the bar

Finally, to finish the job, roll back the brake hoods and return to the drops and the start point of the bar tape wrap. Fold the hanging bits of bar tape into the hollow of the bar. As you keep the bar tape inside the drop bar, take your bar end plug and push it in to anchor the bar tape in place.

Fold the hoods back over the brifters to ensure no amount of bar is left bare

Return to where you started to finish off the wrap job

Push all the overhanging bar tape inside the bar

Finally, take your bar end plug and push it into the bar to anchor and tidy up the excess bar tape

You should now have a bike that feels significantly newer and fresher – just from swapping out bar tape!

 

Review: Axiom Streamliner Disc DLX rear rack + Cat Eye Reflex Auto (TL-LD570R) safety light

When I got the TCX SLR 2, I stated it doesn’t need upgrades other than a set of fenders and a rear rack. Unfortunately, these two items are very hard to find locally. Whenever people talk about racks for bikes, 95% of the time they refer to contraptions to hang them on a  vehicle. Seldom do they think of an apparatus to help a rider carry his/her loads.

CAST YOUR BURDENS UPON THE BIKE

One reason why bike touring enthusiasts are able to pedal very long distances is because they let their bikes do their load lugging for them. Freeing the body from all burdens other than pedaling increases  long-term endurance and comfort. This also benefits handling, as the center of gravity is much lower with a rack and panniers compared to carrying your load on a backpack. To do this, they invest in bike frames that accept the installation of racks – usually at the rear, but sometimes even at the front as well. This is usually done via threaded holes, called “eyelets,” found somewhere on the rear triangle. For rugged touring bike framesets that can carry a front rack, the fork legs will also sport eyelets.

With the right frame as the basis, the next step is to look for suitable racks to hang your panniers from.

Bicycles with disc brakes pose a peculiar dilemma when installing a rear rack. Most rear racks have a lower mount meant to mate with  frame eyelets close to the dropout area. If the disc brake caliper is mounted on the seatstay, outside the rear triangle, mounting a rear rack becomes a more complicated affair as the rack’s lower mount has to clear the caliper somehow. To address this, rack makers have released products that are specifically meant to mount on frames that use disc brakes.

The TCX SLR 2 mounts its TRP Spyre disc brake calipers on the chainstay, inside the rear triangle. To the right is the “hidden” eyelet.

Many newer disc-brake road bikes mount their brake calipers inside the rear triangle, on the chainstay. This improves compatibility with rear racks and reduces the fuss of installation. The TCX SLR 2 is one of these bikes; in fact, this was one of my main criteria in selecting it.

After reading a few reviews, I decided on the Axiom Streamliner Disc DLX rear rack. This is a 700g aluminum unit painted in matte black, rated for a maximum load of 50 kg (~110 lb). Unique to the Streamliner series are curved lower mount feet, which set the legs backward to increase heel clearance from pedal to pannier while pedaling. Incidentally, this feature also helps clearance from a seatstay-mounted disc brake caliper. The upper mount arms are also length-adjustable. Lastly, Axiom makes a big deal of how the Streamliner racks are more aerodynamic, with sides that taper toward the top, in an effort to bring the mounted panniers closer to the center line of the bike and reduce the frontal area. However, this tapering isn’t so noticeable on the Disc version.

INSTALLATION

Unlike the fiddly installation of the fenders, installing the rack was mostly hassle-free and straightforward. By comparison, the TCX SLR 2 is much better equipped to accept a rear rack. Both can share the same pair of eyelets down by the rear dropouts. All you will need are slightly longer bolts to ensure at least three turns’ worth of screw thread is left exposed through the eyelets, and washers to ensure the exposed bolt ends do not interfere with the chain in the smallest cog.

Seatpost removed from the TCX SLR 2. The round plate is the seatpost clamp plate and below it are the two original-length bolts. For mounting a rack, set aside these bolts and use the longer ones below the block adapter and cylindrical washers.

A close-up of the block adapter, seatpost clamping plate, and the two sets of bolts. Regardless of rack, the max torque for these is 6Nm to avoid damaging the seatpost.

To mount the rack’s upper arms, Giant bundles a block adapter, cylindrical washers, and longer hex bolts for the seatpost clamp plate within the TCX SLR 2’s build kit. You remove the normal hex bolts on the seatpost clamp plate, then thread the longer bolts though the block adapter, cylindrical washers and seatpost clamp plate as you torque them into the bike’s top tube. The block adapter will provide the mount points for the rack’s upper arms. This is a neat solution, and you could easily run the bike with its rack removed, but the adapter block left attached.

Rack mount adapter installed. Note the eyelets on the sides. Those are where the upper mounts of the rack will bolt into.

Upper arms mounted to the bike. They telescope by loosening the side bolts on the left.

Drive-side eyelet shared by the rack and rear fender.

Non-drive-side eyelet shared by the rack and rear fender. No problems with the disc brake caliper mounting here.

Rear rack install complete

My Vincita B050WP-A panniers mounted midway on the length of the rack. So far I have had no heel strike issues while riding with panniers.

At last: My TCX SLR 2 in full commute trim!

Axiom’s build kit is comprehensive, coming with all the bolts and hardware you’ll need. I do question, though, the use of fragile 3mm hex bolts on the upper mounts, and needing 4mm and 5mm wrenches to adjust the telescoping length. I feel they would have been better off with using 4mm for everything, but it is what it is, I guess. The mounting is as simple as can be; I went into the install blind and the process went very smoothly. In operation, the Streamliner does its job without fuss, although daily use of the rack and any panniers you mount does scuff and scrape the matte black paint away, exposing the shiny aluminum underneath. That’s to be expected, as the pannier hooks will leave their mark. All things considered, the Canadian outfit deserves a medal.

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE

Like most other racks, the Streamliner unit has a mount plate for a rear safety light. I decided to mount a Cat Eye Reflex Auto TL-LD570R unit back there, which is both a standalone reflector and an automatically activated rear safety light. When the switch is set to its “active” mode, it turns on automatically by input from a light sensor and a motion sensor, and will turn itself off after thirty seconds of inactivity. This is a great idea, as with a simple modification, you could ride knowing that you always have a rear light working to keep you seen by other road users.

The Axiom rack’s mount plate for a safety light. In the foreground is Cat Eye’s rack mount bracket. Not seen here is a theft-deterrent measure: the bracket has a screw and washer designed to lock the Reflex Auto into place.

Cut off the two plastic loops as these will be used for the mounting of the bracket to the rack with supplied screws.

The Reflex Auto light mounted to the rack.

The only modification I needed is to disable the light sensor, by covering it with some electrical tape while the light body is open. This “blinds” the light sensor, and effectively turns the safety light on with only a shake or movement of the bike.

As a safety light, the Reflex Auto isn’t too shabby either. It offers five different modes:

• random strobe 1
• random strobe 2
• pulse glow
• regular flash strobe
• steady glow

The rear of the rack with the Reflex Auto tail light mounted. Axiom’s advertised upwards “taper” of the Streamliner racks isn’t very obvious on the Disc version – which is no big deal.

Of all the modes I make use of the pulse and steady glow ones the most. I have two other safety lights so I relegate those for flashing purposes. This functionality is helped by the sheer size of the light unit; you effectively have a palm-sized red rectangle on your bike when it’s on, visibility is good even on the sides, and it doesn’t have to resort to obnoxiously bright LEDs to get you noticed by other road users. A sexy tail light it ain’t, but it’s one of the better-thought -out ones.

With this, my Giant TCX SLR 2 “all-weather commuter bike” project is mostly complete. I can think of only a few things left to change out or “upgrade” on the bike, and those are for comfort or maintenance/maintainability purposes.

“Phoenix” Peerless Firebird

Meet phoenix, a dream bike no more, acquired by trading up my atomic bike to a lightstorm and finally trading it plus cash for a peerless firebird, 3 – 4 months ago. Replaced a few parts from the build of the previous owner. bike to work bike everyday.

• peerless firebird frame
• peerless folding stem
• lightwing sparco wheelset
• schwalbe durano tires
• litepro headset
• litepro seatpost
• litepro spirit handlebar
• litepro stem extension
• litepro 56t crank
• tange chrome bottom bracket
• titan pedals
• tangent fenders
• xposure brake levers
• shimano deore v-brakes
• titan spyder saddle
• t-one silicone grips
• sram x7 rd
• sram x4 shifter
• 8 speed chain
• 8 speed sprocket 11-32

 

 

TypeVertigo’s 2013 Dahon Vitesse: From D7 to T10

Pre-release inspection of my Dahon Vitesse D7 at Glorious Ride.

I picked up my Dahon Vitesse D7 from Glorious Ride Bike Shop in Quezon City back in June 2013. I dubbed it my “modern-day Motocompo,” taking inspiration from the little folding motorbike that partnered the signature Honda Today patrol car of the anime “Taiho Shichauzo!” or “You’re Under Arrest!” I figured the homage was appropriate, as my own car is a 2005 Honda Jazz – a larger descendant of the 1980s-vintage Today hatchback.

The characters and vehicles of “You’re Under Arrest!” / “Taiho Shichauzo!” On top is the heavily modified patrol-use Honda Today G kei-car, and at the bottom is its partner folding motorcycle, the Honda Motocompo.

Modern-day Motocompo: The Vitesse folded up inside my Jazz. Notice that it fits even without any folding of the seats.

Pretty soon I was outfitting the Vitesse as a commuter bicycle. On went lights, a saddle bag, tools and a bottle cage. The farthest I want toward this direction was the fitment of panniers.

Outfitted with Vincita’s B050WP-A small waterproof panniers. This model is now out of production, but the Thai firm still makes its larger B060WP-A cousin.

After riding the Vitesse for a while and gaining strength as a rider, I slowly took notice of things that could be improved, especially with regard to ability off flat terrain and city limits. The stock 14-28T gearing had even two-tooth jumps between most cogs and was fine for the commute, but even with more muscle in my legs it lacked the gearing for climbs. I took my time and made some missteps, but ultimately decided on upgrading the bicycle using purely road bike parts to avoid problems with mismatched cable pull. The bike’s drivetrain proved more challenging to upgrade than expected because it had a 7-speed freewheel as a starting point, instead of the cassette and freehub system found on 8-/9-/10-speed bikes.

Custom wheelset by Tryon. Red LitePro hubs are laced with black Newson Sportec spokes and nipples to silver Newson Sportec rims. I had the rims drilled for Schrader (automotive) valves.

Test-fitting the Tiagra 12-30T 10-speed cassette to the rear wheel’s freehub. Gearing is 12-13-14-15-17-19-21-24-27-30T.

The Tiagra RD-4600-GS rear derailleur. A medium-cage design.

Tiagra SL-4600 + SL-4603 3×10 flat handlebar shifters.

After seven months with the stock parts and time spent slowly collecting the parts, I pushed through with the upgrade and had Rene of Tryon install them.

Technically, it’s a misnomer to call my bike a “D7” as it now has 10 gears. Under Dahon and Tern’s naming scheme, my bike doesn’t quite fit into the stripped-down C- and D- trims, but is in no way a premium P-, S- or X- specification machine.

So…I’ve decided to call my bike a “Dahon Vitesse T10” going forward. “T” is an unused letter in the Dahon/Tern spec nomenclature, and it’s a quiet reference to the parts used from Shimano’s Tiagra groupset, as well as its use for touring.

Rear gearing and wheelset upgrade completed.

The Tiagra rear derailleur installed.

The rear derailleur at full extension on the 30T cog. Clearance of the cage from both the ground and the tire is pretty slim, but I figure it shouldn’t be a problem.

For comparison, this is my stock rear derailleur, a Shimano Tourney RD-FT30 unit. This is a short-cage model and there is around 6 cm clearance from the ground.

As of this writing I’ve had only a few rides on the Vitesse T10, and I’m still getting used to the finer jumps between cogs on the cassette, as well as the mechanics of the shifter itself. I miss the grip shifter’s single-bound leap to the largest cog when coming to a stop at a red light. Shift quality is now undoubtedly better, crisper and snappier, though, and the LitePro hubs have better power transmission properties, with less of a dead spot while cranking away at the pedals.

Thanks for viewing!

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2013 DAHON VITESSE T10 SPECIFICATIONS

FRAME

• Dahon KA-series 6061 aluminum alloy frame, TIG-welded, double-butted drawn tubing; ViseGrip main frame hinge
• Chromoly steel fork; Dahon/Tern Q-Lock telescopic handlepost

DRIVETRAIN

• Shimano 105 CN-5701 10-speed chain
• Shimano Tiagra RD-4600-GS medium-cage rear derailleur
• Shimano Tiagra CS-4600 10-speed cassette sprocket, 12-30T
• Shimano Tiagra SL-4600 10-speed trigger shifter
• Stock Dahon 52T chainwheel
• Stock Dahon 170mm crank arms
• Brakco shifter cable housing

ROLLING STOCK

• Custom 20″ (406mm ETRTO) wheelset by Tryon
  • LitePro 74mm F/130mm R splined hubs (anodized red)
  • LitePro quick-release skewers, external cam (anodized red)
  • Newson Sportec 406-P24 double-wall rims (silver)
  • Newson Sportec spokes and nipples (black)
• Schwalbe AV6 inner tubes
• Schwalbe Marathon Racer tires, 20″x1.5″ (ETRTO 40-406)

BRAKES

• Stock ProMax V-brake arms
• Stock ProMax V-brake levers
• Clarks 70mm V-brake brake pads

COCKPIT

• Stock Dahon saddle
• Stock Dahon 33.9mm x 580mm 6061 aluminum alloy seatpost
• Stock Dahon 25.4mm x 580mm 6061 aluminum alloy flat handlebar
• Stock Biologic grips (to be replaced by Ergon GP3-S bar-end grips)
• Dimension bell + spirit compass
• Lezyne Power Cage aluminum bottle cage (white)
• Cat Eye Commuter CC-COM10W cyclocomputer
• SR Suntour metal-body folding pedals

LIGHTING

• Cat Eye Nano Shot HL-EL620RC front light
• Cat Eye Omni 5 TL-LD155R safety light
• Cat Eye TL-LD170R safety light

OTHER

• Stock Biologic Arclite rear rack
• Vincita B050WP-A small waterproof single panniers
• Deuter Bike Bag II saddle bag

The MIT V8

First, some introductory notes.  I started biking as a kid using what is now called “play bikes”.  Then in college, took up biking more seriously as a roadie but stopped when work got in the way.   Took it up again several years ago as a MTB rider and last year joined the folding bike “fad”.

My first folding bike was a Tern Link C-7 which I upgraded until literally only the frame and fork remained stock.  Several acquisitions followed, the most notable of which was a “surplus” brompton.  These were the two folding bikes which I used frequently because of different reasons.  I liked the capability of the tern to be upgraded to a 20 speed bicycle, but i also liked the portability and compact fold of the brompton.  If only there was a way to marry both– that would be perfect for my needs.

Enter the MIT or what used to be called the Flamingo.  Early write-ups said that it possessed the brompton fold, with capability of installing a front derailleur (FD) and rear derailleur (RD) as well as quick release hubs.   Needless to say,  I awaited the availability of the MIT from the local distributor DNC with bated breath.  When it arrived, I got one the second day it was available making me one of the first to adopt this bike. I was so excited about finally getting it that straight out of the box I installed some of the parts from my tern link and brompton resulting in this mutant of a v8. maybe it should be called a MIT v20–

first to go was the mickey mouse handlebar. i got the straight bar from my tern, and even installed the stem extender to make the bar higher (and just because i wanted to use it ) installed cheap orange sapience foam grip for picture taking purposes. i took the trigger shifters from the tern and replaced the sram grip shift (which i never liked) the funky taiwanese silver brake levers were replaced with more dignified looking shimano brake levers

the mit frame has a mount for the brompton style carrier block but alas, if you install the brompton block it will hit the stock front brake. Btw, it boggles the mind why the mit designers used a caliper style brake in the front and vbrakes in the back, especially when i was told the older flamingo had v brakes installed at the back of the fork. this would have been a better implementation. anyway to be able to install a carrier block to the frame, i also installed a brompton brake on the fork. at the back i installed the XT vbrake from my tern.

i also installed the drivetrain from the tern which is made up of the ounce 56/46 crank with outboard BB, sora FD and zee RD. at first, i expected to have to use the litepro hubs from the tern but surpisingly the stock 8 speed hub of the MIT accomodated the 11-32 SLX hub i was using. joy all around. the stock MIT had an “extender” added to the SRAM RD which serves as a chain tensioner. i noticed that on the stock SRAM RD it was positioned at 90 degrees angle in relation to the RD arm. so i just installed it the way it was on the Zee RD and encountered no problems whatsoever.

BTW the MIT has chosen hubs as stock. very nice. changed the silver spokes and nipples to black ones though.

at first i stripped it down because i wanted easy access to the brakes and drivetrain while i was testing it. climbed and descended on my usual haunts in east rizal for the  first three days.  the bike was a headturner and people couldnt help themselves from approaching me and asking how much the bike was (its not for sale). people from across the street in the climb up to antipolo kept shouting “ang ganda ng bike mo sir!” well with hinge locks like this it really is stunning

of course, for folding bikes, the brooks saddle is mandatory!

none of the parts i installed interfered with the awesome fold.

testing done and no problems, i reinstalled the rack and fenders. initially i installed the brompton ez wheels on the frame and rack but i didnt like the way they rolled so i installed those skate wheels from kids skates. couldnt find any orange ones so had to make do with  blue. if you notice i also installed the clipless eggbeater pedals i love.

the old and the new–

a few hundred kilometers and several months later, i have the following impressions:

1.  the plastic washer/bolt assembly that holds the suspension block to the frame is a piece of useless crap that will easily break. better replace it with a metal washer/nut combo. this upgared part, sadly is not available from the distributor but is easily DIYed.

2. the lock which holds the suspension block and rear triangle is quite ugly and cumbersome, when i have the time i will try to find a way to retrofit the much better designed brompton lock.

3. the chain retention device that bolts on to the RD is prevented from moving too far into the bike by a headless screw that protrudes into the open space of the RD arm. pretty flimsy if you ask me as that part is subject to a considerable amount of stress. after several climbs up the rizal area, as expected i lost (probably broke off) that headless screw. but as all bikers know, the do-it-all cable tie is your best friend. i just threaded a cable tie through the hole that used to hold the screw and viola it works even better than before.

4. though the sram RD is a fine piece of eqpt. you gotta swap it out for a short cage RD. I cannot over-emphasize that the best RD for the job is the 11-36 cog capable AM Zee  RTD (or if youve got good legs the DH version zee) shifting is a joy.

5. for my body size, swapping a straight bar even with the stem extender puts me in too much of an aggressive position. i put back the M bar.

i think ive got enough hours on this bike to say that its got all the attributes i am looking for.

its got the compact fold i love in the brompton.
its very easy to take out the back wheel, an area in which the brompton fails.
its not too heavy (though not too light either with fenders and rack installed)
its easy to carry, which i love in the brompton.
its easy to push like a trolley, which i love in the brompton.
its got the capability of going dual crank that i love in my tern.
its got the versality to swap out parts and upgrade that i love in my tern.
its not too prohibitively expensive, that i love in my tern.

in short, its got all the good qualities i love in my tern and love in my brompton but not much of the bad qualities of either.

is it a surprise that i have already sold both my tern and  my brompton?

Animo! Zippy!

Animo! Zippy!  an Anemos Zippy bike project by Dan Taytay
Re-posted from http://www.pinoymtbiker.org/forum/showthread.php?p=643788#post643788

After acquiring a Tern folding bike, i bought several others mostly ones with interesting folds.

I was intrigued by the Anemos Zippy but didnt rush out to buy one, mainly because I was skeptical of the folding fork. Still the unique fold of the Anemos lingered in my mind. Recently someone (i think hes the distributor of peerless bikes) sold his Zippy frame fork stem and crank. It was a perfect offer because i could build it up cheaply with available parts. if i didnt like it, i could easliy sell it without getting too big a hit.

After logging a few hundred kilometers in east rizal, however i realized that the folding fork is no cause for concern. The zippy is a keeper and so is worthy of better parts. Thus the fun began…

Started with decent hubs. The fork of the zippy accepts road/mtb hubs and it was a challenge to get hubs with the same holes as the newson rims. eventually i found a pair in the perfect color.

laced them to newson rims with cst tires with yellow trim.

I didnt like the feel of the hard plastic rollers, so i replaced them with the rubber wheels from a kid’s shoe-skate. replaced the seatpost clamp with red GUB ones, just for accent. of course you gotta have that VW emblem…

during the cheap build, i opted to retain the stock single crank. had a lot of dropped chain instances. so decided to go dual, since there is a built in FD hanger on the frame. my tern already has the ounce 56-46 crank, so i decided to install a shimano 105 crank in this one, just to be able to compare the ride.

the drive train is controlled by shimano flat bar road trigger shifters, just like the ones used in the tern verge p18…very smooth…

the intriguing folding fork…

animo! zippy!