Thread: Helix Update?
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Old 02-20-19, 08:28 AM
  #1713  
Raxel
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Originally Posted by kahuna100
Gonna disagree with you on the seat post design, that's a concession to a design feature that led to inadequate reach... there was a post on this exact concern not long ago.

The photos reveal a very prettily put together bike that has other design features that may have been fun to draw and conceive but that won't work in the real world. One photo shows the drive chain nearly right on top of a frame tube, that's gonna slap slap slap every bump. And those helical hinges (hard to drop that "cool" design decision when the name is "Helix") are dirt magnets. Imagine the fold after a wet ride and the sound that the grit is going to make as the hinges rotate together. Sure hope there's a way to open them up to clean/grease (and I wonder about the tolerances necessary to keep them tight after a couple hundred folds with sand in them. Last nitpick from a quick look is the circlip at the stem hinge, another engineering decision that will work, but there's better ways to finish off that shaft and hold it in place.

As a designer, it's easy to critique other's work, and there's no doubt a massive effort in that bicycle. But, and I'll reiterate it's just looking at the photos, the bicycle reeks of a lack of considered critique and some of its significant and foundational design features (helical fold) are not utile for the way that commuters/etc will use their bikes.
So the secret source was two splined shafts, that makes both the rear frame and lower fork move laterally when they fold.
And such a design is even harder to understand for me - they require a strong, MACHINED shafts with a tight tolerance.
If there is too little tolerance it won't fold; if there's too much tolerance, it will wobble. Making such a parts cost money... and Helix is made of titanium and made in Canada already.

Just imagine assembling such a complex bike. It will take many times longer than assembling a "normal" bike. And how much do they charge for tuneups in Canada?
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