Not exactly "folding", but I post on this sub-forum the most and the bike breaks down for ease of travels / packing.
Its also a confluence of all that I have been trying to achieve / get from my quest for a bike that can handle road / trails during tours and rides fast on local weekend rides.
Is it an ideal bike and since I posted it here an ideal folding bike? - or course not. Just what I hope will fit needs within a certain window of criteria and trade offs.
I already have the Change Bike MTB setup as a gravel bike, it has been fine, but it does have 2 limitations.
1. It folds down to be rather wide. There's no escaping it, since its a full sized bike folded up. It gets a bit more narrow for packing if I remove both wheels.
2. At a more competitive level of riding (weekend warrior level only), it does suffer because of the heavier weight. Yes, its no problems if the pace is fast but steady, but once the roadies try their best to drop me, the weight and 1x makes it harder to accelerate and climb fast.
So I sat down and made an initial list on what I want as a "do it all" bike for my needs.
Use Case
1. Fast local rides - must be able to match my Tri bike performance in the group rides
2. For Credit card touring or light touring (using strap on bags )
3. Mostly road based touring with the ability to do light trails when its necessary (to get to a scenic spot )
Must have
1. Breakaway
2. Fit
3. Straight top tube with a more traditional bike look
4. Thin chainstays for compliance
5. Threaded BB
6. Try to be as light as possible with 8.5kg as a guideline weight (based on how well I like my Bike Friday which is about this weight)
7. 700c but takes at least 38mm 650b tires
Good to have
1. Straight 1 1/8" headtube to reduce weight and give compliance
2. Fender mount points
3. Rack mount points
4. Seatpost 27.2mm for softer ride
I engaged Waltly based on online reviews and this is what they gave me from my very vague "I want a gravel bike that fits me " request....
V1 of the Bike once I engaged Waltly (see how the design changes over time )
More on the engagement process with Waltly Titanium in a future post.......