vmaniqui

darn. then i need to get my act together. thanks subigo...

monsterpile

What is keeping you on the fence? I am having a hard time not buying one of these and I already have one of the prototypes.

punkgeek

I got mine. Looks great - no bad welds. Upgrades on the way - riding it stock to work tomorrow.

rwhite2

I was hoping the seat post would have been 27.2 too. Well, I guess there are always these things: https://www.universalcycles.com/shopp...s.php?id=27081

Dynocoaster 

Still waiting for mine to be delivered and it is 6:17 pm. I called UPS and they said it is on the way.

james_swift

Got mine!

In stock form:




Saddle and pedal upgrades (more on the way):







I lined-up the rear axles on my Nano and Swift for comparison:



Unboxing pics here: https://s124.photobucket.com/albums/p...ercier%20Nano/

monsterpile

Thanks for all those pics. I like the matching upgrades. I am no expert and normally I don't consider myself picky, but some of those welds look pretty sloppy. If it was my first mini velo I wouldn't care, but seeing those pics convinced me to wait and see what else BD comes up with and I will stick with my Windsor Shetland for now. I look forward to seeing what all people do to upgrade these. Hopefully I don't get too many ideas. =)

subigo

I agree with monsterpile... I guess it wasn't just me (though your fork is good enough to use). My frame welds are fine, but I think all of the forks are probably going to be sloppy as hell... I haven't even seen welds that bad on Wal-Mart bikes...

james_swift

The fork on my bike looks like someone just threw globs of molten metal at it and walked away. It goes without saying that the components are crap, but I doubt that any of us who purchased one was expecting anything more for $270.

What I am impressed with this bike is how it rides. It feels like a traditional road bike, and nothing at all like my Swift folding bike. The only problem I have with the geometry is the 70 deg seat tube. For people like me who don't have femurs like Greg Lemond, I almost need to jam the seat all the way forward in its rails in order to get my knee position just to where it dissects the center of the pedal spindle. I'll be swapping the 170mm cranks for 165mm arms next week which should allow me to push the saddle back a tad bit.

The bike is heavy. I'll see how much of that weight is due to components once I've converted the bike to single speed. (I've been riding fixed-gear for over 5 years now and haven't been on a bike that shifts, let alone one that coasts ever since...until today. It was really weird. I'll need to get used to it.)

Otherwise, it's a decent bike and certainly unique. I'm sure I'll get a few odd looks while on my commute to work tomorrow.

So that's it. The next time you see my bike, it will have new cranks, a shiny new single-speed drivetrain, new brake levers and brake pads, new stem, and new tires.

monsterpile

The fork on my bike looks like someone just threw globs of molten metal at it and walked away.

I LOL because its totally true.

I remember being surprised at how normal the ride of my Shetland was too. I found I loved the dropbar setup (it made me a believer) and I found that I really liked the laid back geometry. I know the components aren't great, but I was expecting worse when I got mine. The prototypes I think have mostly the same level of things hanging on the frame except we got a Tiagra rear derailer. Oh and my dust caps have stayed on. =P In short no bike has altered the way I look at bikes as much as my mini velo since I started riding things that didn't come from a department store. Its just a great fun little bike.

james_swift

First ride report:

I have to start out by saying that the bike is an absolute blast to ride. I took it out for my usual morning commute through downtown San Francisco, and it didn't take long for me to completely forget that I was riding a mini-velo. It felt like a traditional steel road bike that was slightly on the large size for me (I usually ride a 52CM).

I gotta talk about the ride quality. It was solid, but amazingly smooth. I don't know if it's the extra long head tube and seat stays, but the frame feels incredibly compliant. I took the bike over some nasty potholes, broken-up patches of concrete, and several rail car crossings - stuff I always need to be vigilant to avoid on my aluminum Swift folding bike. The Nano just seemed to happily swallow up all the shock and vibration and just keep rolling. (Worth noting is that I replaced the stock plush saddle with a sparsely padded ass-hatchet of a saddle, and inflated the tires 5 psi over max.) Another plus with this bike is the weight distribution over the front and back tires: it just feels spot-on. The handling is quick, but not twitchy at all like I had anticipated. When I'm on my Swift, most of the weight is to the back and I feel I need to make a conscious effort to constantly weight the front wheel, especially in wet weather.

On to the complaints:

1.) The brake levers are crap.
2.) The brakes and brake pads are crap.
3.) The crank looks like it was finished with a Brillo pad.
4.) The shift lever braze-ons on my bike appear crooked.
5.) The stem looks chunky.
6.) The clamping mechanism on the seatpost is worse than anything I've ever seen.

Bear in mind that these are all superficial flaws that can be easily remedied with more cash. I am however, slightly worried about the quality of my fork. As I mentioned previously, the welds don't exactly inspire confidence. Overall, I have to say that I am very pleased with the bike and am looking forward to showing up at this month's Critical Mass with it.

rdp36

What pedals and straps are those? I just ordered my black nano yesterday. Arrives in Seattle next Monday. Thanks!

james_swift

Shadow Conspiracy Ravager BMX platform pedals: https://www.danscomp.com/465231.php?cat=PARTS

Tramp Straps: https://trampstraps.bigcartel.com/

vmaniqui

it's just that i have too much bikes on my hands right now and another purchase might seem extravagant, although price is really so tempting and judging from the riders reveiws here, seems like a best bang for your buck...

vmaniqui

man.. you guys are not really making it easy on me. i am expecting someone to say - not worth it. but all reviews are positive. do i hit the buy button now ????

Dynocoaster 

Go for it Vic, if you dont like it you can sell it fast in your area. How many times does a Mini Velo come up for sale? Look at the price of the Soma and you can buy four of these. or one and have a little fun with it.

james_swift

Yes!!!

james_swift

I got an immediate email response from Matt at Bikesdirect regarding the state of my fork:

I have a feeling that once they rack-up enough of these complaints, they'll start shipping out new forks to everyone who bought a Nano. You know...to prevent a class-action.

NormanF

If the fork is a concern... a BMX fork will work or a 700C road fork cut down to size.

I can say I'm happy with my Big Shot Mini Polo. I've sunk cash into upgrading the wheels, tires, stem, handlebar, brakes and saddle so its like a new bike.

The ride is amazing... once you ride a mini velo, you'll never want to ride a folder again!

monsterpile

I agree you should go for it. When I bought the Shetland it was $240. Thats alot of money for me because I am a cheap and only buy used bikes. It was totally an extravagent purchase in my mind. Now its my favorite bike and one of the best cycling purchases I ever made. Like others have said I don't think you would have a hard time finding a new owner if you found you didn't like it unless you live in the middle of nowhere. This Nano can take wider tires so it more versatile than my Shetland. I ended up selling at least one bike that pretty much paid for the purchase of this bike.

I am not a frame builder and I basically know nothing about actually building frames or forks and i haven't welded in more than 10 years, but it looks to me like they cut the steer tube off to short (compared to my bikes) and that made the problem much worse. I don't know if that fork is unsafe, but its clearly not the level of quality they were going for on their bikes. The 3 bikes from BD I have owned seemed like pretty good quality for the price to me. I still wouldn't hesitate to order one tomorrow if I actually had a need or reasonable justification for one.

rcnute

Here's mine. I didn't have much time to ride it before I got a flat, but I like it okay. Nothing too special. It's pretty stiff and it looks like they used the same diameter tubes for the top, down, seat and head tubes.

Dynocoaster 

I had to go and pick mine up from UPS this evening at 7:45 but got it home in time to put it together. Nice acceleration, I need to adjust the front derailleur. I adjusted the brakes and the brakes seem fine to me. typical fork problem. I put my Cardiff and MKS pedals on. I like it and glad I waited for it.

james_swift

Nano owners: please do yourselves a favor and replace the stock rim strip. I flatted on my ride home twice this evening due to rim spoke hole punctures. The culprit is this cheap rubber rim strip that shifted, exposing the spoke holes:



Again, unless you enjoy pushing your bike home, I urge you to get rid of that crap and install a proper cloth tape rim strip,Velox or equivalent, in 17mm width:



Another warning: the stock Kenda Kwest tires are an absolute ***** to unmount. I broke my tire lever trying to get the tire off. It turned out that this particular Kwest tire is not like the Kwests that came with my Dahon and my Swift. The tires that came with the Nano are made of a much softer rubber compound, and the wire bead is wrapped in that same soft rubber that clings like hell to the rim. Look at this pic (the mounted tire came with my Swift, the unmounted tire came with my Nano):

rcnute

Funny--I was about six miles from home and naturally left the tool bag on the bike I'd ridden to work in the morning, so it was a hike/bus home for me. I thought it was awfully coincidental to get a flat so quickly...

Kabir

Looks like it is the same Kenda Kwest stock tire on my Downtube. Yes, it is very hard to unmount. I got a pack of metal tire levers just because of that.