M-323

exarkuhn15

https://www.oredon.com/content/en/produits.php?id=26

this IS the best yet!

a quick release would also be great but I have not seen a generic QR for handlebars - only the custom ones for GoBike etc.

I had several folding bikes over the years but I found that, for communing or general purpose, you need a standard frame, with like 700series wheels (IMO).

I have been removing the front wheel with a "Clicks Quick Release" in order to be able to turn the handlebars. my bike lives beside my car in te garage, so thats all I need it to be able to turn the handlebars -- even transporting several bikes on the rack - turning the handlebars would really be great!

I dont know that we need a lock like the FreeLock product but if that's all that is available right now, so be it.

ALso want to make sure that this is a good product. I mean if you are neck and neck with a car, going downhill at 60k, the last thing you want to see is the quick release handlebar coming loose. That would really ruin your day.

"Yu picked a fine time to leave me loose wheel"

exarkuhn15

I've never seen one in person, so I can't speak to quality. I'm not sure if these are actually available in the states. They should be though!

I find myself always wanting a folding bike, but I know that if I had one, I would probably rarely fold it in half, since usually just turning the bars 90 degrees would make the bike take up very little space. A bike that was long but thin (like a bike with the bars 90 degrees from the normal position) would probably be easier to store for many people than a bike that folds in half so that it's not long like a full bike, but still fairly wide.

genec

Well it looks clever, but in fact these are not folding, but adjustable. Once set, you leave them alone.

There are a series of screws that have to be fiddled with to get the adjustments set.

So they are more of a custom setup than a folding set up.

See the PDF at the website to see what I mean.

Schwinnsta

The Raleigh 20 has what the original poster wants. It has a quick release which allows the stem to turn or to be moved up and down. A wire loop around the caliper brake bolt prevents the stem from being removed and limits the top height to a safe position. The bike is a folder but the ride is like that of a conventional bike due to a stiff steel frame. It has been out of production for a couple of decades.

chucky

You're right he is overthinking it. On the folding bike I have with the QR threaded stem I can fold the whole bike in 15 seconds including the stem. You really don't need any sort of stops, but if it bothers anyone then rubber band a couple dowels to the head tube to catch the horizontal part of the stem.

Then you are the perfect candidate for most folding bikes because except for the really small ones most folding bikes are still rather huge when they fold and, therefore, only really appropriate for people who rarely fold them. IMO the best way to view most folding bikes is that they give you options. I hardly ever fold the frame of my 20" wheeled folding bike (and I hardly ever turn or fold the bars either), but I still prefer to ride it because the compromise is small enough that it's worth having these options just in case.

IMO the problem with the folding bike market is that most customers are completely wrong in estimating the level of compromise for any given bike. They look at typical models and think "that is probably 50% as good as a real bike, but is also 50% more convenient" when in fact it's 95% as good and only 5% more convenient. So the customers looking for 50% more convenience get disappointed when they buy bikes which are only 5% more convenient, the customers looking for 5% more convenience don't buy them at all, and folding bikes get a bad rap.

This also sounds like a QR on a regular threaded stem.

A QR bolt is a very simple object. So even if you can't find one of appropriate dimensions, it shouldn't be that hard to make one.

Abneycat

Not all folding bikes are a compromise, by any means.

When you have companies like Bike Friday out there offering custom, high end folding bicycles with all out components and excellent engineering, a good folder like that can make a lot of normal bikes seem like a compromise.

Personally, my Pocket Llama rides better than my Rocky Mountain Hammer, and better than many, many others i've tried and / or owned.

There are lots of other great, high end folders out there, ones that can give their bigger equivalents real scares.

My personal solution for fitting the Llama in a thin closet was simply thinner bars. But those Oredon security stems look like a theoretically great solution, it'd be nice to see something on them in here.

chucky

It's also been completed several times by various individuals on Bromptons, which are considered to be one of the most compromising folding bikes.

So don't fool yourself, for the vast majority of riders out there even a midrange folding bike is more than enough bike.

flipphandle

you can turn your handlebars if you install a flipphandle. install it once, and you just press a button when you need to store.

M-323

precisely what I was talkin about! where can we buy them?

Schwinnsta

The Raleigh 20 handlebars stem differs from the conventional quill type in that is no bolt and is a quick release type but there is a steel cable attached to the stem near the bottom that loops around the the brake bolt inside fork tube so that safe height can not be compromised and it deters theft.

Tundra_Man 

I folded my handlebars about 30 years ago on my BMX bike. They didn't unfold so good, though.

flipphandle

We should be up on kickstarter within the next ten days.. You can follow us on @flipphandle on twitter or fb or website www.flipphandle.com for updates.

fietsbob

Bike Friday for knock down packing,
uses a slitted sleeve, around the bars, that is held in the stem
with 1 small bolt in the center of the face plate
inside the handle bar section, there is an inner sleeve.
so it's plenty strong.

loosening the 2 face plate bolts allow the bar to slide out of the slotted sleeve

On my touring bike, I had 2 narrow bars, cut each to become 1 wider bar.
and Joined them in a 4" wide open face stem..
not a quick release scheme either , but iT made packing for travel
as checked luggage easier..

recently I got a Bike Friday , the bike has their optional folding handlebar riser,
then the bar folds down ..QR, Lever + a spring loaded button lock and a pull up
lets it fold over..

Koa C.

I was thinking about this folding bars idea this weekend while tooling around on my niece's razor scooter. It would probably only work on like a fixed gear with no brakes or a bike with only a back coaster brake but it would be pretty cool to put a handlebar like the razor on a bike. It would be just a straight bar that locks in and can be pulled out and folded for storage. I was trying to put a lot of weight on the handlebars while riding around and they felt solid enough to be able to work on a bike, though that may not be the case. They lock in with like a spring loaded ball and socket type of thing which you can maybe see on the pic but im sure most of you have seen a razor and know what i mean. [IMG][/IMG]