Jipe

New post from Pacific Cycles about the P40: Your ride is about to get better. T- One Month.

With a new invisible picture of the front part.

gleearch

Quote from their FB page - "Pacific Cycles It's a NEW version, I know it's frustrating , but due to many reasons the release is now set for November, we will not let yall down "

Their timing could have been better. Created some hype and then let all the air out...

Jipe

It seems indeed to be a new version of the Birdy that will first appear as a limited edition P40, not only a limited edition produced only once as the Titanium Birdy (BTW. was this really the case ? Some Pacific Cycles dealers talked of a second batch of Ti Birdy in 2020).

If it is a new version, it could require some alignments/agreements with Riese & Müller that could explain the delay.

JackW

Hello everyone

This is a great forum to have stumbled upon. I'm not sure if this has been mentioned within the 56 pages (!) but I'm looking for info on installation of the front spring retainer catch. I have a Mk1 Birdy project and have been sourcing parts. I can't figure out the orientation of the pre-tensioned wire so that the catch becomes sprung. Any thoughts appreciated.

spj

i have given up on that too. just use an elastic band. no sprins available around here.

cowmera

After years of having a stiff and lethargic leg due to deep vein thrombosis, I’m ready to cycle again.
Can anyone tell me which is a better buy? GT or R20? I know GT is good for all terrains but how much impact can R20 takes on rough roads or roads with potholes.
Gutted that Birdy doesn’t produce a white body frame or Ferrari yellow tone. Think I’ll preorder a polished silver or graphite black as both will look awesome with striking coloured parts

mkatz

Consider "velobikeshop dot com". They supply numerous colors!

cowmera

Thanks mate. They do not have white. The colours they have available for pre orders , I’m taking either silver or black. Now I’m pondering over which model. GT or R20.

mkatz

I provide incorrect information with respect to website. The one I intended to post was "mightyvelo dot com" in Singapore. Still, you're correct: neither yellow nor white is offered. I'm somewhat surprised as both are commonly considered as desirable colors.

cowmera

it’s fine. I understood you were trying to recommend mighty velo.

Yes, would love to get a white body frame. Makes “dressing up” the birdy easier.

glye

R&M Birdy is sold in four colours including white. I don't know if anyone will ship them to "Pacific areas".
https://www.r-m.de/en-gb/bikes/birdy/

"GT is good for all terrains" - well, the tires can handle gravel, but no Birdy should be used for offroading. The frame isn't strong enough for that, and the small wheels make the impacts harder. (You may be well aware, I'm just saying it for safety's sake.)

Geepig

True, for that you need a Wigry folder:
trev

bike.gang.uk

Spy shot ... This is a more reasonable design for the market. Original 3 pcs only CNC machined will cost over $200 just for production.
#BirdyXBrompton #BIKEgang

Schwinnsta

Is this SS or Al?

bike.gang.uk

Alluminum alloy

bike.gang.uk

BIRDY P40 Pacific Cycles 40th Anniversary Edition

gleearch

Official full video for the P40 here:

Not much else on their website. Not yet anyway.

bike.gang.uk

Spec sheet

Jipe

So, its a new main frame that according to the video will replace the Birdy 3.

The fork is the same as on the Birdy 3 and as consequence he front suspension is also the same.

The rear swing arm looks also the same as on the Birdy 3 with the same PU suspension.

This mainframe doesn't seem to be monocoque anymore, its made of several tubes with an hydroformed main tube.

The components are pretty low end. Wheels are still ETRTO355.

Its absolutely not a competitor of the high end Birdy R20 11SP.

The question now is: is this new frame Pacific Cycles only or will it also come to the R&M Birdy ?

glye

I'm wondering if the frame change was done to make it cheaper? If so, not bad as long as it doesn't get weaker or much heavier.

The 52t narrow-wide chainring is afaik not a common part, and as it is marked Birdy it may be a fully custom part. Somewhat odd choice. I haven't heard about trouble with dropped chains on the Birdy. Of course some people like the look of chainrings without chainguard.

The TRP mechanicals look like Spyke, or Spyre according to the description ("road"). Either way, this is a high end mechanical brake. I use the Spyke on two bikes, and it's been excellent.

The 11-32 cassette is very narrow range and won't be great for either the fastest or the slowest riders. But in flat cities it may be enough for most.

gleearch

The monocoque curve in the frame probably imparts some strength as a structural member with camber. The new frame which is straight maybe relying on some internal structure for that strength. The overall geometry is different and the bottom bracket appears to sit lower. Would be nice to have a side by side comparison with the Birdy 3 frame and this new one. The rear swing arm looks a little different and may have to be if the overall geometry is different in the main frame. All speculation for now until someone actually gets one and does a comparison. Without a dealer in the US and with only a few limited shops like Bfold that can help import a bike, those of us in the US may have to wait a long time.

Jipe

Pacific Cycles claims that this frame will only be used for this limited edition.

But this is strange because looking at the components list show that this P40 is clearly not an high end version of the Birdy and usually, limited editions sold at a high price are high end bikes !?

All that mess make me think that there was a problem somewhere.

For instance that Pacific Cycles developed this new frame alone without having an agreement of R&M and that R&M blocked its commercialization for something else than a limited edition.

glye

It looks like a mixed bag to me. Brakes are high end. The narrow-wide chainring is high-end or at least expensive to make in small numbers. The crankset is unknown, looks kind of high end but hard to say. The bolt circle diameter looks small for a 52t chainring, so I'm wondering what choices lie behind this crankset/chainring combination. Schwalbe tires are high-end in general, but we don't know which ones they're using. Own-brand hubs are probably mid/low-end. Rim, mid-end. Tiagra groupset, low/mid-end. IMHO.

Given how much a custom frame costs, it does seem strange to make a special frame for a limited edition bike. It makes the bike expensive even if the parts aren't all high-end, which I would think is hard to sell. It would be interesting to know more about the choices behind it.

Jipe

Brakes are high end... for mechanical disc brakes. But not expensive at all. R&M mount hydraulic disc brakes on their Birdy.

Tiagra is for me definitely low end. Mid-end is Shimano 105.

Choice of transmission with 52x11-32 is also low end now and with a limited range.

Wheels are definitely low end = like on all normal Birdy versions. Very far from the Hubsmith wheels of the Birdy 11SP (both version, previous ETRTO 355 wheeled and current ETRTO 406 wheeled).

And indeed, making a (at least partially, fork is unchanged) aluminum new frame just for a limited edition is strange especially when nothing is said about any benefit of this new frame compared to the previous one (if we compare with the Ti Birdy, there was a lot of communication about the benefit of the Ti frame).

Again, when I look at this Birdy P40, it looks like an aborted tentative of making a Birdy 4. When you read the FB comments of Pacific Cycles in September, it was clear that this was a first appearance of a Birdy 4 while now Paciifc Cycles is clearly saying that there will be no Birdy 4 before 2025..

gleearch

It's not an evolutionary design. There's also no accommodation for 20" wheels by redesigning to make it easier to have wider 20" wheels and be able to install fenders, etc. It's not all that different than the Birdy 3, so why bother buying this when you can get a R20? That new frame design is not better from an aesthetic point of view from the monocoque frame. So other than having money to splurge and being able to say you have a limited addition P40, what's the incentive?
The delay in rolling this out after posting the teaser photos in September points to lack of organization for what should have been a major rollout. Probably some internal chaos and some issues with R&M but all speculation. Not unless someone within the organization is willing to let us in on what happened and the likelihood of that is slim.