casualbikerdude

After doing a rather thorough review of all of the options out there, in mid-July of 2014 I purchased two Cricket 7 bikes from The Origami Bicycle Company; one in black for my wife, and one in orange for me. We wanted a set of quality bikes that we could easily fold up and put in our car to take to local parks and bike trails without having to strap on and mess with a bike rack. We also felt folding bikes would be more practical since we live in an apartment where space is at a premium.

We chose the Cricket 7 because it comes with front and rear suspension (important since my wife has carpal tunnel syndrome and I tend to have low back issues, so less jarring is a big plus), has a more up-right riding profile (vs. being hunched over as if you're trying to win a race which puts undue stress on wrists and hands), comes equipped with seven gears (which we find perfect for our area and riding style), front and rear fenders (most folding bikes don't, and if you ever end up on a wet street or path you'll wish you had them), a bottle holder and bottle (we replaced the complimentary bottle with insulated Teavana Travel Tea Tumblers which fit perfectly and keep our water cold), and rear racks (a fantastically handy feature we immediately used for the Timbuk2 Hunchback Rack Trunk bags).

These little puppies ride like a dream, have very comfortable saddles, fold up so well that I can place one in my Honda Accord back seat and the other in the trunk. If we take our Silverado truck both fit nicely in the wider back seat. I'm 5'9" and my wife is 5"0" tall, we're both over 50 (in case you're wondering), and we found the Cricket 7 a great fit for both of us. All we had to do is use a pipe-cutter to cut the seat pipe a bit to lower the seat enough to fit my wife's smaller stature. We truly couldn't be happier with our purchase.

What made us even happier as how accommodating Paul (the owner of The Origami Bicycle Company) was when we ran into a couple of issues. When I told him one of my orange bike's pedals felt a bit wobbly and that I would like a different kickstand (the black bike had a newer model that I preferred), within days a totally new set of pedals and a new kickstand arrived. With the replacement pedals and kickstand installed, and a slight adjustment to the high-gear limit stop and indexing of the derailleur on the orange bike (I'm no bike expert, but figured out how to make these minor adjustments by watching a few YouTube videos) both bikes are a true a pleasure to ride.

We have already had several people stop and ask us about the bikes. Each time we've taken a moment to show them how easy the bikes are to fold and unfold, and tell them how they fit neatly into our Honda Accord. When they asked how to buy one we gave them the Origami Bicycle Company website address.

Below are some photos of the two bikes in the field, stored in our small laundry room, and packed in the back seat and trunk of our Honda Accord. Many thanks to Paul for such a great design and for his excellent customer service.

keyven

Nice review. Your bikes look great.

Hope you post more photos of your adventures on them.

Pinigis 

Thank you for the detailed review, we really appreciate the feedback.

cuzzinit

i've had mine for a year and half. It's ridden 180,000+ miles in my semi, and i've ridden it in 18 states. It's taken quite a beating doing all that traveling but still rides well. I was sure the pedals would wearout but they haven't. Overall it's been great although it will get replaced by a folding Catrike when money allows