john m flores 

Just found this video of a Canadian couple touring with a pair of Helixes...

wesgreen

Inspite of the remarkable engineering feat this bike design represents (imo),
the only suitcase they could fit the bike in ("after much research by the Helix community") - has a 66.3" linear dimension. 4.3 inches too large in a time when airlines try to squeeze every last dime from luggage fees.
Good luck with that.

Winfried

Same weight, same size, half the price: Montague or Change.

Hrodwolf

You have to remove the front wheel on these models. That's a big no for commuting.
It really depends on your needs.
I'd like to buy a compact 20" or + wheels folding bike that can be easily rolled folded. That's especially important for commuting on crowded trains and "navigating" the office corridors.
There are the Tern BYB and 20" east Asian Brompton clones.
The Helix seems much easier and quicker to unfold but is indeed more expensive.

Jipe

Kinetics Glasgow is an expert in Brompton mods and has 20"or 18" Brompton.

pinholecam

From someone who actually owns and uses the Change, its certainly untrue that it can't be rolled when folded.
It rolls on one wheel after fold.

Of course it boils down to ride performance vs size and encumbrance and the reality will be that a full sized 650b bike will be bigger to handle.
But it will ride exactly like a full sized bike and can be configured into a road rider or all road bike or even mtb.

The Helix is actually fair for the price.
Titanium, 24" wheels, compact fold.
One pays more for a Brompton which has smaller wheels and steel that rusts.
The Birdy has a wider fold and is not cheap also (for alu), but 'space age' suspension.
So one just needs to choose his poison.

Jipe

This subject that was very active in the past is now very silent since several years !

What happened to the backers, did they receive any refund of their pledge ?

Is Helix still alive ?

Are they delivering bikes ?

Hrodwolf

Good news for the Change.
It's always a matter of compromise, there is no perfect bike. Except the one you build if you have the know-how.

I'd like a 20"+ bike that you can push or pull easily for a medium distance when folded.
I gave a look at the Caracle-S. Too bad it's only available in Japans as it certainly is worth a try.

There are only a few videos or articles on the Helix. I thought that there were more feedback. I'm not sure that every backer got his bike.

Helix's site mentions that acessories will be available in Spring and the electric Helix in Q4 2023.
There should be more info right now to prepare for the launch but communication seems not their forte.
They managed to deliver their bike though backers had to wait for several years.

Jipe

No, many backers didn't receive any bike and Helix stated that due to covid and its consequences of on the bike industry and bike parts price, they never will excepted if they accept to pay an add-on to their pledge.

Helix was supposed to refund the backers who didn't receive their bike and are not willing to pay to get one.

I don't know if they receive this refund ?

Hrodwolf

That's a shame.
I understand that the KS prices were very good and probably underpriced in hindsight given the challenges of building a new company.
He has to build goodwill for his company to prosper. He walks a difficult line, but I hope he'll succeed.

Jipe

The project creator was a pure marketing guy, without any knowledge of bike development nor manufacturing.

He put in the KS campaign all features that could attract backers including a very low price, and had a lot of backers.

Then he had to develop and build the bikes what appeared to be very difficult and generates a lot of hesitations and delays.

In-between, the bike market changed, the expectations that folding bake sales would grow a lot didn't realize and ebikes sales exploded with Helix not designed to integrate any electric assist.

The price of Helix increased a lot, its now realistic but this price for a folding bike reduces the potential market a lot, its now an high end niche folding bike.

I think that Helix sales will stagnate at low volume.

Schwinnsta

I think it is outstanding that he could pull it off at all. Very, very few could. The design is near outstanding.

Jipe

About the design, I don't agree with you it has two major issues:
- the tires width isn't big enough, the frame should at least accept 50x507 or even more because ETRTO507 is a wheel size made for wide tires and Helix has a stiff frame and fork and has no suspension, so wide tires are mandatory to provide efficiency and comfort on bad roads.
- the bigger wheel size and helicoidal folding concept are inherently heavy, this is the reason why, even with expensive titanium material, the bike remain heavy which is a major drawback for a folding bike that many people need to carry and also a commercial/marketing problem because people willing to pay such a high price for a folding bike expect a lightweight bike.

Schwinnsta

I agree that it would be better had it been able to accept wider tires. Absolutely. Same with Brompton for that matter. However, I still think it is a great design. I also would have liked to see it have a taller stem. As for weight, their ultralight does deliver on the 20 pounds for a price that is expensive, but less than a T-line Brompton. Have you ridden one? I have not, so it is ill-advised for me to say it is too stiff.

I just went to their site, and it appears that they're sold and will only notify you of when they will be taking orders. This does not bode well, I think.

Jipe

20.3 pounds with ultralight components for a naked bike without lights, mudguards... is more the weight of a P-line than of a T-line that has a steel main frame instead of full titanium.

Its the consequence of the complex helicoidal folding system with several heavy parts and of the bigger wheels.

For the stiffness, the rear has no suspension, the diamond like frame is stiff and the straight, thick tube,single sided fork is also very stiff, no need to ride it to know what will happen on bad roads or cobbles with the narrow tires, its globally worse than the well known uncomfortable the Brompton !

Yes, the Brompton has also narrow tires, but it was designed decades ago, when wide tires were unknown and Brompton didn't make any improvement to the original design (which is also a shame)..

bikeforumKEN

Brompton trouble, sorry cant post links yet....have to copy and past in google to bring it up. news.sky.com/story/folding-bike-maker-brompton-rides-towards-20m-stake-sale-12864984

Schwinnsta

You are making assumptions without data. It has a titanium frame, so it may make use of that to ride less stiff. Any rate, you're just assuming.

It would be like me saying the Birdy rides like a Pogo stick due to its suspension. I suspect it does due to my experience with Moultons, but I don't actually know if it does.

wesgreen

I'm grateful to anyone trying to move folding bike design forward. In spite of his flaws and broken promises, I think he's done that.

Jipe

Yes, you are right, I am just assuming.

I read lots of reviews of titanium frame bikes presenting titanium as a miraculous material.

But I own two titanium frame bikes (and owned a third one), own a superlight Brompton with titanium fork+rear triangle and had the opportunity to ride the Brompton T-line and on none of those bike titanium really made a real difference for comfort.

For the fork, one of the titanium frame bike I owned had a titanium rigid lefty fork and this fork was very stiff (and eventually broke due to bad welding, this uncomfortable bike was called Shockproof by its manufacturer).

Schwinnsta

On paper, I never thought I would like a Brompton. But when a Brompton dealership opened in my city, I took a 20-minute test ride, and I found it surprisingly comfortable. Well comfortable enough. I still was not ready to shell out that kind of money. 20 minutes was not enough time. The dealer agreed to rent me the Brompton for an 8-hour day. After riding it all day I put down my deposit. That was in 2013. Today I have three bikes. The Brompton is neither the most comfortable nor the fastest. Still, if it came down to where I could only keep one bike, it would be the Brompton. It is the most useful.

Jipe

Do you have cobbles were you ride?

In my city, there are a lot of, and my Brompton is really uncomfortable on them, the bike bumps from one to the next, its not a pleasure at all to ride it on those cobbles!

Now if on the place you ride, the Brompton is comfortable, then Helix will surely also be comfortable.

Schwinnsta

Only a few blocks still have cobbles and no I would not be comfortable on them on the Brompton. New Orleans is built on a deltaic swamp and suffers from constant differential settlement. Some roads are really bombed out, and I can not ride fast on them on any bike I currently have. So for those blocks that are like that, I take it slower.

tcs

I'm certain Andrew Ritchie was very aware of the Raleigh RSW16.

https://www.sheldonbrown.com/retrora...rsw/index.html

Joe Remi

Ok I predicted many years ago that the bike would end up being expensive if it ever appeared - I'm impressed it actually showed up - but I can't believe he went to the original KS backers and asked for more money! That's almost comically unethical.

Jipe

He did, explaining that the international pandemic and economic situation had a major impact on the bicycle industry, on parts availability and prices.