Go Back  Bike Forums > Bike Forums > Folding Bikes
Reload this Page >

Century on a Folding Bike

Notices
Folding Bikes Discuss the unique features and issues of folding bikes. Also a great place to learn what folding bike will work best for your needs.

Century on a Folding Bike

Old 02-13-20, 10:08 PM
  #1  
Bassmanbob
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: May 2014
Location: Treasure Coast, FL
Posts: 981

Bikes: 2014 Cannondale Supersix EVO 3, 2015 Trek 520, 2017 Bike Friday Pocket Rocket, 2022 Moots Vamoots Disc RSL

Mentioned: 8 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 282 Post(s)
Liked 267 Times in 140 Posts
Century on a Folding Bike

I ride almost exclusively road riding, but I also travel for work at times and to visit family. So I purchased a Bike Friday Pocket Rocket in 2017, and have taken it on vacations, during family visits and in 2018 I took it to do the GFNY New York Century ride. This year, I want to ride the Crater Lake Century in Oregon in August as a long weekend solo retreat. I can't justify to my wife to ship out my CF road bike considering I spent the money on the Bike Friday. Besides, I did the GFNY on the BF, so why not?

Really... why not? Do any of you participate in long distance riding on a folding bike? Am I the only lunatic doing this more than once?
Bassmanbob is offline  
Old 02-14-20, 12:35 AM
  #2  
linberl
Senior Member
 
linberl's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: SF Bay Area
Posts: 3,460

Bikes: Trident Spike 2 recumbent trike w/ e-assist

Mentioned: 25 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1321 Post(s)
Liked 374 Times in 288 Posts
I don't know that I'd do a century on any folding bike except a Bike Friday or something of similar design and quality. No frame hinge, custom sizing, rides like a regular bike. I wouldn't consider any one-size-fits-all bike, athough I'm sure there are folks who do it on a brompton, for example. But if you care about your body.....
linberl is offline  
Old 02-14-20, 12:45 AM
  #3  
dorkypants
Senior Member
 
dorkypants's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 524
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 34 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 17 Times in 13 Posts
I've done hilly Centuries in the US, Alpine granfondi in Italy and a hilly cyclosportive in France on my Air Friday. The Italians tended to look askance with smirks, probably thinking "this idiot's going to die on his silly bike when he hits the climbs", because the folding bikes they were accustomed to seeing were cheap urban utility bikes… until I passed many of them on climbs and/or descents.
dorkypants is offline  
Likes For dorkypants:
Old 02-14-20, 05:50 AM
  #4  
Winfried
Senior Member
 
Winfried's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Paris, France
Posts: 2,494
Mentioned: 9 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 566 Post(s)
Liked 116 Times in 98 Posts
Originally Posted by Bassmanbob
This year, I want to ride the Crater Lake Century in Oregon in August as a long weekend solo retreat. I can't justify to my wife to ship out my CF road bike considering I spent the money on the Bike Friday. Besides, I did the GFNY on the BF, so why not? Really... why not? Do any of you participate in long distance riding on a folding bike? Am I the only lunatic doing this more than once?
I've done 150 km/~100 mile days on a Brompton, although I was too tired to do this again the next day :-)

As long as you can ride at your own pace, it's doable, especially on a more road worthy bike like a Bike Friday.
Winfried is offline  
Likes For Winfried:
Old 02-14-20, 07:59 AM
  #5  
tomtomtom123
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2017
Posts: 1,064
Mentioned: 6 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 350 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 122 Times in 90 Posts
I've done months long tours on a Dahon Speed TR, which has the same hinge as a regular Speed. The hinge eventually wore out and got loose. But there are other people who have toured on a Speed and say that their hinge is perfectly fine. You'll find some descriptions of people touring on Dahon bikes either on this forum or on crazyguyonabike.
tomtomtom123 is offline  
Old 02-14-20, 08:14 AM
  #6  
CliffordK
Senior Member
 
CliffordK's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: Eugene, Oregon, USA
Posts: 27,600
Mentioned: 217 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 18320 Post(s)
Liked 4,489 Times in 3,338 Posts
I haven't taken the Bike Friday on any organized century rides, but I've towed my trailer over 100 miles.. once... and 50 or so miles a couple of times.

Yeah, this was at the end of the ride, but it did go the distance.



As far as Crater Lake. I'm not sure about the century ride. I did it on my road bike, loaded a couple of years ago, riding from Eugene. It was a pretty long ride, and I had troubles on the hill between Culp Ceek and Steamboat. But, otherwise, the climbing was just long, but not overly intense.



I suppose I'd like to take a fancy road bike for a hilly century, but would ride whatever I had available.
CliffordK is online now  
Likes For CliffordK:
Old 02-14-20, 01:24 PM
  #7  
kentsbike
Newbie
 
kentsbike's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Eugene, OR USA
Posts: 3

Bikes: Electric Bike Friday Companion, 3-speed Bike Friday Pakit, 2011 Trek Allant

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 6 Times in 2 Posts
In 1999 I rode Paris-Brest-Paris (1200 kilometers) on my Bike Friday New World Tourist. In 2001, I rode the same bike on London-Edinburgh-London (1400 kilometers). I now work at Bike Friday and we have customers who have logged many thousands of miles touring all over the world.

Kent Peterson
Eugene, OR USA
kentsbike is offline  
Likes For kentsbike:
Old 02-14-20, 03:57 PM
  #8  
kayakindude
Full Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: New England
Posts: 433

Bikes: 1987 Cannondale SR600/BioPace, 1991 Cannondale Road Tandem,1994 Giant Iguana MB, 2009 Airnimal Chameleon, 2016 Dahon Vybe C7A

Mentioned: 6 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 121 Post(s)
Liked 100 Times in 63 Posts
I completed two centuries last season on my Airnimal in about 6 hours, each time, found it no different than past centuries on my cannondale. Most people say hey that's cool looking, only one said your crazy.
kayakindude is offline  
Likes For kayakindude:
Old 02-14-20, 07:37 PM
  #9  
BikeLite
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 1,174
Mentioned: 3 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 381 Post(s)
Liked 145 Times in 93 Posts
flatbike dot com is coming out with a full size folding century bike..tomorrow I think.
BikeLite is offline  
Old 02-15-20, 03:16 AM
  #10  
pinholecam
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2016
Posts: 627
Mentioned: 5 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 228 Post(s)
Liked 145 Times in 95 Posts
Done a few 200km audax with my Tyrell IVE (18") and one with the Pocket Rocket.
The only downside with the PR is when the roads are no good, the tires tend to bounce more due to the higher pressures, narrow tires and small wheels.
Totally doable though.
pinholecam is offline  
Old 02-15-20, 03:28 PM
  #11  
Bassmanbob
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: May 2014
Location: Treasure Coast, FL
Posts: 981

Bikes: 2014 Cannondale Supersix EVO 3, 2015 Trek 520, 2017 Bike Friday Pocket Rocket, 2022 Moots Vamoots Disc RSL

Mentioned: 8 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 282 Post(s)
Liked 267 Times in 140 Posts
Thanks guys. These responses are quite reassuring. When I did the GFNY two years ago, I received a lot of comments:
"Are you crazy?" "You've got big balls!" "You're my hero." "You're a badass!" "Do you have to pedal twice as hard on that thing?" One idiot said, "I don't know what you're trying to do?" I just gave him a dirty look and said, "I'm riding a century!" and walked away.

For the first half of the event, I kept telling people how well made these bikes are. I told them that riding my BF wasn't that much different than my Cannondale CF bike. It was a little slower, but definitely still fun. By the end of the ride, I got tired of that. I just coyly told people that I had Herculean strength and endurance. But the best part was anytime I passed someone. Honestly, it wasn't often. I'm a Clydesdale, and I was on my folding bike-- it was a sight. I was like Chris Farley in the movie Tommy Boy. "Fat guy on a little bike!" Instead of "Fat guy in a little coat!" But I'd hear the huffing and puffing of pissed off riders behind me trying to catch up. It wasn't often, but it was fun.

I'm currently successfully losing weight. I'll hopefully be out of the Clydesdale category and only about 20-30 pounds overweight for the Crater Lake Century. Either way, I'll do what I gotta do on my Bike Friday.
Bassmanbob is offline  
Old 02-16-20, 09:15 AM
  #12  
jonbott
Newbie
 
Join Date: May 2019
Posts: 3
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
I`ve done a few 100k Audax events and rode one with a chap on a Moulton,in Cornwall,he said he loved it!
jonbott is offline  
Old 02-16-20, 09:55 AM
  #13  
Tourist in MSN
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Madison, WI
Posts: 11,112

Bikes: 1961 Ideor, 1966 Perfekt 3 Speed AB Hub, 1994 Bridgestone MB-6, 2006 Airnimal Joey, 2009 Thorn Sherpa, 2013 Thorn Nomad MkII, 2015 VO Pass Hunter, 2017 Lynskey Backroad, 2017 Raleigh Gran Prix, 1980s Bianchi Mixte on a trainer. Others are now gone.

Mentioned: 47 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3426 Post(s)
Liked 1,441 Times in 1,122 Posts
It all depends on the bike. My Airnimal Joey rides almost as nice as a full size bike, but it does have 24 inch wheels, not 20 or 16. A couple years ago I rode it for an ACA week long van supported trip in West Texas. I could fit my Airnimal into my S&S case, it flew for free as one of my two checked bags on Southwest which is the reason I took it instead of my titanium bike. None of the days were over a hundred miles, but I think a day or two might have been metric centuries of 100 km.

Originally Posted by kentsbike
In 1999 I rode Paris-Brest-Paris (1200 kilometers) on my Bike Friday New World Tourist. In 2001, I rode the same bike on London-Edinburgh-London (1400 kilometers). I now work at Bike Friday and we have customers who have logged many thousands of miles touring all over the world.

Kent Peterson
Eugene, OR USA
PBP on a folder is impressive. Thanks for posting.

Originally Posted by kayakindude
I completed two centuries last season on my Airnimal in about 6 hours, each time, found it no different than past centuries on my cannondale. Most people say hey that's cool looking, only one said your crazy.
I assume Chameleon?
Tourist in MSN is offline  
Old 02-16-20, 02:38 PM
  #14  
kayakindude
Full Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: New England
Posts: 433

Bikes: 1987 Cannondale SR600/BioPace, 1991 Cannondale Road Tandem,1994 Giant Iguana MB, 2009 Airnimal Chameleon, 2016 Dahon Vybe C7A

Mentioned: 6 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 121 Post(s)
Liked 100 Times in 63 Posts
Originally Posted by Tourist in MSN
It all depends on the bike. My Airnimal Joey rides almost as nice as a full size bike, but it does have 24 inch wheels, not 20 or 16.
I assume Chameleon?
Correct on the Chameleon. Airnimal makes an incredible bike and this is my preferred sunny long distance rider. A few more weeks until our weather breaks 50 and the Dahon goes into 2nd position in the toolbox.
kayakindude is offline  
Old 02-16-20, 08:44 PM
  #15  
sweeks
Senior Member
 
sweeks's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Chicago area
Posts: 2,541

Bikes: Airborne "Carpe Diem", Motobecane "Mirage", Trek 6000, Strida 2, Dahon "Helios XL", Dahon "Mu XL", Tern "Verge S11i"

Mentioned: 22 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 978 Post(s)
Liked 574 Times in 395 Posts
Originally Posted by linberl
But if you care about your body.....
At the age of 63 I did a Century on a Tern Verge S11i and lived to tell the story.
Shortly before that, I rode a Dahon Mu XL to work and back for "Bike-to-Work Day"... 100 miles round-trip.
It is possible. That said, I'd rather do it on my road bike.

Verge S11i on the road.
sweeks is offline  
Likes For sweeks:
Old 02-17-20, 12:07 AM
  #16  
linberl
Senior Member
 
linberl's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: SF Bay Area
Posts: 3,460

Bikes: Trident Spike 2 recumbent trike w/ e-assist

Mentioned: 25 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1321 Post(s)
Liked 374 Times in 288 Posts
Originally Posted by sweeks
At the age of 63 I did a Century on a Tern Verge S11i and lived to tell the story.
Shortly before that, I rode a Dahon Mu XL to work and back for "Bike-to-Work Day"... 100 miles round-trip.
It is possible. That said, I'd rather do it on my road bike.

Verge S11i on the road.

The Mu is actually a nice bike, I have the Mu Uno. That said, just cuz you can do it doesn't mean you should, lol.
linberl is offline  
Likes For linberl:
Old 02-17-20, 06:34 AM
  #17  
Tourist in MSN
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Madison, WI
Posts: 11,112

Bikes: 1961 Ideor, 1966 Perfekt 3 Speed AB Hub, 1994 Bridgestone MB-6, 2006 Airnimal Joey, 2009 Thorn Sherpa, 2013 Thorn Nomad MkII, 2015 VO Pass Hunter, 2017 Lynskey Backroad, 2017 Raleigh Gran Prix, 1980s Bianchi Mixte on a trainer. Others are now gone.

Mentioned: 47 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3426 Post(s)
Liked 1,441 Times in 1,122 Posts
Looks like it is photo time, so this is my Airnimal Joey. No 100 mile days yet, but it certainly is capable of long rides like that.

Tourist in MSN is offline  
Likes For Tourist in MSN:
Old 02-22-20, 11:56 AM
  #18  
wilfried
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: The Big City
Posts: 619

Bikes: Brompton M3L, Tern Verge P20, Citi Bike

Mentioned: 24 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 85 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 9 Times in 7 Posts
I rode the last New York Century on a Tern P20. I didn't finish the century cause I ran out of time (I'm not a morning person), but I doggedly made it a century by riding loops through lower Manhattan.
wilfried is offline  
Old 02-24-20, 11:24 PM
  #19  
kraftwerk 
my nice bike is at home
 
kraftwerk's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Brooklyn, NY USA
Posts: 954

Bikes: 2011 BMC Race Machine / 2012 BMC Road Machine / Trek 2300 / '90's Merlin/ '70's Raleigh 20/ Ti-'swift' folder / Erickson w/S&S couplers

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 66 Post(s)
Liked 34 Times in 24 Posts
A Bike Friday seems perfect for the task..No I am thinking about this challenge on my Ti-Swift.. or Folding 20 (!) but it's single speed...
__________________
BMC Race Machine / BMC Team Machine / Rossin Record / 80's Pinarello Traviso / Merlin MTB / Raleigh "Folding 20" / Ti-Swift (!)
Erikson w/C&C couplers / Trek's: 2300, 1200, 990 / Jamis 'Sputnik'

kraftwerk is offline  
Old 03-10-20, 10:04 AM
  #20  
1nterceptor
LET'S ROLL
 
1nterceptor's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: NEW YORK, NY - USA
Posts: 4,782

Bikes: 2014 BMC Gran Fondo, 2013 Brompton S6L-X

Mentioned: 18 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 306 Post(s)
Liked 44 Times in 33 Posts
100 Miles(160 Km.) on a Brompton by 1nterceptor, on Flickr
1nterceptor is offline  
Likes For 1nterceptor:
Old 03-30-20, 10:14 AM
  #21  
Falconista
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2020
Posts: 76

Bikes: 1986 Falcon Laser, 2004 Dahon, 2018 Moulton TSR

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 29 Post(s)
Liked 7 Times in 6 Posts
I find my folders only a little bit slower than my road bikes, but a lot more comfortable on the back and shoulders over longer periods. I have done quite a few long rides circa 100m on my trusty old Dahon with panniers and find my Moulton TSR even more comfortable, although I am not setting any speed records. The slightly greater energy use in my case is well offset by the comfort towards the end of the ride from the more upright position and suspension/long flexy stem.

On a BF pocket rocket you will sail through. Never been on one but it looks fast just standing still.
Falconista is offline  
Old 04-06-20, 11:36 AM
  #22  
striegel 
Full Member
 
striegel's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Russell Township, Ohio, USA
Posts: 256

Bikes: 1975 Paris Sport 700, 2007 Dahon Mu P8 (folding bicycle), 1984 Miyata 210

Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 8 Post(s)
Liked 20 Times in 11 Posts
Yes, I rode 103 miles on my Dahon Mu P8 in the Sunday in June back in (maybe it was) 2010. Mine was the only folding bike I saw that day and it got a lot of odd looks, but it wasn't any harder than centuries I've ridden on my full-sized bike.
__________________
If something doesn't ache, I could be trying harder.
striegel is offline  
Likes For striegel:

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off


Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.