BikeKraft

It weighs about 26.5 lbs according to my bathroom scale.

atombikes

Oh, fantastic! You did take the plunge and buy one. So tell us your thoughts when you get it all sorted. And thanks for posting the weight (I really don't have easy access to a scale)....

BikeKraft

I've had it for about 3 weeks. Ordered on Tuesday arrived on Friday.
Box in good order with very little non recyclable packaging.
Mine came with the same noises you mentioned.
Lube took care of the stem squawk. But that freewheel sound is quite bad.
Like you said "rhythmic", I hear a voice down there saying " Junk junk JUNK junk junk JUNK".
However I'll probably change out the freewheel rather than return the bike.
I wish Walmart had kept the price the same and upgraded the freewheel.
I was wanting to not like the bike but I have to say it's not bad.
Not nearly the frame flex as the Downtube 8H or CitizenBike Barcelona.
In fact it is very rigid. I like how it rides.
I changed the tires though the originals rode OK.
With a little service upon arrival this bike could be that student bike it's billed to be.
I hear plenty of noisy bikes around town, it would drive me nuts but it gets them there.

atombikes

This is the one area of this bike that both of us have had an issue with, so I can only assume it is the really low quality freewheel they are using. I would have gladly paid $50 more if they used a nice quality 7 spd freehub instead of the freewheel. Oh well. I still really like mine and am having fun making some upgrades.

atombikes

Got the Shimano FD-2350 50-34 crankset and installed it today. Still don't have the braze-on derailleur clamp, so will just be cruising in the 50 chainring (I think 52-53 would be better) until I get the clamp, get a KMC Missing Link for the chain, and derailleur cable. And figure out how I'm going to mount the cable stop????



Warning- this double crankset is heavier than I would like; I don't think I dropped any weight moving from the stock Lasco crank to the Shimano, but I did add a chainring.

TheGlutton

I have just registered to the forums to thank atombikes. Plans for an upcoming trip to hike the Kalalau trail in Kauai were derailed and I was forced to come up with a plan B. That plan B was a bike tour around the island, however when I realized bike rentals for the trip would exceed $400 for me and my sweetheart I began looking into cheaper/better alternatives.

Trying to find even one decent folding bike under $400, let alone two, was looking impossible. I was going to buy the 34lb Citizen Miami until I stumbled upon the Kent/Giordano City Cruiser which looked promising. My research online led me to the identically branded Genesis City Cruiser at Wally's (who also carry the Giordano for ~$240, interesting...) for the awesome price of ~$179. As far as geometry, folded size, weight, and price go this looks like the best deal by far, believe me I have looked at them all.

I read your earlier post about a similarly priced folder and found it very helpful in eliminating that bike from my short list of options. Your really detailed photos and descriptions confirmed my suspicions that the Kent/Genesis/Giordano was the bike for my needs. I especially appreciate your photos of the bike fitting into a suitcase.

So now with two Genesis folders on the way our vacation is saved! Thank you for taking the time to detail (with photos) your experience with this little bike!

We will spend nine days traveling primarily by bike all over the island of Kauai in late August. I intend to use the ingenious method described here (a very inspiring pair of people btw) to attach my backpacking backpack to my bike, which should prove very useful.

I look forward to your progress with this bike, and I cant wait to get mine I will post my findings as prepare to take this bike mostly stock (pedals, saddle, racks, etc. will be changed of course) for some commuting here in WA and the some light touring in Kauai.

Thanks again, great thread!

atombikes

TheGlutton,
Thanks for taking the time to register on bikeforums to make your reply! Welcome to world of folding bikes.

I am also a newbie to folders, and the preliminary research you did on economical folding bikes recounts almost exactly my research and findings. After fixing the freewheel issue, I'm sure I could have ridden the bike as-is, but I'm having too much fun upgrading it. You would do well to change out that freewheel, but otherwise, it's fine as-is.

I appreciate you taking the time to tell us your plans, and I am so happy my post and pics were able to be a very small part of you vacation planning. Good luck and have fun on Kauai. And as they say "pics or it never happened"...

TheGlutton

Word.

I will be bringing a light photo kit with me; tripod, w.a. lens, tele lens, filters, and a small waterproof setup for the fishies too.

Given how novel touring on an inexpensive folder (or any folder) will be for me there will be plenty loaded bike leaning against guardrail shots too!

I find myself becoming quite excited about the possibilities of a folding bike. If I like it I will upgrade it and it might become my primary commuter/tourer, with my Voyageur taking the backseat. The prospect of being free to take the bus even if both racks are full is pretty awesome.

I look forward to your progress with the double you've installed.

atombikes

Wow- all my pics are taken with my cellphone (basically living out of a suitcase for 6 months causes you to prioritize what you have with you at all times). Can't wait to see pics.

I just got back from a 15 mile ride on a combination bike trail and surface streets (the trail sections are interconnected with lightly traveled roads). Two things happened today that I had not encountered with this bike until I added the compact double: I dropped the chain off the chainring twice, and I have a large chain tattoo on my right inner calf. I don't have the front derailleur on yet, so I'm not sure what caused the chaindrops?

The 50t chainring helped and I found I was not spinning out on the flats, but on any downhill I still just have to coast. Still, the 50t is enough improvement to live with the tattoos if I must.

Anyway, here's a pic.

TheGlutton

atombikes have you noticed you're throwing the chain only on the outside? Only in 7th gear?

I was also wondering how tight it is closing that 10" deep suitcase you have, is there room to spare? Do you think a 9" deep case would do it?

Thanks a lot!

atombikes

TG,
Both times the bike threw the chain was to the outside, but I cannot remember which gear I was in (but it wasn't 7th gear- the bike only has 6 in the rear).

The suitcase I pictured earlier in this thread has a tapered profile side view. It measures 10" at the bottom, tapering to 9" in the middle and 8" at the top. So I say it it 10" deep since that's the max, but the reality is it measures ~ 9" where it counts.

You have to try it to see if it will fit your particular suitcase (unfortunately), but if you are buying a suitcase you should be able to use my dimensions as a guide.

As as side note, yesterday it was raining so I went to Lowes and got two- 8' pieces of 1-1/2" dia pipe foam insulation. I cut lengths of the insulation to act as padding for when the bike is packed in the suitcase. The two lengths were enough to cover all the frame tubes, the steering riser, and the seatpost. The large section main frame tubes require two pieces to cover the entire tube (a left and right side). A cheap way to protect the bike when it's packed.

TheGlutton

Oops, yeah 6th gear is what I meant...

I was suspecting that the big ring might be too far off axis. Maybe attach a chain-guard/bash guard to the outside of the big ring. Like the one it looks like the original crank has on it? That would sort of do the same thing a "Chain Watcher" does. Also did you consider chain length? I wonder if in the lower gears you aren't reaching the end of your tensioner? These are just my layman's guesses

I think 110 BCD is pretty popular, here is a sorta pricey 50T guard on amazon. Might be worth a try?

As for the suitcase, I took a chance on a $10 samsonite that measures ~ 27" x 21" x 9" today at Goodwill, there were a couple that size so when the bikes arrive on Wednesday I will pull them apart for a check-up and then test the packability with that case. Fingers crossed and pics to come

Your bike looks good btw, I'll have to grab some pipe clamps/straps and put a bottle cage on my stem-riser like you did, I like that.

I have a couple folding racks on order, I wanted the lowest profile rack I could get because I am hoping to avoid panniers and do that backpack trick. It has occurred to me that it might not work as well on a 20" bike as it does on the 16/17" Bromptons that The Path Less Pedaled uses. I'm gonna try anyway, heres the racks:

Schwinn Folding Cargo Rack on Amazon

I am a fender guy, and because budget is tight I will be picking up some old 20" tires from the LBS to turn into cheap fenders, I will bend some rod to make the stays, and I cut some angled aluminum for mounting on the fork and between the chain-stays/behind the bracket where I assume there are standard fender mounts.

That should be a fun project...

TheGlutton

Ok, so bikes have arrived

First impressions:
I am VERY satisfied with what I got for what I paid
Frame welds are solid and feels quite rigid
Saddle had to go (duh)
Can't get from gear 6 -> 5, but can go from 4 -> 5
43 PSI tires will take some getting used to, feels mushy
Same rhythmic clunking as described by others
Same creaky handlebar hinge as described earlier
Cables are SOOO LOOOONNNNGG
Handlebars slightly uneven and crooked
Seat post must be raised 1.5" above MAX height line for me, I am 5'9"
Pedals are actually much better than expected
Chainring is very small, it is geared LOW
Another cyclist I saw on my first ride said "Now, thats kinda sweet!" as she passed me, I like to think she was referring to my physique

When I unboxed the well packed bike and unfolded it I noticed the handlebars were uneven and crooked. No big deal, I saw an allen bolt on the bottom half of the hinge that seemed like the one I wanted, and it was. Quick work with a 6mm allen and things were in order. The saddle was very terrible, my ride up the street confirmed that any "real" first ride around the block would require a saddle change. Bob, our Rodriguez tandem was kind enough to lend the Genesis a lovely black B17, and my rear was MUCH happier.



After the test ride I wanted to see if my Schwinn Folding rack would work for the bike. Because I am trying to "hang" backpacks from the rear of our saddles I wanted the rack to be as low profile as possible. Unfortunately the rack was much too tall even at the minimum height setting. So out came my favorite tool: the hack saw. Everything went smoothly, for a quick hack job, until I was assembling the first leg and realized the hole I had drilled for the adjustable length's locking bolt was askew, causing the eye for the mounting bolt on the dropout to point the wrong direction. DOH!



Luckily there was plenty of room to drill another hole in the right spot and with a little bit of tough love everything fitted together. The rack can be adjusted all the way down until it touches the tire, I have it set about 1/2 inch above (it may have to come up slightly to clear future fenders). As you can see, the two supports are at the far ends of the rack, is it sturdy? Hardly. Will it do the job of keeping a backpack happy and out of the reach of moving tires? Yes!



Success!

I picked up a pair of used flat bar friction shifters, and one Shimano TZ Mega Range 6sp frewheel today for $25 total, and tomorrow I will switch shifters, shorten cables, and swap freewheels. If there is time I will also start fabricating the first pair of fenders out of a nice purple walled BMX tire I got for free.

Wish me luck!

atombikes

TG-

All your links to pics appear to be broken? I cannot access them. You can blow those tires up fairly firm; I was doing that before I added the 100psi Primo Comets to my bike. ThorUSA sells a 640mm seatpost that should fit our bike. At 5'-10" and presumably shorter legs my seatpost is right at max extension, but there still seems to be alot of the post down in the frame.

TheGlutton

Sorry about the links, I will try again when I get out of the office.

As for inflating the tires to "fairly firm" that honestly hadn't occurred to me. I am light (135lbs) and I am sure I could get away with it. Any idea how far I can go; say 60 PSI?

There is a LOT of seat post in the frame, I am totally OK with being a little above the max line, being a feather-weight has its advantages

atombikes

Yeah, I think 60psi is around where I inflated to prior to putting on the Comets. The stock tires have a wire bead that seats pretty well on the rims.

atombikes

TheGlutten-
That rear rack looks pretty good! Your idea about making fenders out of tires sounds ingenious; I am curious to see the outcome.

On my bike, I swapped out the 50-34 Shimano crankset for an older (and much lighter) Sakae FX 52-42 crankset. I also attempted to add the front derailleur but ran into a problem- due the the placement of the curved stiffener tube between the bottom bracket and rear stays, there does not appear to be enough room to attach the derailleur mount bracket. I'm going to stare at it longer to see if I'm missing something obvious, but as for now, I don't think it will work.

TheGlutton

Hmmmm... AB I assume the issue with the mount is that in order for the hanger to reach the chain/rings it must be mounted low on the "derailleure post" and that is where it is bumping into the "chainstay" support? Would a derailleure with a longer hanger work maybe one made for a triple? I wonder if any of the Dahon Mus use a double in front and we might look at how they are configured. I am just tossing out ideas because I am not sure I understand the issue, but I would really love to see you get it working.

Here is a glam shot of the first bike finally built up from my ride this evening (sorry for the bad light), I haven't been posting updates because I have been spending too much time building and riding But I will post more detailed shots of the tire-fenders soon, the only thing I bought for them were two 36" lengths of 1/8" steel rod at ACE Hardware for like $7 total. The rest of the hardware is scrap steel strapping and bolts I had lying around. I am pretty happy with the first set of fenders, and I have already formed all of the hardware I will need for the second bike as soon as I can source another free worn out 20" tire, they are proving to be rare little critters...



I loaded my backpack with 30lbs worth of lifting plates, a sleepingbag and some odds and ends to fill it out for my ride today which was short (19 miles) because I didn't want to ride in the dark. I noticed I will have to raise the rack a tiny bit to acomodate a little bit of flex when the backpack is this loaded because I heard just the slightest momentary whine over a few bumps when the rack must have flexed and pushed the fender into contact with the tire.

I took a short trip south to Olympia this weekend with my brother to ride out to a friends house on the water. I had my folder and he had a normal bike. Oh boy was I glad I had the folder because both of of our busses home were the last of the night and both had only one slot on the rack open, so we would have been stranded if I hadn't had the folder. Super cool, I am now converted

cpg

If the front mech mounting is proving to be a problem and the rear wheel dropout spacing is 135mm you could use a Sram dual drive hub instead. The down side is the additional cost of the hub and a rear wheel build but you would then be able to run 27 gears.

atombikes

TheGlutton/cpg;
The problem with the frame is there doesn't appear to be enough tube (and in the correct vertical location) to allow the clamp to mount AND place the derailleur where it needs to be to function properly. Either the mount is extremely low or too high on the tube. A secondary problem is that when the clamp is mounted higher on the tube, it interferes with the extremely fat rear stay.

Although a great idea, IHG is def. not in my budget for this bike. Plus, I'm fairly certain the distance between the rear dropouts is not sufficient, I'll have to check.

But, your questions have me wondering if perhaps a different derailleur (maybe a bottom swing triple) would allow me to place the braze on clamp higher on the tube and place the derailleur where it needs to be?

PS TG the bike looks great!

cpg

Dual drive conversion will almost certainly cost more than and triple front conversion. Look out for a used DD hub, both of mine came off ebay with very little use for around £50. You might even come across one that is already built onto a 20" rim.
An alternative, and probably not very appealing, is to shift the chain by hand. Its dirty work and not very convenient when you have to stop and get off the bike to move the chain but just another thing for you to consider.

TheGlutton

AB are you using a Front Derailleur (FD) adapter like this one?

I see an article on the Hands On Bike Blog that describes many upgrades, but specifically mentions that adding a FD to a Dahon Mu is difficult. Difficult and impossible are two very different things, so this gives me hope.

It looks like the adapter has a "rail" that would give you extra height you might need?

CPG, I had also thought about just doing a hand shift when necessary, I wonder if some sort of a derailleur cage on-a-stick would make the job less messy?

atombikes

The adapter that I purchased is shown and linked on post #59 in this thread. It's cheaper than the Litepro but is essentially the same thing. That sliding riser part is a contributor to the problem, it interferes with the rightside rear stay. I also read that blog that you linked; his issues sounded more like setup issues; note that his rear triangle does not use monostays rather a more normal triangulated rear end. So he has clearance required for the sliding bit that holds the derailleur.

paultman

@atombikes

I recently bought the genesis folding bike and am thankful that you shared your experiences and advice here. Having read your advice about replacing parts, would you say the most important is the freewheel?

I dont have much knowledge of bikes, but I think I'll get alot of use out of the Genesis so I'll be learning

Here is that freewheel on amazon:

Amazon.com : Shimano MF-TZ20 Tourney Freewheel (14-28T 6 Speed) : Bike Cassettes And Freewheels : Sports & Outdoors

Is it still the most recommended replacement in your view? I suppose I'll also need to get the freewheel remover? Seems like I can replace it myself.

Are their any other essential changes you'd recommend?

Again, thanks so much for your contributions to the community,

Paul

BikeKraft

Paul
If the freewheel is making noise and it bothers you then change it out.
I still haven't changed mine but will.
I'm trying to decide if a seven speed freewheel would work.
I know I would have to change a few things besides the freewheel
but I would like to get a 13-28 freewheel to give me a little more top end.