stephenmcateer

I notice that the 'Swing arm' on this Birdy I have does not swing freely — when I unfold the front wheel, I have to use my hand to pull it into position. It is a little stiff. Is this normal? Thanks.

CEBEP

Yes, it’s normal. Same
on my new Birdy.

stephenmcateer

Thanks CEBEP. One less thing to fix.

CEBEP

I didn’t like Birdy’s Minoura kickstand which it came with from the beginning. The kickstand seems to be far to the left when opened and bike was leaning too much to my taste. Now it got worst and bike barely stands. Even slight touch by a finger will drop it. This is probably because I changed my tires to Big Apples which made the bike taller. I wander if it’s possible to extend it’s length?

Also can someone recommend solid alternative? I know there are not many choices.

stephenmcateer

The stem clamp on my Birdy is not tight enough, so that the stem can move a small amount back and forward. [The movement is maybe 3-4 mm at the handlebar.]

The user guide I have here says that if the clamp needs adjustment, I have to take it to a dealer.

Does anyone know if I can do it myself?

Also, there are 2 small Allen screws in the clamp — one of them is quite a lot higher than the other one. Is this normal? [See pic].

Thanks for any info.

vihoa

Is there anyone know where to buy the part and can ship it to Germany or the other name of the part? Please help me. I am troubled with finding the part. I can't post link or image at the moment.

CEBEP

If your Birdy is R&M you can contact them directly www.r-m.de or better yet one of their dealers in Germany. If it’s an Asian model made by Pacific Cycle you can contact them directly too at: https://www.pacific-cycle.com/contact-us

vihoa

Thanks. I have a pretty old one even before 2000. The other sources online reported that the rm or dealers will not answer because the bike is not supported anymore.

CEBEP

Normally manufacturer in EU is supposed to carry spare parts for 10 years after the product is discontinued. Assuming you’re in Germany too I think it will be easy for you to talk to R&M. If not you can check with Pacific Cycles too, they reply emails very fast.

You can also check with Mighty Velo in Singapore.

https://www.mightyvelo.com/contact-us/

They might be able to help or suggest and they also ship internationally.

Jipe

As far as I know, there is no such obligation in the EU !?

CEBEP

Right to Repair. Not sure if it’s a law or just a regulation. But this is what I heard exists. Different countries may have different local laws and regulations about the same.

Jipe

The link you give is only applicable to some electronic products, not to bikes )or any other product !

In the past, some manufacturers like Philips had spare parts for all there products.

But this cost a lot of money and has a major impact on the price of the product.

Philips eventually abandoned this to remain competitive against Japanese and Chinese brands that didn't had any spare parts for their products.

CEBEP

Not electronics but household (white goods) goods,
also as far as I know applies to cars manufacturing but not sure to what extend. So it may apply to some extend to bicycles manufacturing too, I don’t know what are local laws in Germany.

Here in Turkey it’s 5 years for PCs and cell phones and 10 years for TVs and white goods.

Since bicycles are used for much longer than that I assume R&M or Asian manufacturer may still carry unique parts for discontinued models. At least they should be in my opinion.

Jipe

There is no legal obligation to have spare parts for cars, its only a good practice of car manufacturers and its usually 7 years.

I wonder how Turkey can enforce to have spare parts for cell phones during 5 years as most Chinese manufacturers do not have them !

CEBEP

If cell phone supplier can not fix the broken phone due to the lack of spare parts the owner can sue the distributor for compensation. Companies selling products in Turkey must comply with such regulations, or they don’t sell. Consumer laws and regulations are different in different countries. In Turkey all sold products must have minimum 2 year’s warranty. Except for goods like perfumes, food etc. In US, as far as I know it’s not the case, manufacturer is free to offer the warranty they like, could be 1 year or 1 month. How countries enforce such regulations is a different topic.

Jipe

In the whole EU, its also two years warranty.

But it doesn't mean that spare parts must be available, the seller can also replace the product by a new one.

For smartphones, 5 years is an eternity, for most Android smartphones, there are even no SW upgrade available after that time !

CEBEP

Lack of firmware updates does’t mean the phone can’t be used. 5 years will give 3 extra years of serviceability after 2 years of warranty. If it’s left to distributors they will end services life of a smartphone immodestly after warranty period which will force the owner to replace it. These regulations are meant to protect consumers. I can’t understand what is surprising you here.

Jipe

I am not opposed to it, I just say that in practice, its not like that and that there are no spare parts available for many products.

If the manufacturer has no spare parts, the reseller cannot provide any spare parts even if some countries have put in place some laws enforcing to have spare parts.

CEBEP

Then they don’t distribute. It’s specifically true for white goods which obviously have much longer life time than cellular phones. Some manufacturers offer 7 years extended warranty. My fridge have recently malfunctioned. It’s local brand. Service engineer said it’s 2 years warranty ended in 2017 yet he had nonissues replacing the screen and controller board. It’s how things are supposed to be. Equipment manufacturers earn more from service and spare parts sale then they do from selling the equipment. It’s in their interest to keep service available for as long as they can.

CEBEP

After installing Big Apples my kickstand which was barely holding the bike gave up. It was almost unable to hold the bike so I had to keep it between my legs when I stopped. Could be the case that my kickstand had an issue, donno.

Was looking for different solutions and decided to go with Pacific Cycle model. Since they are big producers of Birdy bicycles I though they know what they are doing.

Perfect fit, acceptable price and looks good. Would definitely recommend to anyone looking for alternative kickstand.

JRat

Fatter tyres need a longer kickstand as the bike is raised by the increase in the tyre size. A few mm difference in tyre size can usually be accommodated by accepting a different angle of tilt. Many kickstands have adjustable lengths but this adds weight and cost.

I'm thinking of changing from Big Apples to the Marathon Racers so I'm likely to encounter this kickstand problem, which I hadn't thought about. I need to inspect the kickstand.

CEBEP

Kickstands designed for Birdy bicycles have two versions, 18’ and 20’. Some of them (Ridea) have interchangeable tips. I bough this Pacific cycle kickstand from Mighty Velo and before buying it specifically asked if I should go with this or a 20’ version assuming Inhave taller big apples. Both replied that 18’ will do fine as they designed it to accommodate both standard and big apples on Birdy’s they sell. I’m glad I did. Perfect fit.

hwoha

Hi all, i'm a new Birdy bike owner. It's my very first foldie so please pardon me if my question sound silly.
I would like to know if the Birdy is still foldable after the mudguards are installed as I am interested to get one set for mine.

CEBEP

Hello and welcome to the forum. It does fold with stock mudguards just fine, do you plan to add originals or aftermarket?

hwoha

Thank you for the reply. I think I will go for the original mudguards as I couldn't find any alternatives in the aftermarket. For a mudguard, the price of the original does seem to be on the high side.

Perhaps you are aware and can recommend alternatives that works just as well as the original?