bikewilltravel

Yes, that is my ride. Hope it is helpful with the GPX and lodging. I'm not a great writer, lol.

The Changebike is undermentioned, especially with bike touring but I have a feeling I'm going to like it. I also have a Brompton and Ritchey Ascent Breakaway. Except for the Changebike boxing and shopping, I feel the bike will give me the advantages of a Brompton but with larger wheels.

timo888 

No complaints about the brakes. Jam them on and the tires skid to a stop; or modulate the squeeze and come to a smooth stop. We don't ride in the rain so the fact that they're resin-pad only doesn't pose a problem.

I bought the Zee because it had a good reputation for keeping the chain from jumping off the cogs. The rails-to-trails paths we ride can be very jiggly in stretches. There are no steep grades, so no climbing gears are needed. The Zee does require quite a lot of thumb strength when shifting to easier gears, which my wife doesn't like, so it might get swapped out.

Thanks for the stem-riser link. My wife likes to sit upright, so a riser that lifted the bars just a tad might do nicely coupled with a short stem.


P.S. I should add that the Change MTB frame did come with a headset but I bought the Cane Creek tapered headset along with one of their 1-1/8 adapters in case I could not find a suitable tapered fork.

bikewilltravel

The Cane Creek headset is a better headset. Lots of good 1 1/2 to 1 1/8 carbon forks on the market. Not sure you need a stem riser, all forks have a long steerer tube, just don't cut it until you know your fit. I would post a photo of my build but can't until I have posted 10 posts!

timo888 

This was my first-ever carbon component, so I was erring on the side of caution and did not cut the steerer tube any longer than necessary -- what I thought my wife would be willing to accept. The length, with the riser handlebars, puts her at "fitness" posture, though she prefers Mary Poppins posture.

bikewilltravel

You can always put the spacers on top of the stem and bike with it awhile before you cut it. If you don't care about how it looks, you don't even have to cut the steerer tube.

timo888 

I had no prior experience with carbon forks, and so followed the instructions that I found on the Whisky website (since Hylix did not have one) and they seemed to be saying otherwise, though maybe they meant "failure to maintain at least 7mm of steerer above the stem clamp may result in steerer failure":

https://whiskyparts.co/files/tech/24...ST_vF_RevB.pdf

• The spacer stack between the headset and stem must not exceed 50mm (figure 4).
• WARNING: Failure to properly install and adjust handlebar and stem can result in serious injury.
• A steerer tube must extend 7–8 mm above the top of the stem clamp and have a 10 mm spacer installed between the stem and top cap (figure 5).
• Failure to retain 7mm of steerer above the stem clamp may result in steerer failure.
• Carefully measure and mark the amount of steerer tube to be removed. Remember that, when cut, the top of the steerer tube must be 2–3mm below the top of the headset spacer/stem assembly (figure 6)

There's lots of "ask the other manufacturer" disclaiming in the world of carbon forks, I learned. Cane Creek says to follow the carbon fork manufacturer's instructions. The carbon fork manufacturer says to follow the headset manufacturer's instructions.

pinholecam

Yes, its common recommendation.
The 50mm max limit is to prevent shearing off the steerer due to the forces seen in a drop or very hard braking.
The 7mm above stem is to steer clear of the edge/end of the steerer where its weaker and prone to crack if subject to clamping or jerking forces in riding.


There is probably some margin here depending on user weight and type of riding done, but for manufacturers, they will need to stay on the safe side for recommendations.

Geepig

Now I am left wondering who the headset manufacturer recommends. The bearing manufacturer?

bikewilltravel

Good to know, thanks. I must have at least 150mm spacers on my steerer tube! I like adjusting the spacers (to adjust stem height) if necessary. Maybe I will go back to an aluminum fork for touring.

ryancfp

Good day, I have recently build up a flatbar version of a gravel bike after I was inspired by the thread here.

ryancfp

Happy to share my build if anyone is interested

Geepig

We are always interested!

ryancfp

The frame is same as Pinholecam.
Fork : MRP Rock Solid Carbon
RD : Ultegra RX
Cassette : 11-34
Shifter: Shimano RS700 11 speed
Brake Lever: R780 Flat Bar Road Brake Lever
Caliper: TRP SPYRE SLC road bike
Crankset: Prowheel Ounce and Snail chainring 40t
wheelset: Hunt 650b Adventure Carbon with WTB resolute (42mm)
Saddle: Brooks B17
handlebar and stem : Uno Aluminum
handlebar grip : Brooks

pinholecam

Always good to add to the pool of information about this bike.

Do share photos when you can post them.

ryancfp

Sure. Just waiting for my posts to reach 7. Haha

pinholecam

Cycling in Penang (Aug2022)


Update for this bike again...

Been 2 years since my last trip (also Penang), but this trip was catered for riding and photography.

I managed to shave the box down to 89x70x43cm, and this lets the box go into even a small car via the rear passenger seats.
So no more looking for 'special' larger taxi/ ride hail that costs more and more stress looking for in a foreign country.
Moving it around is also simple.
Just a trolley with a disused tube as a bungie to secure it.

In theory, I can get the box to be a bit smaller if I take off the rear wheel, but it might not be worth the effort since the wheel will have to find a space to be placed in the box and its more messy/greasy once rear wheel removal is involved. Also, it would leave the RD in contact with the ground instead of being suspended by the wheel.

Some photos from the trip. Moving around by bicycle certainly provides a good way to get from photo site to photo site in a rather efficient way.

IMGP2877 by pinholecam02, on Flickr



IMGP2880 by pinholecam02, on Flickr


IMGP2951 by pinholecam02, on Flickr

Ron Damon

Nice. Penang is my favorite place in peninsular Malaysia and Georgetown one of my favorite cities in SEAsia. I've thought of flying there and cycling northwards toward Thailand. Any thoughts?

Are ChangeBike framesets available for sale in SG?

pinholecam

I have heard of people doing the ride up to Thailand, but I don't have any information on it.
My guess would be that it should be rather typical of most riding in Malaysia with nice quiet roads off from the city, but potentially more messy ones across any town/city.

The Change Bike is available online.
Qoo10 Shop 「Change folding bike」

I'd say it this way for this bike.
I have thought about riding fast, riding light trails (due to necessity more than want during tours ), worth of bike, cost of bike, and this bike really offers quite a lot of all this for a very reasonable price with respect to other small wheeled folders which often will cost a lot more to get to one aspect of what I mentioned above (eg. speed; option to ride trails; costs -almost never that cheap )

pinholecam

The versatility of the Change Bike with the wide tires and good 650b rollover means navigating into most trails leading to small local areas of attraction isn't too big a problem.
While previously on a 18' or 20' bike, I'd have to be extra careful about cycling through broken ground, its much less of an issue with the Change Bike.

I had planned for this small detour into the local waferfalls and on Google Maps, the street view simply disappears shortly after a small stretch of tarmac.
True enough, it was led into by a broken trail and being able to cycle in to get to the waterfalls instead of walking or ride+walk saved lots of time.


The end result.... well worth it for me.

IMGP3006-1 by pinholecam02, on Flickr

Ron Damon

That road looks like the tertiary roads here. Is that the central Penang spine?

I've got a 700c disc wheelset looking for a worthy frame. Too bad for me the Change bike is rim-brake and 650b.

pinholecam

Yeah, I think there will be plenty of them in Bali.
Been there twice for photo trips, really beautify place.

The Change Bike has a few models.
Road - 700c (rim)
26" - 26" disc
650b - 650b disc

The catch is that the rear dropout is QR and not thru axel.

Ron Damon

I also do photography, but more on the Street and Urban People-scapes side of things...You may recognize this place.

biosync

FlatBikes their USA distributor just released a new build for the ChangeBike. They silently introduced a gravel version of the MTB folder that they have.

Configurations offered are:
1. Grx 1x11
2. Grx 2x11
3. Grx 2x11 w/ 105 RD

The GRX 2x11 uses 46/30T cranks with an 11/34t cassette. I think for my future build I'd go for the Sram 43/33T wide cranks instead and go full wireless.

Unfortunately, BikeForums doesn't allow me to post links since I don't meet the post count yet. If you want to find the bike, just google: "flatbike road warrior folding gravel bike"

Reddleman

https://flatbike.com/product/folding_gravel_bike/

Bit of an ugly bugger if you ask me. Their foldaway stem doesn’t help. I much prefer Pinholecam’s build at the start of the thread anyway.

pinholecam

Nice gearing options.
The 46/30t pushes out the chainrings such that the 46t does not hit the chainstay (good!).
I had to shim my BB to give clearance for a 44t chainring.
11-34t will give a more gradual change in gearing as well.

Good to see more ideas regarding gearing / builds.