9/4/15 12:29 PM

I have a Bike Friday, but this one seems better, e.g. cheaper, larger wheels, rollable, fits in suitcase without disassembly, etc.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/330901966/helixtm-the-worlds-best-folding-bike

9/4/15 1:51 PM

I was interested when I first saw it, but I think it has some fatal design flaws.

The seat tube angle is 77 degrees. I can't get my saddle to where i normally ride, and the crank arm length is 165. This may be fixable, but I'm not sire what cranks will fit.

9/4/15 3:14 PM

maybe not a hard-core bike, but a great option for exploration and tooling around while on vacation.

the STA is strange...i can see no technical reason why it's so dang steep -- the thing folds up around the BB! reversing the seatpin would certainly help.

i will monitor this...

9/4/15 5:11 PM

The retracting monoblade fork is very interesting.
You could use a seat post with setback.
I'd love a test ride

9/4/15 6:22 PM

I use a seatpost with setback on a 72.5 seat tube angle, so theres no wau I can get 4.5 cm more setback.

They reached 300% of their funding target the first day of the campaign, so it looks to be wildly successful. I think they have underpriced the first batch.

Also, I'm not wild about the 1 size fits all thought process. I'm 6'1" and may be on the fringes of the saddle height limits. The way they measure saddle height is vague and very unclear at this point.

9/10/15 1:24 PM

With such an upright handlebar and seemingly short forward reach, there will be much less of the rider's weight falling into the handlebars.
So a steeper seat position becomes more tolerable actually.

The shorter crankarms also make sense in this context, since with a steeper seat angle the saddle runs a bit taller above the bb for any given leg reach, putting the pedals further from terra firma. A lower bb height is thus beneficial, as permitted by shorter crankarms. As well, for the short jaunts that a bike like this is best suited, one might benefit from the more-limited range of knee-joint flexure offered by shorter crankarms during what might be merely a warm-up ride in most cases.

So I might say "try it before you knock it", as it might offer a sensible compromise.

But I won't be taking one of these on a training ride or into the steeps of the foothills.

BTW, most of the photos show a zero-offset post, not forward-facing.
I rode the bike below on a recent 67-mile ride that included a nearly continuous 1500-ft climb, and similar descent at the end. That descent was uncomfortable with the similarly-steep angles as the foldng bike (notice how the normal stem points downward!), but that was with a long top-tube, forward saddle and with the added reach of road bars in a 10cm stem.



Last edited by dddd on 9/10/15 2:40 PM; edited 1 time in total

9/10/15 2:07 PM

Don't the stack and reach specs contradict these 'fatal deign flaws'??

That seems like the ultimate city/travel bike [potentially]. And 24" tires for the taller folks major plus IMO.

Honestly, the BB drop [lack of any] is the main flaw I see perhaps.

9/10/15 2:15 PM

Bike Friday's have negative bob drop. The bob is higher than the hubs as its required for clearance.

I would only want a folder/ travel bike that replicated my normal riding position. This one is designed to fold first and fit second.

9/10/15 4:24 PM

Duh, yeah... 24" wheels