THE FOLDING SOCIETY
FOLDING SOCIETY NEWS
Issue 80 - 5 August 2001
EDITORIAL
Again I don't seem to have done any serious cycling since the
last issue of FSN, and although the Bromptons have proved useful
for both commuting and leisure travel, there have been times when
I have deliberately chosen to travel without a folder - though
coming to regret this in some respects at one stage of the
journey.
When (not?) to take a folder
On Tuesday 31st I went down to London (via
Marylebone) again; once again I was visiting a number of
photographic shops, disposing of a camera and lens, and intending
to buy a new lens. In the end I actually bought another lens as
well, as Graham McDermott, who I was meeting in London, pointed
out one of the rather uncommon Pentax 40mm pancake lenses.
Mercifully this visit was incident free, though of course I kept
well clear of W H Smith, buying magazines and papers at Morgrams
near Birmingham Snow Hill instead; incidentally, they didn't
provide me or other customers with a receipt or carrier. As well
as visits to a number of shops, Graham and I went to the
Barbican, where the are two very good, if very different,
exhibitions of photographs until September of work by Fay Godwin
and by 'Great Eyewitness Photographers'.
Because of the amount of time in shops and the Barbican, I had
again decided a bicycle would be an encumbrance, though very
useful getting to and from Tipton station. On arrival (on time)
at Marylebone I was rather surprised to see a Brompton chained up
on the cycle stands on the platform - most owners choose to take
a Brompton with them, rather than leave it chained up. On the way
back I saw one Brompton and owner at Waterloo and another at
Marylebone (neither were members of the Folding Society), and on
the platform there were both a red AM Moulton and a black Bike
Friday chained up. On the way back on the train I pondered on the
fact that I now had to walk back from Tipton to home, and that
the idea of leaving the Brompton at Tipton station would have had
its attractions - it would really only have been in the way for
the rest of this journey. The most obvious danger of this
approach is the risk of it being stolen, and on our return to
Birmingham, another problem was highlighted. It turned out
that our train was timetabled to fail to provide a connection
from Smethwick Galton Bridge to Tipton by 2 minutes, and the next
local to Tipton involved a wait of an hour. If I'd had a bike
with me, I could simply have ridden home from Galton Bridge, but
without it I looked around for station staff to see if they could
advise me of any alternative local buses. Regrettably, even the
ticket office was not occupied, so after some thought I decided
to go out onto the main road and look for a bus. Unfortunately I
just missed an 87 to Dudley, so I walked a couple of kilometres
towards Dudley, but decided walking the whole way (about 6 km
more) was not appealing, and waited for the next bus - 20 minutes
wasted. At this stage it would have been a nuisance if I had left
a bike at Tipton, as the bus route didn't pass that station, and
in fact took me a bit closer to home.
Folders undoubtedly give a lot of flexibility to arrangements
when travelling, but even they can be a bit in the way at times,
such as when shopping, and I'd certainly be worried about theft
if I left one chained up at a station for a prolonged period. I
have tried using a micro scooter to get to and from the station
at this end - much less trouble to carry round on the train and
while shopping etc, but not really suitable for the 2.5km each
way to and from the station here, and not very easy to use with
any luggage.
Bromptons at Crich Tram Museum
After the trip to London without a bike, I had a visit to
Crich Tram Museum arranged for the next day (Wednesday). I rode my
SP to Tipton and caught a train to New Street, where I met Paul
Evans (a regular on the Origami Ride, usually on a Moulton APB7) with his Brompton to travel to Matlock, changing trains at
Derby. Paul had only acquired his used L5 Brompton a few days
before, and after a tyre failure (Raleigh Record) had just fitted
Schwalbe Marathons. The rear one seemed to be rubbing on
something, and as far as we could see, it was just making contact
with the bracing tube at the front of the rear forks. On my T5,
which has Schwalbes, the clearance there is quite small, but
there certainly is clearance. Of course mine is an old bike with
an earlier version of the rear forks, but I've not heard anyone
else mention a lack of clearance with Schwalbes on the back, so
I'm rather puzzled by this. We did think of taking the Brompton
tyre off the front of my SP and fitting it to the back of Paul's
bike, putting the Schwalbe on the front of mine, but this seemed
like a lot of trouble, so in the end he put up with the slight
rubbing for what was only going to be a relatively short cycle
ride. My SP suffers from a more serious potential rear tyre clearance
problem, in that anything other than a Primo makes contact with
the mudguard fixing bolts, due to the fact that the centre of the
wheel is slightly further into the dropouts than on a hub-geared
model, where the locating washers on the Sturmey hub provide a
little extra clearance. All of this goes to show that the New
Series Moulton is not the only bike to have rather tight
clearances which can restrict tyre choice - indeed it makes me
feel that perhaps I have been rather unfair to the NS in
mentioning the subject so often while generally ignoring similar
problems on Bromptons and other machines.
The ride out of Matlock involved quite a climb, and I was glad
of the extra gears of the SP compared with Paul's L5, which was
fitted with the standard Brompton Mk II gearing, ie very high. Of
course the extra friction from the tyre rubbing on the forks was
also a distinct hindrance for Paul. Once we joined the canal
towpath, riding became easier, and the excellent surface and
delightful surroundings made this short section of the ride most
enjoyable.
We left the towpath just before Whatstandwell (we could of
course have got off the train there on the way to Matlock, but we
wanted to ride along the towpath), and began what turned out to be
a long, steep ascent to the museum at Crich. It was steep enough
to force me to push part of the way, despite the range of gears
and a relatively light load. Using bottom gear for part of the
climb disclosed that the gear mech was rubbing against the rear
tyre at one point - clearance between the mech and 7-speed
derailleur is extremely close on my early SP. Consequently I
avoided bottom gear for the rest of the journey - I was able to
make adjustments the next day to restore the normal clearance of
half a gnat's whisker between the tyre sidewall and mechanism!
We left the folders locked to railings inside the museum while
we spent the afternoon looking around and riding on the trams. We
did think of trying to take the bikes on a tram, or at least taking a
photograph of them with a tram, but didn't get around to it. It's
an attractive spot, and everything is well presented. The tram
ride is fairly short, but enjoyable. The really odd thing though
is that the location is an old quarry (hence the location at a
considerable height) - fine for the museum, but quite out of
character for where trams would usually have run. I'd regard it as a
good spot to visit if you have any interest in trams, and it's
good value, but it's hard work getting up there on a bike.
The ride back down the hill was exhilarating, though the
narrow twisting and rough road meant that we didn't build up much
speed, and the brakes were given a good test. The V-brakes of the
SP had no trouble with this descent, and Paul's Mk II, upgraded
with the latest Brompton brakes, also had no difficulties. We
caught the train back to Derby from Whatstandwell, arriving a few
minutes late, but in time to get on the Virgin express back to
Birmingham. Unfortunately, this was delayed leaving Derby by 25
minutes, waiting for train staff. Although this was frustrating,
it was very reassuring to know I had a bike with me today, unlike
the previous day, so that if I missed local trains at Birmingham,
I had plenty of options open to me. In fact I only had a 15
minute wait at Birmingham for a train to Tipton, but if necessary
I could have caught an express to Sandwell and Dudley
and cycled home from there, or I could even have ridden all the
way from Birmingham.
Although I had ridden less than 20km during the day, it was a
very pleasant outing, and the SP, and Paul's L5, performed well
and contributed substantially to the enjoyment. Paul found this a
useful test prior to the Welsh Trains Ride at the beginning of
September - apart from sorting out the tyre rubbing problem, he
has decided he will lower the gearing before that ride.
Everything must go!
Well no, not really everything! However, after rationalising
my camera equipment, I do really need to do something similar
with the cycles - I just have too many at the moment, and they
occupy space and don't get ridden sufficiently. Consequently I've
decided that several machines must go - the top contenders are
the three conventional bikes (Mercian, Thorn Audax and Marin East
Peak), and one or both Bike Fridays (New World Tourist and Pocket
Rocket). If you are interested in these get in touch. I might
consider offers on the other machines in the stable as well,
though I should warn you that I'm unlikely to part with the New
Series Moulton or SP Brompton.
Next issue
The next issue of Folding Society News is scheduled for 19th
August, but if news and articles by members continue to be in
short supply, then it may have to be put back.
Format
If you receive this issue of FSN in a plain text form,
please remember that a formatted version is available on our web pages at
http://www.foldsoc.co.uk/fsn/fsn080.html,
and you can receive the formatted version (suitable for reading with a web
browser) just by emailing us to let us know you prefer this version.
BIKE FRIDAY
Bike Friday owners who have registered on the Bike Friday web
site can access the latest issue of the Foldable Flyer newsletter
(Vol 9, No 2, Summer 2001) on that site at http://www.bikefriday.com/communitylogin.cfm.
It is in PDF format, and can be downloaded for printing and
reading using Adobe Acrobat. Owners who have not yet joined the
community can register on the site, or if they are already
registered, but have forgotten their password, they can use a
password reminder tool on
the page.
MOULTON
Issue 62 of The Moultoneer, dated July 2001, arrived last
week. It includes details of
the changes to the range which were referred to in our last issue
(FSN 79). There is also more
information about the Bradford on Avon Weekend on 29th and 30th
September, and there is a description of how Peter Evans
has modified his APB to provide electrical assistance.
TEAM BROMPTON AND THE MANCHESTER TO BLACKPOOL CHARITY RIDE
By David Grimwood
Having ridden full frame bicycles for many
years and having heard varying reports about folding cycles - Bromptons in particular
- I was pleasantly surprised when my
recently acquired Brompton exceeded my expectations. Primarily the Brompton L3 was to be used in
conjunction with the railway system for shorter “sight
seeing” cycle rides. Finding that the ride quality was so good,
the Brompton has been used instead of my touring bicycles for
some longer trips - 30 miles plus being no problem. Ideas for short cycle tours were being
developed and more challenging rides seemed to be acceptable on
the Brompton. Then came the suggestion of doing the 57-mile
Manchester to Blackpool charity cycle ride. No problem on a full
size bicycle, but the issue of return transportation made the
Brompton worth considering.
“Okay, we’ll give it a try! We can
always pull out at Preston if it’s too difficult on the
Bromptons!” That’s the attitude that Bob (owner of a
T5) and I set out with.
We left Manchester under grey skies and the
threat of rain that soon materialised. As with most mass start events, there is
always the danger of getting carried away with the infectious
excitement and start riding much too hard. We did just that! The
pace through the outskirts of Manchester was fast, catching and
passing people along the way. Promising ourselves a slower pace
after the first tea-stop, we maintained the pace.
The first stop was Haigh Hall on the outskirts of Wigan. I had already started to enjoy the exclamations
and comments about the Brompton and when questioned on the folly
of such a long ride on a small-wheeled bicycle I gently argued
the positive attributes of the Brompton. By now it was raining hard, and there was a
little less than forty miles to ride. This was the time for the
slower pace we promised ourselves. Did we slow down? No! If
anything the pace lifted. We were enjoying ourselves! We passed
by Chorley and Preston and out on to the Lancashire plain. At one point I was amused to hear one rider
berating his fellow riders for their lack of effort. His choice
comments on being passed by two small-wheeled bicycles going like
the clappers was amusing (but unrepeatable) to say the least!
Blackpool was quickly approaching, but the
much-hoped view of the Tower never materialised because of the
continuing low cloud and rain. Never mind, we had enjoyed the
ride, the Bromptons had performed well and we would soon be in
the drier environment of the refreshments tents. The final stretch into Blackpool’s Stanley
Park was delightful. People had taken the trouble to stand in the
rain to welcome the many hundreds of rider over the finishing
line. Each rider received applause as the rounded the last corner
and the applause seemed to be that little bit louder for the two
riders on their Bromptons. Team Brompton!
I would also like to take this opportunity
to extend my thanks to Jem Kime for organising such a pleasant
ride from Moulton to Bickerton early this month. The lunch
stop and its views were as good as promised and the camaraderie
between the Moultoneers and Bromptoneers was most enjoyable. Many
thanks!
TAL-TOTAL FOLDER MEETING ON THE RHINE, 28 JUNE
By Ralf Grosser
Photograph: Marco Schuett
I arrived in Wisbaden at 8:15. and met the
other participants of the Foldermeeting. We got to Ruedesheim by
10:30, almost one and a half hours behind schedule. 3
Birdys, 3 Bromptons and my Alex Moulton showed up for the ride. After a photo session and minor adjustments,
I did a quick spin on Marco's Birdy over the cobblestones in front
of the station. Ruedesheim is on the east side of the Rhine
river, so we rode north on the B42 to Koblenz. The day was
starting to turn out to be quit a scorcher. Remember this is one
of the best areas in Germany for growing grapes, and therefore
always very hot in summer. For Tal-Total they close 60KM of road
for one day for all motorized traffic. You would think this is a
cyclists dream, but can at times turn into a nightmare. You have
all those people turning up, who don’t ride a bike or
rollerblades the rest of the year.
Starting out, in Ruedesheim, bike traffic
was a bit congested, with people showing up on just about
anything that had pedals or wheels on it. The road to Koblenz
from here is very flat, so you can do this tour even with a one
speed bike, as I had done, in 1982 on one of my first tours down the
Rhine. Most of the time I had the gears at 62 to 16, and in town
just shifted down onto the 50 chainring up front. A three-speed
hub geared bike would be adequate for any tour just down the Rhine. In
spite of being not a very fast cyclist, I kept losing our group.
In the first town after Ruedesheim, Lorch, I waited for them, only to have
the local Intelligentsia make smart remarks about the poor bloke,
who could not afford a full-sized bike. After meeting up again we
continued and again I lost our people.
With hundreds people on bikes on the road,
sometimes you don’t know, if the people you are with, are
behind, or ahead of you. I had agreed with Marco to wait in
one village, where every year there was a recumbent exhibit by
the roadside. Finding this, I looked at some 2 and 3 wheelers,
then decided to rest in the shade of a tree.
When traveling down the Rhine, you would
think, you are traveling south to north, but with the way the
river meanders, you also are moving east to west. This gets quit
noticeable on a hot day, when you try traveling in the shade of
the trees, but after the next turn find none. I made several stops
to refill my water bottle. At the Lorelei cliff I met again with
Marco, and waited for the rest of our group. Here I also saw my
first other Moulton for the day. This was owned by a middle-aged
gentleman. He had bought his APB like I had my AM, from the late
Dieter Maier of Offenbach.
Over lunch, some of us decides to take a
train back, and some were not sure if they would ride all the way
to Koblenz. Having set my goal to do the full trip, I continued
on my own. In this kind of heat, I rather liked riding a bit
faster, with a little bit of airflow to cool me. We had agreed to
meet in Koblenz, but after an hour's wait I took the train home.
I later found out that three of the Birdys
had made it to Koblenz, but we had missed each other by about 15
minutes.
The next folder meeting will be on the river
Kinzig For Kinzig Tal-Total on 9th September, at 11:00. The
meeting place will be Hanau central station - for further
information contact Marco Schuett, 06051/72822, email: Marco.Schuett-LA@t-online.de.
SALES AND WANTS
If you have a folder,
separable, or accessories to dispose of, or you want to buy, you can use the
Sales and Wants page (http://www.foldsoc.co.uk/sandw.html). If you want to
have something put on the list, just email us the details (mike@foldsoc.co.uk) - there is no charge,
but please let us know when it is sold so that we can take it off
the list.Take all normal precautions
when buying and selling goods - the Folding Society and its
officers are not responsible for the descriptions and products
and services contained in the Sales & Wants list.
RIDES AND OTHER EVENTS
The events listed below are a combination of those organised
by Folding Society members or of potential interest to members.
Remember that cycling can be dangerous (so is travelling by
car, bus, train, air or water, breathing and living!); anyone
participating in any way in any event does so at their own risk.
Saturday 4th August - Mud Dock
Although there is no official organiser, the gatherings on the
first Saturday of the month at Mud Dock in Bristol are still
taking place and receiving good support. Meet at Mud Dock from
about 10.30am onwards.
Saturday 11th August - Origami Ride
Origami Rides
are usually held on the second Saturday of each month, and the
normal meeting point is at the Tearooms at Meriden. For
further information, contact John Pinkerton on 0121 350 0685, email
pinkertn@mwfree.net, or look at his web site at
http://www.users.mwfree.net/~pinkertn/origami.html.
17 - 19th August - Bike Friday Homecoming Rally 2001,
Eugene, Oregon. Contact Jennifer Hill, jenniferH@bikefriday.com
for further details
2001 A Cycling Odyssey
There is of course no CycleFest at Lancaster this year, but
for those whose year is not complete without a visit to
Lancaster, there is the Cycling Odyssey, described as a unique cycle camping event.
Note that there have been some alterations to the details
published previously, as the second weekend has had to be
cancelled. The event will therefore be held on the weekend 18th & 19th August 2001 based on the usual campsite on the Lune estuary
at Snatchems End near Lancaster.
Further info from Steve Andrews - please phone 01524 824594 or email
vickya@dial.pipex.com The website is
at http://sdk.tripod.com/cyclingodyssey.html
."
August 24 - 26: Tynebikes Rising Sun cycle festival
A weekend at the Rising Sun Park,
Wallsend, Newcastle upon Tyne. For further
information contact Ken Davison telephone 0191 296 2918 mobile 07720 916
046 or e:mail tnegus@onet.co.uk
or john.turvey@kpmg.co.uk
8th - 9th September - Welsh Trains Ride
A weekend outing for folders taking in preserved steam
railways (and main line trains), using cycles and other means of
transport to get between stations. See editorial of FSN
077 for details, or contact Paul Evans at paul_evans@ekno.com.
Paul has now produced a very detailed booklet about the route
etc.
29th - 30th September - Moulton Bradford on Avon Weekend
The date for the annual Moulton weekend at Bradford on Avon weekend
has now been fixed, and details and a booking form were in issue
62 (July 2001) of The Moultoneer. Some additional information can
also be found on the MBC web pages at http://www.whooper.demon.co.uk/moulton/moultev.html.
1-5 August 2002 - CycleFest
The latest issue of The Moultoneer contains details of a
number of rides for Moulton owners during the next few months.
Apart from the fact that they all seem to be on Sundays, which
makes access by train difficult for those of us who do not have
cars and are not located close to the places where they are
taking place, these may be of interest to our Moulton-owning
'members'. Please see the Moulton Bicycle Club web pages at http://www.whooper.demon.co.uk/moulton/moultev.html
for details.
A to B Magazine
A to B Magazine remains the ultimate source of
authoritative information on folding cycles. In the unlikely event that you
aren't aware of A to B and/or don't read this magazine, then we would
urge you to take out a subscription without delay. A to B can be found on the
web pages at http://www.atob.org.uk,
or you can email them at atob@atob.org.uk, or
they can be reached by telephone or fax on 01963 351649, address 19 West Park,
Castle Cary, Somerset BA7 7DB, England. A subscription to A to B is only
£10 per year in the UK, or $24, and the magazine is published ever two
months and is packed with news, reviews and other interesting information on
effective integrated transport systems in general, and folding cycles in
particular.
Note: The views expressed by contributors
and correspondents are those of the writers, and are not
necessarily those of The Folding Society or its organisers.
Back Numbers
Back numbers of all issues of Folding Society News are
available on our web site - go to
http://www.foldsoc.co.uk/fsn/fsn.html
for the full list.
Contributing material for FSN
We would very much welcome articles, photographs or any other material
for inclusion in future issues of FSN, or on our web pages. Please send any
material to The Folding Society at the address given below. However, if you
are planning to send pictures by email, please send them at an
appropriate resolution to avoid high telephone bills - a JPEG
picture of 50K or less
is ample for use in FSN or on the web pages.
The Folding Society
email: mike@foldsoc.co.uk
Web:
http://www.foldsoc.co.uk
If
you have any news or other information of interest to other members of the
Folding Society, please email us at the above address.
If for some reason you wish to be removed from this mailing list, please
send a message to this effect to the same email address.
All information given here is provided in good faith, but no
responsibility can be taken for errors or for any consequences arising from the
publication of this information.
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Copyright (C)2001 Ferrets Anonymous
Last updated:
5 August 2001
URL:
http://www.foldsoc.co.uk/fsn/fsn080.html