There’s also a wheeled bag for the entire bike. You can even leave the bag clipped to the frame when folded up. A clip on the front of the frame holds any of a wide variety of bags with capacities up to 1890 cubic inches. You can leave the handlebars extended while folding up the bike and wheel the compacted bike behind you like a rolling suitcase. The folded bike is the most secure of any we reviewed, so there’s no risk of it unraveling as you maneuver it into place.īut what really set the Brompton apart was that provided for the details beyond just folding up the bike. The drivetrain folds between two halves of the frame so you’re much less likely to touch the greased chain or have it brush against your aircraft interior. It’s the smallest and most secure when folded, while still being the second easiest to fold. To test, we ran each bike multiple days on our hilly, six-mile daily commute, and brought together a group of pilots to try the bikes on the tarmac and in their airplanes.īrompton has been in the folding bike business for a long time, and it shows. So we asked manufacturers to send us their best choices for this mission: Small and lightweight bike to travel three to 10 miles with a light bag. There are literally dozens of compact folder models out there. There are also full-size folding bikes that we may look at in a later issue. We’ll just look at compact folding bikes-small wheels and frames to minimize space and weight. The good news is that the recent surge of interest in biking has brought several more folding bike options onto the market. A bicycle small and light enough to carry with you could make all the difference in multiplying your aircraft’s utility. Dahon’s Mariner may be the best overall value.ĭahon’s Mariner is light and small enough to heft into the back of a Cessna 152.Īs terrific as on-airport cafés and crew cars are, there are plenty of times a few inconvenient miles separate the airport from your real destination. Here is my attempt at a cut and paste of the article:Ĭompact Folding Bikes: Brompton Our Top Pickīrompton and Bike Friday offer the easiest, cleanest and most compact folders, but they ain’t cheap. The story is in the July 2012 edition of Aviation Consumer.
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