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I had an MCL Micro (beautiful UK made frame) with a similar tendency toward wheelies thanks to the short wheelbase. The turning was also very .... responsive. Fun to ride, but you had to stay attentive.
Folders! Foldable bicycles, minivelos and demontables
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I had an MCL Micro (beautiful UK made frame) with a similar tendency toward wheelies thanks to the short wheelbase. The turning was also very .... responsive. Fun to ride, but you had to stay attentive.
bikeworkshop
Old School Grand Master
Iirc, MCL micro became Cresswell micro, some small improvements made, then absorbed by pashley, who dropped the micro and the brandname but offered some of their larger folders for a few years...
There must be a marque enthusiast around here somewhere?
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Yep, but the "improvements" meant significantly increasing the wheelbase through a longer rear triangle. I prefer the original shorter version. I've not seen any of the later models to see if the brazing is as nice. I sadly sold mine at Sheffield Bike Jumble when I was rationalising before moving abroad. I only kept one folder, which was my R20 since that is heavily tweaked for me, whereas the Mirco was 100% original.
bikeworkshop
Old School Grand Master
You'd expect manufacturers to make improvements with time.
Controversial here i know
.I've always thought this design was shelved because of the failure rate.
Think of the twisting forces on the head"tube" once you've got a 14stone guy riding a few miles up hill.
There are plenty of examples of consumer products peaking, in terms of design, quality of workmanship and materials, before deteriorating in the quest for cost savings and increased margins.You'd expect manufacturers to make improvements with time.
Controversial here i know
I've always thought this design was shelved because of the failure rate.
Think of the twisting forces on the head"tube" once you've got a 14stone guy riding a few miles up hill.
A product becomes popular, demand spikes, all of a sudden investors are swarming and priorities change. The small well managed team of passionate artisans gets replaced by a factory staffed by underpaid drones in a cheaper part of the world. Components once made of metal are replaced with plastic equivalents, quality control standards lapse as it all becomes about volume and shifting units. No longer building a reputation, but milking a reputation.
A story as old as time, and we can all point to bike brands that followed this path.
I guess this is a case of the product never being that great to begin with.
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Guinessisgoodforyou
rBotM Winner
Dr David Hon wrote a paper on small wheel bicycles. Worth a read.
Here's a link
Fascinating, it looks like this is a company that is striving to improve the product and user experience.
Good to know, it seems that later is better with Dahon bikes.
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grantoury
Kona Fan
This is earlier than the first one, I think. Head tube seems very similar.
It's an 88 model I think.
