I have now used the folder (Mezzo D9) twice to go to the office. I have, in the same period, been in the car twice. The lessons learned that I might be able to pass on are here.

Preparation - I had to take through to the office some clothes, shoes, wash kit, etc. in advance. Shoes particularly are too bulky to carry back and forth in a bag on the bike. Once they were deposited at the office then they generally stay there. In terms of preparation for the bike, then I was very careful about the timetables for the trains. As there are a limited of trains that start from my destination, it is important to known when I have to be at the stations. I did prepare the bike the night before along with the rack bag. Of course, at present, it is dark at both ends of the day and lights and batteries are essential.

Journey - this went well except I included so much contingency time that I got rather cooled at the station waiting for the train. The second trip was better. I expect that my time estimation will improve each trip. The train itself was fine and no issues were encountered about carrying the bike. On the first trip I took and used the bike bag, so I folded the bike and put it in the bag, on the second trip I did not take the bag and merely folded the bike. I had no issues. I was shown a route from the station to the office which was predominately on dedicated cycle paths and mainly through a park. I used this on the second trip. Much better!

Reception - I folded my bike at the office and took it in the office and under the desk. There is a changing room with a shower available. There was a lot of interest in the bike and my cycle 2 work experience.

Technical - the gearing is not low enough for where I live. There is a final 1:7 climb back into my village that is just on the limit. I also found the front light when set to flash was uncomfortable in the unlit country roads - I can see why some people find strobe lighting bad for them. The Mezzo luggage - the rack bag was great - enough for the laptop and other stuff to the office. Though the carry bag will get used less than initially intended. I got a spare tube, some tools and a pump for it. I do find riding a 16” wheeled bike rather different. And I guess I will get used to it.

Conclusions - The price point between commuting in the car and the cycle 2 work has been eroded by a) the price of fuel coming down b) train tickets going up. However, the exercise, a more environmentally friendly way to travel and the stress-less journey are good compensations. If I have done this in January then I can easily see that as the daylight gets longer and the weather gets warmer that things will be even better. So I am still happy that I have arranged to get the bike on the cycle 2 work scheme and doing my bit to support the train line and reduce the carbon emissions by not driving. It also has the advantage that the working day at the office is well-defined by train times.

Finally - on Saturday just gone (the 10th) I got the last two pieces of my order. So now I can tell the story - at least this would be book 1 - the Acquisition.

My employers benefits scheme included the benefit from the Government’s Green Transport Plan by making it possible to acquire a bicycle with some tax incentives. What this means is that I can have a new bike that I can use for whole or partial journeys to work and pay for it over 24 months direct from my salary before tax and National Insurance deductions. When the price of diesel fuel reach the £1.30 per gallon I looked at the equivalent rail fare which was £7.60 at that time - in August 2008. So the costs began to make sense, if got a bike on the scheme that I could use to ride to local railway station and then from the destination station to the office and back then I could just save a bit of money, improve my fitness and do quite a bit for the carbon footprint.

So I looked at my current collection of bicycles 2 x full-suspension MTB 1 x Road Bike and started looking at the idea of a folder. It is pretty poor that the Green Transport Plan does not extend to making taking bikes on trains easier. I decided after some reading including the Folding Society who reviewed many folding bikes that my shortlist would come down to three bikes: 1) The Brompton 2) The Dahon Speed TR and 3) Mezzo D9. The brompton is the archetypal folder - very British and the best folded size; the Dahon was more of a riding bike - having 20” wheels unlike the others with 16” and the newest being the Mezzo.

Of course the work scheme was organised for us-and my story will show what an oxymoron that was. The company had chosen to tie up with Halfords - and their Cycle2Work team. I expected hassle, especially as Halfords do not stock any of the bikes on my shortlist. But at least they do sell Dahons. In order to get into the scheme I had to state how much I wanted to spend on the bicycle - and at the time of the deadline for entries my shortlist still had three choices. I had to get quotes from Halfords so to define the amount I needed.

I got quotes - not too bad a process - but I quickly found that they respond to email better than phone. And I was surprised by the Dahon quote which seemed high - and they said it was for the next year’s model. But I found that Dahon hadn’t even announced the model for next year. I chose my value and submitted my benefit request. At the Start of October, I got the confirmation and the paperwork that I would have to exchange when I picked up my bike from my local Halfords store. However, I still hadn’t chosen which bike.

After a lot of deliberations, even building a scorecard to define the pluses and minuses of each, I reached a conclusion to go with the Mezzo D9. Let me quickly summarise my reasons:
Brompton - the order book was very full and there would have been delay; the gearing was not that low -and where I live there are 1:7 gradients between home and the station; there was to be a new gearing model but that was at least another month away; the components seemed to all own brand and I found some YouTube video of the process of changing a tube - very messy and very complex. The Brompton was also the most expensive of the three.
Dahon - the Model could have been obtained by Halfords very easily as they sell other Dahons; the gearing was by far the best - considering it is designed as a tourer with front and rear panniers (racks supplied) - the gearing was great; it used standard components and had v-brakes - the best brakes of all three; but it was the largest, the heaviest and not really a commuter bike. The folding resulted in the largest package of the three.
Mezzo D9 - the bike folded well and had standard components, the gearing was Ok - but the rear cassette could be altered for one with a lower gear; the changing of the tubes was much simpler than the Brompton.

So I got back in touch with my local Halfrods store - who took my details and my order for a Mezzo D9 with the rack bag, the cover and carry bag - all from Mezzo. A couple of weeks passed and then when contacting them I was told that I had order it from the cycle 2 work team as it wasn’t a normal stock item. So I emailed the cycle 2 work team with my order. Had a flurry of email exchanges to confirm the prices - including me sending them back their original quote for the D9.

Time passed.......

After nearly a month, we are now well in November, I contacted the local store to find that nothing had been received. I contacted the cycle2 work - they said it had been sent and received.

Further chasing by me mainly, resulted in the original delivery being declared Missing. I asked the cycle 2 work team to make the order again, and within 3 days Halfords local store did receive it. This time I rang cycle 2 work to get a delivery day and then rang the local store to tell them to expect a delivery. It was just before Christmas - I got my bike!

Getting home, I unpacked and set the bike up - not a lot to do really - put the stem on and the pedals, put some lube on the chain and pump the tyres. However, the cover and carry bag were not included but the rack bag was. So it was back in the email to cycle 2 work and then with Christmas and New year in the way - I finally got the rest on Saturday.

In conclusion, I do wonder home many hours I spent - and I haven’t even done one trip to work yet - that will be in book 2! My expectations were not high - I’m afraid Halfords had a poor reputation and it didn’t rise - despite some excellent assistance from largely powerless individuals.

Recently a friend had finally acquired a bicycle that he wanted - it was a hybrid with flat bars rather than drops, had skinny wheels rather than MTB tyres. But my friend had found the two shifters to be inconsistent - he wanted them both to move the same way with similar effects. We talked for a little while about shifting - he used the numbers on his shifters - which didn't mean a lot to me as a) my shifters don't have any numbers b) I've used thumbshifters, grip shifters and only in the past 8 years rapidfire shifters c) I've been using them for so long that it's largely autonomous. So I wasn't really able to comment on the numbers part - must be a car driver's thing - and the expectation that the gear will be engaged when the number is indicated.

There is of course a huge difference between a car gearbox where there is a very on/off gear engagement - either you have got it in the gear selected or you can clearly hear that you haven't. Whereas with bike gears it is pulling a cable to move a deraillieur to move the chain across from one gear ring to another. There's a lot more variability in that.

Anyway, back to the rational movement discussion - that is he wanted when he moved the right hand shifter up or the left hand shifter up they should do the same result - eg selected a lower gear. The difficulty is the difference in the physical nature of the two parts of the gear systems: the front chain rings have the largest on the outside and the smallest on the inside; whereas the rear cassette has the opposite - largest on the inside and smallest on the outside. Of course, there is also the difference between the front - a larger ring is a higher gear, and the back - a smaller ring is a higher gear.

So what would we do? Chain the rings around? Change the rear cassette? Add more complications to the shifters? Or leave it as it's always been?

Your guess.....

This discussion made me also say that there are things that have developed because someone thought of something and did it that way (just because) and it has become the de facto way of doing that. Now it's too late to alter it. I'm sure you can think of your own examples.

My wife has started up something she calls a Sticky Bun Club, whose main aims are to get some women in our village to cycle to a cafe, eat a little, ride back and along the way to socialise, get fitter and have a good time. All very laudable. They do include me as the token male. And along with a short ride I get recompensed with a free drink and sticky bun.

It is interesting to compare the way that people ride and socialise. If a group of blokes went out then there would end up with a little competitive aspects creeping in, but the women are not at all concerned. I wonder if this is a gender thng or an age thing - or a combination of both? Would younger women be more competitive?

In a footnote, the women are starting to see improvements in their fitness, confidence and want to go further. It's unfortunate that the time of year makes this harder.

I finally decided to join a social network - I chose Facebook. It has a mainly North American focus and population. I have been on Friends Reunited for a while - but not as a paid up member. This is a UK-based site and has much better representation for schools, organisations and employers than Facebook. Though they are different. What can I say about Facebook? It is different to Friends Reunited. I like the ability to add stuff to Facebook, I like that it is free, and that it seems less juvenile to other social networks. I've started to glue my stuff from other places into Facebook, such as this blog, my del.icio.us, etc.

I also joined Plaxo in order to get my cals and contacts syncing to google. Unfortunately, the google cal sync has been stopped as they've had problems. So, other than updating a few contacts with other plaxo members, plaxo is not that useful at the moment. I may leave if this does not change. In terms of leaving, well I haven't as yet. I still have a Yahoo account.

With the variety of sources and stores for information, the ability to bring them together is a vital component. I already sync my PDA, phone, Mac with plaxo, and look forward to getting google into this act.

Tour of Britain 2006 Read More...

I was able to get a demo bike out from Biketreks recently. I got the Specialized Enduro Comp. I took this bike out around my normal loop around Ambleside, Loughrigg, Iron Keld, Tilberthwaite, Chapel Stile and Loughrigg Terrace. The 5" of travel front and back coupled with 2.2" tyres inspired confidence. The travel worked well, and was active at all times. I did not flip the link at the back to change the geometry and maximum travel, and neither did I change the Itch shock at the back to reduce the travel of the shock to 100mm. But I did find the lockout on the front and rear very useful for road climbs. I was able to change the lockout easily from the saddle. There are a number of road climbs on the loop and the lockout made the climbs more bearable. The riding position was good, being neither stretched out and remote from the front end or being so cramped. The Enduro design is evolving over 4 years now and the basic design is fairly established. The seat post was long (the perils of being a demo bike and trying to fit as many customers as possible) - I would cut it down so that it could be dropped for some steep descents. But that is a limitation of any frame design that has the seat tube interrupted.
What didn't I like?
I didn't like the weight as I found it felt heavy. It was a bit of a tank but that, on a positive note, meant that it felt robust and able to cope with everything thrown at it. This is a bike for Camelbak users. No real bottle mounts. The cable routing went, traditionally, under the BB shell.
What did I like?
I liked the active travel, the lockouts and the riding position.

The following day I had the opportunity to ride around a limited course two bikes that on paper would compete with the Enduro Comp. The first I took out was the the Whyte 46. This felt light just picking it up in the car park. The Maverick fork gives 4" or 6" of travel, and the back end is also adjustable. For the initial climb, the fork was reduced to 4" and the rear moved using the TARA - ie a small QR. For the downhill part of the route the full 6" of travel and the back end were changed. The bike climbs well and descends brilliantly. The forks were rigid and true, no feeling of wandering was felt.
What didn't I like?
There were a number of rattles and squeaks. This could be down to a demo bike, but it may show that there may be an amplification effect by the rear swingarm. The geometry seemed to change when the shock was moved to the shorter position. I had to adjust the seat post height after changing the TARA. Again, a bike for Camelbak users - there were bottle cage mounts but they were on the top tube - not a good position. The TARA was not something that could be done whilst on the bike. Maybe Fox will let others use the Itch technology next year. There was no lock out either front or back. I did not have the opportunity to ride the Whyte up an extended road climb to check out the bob, but there is bob from the back end
What did I like?
The travel, the front forks and the weight were brilliant.

The second bike I took out on the same course was a Santa Cruz Blur. This was a 4.5" travel bike with Virtual Pivot Point (VPP). After riding the Whyte 46, the Blur was paled by comparison, the Blur was OK. There was nothing special or significant to record. It was a good ride, the front forks were not as latterally rigid as the Mavericks, but probably cost half the price. It was light and rode well.
What didn't I like?
I find it difficult to record much about the Blur, but the front forks were Ok but not in the same class as the Maverick forks.
What did I like?
There were no funny adjusters, so that the Blur was simpler to operate, just ride it and it rode up and down fine.

In summary
I would love to have the Whyte 46, but I'd prefer a fork and frameset. As Whyte are only making a limited run and with the brilliant reviews the bike is receiving, it is unlikely that there will be spare capacity for a frame and fork deal. With the Maverick fork running at £800 then the £2600 price for the Whyte 46, the package price is probably a good price. The price comparison to the Blur, would get me to chose the Whyte. However, the Blur can be obtained as frameset. The Specialized is a great bike, and a frameset deal can be had. Allowing the weight issue to be resolved with appropriate choices of components. The Enduro Comp has two bikes above it in the range.

I look forward to next year, as the main fork manufacturers come up with their solutions to the 6" of travel in a light fork. Then we shall see the basic FS XC bike with 3" travel as a anachronism and 4-6" of travel as the norm.