Folding bike
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A folding bike , also known as a folding bike , is a bicycle that has structural devices such as hinges , couplings and / or quick releases that allow the bike to be quickly and easily folded or disassembled to such a small pack size that it can be used as a piece of luggage can be taken with another means of transport . With the folding bike, the user can bridge mobility gaps on the way to and from public transport (such as the train).
The use of the term “folding bike” instead of “folding bike”, which has become increasingly popular since the 1980s, documents above all the attempt by manufacturers to distance themselves from the “folding bikes” of the 1960s and 1970s with higher quality products bad to drive and unwieldy. On the other hand, among modern folding bikes there are models that can be compared in terms of their driving characteristics with touring and sports bikes.
Technical aspects
Folding process
Various methods can be used for the folding process:
- Hinge with a mostly vertical axis in the middle of the frame
- Disassemble the frame roughly in the middle
- Folding the frame like a parallelogram or umbrella
- Folding the front or rear under the frame
- Pushing together parts such as seat post, seat tube, frame tube
- Removal of one or both wheels
- Folding down parts such as seat post and handlebars
As a rule, several of these methods are combined in one model.
suspension
The wheels of folding bikes are usually slightly smaller than those of ordinary bicycles. In order to compensate for the disadvantages of the rolling behavior of small bikes, some modern folding bikes have a rear suspension or full suspension.
Another measure to improve ride comfort are particularly voluminous (wide) tires with slightly lower air pressure.
Impeller size
The dominant sizes of the folding bikes are between 14 and 24 inches. There are also folding bikes with wheel sizes of 12 inches and smaller, as well as 26 and 28 inches.
Primary transmission and gear shift
It is the small folding bikes sometimes too small development attests, one that for a given speed pedaling much faster than would a full-size bicycle. The small impeller size can be compensated for with the design of the primary transmission (chainring, pinion). High-quality folding bikes are designed so that they can be driven just as sportily and quickly as racing bikes, for example.
In principle, the same gears are used on folding bikes as on large bikes. Especially with hub gears, the equipment does not differ from that of larger bikes. Since a small wheel size sets spatial limits for derailleur components, such as the rear derailleur , special solutions have or had also established themselves here. So there was the SRAM Dual Drive, which combined a derailleur with a compact three-speed hub gear. Dahon and Tern have introduced a particularly compact rear derailleur ("Neos") for some folding bikes. From Shimano compact pinion cartridges are offered with 9 to 26 teeth for bikes with small wheels a lot.
history
The Briton William Grout developed what is believed to be the first folding or dismantling wheel and patented it in 1878. It was a pentagon with solid rubber tires, the front wheel of which could be broken down into four radial segments which, with the folded frame, found space in a triangular suitcase.
In 1896 the “Faun” was patented, a safety bike with a diamond frame (the original form of the modern bicycle), the frame of which could be folded in the middle around a vertical axis - still the most widespread method for folding bikes today.
Based on this form, the British officer Robert Baden-Powell developed the idea of a bicycle for the military that could be dismantled into three parts around 1900. He himself called it a folding bike:
- “Lieutenant Baden-Powell spoke for a long time [in his lecture] about the boundary conditions that must meet the control and construction of a machine for war purposes, and said that he wanted to commission the construction of a machine that could be folded up. It shouldn't be heavier or weaker than a normal machine. "
Since the beginning of the 20th century, the continental military has also shown interest in folding bikes and initiated the development of various models. Examples are the dismountable version of the "Dursley Pedersen", Swiss army folding bikes or the Dutch "Fongers" from 1909, whose specialty is the first-time use of small wheels (approx. 16 ").
During the Second World War , BSA developed the “Folding Military Bicycle” for British paratroopers in order to be able to leave the landing zone more quickly after the air landing. The “Galaxe”, which is rebuilt today for civil riders, was created from this bike.
In the civil sector, there were various small-wheeled folding bikes such as the German “ Zaschka ” or the French “Petit Bi”, which in its last design already showed great similarities with the folding bikes of the 1970s.
The “Moulton Stowaway” from the beginning of the 1960s played an outstanding role in the development of folding and dismantling bikes. Originally intended not so much as a folding bike, but primarily as a better alternative to the now traditional bike with a diamond frame and 28 "wheels , it had a stiff, divisible mono-tube frame with a deep step-through, 16" rims with narrow high-pressure tires and was the first bike to have full suspension with rubber elements ( Alex Moulton had also developed the rubber suspension of the " Austin Mini "). In this way, it combined speed, maneuverability and driving comfort in a previously unknown way.
The “Moulton Stowaway” and its successor models were very successful and style-defining internationally and thus triggered the “folding bike wave”, as a result of which practically every manufacturer had a folding bike in their range. For cost reasons, these were usually very simple imitations with too short a wheelbase, 20 "wheels and an unstable frame construction, without suspension, but with wide low-pressure tires as a replacement. Most of these bicycles were, because the designers were less likely to take them with them public transport, but mainly from transport by motor vehicle, was not stable when folded. Cheap models did not have a rim brake , but a block brake on the front wheel. Somewhat better models had the two-speed gear hub Torpedo Duomatic from Fichtel & Sachs installed. The gears were fitted with one The resulting poor driving behavior of these copycat models ultimately brought all folding and small-wheeled bicycles into disrepute so that the “folding bike shaft” collapsed at the end of the 1970s. The production of the “Moulton”, now manufactured by Raleigh , was also discontinued in 1974. Nevertheless There were also new developments in the 1970s, such as the particularly light “Bickerton” by aircraft engineer Harry Bickerton , which came onto the market in 1970 with an aluminum frame without welding points and was built until 1992.
Also in the 1970s, Andrew Ritchie began developing the "Brompton" , which has been manufactured by Brompton Bicycle since 1986 . It is characterized above all by a very short folding time and a very small folding dimension. The joint of the rear triangle, which is sprung similarly to the Moulton, is also used for the folding process. The designer Juliane Neuss developed the “Brecki”, a recumbent conversion kit for the Brompton. In this way, she created the first real foldable recumbent bike .
Alex Moulton has been designing a successor to the "Moulton" since 1976, which was launched in 1983 under the name "Moulton AM". Just like the previous models, it has high-pressure tires , full suspension and the familiar large gear ratio. The frame construction was really new, a complicated tubular lattice framework made up of triangles, which can be divided in the middle and is extremely rigid ( space frame ).
In the 1960s and 1970s, the Dutch manufacturer Sparta successfully sold its own form of compact bike: the Sparta 8-80 compact bike. The type designation was aimed at the age group from 8 to 80 years. The bike consisted of a pressed steel frame with a square profile, where 22-inch wheels were built in, a rather unusual size that is still used in French children's bikes. It is a compromise between wheel size, rather large for a compact bike, but with relatively good driving stability. The rims had a Westwood profile , which gives a relative resistance to collisions, e.g. B. of curb bumps etc. meant. The chain case was made of sheet metal in the frame color. There were three different versions. First there was a handlebar and stem construction with only adjustable square seat post and also without the use of tools, a patented version with a completely removable stem, whereby the handlebar construction with the front wheel could be removed. A cable connection was built into the light pipe , which could be separated by means of a knurled nut . Alternatively, a front rack was available. In addition, there was probably a version in which the frame was pushed into one another in the middle and could thus be dismantled. The target group for this bike were campers and boaters who were looking for a compromise between compactness and driving stability. The Duomatic from Fichtel + Sachs was sometimes installed as a gear shift .
Since the late 1980s, Dahon, founded by David Hon in the USA , has developed into the largest supplier of folding bikes - both in terms of the number of models and the number of items. Dahon also produces folding bikes with standard 559 wheels.
David Hon’s son , Joshua Hon founded Tern in 2011 .
The US company Montague, founded in 1987 and specializing in full-size folding bikes, developed a folding mountain bike in 1997 for paratroopers in the US armed forces. This bike has also been available on the civilian market since 1999.
The Bernds company has been building spring-loaded folding bikes and folding tandems in Germany since 1991. The steel frames, made to measure on request, are made by hand at the company's headquarters in Überlingen.
In the mid-1990s, Heiko Müller and Markus Riese , the founders of the bicycle manufacturer Riese und Müller , designed the "Birdy". This is a full-suspension folding bike with an aluminum frame, the pivot joints of which on the fork and rear end also serve as folding joints.
The Kalmit Folding Bike Cup has been held annually in the Palatinate Forest since 1992 . In this humorous bike race , only participants with folding bikes without gears are allowed to compete; in 2018 there were around 1,000 of them. The route of about 6 km leads from Maikammer to the Kalmit .
market
In the FRG in the mid-1970s, the folding bike occupied a third of the market and soon after became insignificant. In the GDR , folding bikes remained popular in the 1980s. The manufacturer Mifa produced around 2.8 million folding bikes from 1967 to 1990, which were mainly sold domestically and achieved a corresponding presence. They are still more common in Eastern Germany than current folding bike models. The equipment on these folding bikes was sober, but they were easy to ride and, unlike other bikes, were always available. However, there was no stand under the bottom bracket for standing transport either. In 1990 the era of folding bikes ended abruptly in East Germany as well.
The type of bicycle did not play a role for a long time, until in the decade after the turn of the millennium a trend towards folding bicycles was reported with a market share of just a few per thousand . Since then, folding bikes have been spreading again more and more, but without assuming a market-determining position. The specialist Brompton Bicycle increased its production from 7,000 folding bicycles in 2002 to 25,000 units in 2009 after adding many women and younger people to its mainly middle-aged clientele in some countries. The Birdy folding bike, designed by Riese and Müller in the 1990s, had a total of 60,000 units at the turn of 2006/2007, three quarters of which were in Asia. The generalist Giant sold 10,000 folding bikes in the second quarter of 2009. Dahon sold around 250,000 folding bikes in the first half of 2009.
See also
General
Various folding bike models and manufacturers
- Airbike - however, the rear wheel has to be removed for folding
- Brompton Bicycle
- Birdy from Riese & Müller
- Dahon
- Moulton
- Strida
- Tern
literature
- Tony Hadland, John Pinkerton: It's in the bag! . Birmingham 1996. ISBN 0-9507431-8-6
- Gunnar Fehlau : The modular bike. Foldable bicycles . Edition Moby Dick. Delius Klasing, Bielefeld 1997, ISBN 3-89595-113-7 ( review )
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Sebastian Mohila. Folding bike = folding bike? An attempt at enlightenment. http://www.das-faltrad.de/dasfaltrad.html : “Not only because of the materials used at the time, these bikes were relatively heavy and z. Sometimes unwieldy during transport. "
- ^ The Manchester Guardian: Bicycles for War Purposes , March 16, 1899, p. 5
- ↑ Engelbert Zaschka with folding bike, 1938. Retrieved on November 3, 2016 .
- ↑ YouTube video about Engelbert Zaschka and his inventions. SWR television, accessed on November 3, 2016 .
- ↑ Curious on the Kalmit: Up the mountain on a folding bike. Retrieved on March 22, 2019 (German).
- ↑ http://ddr-fahrradwiki.de/Modelle_Mifa#Mifa_Klappräder
- ↑ Far away from the folding bike: folding bike is becoming a trendy mobile . n-tv . November 24, 2009. Retrieved December 14, 2013.
- ^ Brompton Bicycle: crafted for cult appeal . The Guardian . November 8, 2009. Retrieved December 14, 2013.
- ^ Bicycle forge Riese und Müller: Folded to the front . Spiegel Online . February 1, 2007. Accessed December 14, 2013.
- ^ Folding Bike's Market Demand Returns to the Basic Demographic Group . Ministry of Economy of the Republic of China (Taiwan) . January 14, 2010. Archived from the original on December 17, 2013. Retrieved on December 14, 2013.
- ↑ Dahon sales rise as commuting takes center stage . Future plc . August 19, 2009. Retrieved December 14, 2013.