Lessons learned
by Volker Weber
A few things I learned since I got my brand new toy:
- I am in pretty bad shape. I am not lacking power but fitness. The only way to improve this is to use the bike, which I try to do three times a day. A short run in the morning and at noon, plus a long one in the evening.
- The bike fits (easily) into the Smart, but not into my car. I can only put it next to me into the passenger seat. I may want to take the bike to the IAA auto show in September as a benchmark.
- You do need a kickstand. Leaning the bike against walls does not cut it. Sooner or later it's going to fall over.
- Lots of people don't know how to properly switch gears on their bikes. I have seen a couple of them riding with the chain on the smallest chainring on the crankset as well as on the cassette, leading to tremendous shear on the chain.
- The Shimano Deore components have improved considerably over the last 15 years. It's incredible how easily the chain travels up the cassette.
I also found a nice animation showing how the bike folds.
Comments
Still waiting for pictures of vowe riding the bike :-)
Joerg Richter, 2005-08-03
Nice to hear that another car addict has finally switched to the purest form of travelling. And if You like it with a road performance that comes near a Porsche 911 try this. The drifting experience is awesome! Btw: With Your size and weight I give the Birdy one year to turn into a squashy squeaking rubber duck ;-)
Martin Schroers, 2005-08-06
