Do you get used to small wheel wobbles ?

[BADGER.BRAD]

I have just brought a couple of folding bikes and have been playing on one of them , They are two of the same and have 20 inch wheels which when doing one handed whilst indicating I have found it to be really wobbly ! Do you get used to this ? I have ordered a longer seat post as the fitted one is on it's limits and some bar ends to project my hands forward ( lengthening the reach ) and am thinking of wide bars ( possibly riser) to give me a bit more leverage. Should I hold off on the bars and see if I get used to how it feels ?

Bike pics here Bike pics

Thanks all

 

[Drago]

Yes, very quickly. It's not so much the wheels, although that doesnt help, but the geometry and shorter stem which puts the bars closer to the steering axis which affects the feel. Ride it and youll soon adapt, and will adopt the maniacal grin that 20 " foldermriders all seem to have.

 

[BADGER.BRAD]

I must admit although I've only had them a little more than 24 hours it is great fun so far with plenty of

 

[ianrauk]

It's like learning to ride a bike.

 

[Dogtrousers]

Yes. Whenever I ride my Brompton (which is very rarely these days) it feels completely weird for all of 10 minutes

 

[annedonnelly]

Yes, you'll soon get used to it.

 

[Velorum59]

It didnt take me long to get used to my 1960's Moultons - slightly longer for the Bromptons I had after these but they were OK after a while, I covered many miles on the 5 speed touring model no problem. The main wobbles occurred when I riding one handed (making hand signals etc) but I soon adapted to this.

 

[FrankCrank]

Hand signals eh, that takes me back. Only seem to get one finger salutes nowadays.

 

[Paulus]

Like all the above, because of the shorter wheelbase and different geometry they are quite twitchy, but, you will quickly get used to it. Enjoy.

 

[Tenkaykev]

I have a M line and an S line. I mainly use the M but when I get on the S, for a few minutes it feels as though I'm in an extreme aero position.

 

[ktmbiker58]

Hand signals eh, that takes me back. Only seem to get one finger salutes nowadays.

Reminds me of my driving test in mums Austin A30 with collapsed drivers seat so my arm went out of the window at an unfortunate angle !!

I upgraded my Birdy to 20" wheels and it rides well - pot holes willing!

 

[Sharky]

We did one of those cycle tours round Hampton Palace. Bikes were "upright shopping" bikes, with short stems and bars pointing backwards.

Me an expert cyclist, had enormous problems. My OH however, who hardly rides, had no problems at all !

 

[freiston]

I have a 20" Tern folder (rarely ridden) and a 16" Brompton and have never had one-handed (or any other) wheel-wobble but on first getting the bikes, they did feel "twitchy". I ride the Brompton regularly and I would now describe it as responsive and nippy.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

It is muscle memory. You just need to retune to the new folder. It is you making it twitchy. Once you are tuned it, it becomes very agile in traffic, no longer twitchy.

 

[annedonnelly]

It is muscle memory. You just need to retune to the new folder. It is you making it twitchy. Once you are tuned it, it becomes very agile in traffic, no longer twitchy.

I think there's an element of that with any bike. If you ride something often enough everything becomes natural, but switch to another bike and it's just not the same until you've got a few miles under your belt.