Is this bike reliable?

"Sam Kong" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Hello!

I want to buy a bike for exercise. I found a bike which is not very expensive for its functions.
However, I double its reliability. I want to hear opinions from experts.

azipbike.comproducts%202.htmOpen ↗

It's FA-2600. Folding. Automatic shift. Price is only $189 in a store near my office (LA).

What I most worry about is the shift part. Automatic shift must be very convenient but could be
very problematic.

Any advice will be appreciated.

A store near me (Ohio) recently had a closeout on Specialized Hardrocks. $199.

No autoshift to break, no hinge to get loose. A bike shop that actually knows something about bikes.
A nice, basic, reliable bike.

Modern shifting mechs are very, very easy to get used to. The auto business introduces more
problems than it 'fixes'. The folding action on a $190 bike is probably sub-par. Fold it more than
a few times, and I'll bet you introduce some play. If you're not going to use the folding feature,
why buy it?

If that's all I had to spend on a bike....the choice is obvious.

Look around some more. Take that folder for a test ride. Then go to a bike shop, and take a
$250-$300 bike for a test ride. Enoy the difference.

Pete

[email hidden] (Sam Kong) wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Hello!

I want to buy a bike for exercise. I found a bike which is not very expensive for its functions.
However, I double its reliability. I want to hear opinions from experts.

azipbike.comproducts%202.htmOpen ↗

It's FA-2600. Folding. Automatic shift. Price is only $189 in a store near my office (LA).

What I most worry about is the shift part. Automatic shift must be very convenient but could be
very problematic.

it is neither convenient nor reliable. the topic has been debated many times, and each time it has
been soundly rejected.

Autobikes and their ilk use non-standard components that will be difficult to maintain and
impossible to replace. Moreover, having a bike that shifts suddenly with no warning or
input from you
is...disconcerting. I had a bike that would make ghost shifts--shifts without my input--once; having
the bike UPSHIFT suddenly as you're climbing the last long hill home is not fun. Needless to say,
I adjusted the shifters and derailleurs to keep that sort of thing from ever happening again.

Do you *really* need a folding bicycle?

-Luigi

Thirty-one pounds? Are you kidding?

Sam Kong said:

Hello!

I want to buy a bike for exercise. I found a bike which is not very expensive for its functions.
However, I double its reliability. I want to hear opinions from experts.

azipbike.comproducts%202.htmOpen ↗

It's FA-2600. Folding. Automatic shift. Price is only $189 in a store near my office (LA).

What I most worry about is the shift part. Automatic shift must be very convenient but could be
very problematic.

Any advice will be appreciated.

Regards, Sam

Sam Kong said:

Hello!

I want to buy a bike for exercise. I found a bike which is not very expensive for its functions.
However, I double its reliability. I want to hear opinions from experts.

Don't get it. 1) Automatic shifting is not a good idea. It is not reliable, doesn't do the right
thing, and is not necessary. Many people who haven't ridden in a long time remember bikes with very
poor [censored] (such as the Schwinn Varsity). That is in the past. A $200 bike from a bike shop will
have very easy, very reliable shifting. 2) Folding bikes are very common, and many fold up much
tighter than that appears to. They are also limited; a cheap one may very well be quite flexy at the
hinge, which you do not want. If you need a folding bike, get one from a reliable shop.

Quoted message said:

What I most worry about is the shift part. Automatic shift must be very convenient but could be
very problematic.

It's not so convenient, since the difference between it and other shifters is minimal. Most bikes
have what amounts to push-button shifting already. All reviews of auto-shift derailleurs have been
very negative.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | As far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not _`\(,_ | certain, and as
far as they are certain, they do not refer to (_)/ (_) | reality. -- Albert Einstein