ode to a light bike

[sam]

Take one Dahon Presto Lite, which lives up to its name. Replace SRAM 3-speed hub with a Brompton single speed hub. Result: a bicycle which almost needs to be tethered down. It's also seriously nimble and a joy to ride, and park, in town.

[sam]

I often ride no-handed, but it helps to have notice when the handlebars themselves are going to come off.

The quick release bolt clamping the bars in place snapped while I was cycling in London. I made it home by transplanting the seatpost lever. A saddle is a luxury anyway.

In other news, the British Museum no longer wishes to be used as a parking garage, though it seemed to be dependent on the person checking things in; I was never refused, just sometimes tssskd afterwards by the next clerk. New rules limit the size of checked items.

[sam]

Either I'm hard on bikes, or the city streets are. The rear rim has gone out on me for the second time. Splayed just enough to make braking a juddery nightmare. Unable to source a replacement of the original model, which would be kind of silly anyway given its record, I got a sturdier looking one from these guys.

[sam]

The Presto is not for introverts. When you take it out you have to be prepared to answer questions about it, and give advice on folders in general.

Now that



have been introduced I could leave it at home and revert to the proper city code of not talking to strangers (unless the docking stations are a conversational nexus), but I doubt the Boris Barclay can launch me across intersections from a standing start with quite as much thrust.

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The Presto chronicles continue here