Repaired frame section

Today, I bought a hose clamp to tighten up the damaged rear frame tube section. It works great! I test rode the bike from the apartment down to the downtown core and back, a 8 km ride. The bike felt very solid. A average speed of 14 kph was reached. I now trust the bike again. This was reached on areas that are a little hilly in areas. The designers of the bike really need to do their homework in thr design of this rear section of the frame. I figured out that I have had about 32 hours of riding time on the bike when this happened. This should not be happening! Anyways, I feel the bike lives up to it being a fine short range machine. I have gone as far as 9 km (5.5 miles) it with no problems other then the slow pace it provides.

Minor repair/ Frame damage

With 380 km on the bike, a number of items have come to my attention.

The first was very minor problem dealing with the bell. Ever since the bike was new, the bell was always loose. It made hearing other possible problems on the frame difficult to detect. Up until now, I never really did anything about it. The noise began to bother me so I removed bell by unscrewing it from the brake lever and tried to retighten the fastner but due to the plastic part on the bell, it would not get it nice and tight. I bought some 5 minute epoxy and glued the bell in place. It is on tight now and I feel better at this.

The other item that has come up is more serious but fixable. I read on the A-bike forum about the rear seat tube getting damaged due to it tearing at the cut sections with the rear seat lock coming off the frame. The weight of the rider will with time put stress on this area and at some point the metal will tear as has happened to mine. I found out about it while out on a store run. I asked to store owner for a hammer get the frame section hammered back into a place where I could get the rear seat locking assembly back on to the bike. I had to remove the locking lach and just place to metal pin in place to lock up the frame to get the bike home. I am going to get a hose clamp to tie around the frame section that is damaged. This should stop the frame from splitting any farther. This is a design weakness that has showed up the original A-bike as well. I feel that there are design problems like this that should be better thought out. I have had a problem with this frame design system from day one and would like to see big improvements in areas like the frames locking points.

I am hoping that this bike will last for a while but with this frame tube crack, the future of this bike may not be as long as I was hoping for. Apart from these problems, I am enjoying the bike as much as the first day I got it. The frame was test ridden after getting the clamp arm put back on and the bike feels tight. The only noise coming from the bike is the sound of the solid wheels and the bikes responding back at the various points that can still make a bit of noise.

The next report will be written in Nov. on the first year of buying it on-line.

One Year mark on the A-bike

I am coming up on the one year mark for buying this A-bike type design vehicle. It is running very good. It is still feeling like new as far a the feel of the folding frame. The bike as a bit on the stiff side as far as folding it went. It has loosened a bit and folds down and opens better then new.

The tire wear is doing not too bad. The rear drive tire is taking the bulk of the wear. By October, I am hoping to have 400 km on the bike. This is a bit short of what I hoped for but the general bike condition is holding up good.

Other signs of use are showing in areas like the handle grips. Small wear points are starting to show in this area. Over the time I have have the bike, I have taken apart the drive train section and managed to misplace two on the nuts used to lock in the bolts used to hold the casing together. These have been replaced with some hardware store fastners.

The overview of the bike design is that it is a fine short range bike design. It is holding up well and once you get past the novel design, it fits into my normal riding time. It is a slow bike due to the low geatr ratio but it is nice to get in a slow ride every now and then. Anyone looking at buying this type of bike will have fun using it. I find the way it folds up very useful when travelling. I just wish that it was seen in more locations like stores to be seen so that the public can get a chance buy it there. I have not been disappointed by the bike! It is great!