One Year mark coming on Oct. 20th.

I has been almost one year since I ordered the bike from the hobby shop in B.C. The bike has been working better then expected. In the time I have had it, it has come in handy for rides where I had use as my way home while my girlfriend had to go to work. We where on trips out of town and she had no time to drop me off at the apartment. The bike was the only way to get home. At times it was nice to get out on slower paced ride offered on my other bikes. I have listing of the things I both like and dislike on the design of the bike.

Likes

- Light weight frame, it makes it easy to carry around when not being ridden.
- Comfortable set-up, once the original factory seat was replaced.
- Good speed given the lower gear ratio.
- Easy to work on, I have taken it apart to fix a few things and I wanted to see how it worked!
- Overall it has held up to regular useage.*

Dislikes

- Low quality parts used that wore out too fast, namely, the pedals.
- Improper fit of some frame parts, example being the misaligned handlebar to front wheel assembly.
- Poor rear frame lock assembly. This needs to be looked at. This affects the opening of the bike.
- The rear bottom frame section. When the rear frame lock becomes loose, it comes out from the bottom frame section allowing over time develop a metal tear to start*. A hose clamp fixed this but this should not be happening. This not restricted to the copy version of the bike. The original versions have problem as well.
- Total lack of support for the product. There is no parts list or 1-800 help number to support any problems that can happen over time.

So even with these problems I enjoy using the bike. Having moved from a house into a apartment makes the folding design even stronger. It takes up a less space with a ful sized bike. Once you get used to the feel of the bike, it is very rideable, unlike some reviewers comments on it. It is a different feel to the ride due to the smaller wheels. I was disappointed to find it had the solid wheels but I have gotten used to them and for the most part, there are working out well.

The bike has now been ridden 450 km since last fall and feels as solid as the day I bought it. I was logging the rides of this bike along with my other rides and found out that it has been used 26 percent of the 2010 riding season. The average speed for this year on the A-cycle is 12.614 kph. The cruising speed is around 17 to 19 kph. Not too bad for a little wheeled bike. The gearing on the bike works well most of the time. I noted a bit on chain slip in the drive train. I think that the fine pitched 1/4 inch chain is sensitive the pressures of the riders pedaling. It happens on small hills ans when you start the bike from a dead stop when the pressure on the system is the greatest. Small adjustments on the rear wheel tensioners helps out to some degree.

I would recommend this bike for people doing short distance rides and fit the specs set buy the designers. Sadly, the biggest problem the bike has is the weight limit. Set at 185 lbs, many North American are too heavy for the bike. It is too bad that this design is not too well know because the people that I talked to really like the design. Buying it is a challenge since you have to hunt down places that will carry it.

Although I own this copy, I would recommend that you look into buying the original version that is supported by a warrenty. You get the on-line store to get replacement parts if needed. You are supporting the people that designed the bike in the first place. The biggest problem I see with the original is the price. It is about $500.00 to buy. Since there is not too much to the bike in terms of weight or size, many may look at alteratives but the quality models do cost you. You have to decide the model that will suit your budget. I was tight for money so buying a copy version was the best type for me. So far it has been holding up.

*- note1