Why doesn't anyone make a full-size folding bike with the Shimano 7- or 8-speed internal hub shifter? I know some of the 16- and 20-inch wheel bikes have them, and they work extremely well. The 8-speed in particular provides a nice coverage with decent gear spacing. So much more compact that derailleur-type gears, and zero worries about bending the idler arms when packing / unpacking the bike. If I could fine a folding bike like that at a reasonable price, I'd be all over it!

JP256 wrote:Why doesn't anyone make a full-size folding bike with the Shimano 7- or 8-speed internal hub shifter? I know some of the 16- and 20-inch wheel bikes have them, and they work extremely well. The 8-speed in particular provides a nice coverage with decent gear spacing. So much more compact that derailleur-type gears, and zero worries about bending the idler arms when packing / unpacking the bike. If I could fine a folding bike like that at a reasonable price, I'd be all over it!

For me its price, but they are fantastic, with a belt drive to avoid the oil they would be the perfect plane set up.

7 or 8 speeds all on the inside sounds good to me. Wonder if it will be available? Thanks
Tom

Montague makes the Allston which they classify as a Pavement bike.
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The Allston is a folding bike that combines standard 700c wheels with a Gates carbon belt drive and Shimano Alfine 11 internal gear hub. Grease-less and virtually maintenance free, it’s perfect for urban riding and can be stowed until your next ride.

Hydraulic disc brakes provide superb stopping power, a RackStand offers cargo carrying capacity, and extra wide 38mm tires make it comfortable on even the roughest roads.
$1,895.00
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Expensive but what do you all think? Thanks

Tom

Also, about 5 years ago, Montague made a Boston 8 (speed) but now it is a fixed single speed. Anyone know why this didn't work out? Thanks
Tom

When I first got the Dahon Espresso, I used a Sturmey Archer internally geared 8 speed hub. I used it that way for a year, but ultimately I found it too heavy and I wasn't really please with the gear range and the shifters they all use are a bit vague. I still have an internally geared hub fitted to my, as I call it, novelty 20" Raleigh 20 Folder. On that bike it makes little or no difference. I went and converted the Espresso back to a standard Mountain bike derailleur shifting system. There are plenty of inexpensive high end parts floating about on eBay for cheap as folks upgrade to the next best system.

When I remove the wheels, which is not too often. I have some wheel bags and the bag for the frame, all off eBay for very small change. The Pedro's chain holder clamps back by the rear derailleur and holds the chain in position so it does not end up in a strange configuration when you try to put it back on. The black plastic block jams on the front fork, they come in new bike boxes (ask at a bike shop, free) and make the fork not so much a shop weapon on your interior

I see that the one poster put his bar ends pointing to the rear, good move. Most folks up here will not use them anymore, if they are in the forward position. you get a condition known as "Tree Hook" where they get caught on a branch and pivot the bike to slam you into the tree trunk. Most unpleasant.

Raleigh 20 Folder, I just don't like riding 20" for any distance, feel every grain of sand and have limited "step over" with the small wheels. But it fits in tiny aircraft.



The Pedro's Chain holder and fork de-fanger



The bags I use:

Why anyone would want to haul a bike around in a plane is beyond me. Ha ha, I've been doing it for 20+ years, with 3 different Montagues.

My latest and current ride is the newer Paratrooper Pro, I wanted disc brakes (dogpilot, never heard the term "windup" before, interesting, made me think) even though they are just mechanical (hard to get that juice line to fold more then once) AND the front shock. I've done a lot of trail riding with mine, and the frame holds up, all else is as stated mid range components but works just fine. That new nifty little rear rack, which doubles as a work stand, is pretty cool also.

Don't worry about the handle bar positioning, it is easy and cheap enough to get taller and shorter stems, along with different handle bars. Just be advised that the stock setup takes the least amount of room when folded, a taller stem for me would be a deal breaker in fitting into my S-7S.

Lately, since I electrified mine, I have been using it more and more, while going further and faster. Thanks to the 14 speed Rohloff hub I put it on it, it has an incredible gearing range. Anywhere from 38 mph to a stump pulling rock crawling creep. You purists who scoff at motors, fine, I get that, but to me it's a perfect accessory to an already great tool, that transforms what you can do with it. I recently have been using it for a shuttle, when I need to leave my crane on a job site unexpectedly, or like the other day when my flat bed truck ended up on another job 24 miles away. The next day I jumped on the Mont and cruised on over to get it, no sweat, got 'er done but still felt it at the end of the day so for sure got some exercise. Averaged 18 MPH, using 250 watts while pedaling at a reasonable cadence and effort. With the 11.5 AH 52 VDC battery I had that day, that works out to a range of 43 miles. That's if I took the battery to it's auto cutoff voltage, where it shuts down before excessively discharging. I have two batteries that size, plus a smaller one half the size, I mix and match to meet the mission needs. I'll wear out before all three will.

The combination of the portability, the speed which it folds, and now with the BBSHD motor drive addition (http://www.lunacycle.com) the much great utility (further, faster, while still getting plenty of exercise) is freaking awesome. My daily driver is a Prius (but you won't get stuck behind me driving slowly, trust me, they can move out pretty smartly when needed) and the bike electrification thing reminds me of it...... the extra weight and complexity of the e power drive is more then worth it in the long run. Toyota says it best, when they coined the term "synergy drive". THE INTERACTION OF DISPARATE ELEMENTS THAT WHEN COMBINED, PRODUCE AN EFFECT THAT IS GREATER THEN THE SUM OF THE SEPARATE ELEMENTS, or something like that......combining human pedal power with e power is awesome.

Thanks courierguy. Appreciate the new ideas...

So how much does your ride weigh?

How much work was it to install the 14 speed Rohloff; ditto on the BBSHD?

Best,

Tom

There is another thread out there about the Montague bikes and the e power aftermarket mod. I wrote about an experience I had riding my friend's e powered Montague and it was crazy awesome. I saw a guy riding his road bike down the road. He was all decked out in body tight apparel and was pushing hard. I hopped on the mountain bike, caught up to him, and blew right by sitting as straight up as I could with no aerodynamic advantage. I still laugh about that wondering what he thought as I very casually left him in the dust.

TommyN wrote:Thanks courierguy. Appreciate the new ideas...

So how much does your ride weigh?

How much work was it to install the 14 speed Rohloff; ditto on the BBSHD?

Best,

Tom

More then 40, less then 50 lbs.
I've learned more about bikes the last year then I ever knew before, in a pinch I can always go to the local good bike shop for help. Be advised the Rohloff is the gold standard of internal geared hubs, and priced accordingly. BUT, I figured if I was going to the trouble to haul the thing around, I wanted the absolute best setup for my purposes as I could get, screw the price. They are bullet proof, even when subjected to the potential abuse of epower. The Montague is, by happenstance, especially well suited for a mid drive conversion, the way the frame is built makes this possible without any loss of ground clearance. The Rohloff supplier sent me a rear wheel with the hub installed, so easy on my end.

Thanks; I read some of your posts on other bike forums and they were also informative.

Blue skies,

Tom

Sweet - Made the Montague Mountain Bike Website!
https://www.montaguebikes.com/folding-bikes-blog/2017/06/riding-and-flying-pacific-northwest/

Awesome to make the website and pretty 170.

I saw the weirdest thing last week. Two people touring on motorcycles with Montague folding bikes strapped sideways on the pillion seat. That I did not understand. Sadly no photo

Nice little writeup on the website!

I carry my full sized mountain bike in the Maule. If I remove the wheel in fits in fine if the back seat is out.

I've not gone bike riding at Rimrock yet (I've ridden the dirt bikes there a lot however). How is it for exploring on a mountain bike?

I rode a new Montague a few weeks ago. A loaner at Sandpoint airport. I only rode it on the road maybe 10 miles, I needed to run into town for supplies while camping at Cavanaugh Bay.

I thought it was OK. I am sure it was a low end model. Although new the headset was loose and the pedals were self destructing and the cantilever brakes were not adjusted right but that's all setup stuff. It weighed as much as an O-200 and the frame joint flexed under power but overall a pretty OK bike but I can't say because I don't know what it cost.

If it was less than $350 or so I'd say it was worth it, IF the owner knew how to set it up and upgrade basics like the pedals.

I looked it up. It was this model, exact right down to the color:

https://www.montaguebikes.com/product/p ... r-express/

I've been looking at a rear mounted gas motor for my Paratrooper. Without debating gas vs battery, does anybody have experience with any of the 4 cycle gas motor kits?

Mountain Doctor wrote:I looked it up. It was this model, exact right down to the color:

https://www.montaguebikes.com/product/p ... r-express/

That's a pretty low quality build. Even if it was put together by a bike mechanic, the cheap parts really won't withstand the weight of an adult riding it on dirt roads for any length of time. Those parts are fine on a kids bike, but not on a big boy bike.

Bicycles are the epitome of "you get what you pay for", right up to around $5,000. Past that it's pretty common to trade pounds of cash to save grams of weight. $3~5k seems to be the sweet spot for getting your money's worth, in that every extra dollar you spend gets you a noticeably better frame or component.

People who buy cheap bikes figuring "I'll only ride it short distances every now and again" are dead right. Cheap bikes are miserable to ride, miserable to own. They weight a ton, they won't stay tuned, and they're both unpleasant and unreliable. Crap bikes and good bikes get charged the same when you take them in to get tuned, the difference being that a good bike will hold the adjustment, while a poor one will not.

Bicycles are pretty amazing. Compare the materials, construction, geometry, and welding of a decent bike frame to an aircraft engine mount and it's obvious that even very expensive bicycles are an incredible bargain. Inexpensive bikes...not so much.

flyingzebra wrote:I've been looking at a rear mounted gas motor for my Paratrooper. Without debating gas vs battery, does anybody have experience with any of the 4 cycle gas motor kits?

I do.

I built up a Trek cruiser with an 80cc gas engine with a clutch and reduction drive. I would not recommend it. Loud and obnoxious vibration. Little torque and increased drag to pedal. Also messy. Two stroke dripage from the exhaust tip and dripping gas also. A fun toy but I'd not want in in the plane.

Probably a higher quality 4 stroke engine would be better. I'd have to recommend electric in this case.

Bicycles are pretty amazing. Compare the materials, construction, geometry, and welding of a decent bike frame to an aircraft engine mount and it's obvious that even very expensive bicycles are an incredible bargain.

Well said, I couldn't agree more.

I think the price point of a good bike vs. a poor bike is lower than $3000, probably more like $1500. I have a couple of Treks (a road bike and a mountain bike) which cost about $1000 each when I bought them 20 and 15 years ago respectively--I suspect without checking that equivalents would be a few hundred more today. They're both excellent bikes, with good mid-level components. The road bike has many thousands of miles on it (10 Ride the Rockies and 4 Tour de Wyoming tours, +/- 400 miles each, plus hundreds of miles of training, plus just recreational rides); the mountain bike has only a couple hundred miles, as I never got into riding it much--constant fear of breaking something (on me, not on the bike--us old farts don't bounce as good as we once did).

But otherwise I agree. After awhile, spending more money buys mostly tiny reductions in weight and slightly better components, but apparently huge bragging rights ("I paid only $6000 for my Superlite 550, hand made just for me in Austria, with top of the line aero carbon fiber wheels, titanium disc brakes, and derailleur!"). When my son paid almost $5000 for his last bike, I thought he was nuts--but then, I've spent gobs of money on my hobbies, too (I have one of the most "expensive" 172s in existence, I think), so I can't fault him or anyone else who spends their money on what they enjoy.

Cary