I could walk 500 miles, but I'd much rather bike them on my Brompton. And I just did tonight! Well, I surpassed 500 miles since I've gotten the B. I've been keeping track of stats on my handy dandy google doc spreadsheet
hopefully viewable with this link. I hope to make this spreadsheet a sticky on the front page somehow... gotta figure that out.
Anyway, here's some pics of today's momentus ride into downtown Tucson.
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| The beautiful Santa Cruz Church |
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| One of my favorite signs... so real! |
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| Believe it or not, this is a newly renovated sign. |
Bravo! WIsh you many more happy (s)miles!
ReplyDeletePeace :)
I like what you are doing but I have a problem with your spreadsheet. It only shows one way rides to work and doesn't account for the cost of getting from work to home. How do you get from from work to home? On the Brompton? Brompton on the bus? Car? Shouldn't these costs and savings (if any) be accounted for?
ReplyDeleteYes, I have a Strida, but I don't think it can hold up in the real world. I am having difficulty justifying a Brompton at that price point; considering a Dahon Curve D3.
Let me know.
Thanks!
Hi Don, thanks for your interest in my blog and the spreadsheet. When I do my one way rides, either I will drive to work with the Brompton in the hatch then ride home (and leave my car at work) then ride back into work the next morning; or I will bike into work in the morning and either hitch a ride home with a co-worker who lives close by or I will take the bus home.
DeleteThe intent of the spreadsheet was not necessarily to track my transportation costs, but just to track the amount of gas & money saved by riding the Brompton.
I used to have a Strida as well, but quickly found that I couldn't ride it for very long... just too squirlley! I haven't ridden a Dahon, but I have test ride on a couple of Tern (which I believe are a related company). The Terns were perfectly adequate, but I could feel upgraded quality of the Brompton. I figured that I would be putting a ton of miles on the bike I chose and I wanted something as bombproof as possible. Plus they haven't had a lot of design changes that can make the Brompton obsolete and hard to repair if needed, and I'm sure they have a higher resale value if you ever decide to sell it. Even though there certainly is a price difference, it made sense in my situation. I guess ideally you should try out either bike if possible.
Thanks, clears things up. Have you ever brought your Brompton onto a Sun Tran bus? In theory, it's allowed to bring folders on the bus. Reality may be different to the point it's not worth it? My frontier is to get my Dahon Speed Uno acceptable and try it on Sun Tran. Don't think I need to buy yet another bike for that adventure.
ReplyDeleteI have taken the Brompton on the Sun Tran a few times, and the bus drivers haven't given me any grief over it. HOWEVER, there really isn't much room on the bus unless you can get on one of the sideways handicap benches. The forward facing seats don't really have enough legroom for you & your bike (well, you might be able to make it happen, but it won't be comfortable) and the aisle is too narrow (the bike will get in everyone's way).
DeleteI would suggest doing a test ride on the Sun Tran during off-peak times to see if you can find a way to comfortably stow your Uno. They should let you carry it on with no problem.