Small wheels vs large wheels - steering responsiveness?

[emily_in_nc]

I have ridden bikes with 650c wheels, 26" (mtb) wheels, 24" in front/700c in back (Terry), and 20" (Bike Friday), and they all seemed plenty responsive to me. No really huge differences (other than the stability of a huge mtb knobby, of course!)

I must say, tho, I totally looooooooove all those pretty Sillgeys in ice cream colors! I have never seen one. Totally cool!

[Cataboo]

I must say, tho, I totally looooooooove all those pretty Sillgeys in ice cream colors! I have never seen one. Totally cool!

He's got the lime grey with matching lime green stem & handlebars - brooks saddle & leather grips.

says he'll let me try it out when I go out to visit next month. Should be fun.

[uforgot]

I'd like to know how riding a Bike Friday compares with riding a Dahon. Everyone who rides a Bike Friday loves them, and they always say they ride like a road bike. I could certainly tell I was on a small bike with the Dahon Boardwalk, their lower end.

Has anyone ridden both and can compare? I'd also like to know how the 20" Bike Fridays and 16" wheel Tikits ride compared to each other.

There is a bike shop in Northern Virginia where you can rent bike Fridays, but I didn't get there this summer. I really wanted to test ride one!

[Cataboo]

I'd like to know how riding a Bike Friday compares with riding a Dahon. Everyone who rides a Bike Friday loves them, and they always say they ride like a road bike. I could certainly tell I was on a small bike with the Dahon Boardwalk, their lower end.

Has anyone ridden both and can compare? I'd also like to know how the 20" Bike Fridays and 16" wheel Tikits ride compared to each other.

There is a bike shop in Northern Virginia where you can rent bike Fridays, but I didn't get there this summer. I really wanted to test ride one!

Hrm... Maybe I need to take a trip to northern Virginia (or down to see tulip...)

But the last thing I need is to convince myself I need a folding bike.

[tulip]

Bikes at Vienna (in Vienna, Virginia) sells all sorts of folding bikes, but mostly Bike Fridays. They have used ones and may even have rentals. Nice shop, if you can find it (entrance in a sort of alley, hard to find but keep looking!)

[papaver]

I find 16 inch wheels way more nervous...

[lunacycles]

Front end handling, be it twitchy or stable, etc. is determined by a lot more than wheel size. Head tube angle and fork offset play the more important roles. Combined, head angle, fork offset and wheel size determine a number called "trail."
Trail for most road bikes is in the upper 50 to lower 60 number. You can achieve this number with any sized wheel by adjusting the head angle and/or fork offset...hence why so many well-designed small wheel bikes feel as responsive, steering-wise, as their larger-wheel versions.

Those fixies look sorta funny to me, though. I like my wheels to be in proportion to frame size, wherever possible!

[uforgot]

Bikes at Vienna (in Vienna, Virginia) sells all sorts of folding bikes, but mostly Bike Fridays. They have used ones and may even have rentals. Nice shop, if you can find it (entrance in a sort of alley, hard to find but keep looking!)

That's it! I couldn't think of the name. I think I even saw that they rent Bike Friday tandems.

[emily_in_nc]

I'd like to know how riding a Bike Friday compares with riding a Dahon. Everyone who rides a Bike Friday loves them, and they always say they ride like a road bike. I could certainly tell I was on a small bike with the Dahon Boardwalk, their lower end.

I suspect it's about much more than just wheel size. My BF Pocket Crusoe is a "petite" model (for riders < 125 lbs) so is one of the lightest ones they make (smaller diameter tubing), and I have drop bars so don't ride as upright as I would on a flat-bar folder. Ultegra in front, XT in the back for loaded touring. The fact that the componentry is better and it is much lighter weight than a Dahon would probably make it ride much better. I've never ridden any other folder besides my Friday, though.