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Long time customer Dave Bengston recently wrote an article for Minnesota Cyclist about getting in a few miles while being out on the road. Dave is passionate about riding his bicycles and his enthusiasm shines through in the article. Nice!

Have Folding Bike, Will Travel
By David N. Bengston

Business travel is not very exciting or fun – unless you can get in some bicycling along the way! Then it becomes an adventure. Imagine hitting the bike trails and exploring interesting places after your workday, rather than watching television in your hotel room. Imagine arriving at your business meeting by bike instead of taxi after an exhilarating morning ride. I’ve confused a few receptionists who assumed I was a bike courier who was there to make a delivery!

Winter commuting by bicycle in Minnesota can be  challenge. Last week was a full on battle. It was below zero most of the week and we've had a few snowfalls in the last 10 days. This mix of super cold temps with snow makes for huge patches of extremely slippery ice. I can hear most of you chuckling over my comment referring to this weeks ice as being more slippery than last weeks ice. Funny, Yes. True, Yes.

On Monday I was struggling through my commute with fresh snow falling and my eyelashes froze together on one eye. Moments earlier while walking my bike as I walked my daughter to her morning Spanish Class I mentioned how I thought the snow gave a romantic feel to the cold temperatures. At the time I wasn't thinking about how the moisture in the air could melt on my eye and then freeze as the wind blew across my face.

As I got within a few blocks of the shop I was riding out in the lane because the side of the road was too chunky and icy for me to ride on. I had a truck pull up alongside me and I was sure that I was going to get yelled at for, well it could have been so many things actually, but my main thought was for riding in the lane of a busy street. The driver rolled down the passenger side window and let me know that my kickstand was down. As he pulled away he said he just didn't want me to get hurt. How sweet is that! It's 10 degrees below freezing, it's snowing hard now, I'm sweating from the challenge to stay upright, I can only open one eye and here's someone looking out for me. "Thank You" I yelled to him as he drove ahead.

He didn't know that I wasn't going to catch my kickstand this week. The only way to have the kickstand catch the ground would be for me to lean the bike into a turn. Riding on city streets that are a sheet of ice does not lend the luxury of leaning into a turn. Bummer.

I have always muttered to myself on the best and worst of commuting days that a day I can ride to work is a good day. It's true. I was lucky enough this week to be healthy enough mentally and physically to ride to work. Sweet!

Wednesday the temperature didn't get higher minus 5 degrees. Early in the afternoon a kid named Jason came in needing air in his tire. He was chatting with the mechanic a bit as he got air and he talked about making music and what a great party he'd been to last weekend, ect, ect. When asked where he worked he said he was working now, delivering sandwiches by bike. In fact he had to get going because he was on a delivery. As he started to the door he mentioned that the job was great and he was feeling good about being lucky enough to have a decent job. Unbelievable! He wasn't dressed all that well and his bike was a 70's Schwinn running the original tires and he didn't ever mention the ice or the temperature! Rock on Jason! It's a good day.

Minnesota is cold. So cold that we actually have ice. Lots and lots of ice and the ice lasts a long, long time. Pastor Paul (Minnesota also has a lot of Lutherans) wanted to use his new folding bike for more day-to-day riding in the winter (applause!) which he is well accustomed to doing in the warmer months (we have a few), but the heart of winter is a tough sell in Minnesota. Paul is an avid rider and actually was easily persuaded to winterize his Dahon Mariner with a pair of Schwalbe Winter Marathon tires. Sweet Ride!

Studded tires slow down the ride a bit, but not nearly as much as a serious patch of ice will slow you down when your not using studded tires (How fast am I going when I'm laying on the road?). We have some experience in regard to studded tires and we give a big thumbs up to the Schwalbe Marathon Winter Tires. These 20 inchers are 1.6" wide and take 70 psi. Nice! Chubby without being so wide that they'd cause you to float in snow and a high enough pressure to help you get to work on time (how civilized!). We also stock them in 700c as well as 26". We sell a lot of them and have a lot of happy customers because of them.

Carradice has been hand crafting quality cycle luggage for over 70 years in their factory in Nelson, England. Not many companies that were started in the 1930's are still in business, but Carradice is. In fact they are still in the same town and continue to be in family hands.

We import the Carradice product because we feel that it is special both in regards to design and quality. Being a single store front makes importing quite a hassle as there are a good number of details involved in getting the product into the shop (what was the tariff number and who does the check for duty go to?), but as a specialty retailer we see great value in the Carradice brand and feel that it is worth the effort.
Here is a link our Carradice product: Carradice at Perennial Cycle

Their specialty is hand crafted bicycle bags made of cotton duck that are designed for long life. These new City Folder bags designed specifically for Brompton Folding Bicycles are classic in their style and feel, though they have updated features to fit the world that we live in. All three bags are massive and loaded with features. The black and the green (referred to as "originals" as they are made of cotton duck) are identical in design and features, simply different colors. The gray Carradry is designed to be a waterproof bag, while the cotton duck models are highly water resistant. The Carradry model is slightly smaller because it does not have the two back pockets, but rather two mesh pouches. Also, the Carradry model's Laptop bag is not removable to be used as a bag of it's own (unlike the cotton duck models).

SPECIFICATIONS:

Main Compartment:
16 x 5-1/2 x 14" (1232 cu in.)

Laptop Bag:
15 x 10 x 2"

Back Pockets (on Originals):
5 x 3-1/2 x 8" (130 cu in.)

TOTAL CAPACITY:
Originals > 1492 cu in., 25 Liters

The City Folders are very easy to mount and unmount from the bike (a 5 second task). Carradice uses the front carrier block and bag frame that Brompton has designed and manufactured on the City Folder. This system is strong, light and long lasting.

The bracket that attaches to the bicycle (Front Carrier Block) bolts onto mounting holes that are on all Brompton headtubes. This means that the weight does not influence the steering of the bike. When you turn the handlebars, the bag does not turn with them.

While the original models use a pair of nice looking leather straps to lash down the top cover, they have a nylon buckle (like the Carradry model) that works as the quick buckle and unbuckle for the top (these nylon buckles are hidden under the leather straps). The leather straps are to be used to tighten and loosen the fit of the top depending on how overstuffed your bag might be.

There is a laptop bag inside of the main compartment that is nicely padded with a few pockets (phone, camera and power chord). This bag is suspended  to prevent your laptop from banging the bottom of your bag each time you hit a bump. The cotton duck models use velcro straps to attach the laptop bag. This makes removing the laptop bag a cinch and they provide a separate small shoulder strap to allow you to use the laptop bag as it's own bag. The Carradry model's padded laptop bag is the same bag, though the bag is not removable. There also is a larger shoulder strap for walking about with the City Folder (all models).