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Car Forum / Driving, Maintenance, Tuning / RVs / May 2007Montague Folding Bikes
Has anyone ever used those Montague folding bikes? I'm interested in getting the paratrooper model for my RV. Do they ride like a real bike or do they feel like they are going to accordian? The bikes fit inside so they won't get all hanked up by rain and road grime. > Has anyone ever used those Montague folding bikes? I'm interested in > getting the paratrooper model for my RV. Do they ride like a real bike > or do they feel like they are going to accordian? The bikes fit inside > so they won't get all hanked up by rain and road grime. The Paratrooper is cool. I have a marine buddy who loves it. Of course, he uses the military version which costs over a grand but you'll probably have to settle for the civilian version which costs about 700 bucks. I've ridden his on the trails and it's a beast. In testing, 250 pound marines with 75 pound combat packs rode off five foot drops. Several wheels got tacoed. Durability was improved with 48-spoke, double-walled, tandem wheels. It uses a 24-speed Deore drive train. No tools are required for folding. Two quick release levers, one on the front wheel and one on the frame under the front of the seat do the job in about 30 seconds. At about 30 pounds it's no lightweight but it will carry huge loads (i.e. obese RVers and their even larger Janet Wilder/Rosie O'Donnel-shaped women) without breaking down. It's got a thick oval aluminum tube welded between steering tube and seat tube (also aluminum) and a steel rear triangle. The performance is great. They are extremely rigid. It's a hardtail but has a Rock Shox with 100mm travel up front. The bike folds to 36 x 30 x 12 inches. The frame has a lifetime warranty. That should tell you something. I rode my friend's military model at about 30mph off a couple ten-foot downhill vertical drops and it never flinched. The brakes need to be upgraded to discs for serious boondocking especially if it's wet. The rim-clamp brakes sort of don't work when things are wet and muddy. Plus they can jam up with vegetation and mud especially at the fork that has the Rock Shox over-the-tire brace. An elastomer seat tube might also be helpful to smooth out the ride over rough terrain. Or you can be a marine and spend most of your riding time standing on the large serrated platform pedals. You won't find clipless on this thing nor would you want them. I've never seen combat boots with Speedplay or SPD cleats, have you? Shad O'Shay >> Has anyone ever used those Montague folding bikes? I'm interested in >> getting the paratrooper model for my RV. Do they ride like a real bike or [quoted text clipped - 32 lines] > > Shad O'Shay Is there any noise in the frame locking clamps when it is pedaled under heavy force? I believe the paratrooper model has disc brakes. I ride with spud cleats on mountain bikes. After the first crash you learn how to get out of them quickly. There is some terrain where spuds are a bit ridiculous. I don't like shock forks because they are not stable in high speed turns. 30 lbs is not that heavy for what the bike does. How is the gearing? Is there sufficient top end for the road? Is it a 52 x 11? $700 is a good price, considering the premium charged on other exotic bikes. How is your bike shipped around when you travel? Is it in a bag/case or on a rack on the back of an RV? Do you find that water gets into the bearings and the seat gets soggy? >>> Has anyone ever used those Montague folding bikes? I'm interested in >>> getting the paratrooper model for my RV. Do they ride like a real [quoted text clipped - 37 lines] > Is there any noise in the frame locking clamps when it is pedaled > under heavy force? I didn't notice any noise there. It's just a pivot joint so it shouldn't have much if any twisting torque on it from hard pedaling. > I believe the paratrooper model has disc brakes. I ride with spud > cleats on mountain bikes. After the first crash you learn how to get [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > 11? $700 is a good price, considering the premium charged on other > exotic bikes. I'm not sure about the number of teeth. There's a triple on the crank and eight on the cassette. Probably a 12......36 or so. The larger sprocket looked much larger than the largest on my road machines (23). The gearing seemed way low even in the large chainring compared to my road bikes. Probably only good for about 30mph without spinning out. But, I like to spin a large gear even uphill. Lance Armstrong used smaller gears and his cadence is way up there around 100 or even 110. He was some machine that guy! VO2 max through the roof. I like 85 to 95 better. Suits my cardio-vascular system better. I can put out equivalant wattage but at lower RPMs. On a bunch sprint, after my lead-out does his work, I turn 53/11, which maxes out my sprint at about 50-55mph. Regular people can't put out this kind of power even in their dreams. I would suspect topping out at 30mph is all most amatuers can attain so there's really no use having gearing for 50mph. You couldn't do it anyway, dude. > How is your bike shipped around when you travel? Is it in a bag/case > or on a rack on the back of an RV? Do you find that water gets into > the bearings and the seat gets soggy? My road bikes are shipped by air disassembled in a hard padded case like a big suitcase. Around Europe between events they live in the "garage" in the team bus. Spares are carried exposed to the elements on roof racks on the team chase vehicles. The seats don't get soggy. Not enough padding to get soggy. Some are nothing but carbon fiber attached to a couple carbon rails. The padding is in the bib shorts. It's especially designed to wick and evaporate sweat away. Wheel bearings are sealed. Water ingress isn't a problem. Even when the Paris-Roubaix is a wet, muddy hell on the pavé (this year it was dusty) the bearings aren't affected (the chain is another story). Your wheel bearings must stay clean so they don't cause friction and impede your forward speed. Gone are the days of the loose or caged ball bearings exposed to the elements. My custom TT bike has ceramic wheel bearings which are supposed to be much rounder and more efficient. I can't tell the difference while riding but even if they give you a second or two over the competition the higher price is well worth it so the team goes high-zoot. Shad O'Shay > I'm not sure about the number of teeth. There's a triple on the crank > and eight on the cassette. Probably a 12......36 or so. The larger [quoted text clipped - 38 lines] > > Shad O'Shay Hey, "Shad." How's about a couple more clues as to your real identity? I think pro cyclists are highly underrated athletes. If I knew who you were, I could have somebody to cheer on now that Lance has retired. Harry Harris  SignaturePosted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com >> I'm not sure about the number of teeth. There's a triple on the crank and >> eight on the cassette. Probably a 12......36 or so. The larger sprocket [quoted text clipped - 44 lines] > > Harry Harris I'm not certain he is a professional racer. He does know a lot about bikes, bike racing and training. Bicycle racing is the hardest cardio sport going and it is hard on the body. Very strong mental discipline is needed to be competitive at a high level. You won't find dope smoking drunks in bicycle athletics as you do in basketball, baseball and football. If Shad gets a few people to go out and ride a bit more or shed a few pounds it's a good thing. One way to tell if he is a professional racer is to have him give us the first four digits of his racing license and the organization that issued it. >>> I'm not sure about the number of teeth. There's a triple on the >>> crank and eight on the cassette. Probably a 12......36 or so. The [quoted text clipped - 58 lines] > professional racer is to have him give us the first four digits of his > racing license and the organization that issued it. Right on, brother! Which license? NORBA? USA Cycling? Or ICU (Union Cycliste Internationale)? I'll give you the ICU. You probably meant that one. It's USA1~~~~~~3. You can try to guess the middle numbers. Doh! Shad O'Shay |
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