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         New bike, (circumlunar), 08/27/2018
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My wife bought me a new bike, which arrived in the mail last
Friday. It is a Citizen folding bike, Tokyo model[1]. Though
I am  woefully unqualified to  write any sort  of meaningful
bike review, I'll attempt to give my initial impressions for
the curious. I tend to be  verbose, so this will probably be
long for a  basic review. For the tl;dr folks,  none of this
matters anyway: I'm planning on having fun riding this thing
and I'm pleased with it, and that's all you need to know.

I chose the  Tokyo model because it was the  lightest of the
Citizen  bikes with  the smallest  wheels but  with multiple
gears (16"  wheels, 30lbs,  6 speeds.) I  was tempted  to go
with the  Rome model, which  is 10lbs lighter and  still has
16" wheels, but  with only 1 speed. The Rome  is belt driven
instead of chain, and that  seemed interesting as well. But,
I just felt  like the gears would be important  for the many
hills where I live. Since I saved a bit on the bike, I added
the carrying case and the airless tires.

To keep some organization in this post, I'll review the bike
in sections:

Size
----
The  bike  has  two   sizes:   folded,  and  unfolded.   For
obvious reasons,  the bike  arrived in the  folded position.
The first thing  I noticed was that the overall  bulk of the
bike was  greater than expected. Having  worked in marketing
for a large  brand in the past, I  realized immediately that
my  perception had  been based  on the  marketing materials,
which  tended to  focus on  the  folded bike  from only  one
angle; dead on  from the side. Had the  company pictured the
bike from  the top  looking down,  I would  have had  a more
realistic expectation. Of course, realistic expectations are
not the goal of marketing.

All  in  all,  I  can't  complain  about  the  folded  size.
Volumetrically,  the bike  is  going to  take  the space  it
takes. No amount of folding  can change than, no matter what
the Transformer movies try to get away with.

Once setup and adjusted for my  height, the size of the bike
is such that  it is not terribly distracting.  I was worried
that the bike  might feel too small for a  grown man, but it
doesn't  feel that  way to  me.  I appreciate  the very  low
center of gravity, with most of  the height only in the seat
and handlebars.  I wanted small  tires to reduce  the folded
footprint. I'm  not sure if  that is  what they do,  but I'm
happy with the tire size.

I  should   probably  measure   the  thing,  or   find  some
comparative reference object to help convey the size to you.
Better still,  I'll just snap a  quick photo of the  bike in
the bag  sitting next to  a piano and  then I don't  have to
think about it[2]. While I'm at  it, I'll include a few more
photos as well[3][4][5][6].


Weight
------
The  bike is supposed  to weigh 30lbs, minus  a small amount
for the airless tire upgrade. I haven't bothered weighing it
as it  seems to  weigh   about what it should. The weight is
not problematic   when  unfolded and in use, nor when folded
and being moved around. It is easy enough to lift and put in
the page (which unzips  fully  open,  and also packs in upon
itself and zips into a tiny bag you can hang from  the frame
while riding.)

The only issue  I have with weight is relating  to the bag /
carrying case. I  really like the bag a lot,  except for the
handles. The  made the  handles just a  little too  long, so
that when you lift the bag  off the ground, you have to pull
it up beyond the natural hang  of your arm to carry it. This
would, of course, vary based on height and arm length, but I
imagine it  would be  even worse for  someone <6'  tall. The
handles are just barely long  enough to put your arm through
and sling  it on  your shoulder. They  should have  made the
handles/straps just a bit longer or just a bit shorter. It's
not really a weight issue, but it does impact how the weight
is experienced.

I  should also  note  that  I really  don't  know how  30lbs
compares to  other bikes, at  all. I  don't know if  that is
considered heavy, light, or what.


Adjustability
-------------
I was  worried  that I wouldn't be able to adjust  the  seat
and handlebars to a comfortable position for  an adult  man.
On the other side of that equation, I had considered  buying
these for my whole family so we could ride more together,but
I  was  worried  that they  also wouldn't adjust down for my
shorter wife and for  my  kids. I'm glad to say,  this model
works well  for  myself, my  wife, and  my youngest son.

The seat has a surprising  (for me) amount of adjustability.
The post can  drop all the way down through  the open bottom
of the frame;  from the pictures, I thought  the frame would
be closed at the bottom, and  that the post might have to be
cut to accommodate a shorter person.  I have  no idea if the
post can normally drop below the frame at the bottom or not.
I doesn't  seem like the best  idea in the world  to have it
sticking out  down there,  but it is  possible. The  post is
long  enough  to  accommodate  someone taller  than  myself.
Perhaps there is some industry  standard post length; in any
case, the seat adjusts to  fit everyone in my family, tested
with myself, my wife, and my youngest.

The handlebars adjust  well, though they don't  have as much
downward play because of the way  they fold. They go up more
than high enough for myself. There  is a marking on the post
for the handlebars that says  "min height," and for the bike
to work  well for my  son I have to  go below that.  I'm not
sure  what the  problem really  is  in going  lower, you  do
already go lower  when folding the bike up. I  did like that
the  handlebar post  was channeled,  so there  was no  play
in  it. I  recall  as  a kid  having  to  straighten out  my
handlebars, which would get misaligned from the wheel in the
front. That  simply can't  happen with  the channel  and the
rest of  the folding setup. I  don't know if that  will be a
negative at some point or not.

I haven't  adjusted the brakes  or shifter, they seem  to be
functioning properly. In  any case, they don't  appear to be
wildly different from what you might find on other bikes.


Build Quality
-------------
Given   the   fact  that   this   is  not a  top-of-the-line
folding   bike,   but more of a middle-of-the-road brand,  I
am  pleased  with  the  build quality. A  Hummingbird  costs
over 10x as much  at ~$4800; a Brompton  costs about  4x  as
much,  starting  at ~$1400.  I   expect   that  with  those,
you'll   have  a  much  more professional feeling bike. This
feels just a small notch above a consumer bike.

The welds look solid and clean. The paint job is very pretty
and  well  done.  All  of  the  components  look  to  be  of
reasonable  quality.  The seat  looks  pretty,  but I'm  not
convinced that it is well  constructed. The chain looks good
and came lightly greased, it looks  to me, with some kind of
white/silver lithium grease (I have no idea what people use,
I used to use a can of All-in-One household oil when I was a
kid.) The pedals fold down  and seem very solid (though, the
way  the mechanism  is designed,  I could  see them  wearing
poorly.)

I wish  I understood  the components  enough to  review them
properly, but  I think  the price point  of this  bike would
tell any  serious bicyclist  what they  need to  know. Those
parts could, I suppose, be upgrade  if one wanted. For me, I
think they'll be sufficient.

One thing I really like are  the mud guards on the front and
rear wheels. I had these decades ago on a bike I rode daily,
and I  loved them.  I had friends  with much  sturdier bikes
than  mine back  them, and  when we'd  ride after  the rain,
their clothes  would be  caked with  mud splatters.  The mud
guards are,  I think,  very useful. Since  I was  looking at
different models before deciding on this one, I think I just
didn't realize it came with them. They are solid (some shake
and rattle  horribly, my daughter's  old bike had  some like
that.) Hopefully they'll stay solid.


Folding/Unfolding Process
-------------------------
This  thing  is  quick  to setup and take down,  and doesn't
have  much of a learning  curve. You drop the  handlebar and
seat, fold down the  handlebar and secure it, fold  down the
pedals, release the mid-point and fold the bike in half, and
you're done. There is a magnetic link between the two halves
mounted  on the  rear wheels, that holds  the thing together
reasonably well. All of the releases and joints  feel  solid
and  have more  than  one connection point; that  is to say,
if a  release popped open while you were riding, there  is a
secondary step keeping it together still. It feels safe and
solid.

When folded, the  bike stands on it's own; there  is a small
bar at the base of the frame for it to sit on, so you're not
scratching  anything.  It does  get  out  of balance  easily
though, if the  rear wheels shift too much. Not  a big deal,
unless you want  to have it free-standing on  a moving train
or some other situation where it would be jostled. For me, I
just need  it to  stand up  so it can  have the  bag wrapped
around it, which is no problem at all.


Riding
------
I've only ridden the bike a tiny bit so  far,  since life is
busy.  I  would   like  to make  more opportunities,  with a
good route  that starts  from my home.  Still, it  folds and
drops easily  in the  trunk of  the car, so  I could  find a
route that is  not too far from  home as well. There  is a 5
mile trail here  in Fulton, MO that is pretty  nice, I might
just get used to driving the few minutes to that.

One thing that  anyone would notice with this  bike- and you
can see  it in the pictures-  is that the wheels  are small,
the center  of gravity  is low, and  the steering  is almost
directly atop the front wheel.  All of this combines to give
a rather squirrelly  feel to the bike,  especially the first
time you ride it. To be  honest, I was expecting this. Years
ago I had a 50cc Honda  scooter, and it had the same problem
for the same reasons. It didn't  bother me, but both my wife
and my youngest son had a difficult time getting used to it.

The airless tires, so far,  have been great. Reviews of such
things online talked quite a bit about how they felt similar
to either flat or over-filled tires.  I suppose I don't have
much to compare to, having not ridden in any serious way for
a long time. They felt just  fine to me; maybe a little flat
feeling  right when  you  start, and  maybe  a little  tight
feeling  when you  hit a  bump, but nothing unmanageable  or
unpleasant- to me.

Brakes  are  good,  shifting  is good  (though,  the  handle
shifter they chose  doesn't have a great grip.)  The seat is
hard, but could  be replaced... though, I've  never minded a
hard seat. Anything  else, I wouldn't know what  to look for
anyway.


Conclusion
----------
Without much knowledge, and without having ridden  much, I'm
pleased  with the bike and I'm  determined to  have fun with
it.   It  does  what I  hoped  it  would do:  it provides an
always-ready  bike  that  I can easily transport and use. It
looks good, handles well, and  meets my needs. I'll continue
to post on this phlog about my adventures with it!


[1] http://www.citizenbike.com/catalog.asp?product_category_id=1&product_id=10
[2] gopher://sdf.org:70/I/users/tfurrows/img/citizen_bike_bag.jpg
[3] gopher://sdf.org:70/I/users/tfurrows/img/citizen_bike_folded-front.jpg
[4] gopher://sdf.org:70/I/users/tfurrows/img/citizen_bike_folded-angle.jpg
[5] gopher://sdf.org:70/I/users/tfurrows/img/citizen_bike_folded-top.jpg
[6] gopher://sdf.org:70/I/users/tfurrows/img/citizen_bike_unfolded.jpg