Silly Old Twit

   A few months ago I bought a Brompton but within weeks it was stolen. I needed  another bike so rather than wait the usual 8 weeks when ordering the Brompton I decided to buy the latest model Mezzo , the Mezzo d10.  So now that I’ve tried both which is the best ? The simple answer is that neither is best , and I’m not just being diplomatic here. They are both classic bikes and  both of them are worth every penny of the 1,000  euros that you might expect to pay for these models ( Brompton m6l / Mezzo d10). They are of course both folders but that’s about it , the rest is chalk and cheese. These are two different , very different bikes.

        The Brompton folds quicker , easier and  is more compact. They both weigh about the same ( this model Mezzo is lighter than previous ones). However the difference in the fold is not significant. It won’t make any practical difference in time or space , the Mezzo feels lighter to carry. Both bike are classics and if you can afford it I think you should buy both. But as this is a review of the Mezzo d10 lets talk about that….

   It feels slow. The first thing that struck me was that it was going too slow. Even when going reasonably fast it felt slow. I have ridden the bike in one gear , the top (fast ) gear only. As I say , it feels slow but after a few journeys I began to realise that it was for the most part getting me to where I wanted to go faster than the Brompton did. When riding it in top gear I found myself constantly flicking the gear lever to pop it into the next highest  gear in spite of the fact that I was already in top gear. It’s hard to explain this but all the gears are low , they are not the standard ratio that you are used to. When you first ride the bike its quite frustrating  , your peddling marginally faster than you normally would at cruising speed…..as I say , you have this feeling that you should go up one more gear. It took me a couple of trips before I got used to it.

    I went out to see a friend last night. I live in south Dublin and she’s in Swords which is a place about 3 miles north of Dublin city. It’s uphill  about 90 % of the way and normally the journey knackers me completely. I’ve done it many times on all sorts of bikes including the Brompton and it involves a lot of exertion , sweating  and hard peddling but last night on the Mezzo I cycled all the way in top gear and got there a little faster than usual and arrived feeling quite fresh. If you have been playing with the idea of getting an electric bike to help with those long lingering hills then get yourself a Mezzo instead. I was very , very impressed. It feels like a ‘normal’ bike to ride. The Brompton rides in a laid back kind of manner , the Mezzo feels more aggressive.

    They are , as I’ve said , both classics , the Brompton speaks of leisure , the Mezzo , buisneess. They really are quite , quite different bikes. When I rode my turkish green Brompton around the city lots of people looked and smiled ( in a nice way ) but since I started riding  the Mezzo I get stares …men in powerful cars stare quite a lot. The peddles are crap , plastic slabs that might not be great in wet greasy conditions and I’m not mad about the handlebars…..I figure I’ll change them in a few months. I mentioned that I ride the bike in top gear …..the rest of the gears are almost redundant , you might use them now and again but not often . I have  never , NEVER , ridden in any other than the top (fastest) gear.

   If you are a Brompton rider I think you will like this bike and I can well imagine that lots of folk will end up owning both. I intend , when I have the money , to buy another Bromptom myself , they are wonderful bikes. Then I will have two great classic machines. The Brompton has the effect of making you ride in a more mellow manner while the Mezzo is , as I say , a bit more agressive…Both are a pleasure to ride. In ten years time the biker  fanatics will be having fist fights on the village green over which is best , which is king of the hill , but the truth is that both are great bikes.

   I just now went out for an afternoon spin and did not really enjoy it. As soon as I hit the main road I went to go up a few gears – I didn’t particular want to go fast – I just wanted to get to that ‘natural’ gear we all use but it just wasn’t there.  Since coming home I have checked some reviews of the Mezzo again and many remark on it’s speed but I think these people must come from a different planet or something.  The gears are low and slow. Once again I rode all the way there and back in first gear (top speed)  and felt all the time that I was at least 2 or 3 gears lower than I should have been. Riding against the wind or up hills requires less effort but that’s because of course your permanently in a low gear. Every professional / semi professional review on the Mezzo has expressed dissatisfaction at the gears so it’s not just me. This is really a one single gear bike , and a low one at that. I am , by the way , 63 years of age and have ridden hundreds of all kinds of bikes over the years but I’ve never come across low gears like this before. In the long term they will really have to go. If you come across comments (and you will) in chat rooms or boards where someone is saying how ‘fast’ and ‘nippy’ it is , just ignore them. This is a one gear bike with NO high gears.

   The tyres are Mezzo / Kelvar  (yellow) puncture resistant so they are quite good but if you do get a puncture then just fold the bike and hop on to a bus because you won’t fix it at the side of the road , especially if it’s getting dark and  it is  raining. I won’t even try to explain what you have to do to fix a puncture………Simple is not a word you’ll often use in relation to the Mezzo. A classic , yes but a classic with very , very , very low / slow gears…..

  One final point….but an important one. The Mezzo may , in time be taken off the market. At least two reviewers described how they went over the handlebars  because they had not got the fold quite right. Both reviewers  were serious bikers and one went as far as to say that the bike had possible safety issues. I’ve read several amateur reviewers saying the same thing. It’s only a matter of time before someone goes to court in the hope of getting lots of dosh from Mezzo and a judge might well decide that it is in fact dangerous. When you unfold the bike it involves putting the front wheel back on again and that’s not as simple as it sounds. If you apply a fraction less pressure than you should you might just end up dead…. And YES YES YES , I know that YOU can do the job in 5 seconds flat while whistling Dixie and standing on one leg but for an ordinary mortal who might be tired or somehow preoccupied it would be easy to get it wrong.

    The Mezzo is a bike that you just can’t ignore. It’s a classic with a touch of genius / madness in the engineering. And by God , and all that’s Holy , it’s SLOW….slow ……slow and you may just get off it in the middle of the road and do a Basil Fawlty on it….If your passing through Dublin and you see this old ejit trying to strangle a bike it will be me…..It’s the slowest thing on wheels  I ever been on.(and remember I’m in my sixties …) I’m old and past it but I’m not THAT slow. I’ve done several road tests and it is in fact about 50% faster than a six gear Brompton but feels slower.

   A week has passed since writing this review and in that time I have purchased a bike computer so can now confirm that the speed is the same as a Brompton m6l.  One other thing I might say here is that I have tested several women folding /unfolding the bike and none could do it. It requires quite a lot of strength to clamp the front wheel shut and hurts my hand when I try it. A child could fold/unfold a Brompton no trouble but no child could do it with the Mezzo.  Having had a weeks practice at it my Mezzo is currently  sitting against a wall in my small one-roomed bedsit taking up space I can ill afford. It’s just far too much trouble folding it .

  14/august/2010  To see an updated review of this bike see my new review here.

  By the way …. Don’t Don’t Buy the Mezzo Bike Bag check this link  out.