ADULT TRICYCE DUBLIN WANTED
September 22, 2010
A friend of mine here in Dublin is in need of an adult tricycle cheap or even free. If anyone out there knows of one please let me know. It’s a long shot but I figure there are probably quite a few out there rotting in garden sheds.
RAPPAREE BIKE IRISH HANDMADE CUSTOM WANTED BICYCLE
August 15, 2010
I am , at the moment , looking for a racing bike and while checking around the bike shops I bumped into a young guy who had a Rapparee bike which apparently was a custom-made job that belonged to his Dad. I can find very little information on these irish made bikes but would like to buy one if anyone out there has one for sale. It would need to be appx. 52/54 inch frame ( I’m only 5’6”) - condition is not too important , even a frame on its own would do. I’m riding a Mezzo folding bike at the moment. It’s a great bike but now I need something to do some touring/racing with.
Anyone out there who has a classic racing bike ? A friend of mine has an old (60′s) British Eagle steel framed racer which I’d love to have myself… I considered saving up untill I could afford one of these new all carbon bikes but the more I read the less enthused I am about them. To be honest I consider most of them to be quite ugly looking beasts which are totally unsuitable for irish conditions. Apart from the Rapparee are there any other bike that you would recommend ? Please feel free to leave a comment even if it’s just boasting about your own bike as I’m curious what readers of this blog may be riding. Any information at all about Rapparee bikes would be most welcome.
ANOTHER MEZZO D10 FOLDING BIKE REVIEW
August 14, 2010
Some time ago I wrote a rather harsh review of the Mezzo D10 folding bike. I have been tempted many times to delete that review but have not done so as it was an honest review at the time when I first bought my Mezzo and was a fair reflection of how I felt about the bike at the time. However , that was then and this is now.
The Mezzo is a well-engineered bike. Like a rollex watch it is perhaps over engineered and lacks the classic simplicity of the Brompton. It’s less easy to fold and to be honest I never fold mine as it’s just too much hassle. If folding is your priority then get a Brompton but if want a bike that rides like a ‘real’ bike get a Mezzo. Not only does it ride like a real bike but it does what electric bikes claim to do – , it flattens out hills. The Mezzo is , without doubt , the easiest bike to ride that I personally have ever ridden ( and I’ve ridden just about everything). It’s low gear ratio means that going up hills is a doddle. It requires much less effort cycling against the wind or tackling those long inclines that take it out of you on your way home……it has in fact all the advantages of an Ebike without any of the downside. But you will find that gear ratio frustrating for the first few weeks…..It leaves you feeling that you are permanently in the wrong gear , your feet peddle at a rate just marginally faster than you feel is ‘right’. In my case it took a couple of months to feel normal on the bike and at times I felt like getting off and giving it a good kick ( which should help to explain the bad review I initially gave it ). It’s quite a fast bike for a folder and of course the fact that your not knackered going up hills etc means that you still have plenty of energy left when everyone else is beginning to wilt……so you can go further and keep going further…….
It’s a nice looking bike and you’ll get lots of compliments and envious glances so buy a good , a very good lock if you want to keep it. As I’ve said , it’s over – engineered and removing the front wheel requires a degree in engineering 0r at least the patience to read the manual (neither of which I have) -but how often do we actually need to remove the wheels from our bikes ? . The tyres are not the best ( I’ve had 5 punctures in 10 months) so you may have to spend some money on a good pair and of course you’ll want a Brooks saddle so that another 70 euros or so. But the Mezzo is almost 700 euros cheaper than an entry level Birdy and is probably a better bike and is a much better bike to ride than the Brompton. You will not find many Brompton owners challenging you to a marathon run….. For a more detailed review of the D10 try this …….
BAD BUY MEZZO BIKE BAG RIP- OFF (ripoff)
September 13, 2009
Don’t buy a Mezzo Bike Bag. If you do you’ll lose it and it’s contents in no time. I bought one 2 days ago and when I arrived home today from a 30 minute cycle found it had fallen off my bike , where I don’t know but in the bag were my mobile phone , glasses , 4 day old Krypton ULock which cost 90 E. , sweater and a set of allen keys. I had planned to take some photos today but left my camera behind at the last minute. All in all I suppose I’m 250 E. out of pocket.
The bag has a plastic type bottom with ribs which slot into the carrier. There is also a lycra strip which normally would go around the saddle post but on the Mezzo fits at the front of the carrier. The problem is that the Mezzo has no suspension and 16 inch wheels so there is a certain amount of vibration even on good roads . The bag rattles on the back of the bike no matter how tightly you try to fit it and as a result it inevitable works itself loose and falls off. There is in fact nothing holding the bag on the bike…so you WILL loose it (and of course all your valuables).
There is no click or catch when you slip the bag in place on the carrier so it doesn’t actually lock. The vibration is quite loud and you can hear the bag rattle as you cycle along but you (like me ) might feel it’s alright as the lycra strap will catch the bag if it falls off however if you don’t hear the bag fall/jump off the carrier it will bang along behind you untill it does fall off. As I said , I might have had my camera with me today in which case I would be appx 500 E. out of pocket. If I were a woman I might have popped my purse in the bag for ‘safe keeping’.
Don’t buy the bag. ……and if you already have one don’t , don’t put anything of value in it. PS . I forgot to mention when I first posted this that in the two days I had this bag it fell off my bike 3 times. The first time I felt a bump against the back wheel and the second time I was on a quite side road cycle track and so heard it fall off but this last time I didn’t hear / feel anything so it wasn’t just a bit of bad luck on my part. The bag is a big NO NO.
MEZZO D 10 FOLDING BIKE REVIEW DUBLIN IRELAND BROMPTON
September 6, 2009
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.
BROMPTON BIKE STOLEN DUBLIN BICYCLE MEZZO
August 15, 2009
My Brompton bike was stolen today in Parliment Street , Dublin. I’ve only had it for about 8 weeks having had my previous bike stolen just a month or so before that. It cost me 1,200 Euros which was just about all the money I had so now I’ll just have to start saving all over again. That’s 5 bikes in all that I’ve had stolen. I’m not exactly lucky , am I ?
I reported it to the police but I don’t suppose I’ll ever see it again. It was probably stolen by some ‘yob’ type and by tomorrow it will have been bought (at some market/car boot ) by a very ‘respectable’ person. I spent years working as a market trader and would , every day of the week , refuse to buy certain items that people brought to me , items that were obviously stolen ( you can ALWAYS tell ) but no sooner would I say No than there would be someone only too willing to buy …..and more often than not they were the ‘respectable’ type.
If you happen to see it around please email me or leave a message here. The unfortunate fact is that most people are not honest. Most of my friends for instance buy their tobacco on street corners from people who probably are in the drugs business and think of me as a fool for getting mine at full price in a shop. I’ve even know people who’s children have died from Heroin who still buy their tobacco from such people.!!!! …..
I don’t known how many bike are stolen every day but it’s probably hundreds and of course they never steal a cheap bike. The financial cost over the space of a year must be huge but it’s only regarded as petty crime. I have a bit of a phobia about public transport ( panic attacks etc ) so was reliant on the bike …….Oh well , there’s always someone worse off….. There is a 500 euros reward for the recovery of this bike.
6 September 09 update: since writing this I have bought another bike , a Mezzo d 10 . You can read a review about it here.
DUBLIN BAY PIDGEON (PIGEON) HOUSE ROAD RINGSEND DUBLIN
July 25, 2009
I went for a short spin on my new Brompton M6L folding bike last night. This is a spot about 10 minutes or so from my flat in Ringsend. It’s just beyond Dockland on the south side of Dublin. I’ve forgotten why it’s called the Pidgeon House Road. Wales is somewhere straight ahead in the distance.
BROMPTON M6L FOLDING BIKE NANO TURKISH GREEN
July 23, 2009
I recently bought myself a Brompton folding bike. The Brompton is one of those things that you either love or hate and personally I love my Brompton. As you can see from the photo they fold quite small and can fit snugly just about anywhere and are ideal for anyone living in a flat.
They are not cheap and you can expect to pay 1.000 euros or more but as it’s a folder it means you can take it with you anywhere you go so you don’t have to leave it locked to some lamp post where it’s likely to be stolen. You can buy them in Dublin from Cycleways but it takes about 6 or 8 weeks from the time you order as they are custom made. Some people positively hate the bike but this may have to do with the fact that it came on the market around the same time as the mobile phone and was something of a Yuppie accessory in those days. They are relatively light and very portable and if you have the money you can go for a titanium version which is even lighter. If you have a spare 1.000 euros after buying the titanium upgrade you can get a small Nano electric motor to fit on the bike.
Since posting this my Brompton has been stolen
