Brake cable mystery........

[miguel]

Hi again, I took my A-Bike to the regular Thursday night booze up of the Bristol Mountain bike Club recently, it received a lot of attention as the guys and gals took turns riding it up and down the pavement. One of my friends returned looking apologetic and pointed out that the rear brake cable had gone slack when he pulled it so I folded it up and didnt use it for a couple of weeks. I contacted A-Bike technical dept who in turn Emailed the designer. They couldnt establish what had happened and recommended a strip down. Im a qualified cycle mechanic so felt confident that I was capable of fixing it, took it to the workshop (garden shed) unfolded it to begin working on it and discovered that the brake was working. Perfectly................hmmm. Witchcraft obviously.

Having ridden the bike more since my last post I have come to the conclusion that the stock A bike 'seat' was designed for space aliens behinds so I am keen to try a modification in this department. The seat post is also way too short for comfortable pedaling. Im wondering if such modification will invalidate the warranty as it is inevitable that there will be more weight and leverage applied to the seat area as Im borderline legal body weight to ride the bike in swimming trunks and flip flops.

Regards, Mick.

[Garry]

Hi Mick

My view is that the A-Bike doesn't really meet it's claimed ability for use by people of 1.93metres(!) without changing the seat, so I'd hardly worry about the warranty. You can easily swap it back if anything happens and hope they don't read this website

I'm only 1.85m and the seatpost is FAR too short for me, even raised above the warning mark! It really puts strain on my knees so I haven't used the bike as much as I'd like to. I could even live with the saddle itself, so I hope they'll fix this soon. It's easy enough to slide in for folding.

Garry

[A-bikeweb]

Hi Mick,

About the height and the weight he A-bike can hold up, I think we can refer to what they say at a-bike.co.uk :

[ ...the saddle height is easily adjustable to accomodate up to 6'3".
We have set the maximum user weight up to 85kgs, to ensure optimum performance and routine safety, although the A-bike is fully tested to above this weight. ]

I am 1m85, 85 kgs ; as it is for Garry, the stock A-bike seat was by far too short for me to pedal comfortably, so I quietly changed it ( also did I with the saddle) for a longer one to accomodate my height, which is below the maximum 6'3" the bike can accept. I don't worry about my weight is borderline, because it seems the bike is fully tested to above this weight.

Time will tell more about the reliability ; we are as some explorers of a new way of cycling and have to accept the thrills of adventure ( may be I am too romantic !? )

Emmanuel

[John]

Hi Miquel,

That is strange! The cables do go loose while the bike is folded,
but I have never seen them loose while unfolded.
Maybe your friend folded it, noticed the loose cable and then
thought they had broken it?

Just a thought...

John

Hi again, I took my A-Bike to the regular Thursday night booze up of the Bristol Mountain bike Club recently, it received a lot of attention as the guys and gals took turns riding it up and down the pavement. One of my friends returned looking apologetic and pointed out that the rear brake cable had gone slack when he pulled it so I folded it up and didnt use it for a couple of weeks. I contacted A-Bike technical dept who in turn Emailed the designer. They couldnt establish what had happened and recommended a strip down. Im a qualified cycle mechanic so felt confident that I was capable of fixing it, took it to the workshop (garden shed) unfolded it to begin working on it and discovered that the brake was working. Perfectly................hmmm. Witchcraft obviously.

Having ridden the bike more since my last post I have come to the conclusion that the stock A bike 'seat' was designed for space aliens behinds so I am keen to try a modification in this department. The seat post is also way too short for comfortable pedaling. Im wondering if such modification will invalidate the warranty as it is inevitable that there will be more weight and leverage applied to the seat area as Im borderline legal body weight to ride the bike in swimming trunks and flip flops.

Regards, Mick.