Page 2 of 4

PostPosted: Tue Mar 11, 2008 3:59 pm
by Weakling
Upgrade kid would be welcomed here in Sweden too. :)

PostPosted: Wed Mar 12, 2008 9:49 pm
by abiker
appears that they have changed the name of the a-bike from mark II to Abike plus !!! even the new feature description have been changed

http://www.a-bike.co.uk/store/home.php

"A-bike Plus will be arriving later this Spring" the flash text says.

(Weakling edited in the link and quote)

PostPosted: Thu Mar 13, 2008 12:02 am
by Amuro Lee

PostPosted: Thu Mar 13, 2008 2:38 am
by kenwshmt2
A 'front wheel wont roll if the forward lock clasp is open' would be nice..
I'm eventually going to need surgery to repair my over the handle bar adventure.
:?

PostPosted: Thu Mar 13, 2008 12:59 pm
by Weakling
Sad to hear about needing such operation, medical care.
A kind of mechanical warning if things are not set the proper way
for to warn the driver that one need to attend to the unfolding.

Is it possible to make such in an easy way?

PostPosted: Thu Mar 13, 2008 3:40 pm
by kenwshmt2
Is it possible to make such in an easy way?


A 2 part bell or rattle would be a start.
something that is in the path of the clasp arm, so it rings when its open, but compressed from the end of the lever so it couldn't ring when its closed.

It wouldn't be difficult to construct, a little cat toy jingle bell at the right place on the pipe would be enough.

Yellow and red 'caution' only visible when its open would be helpful.

PostPosted: Thu Mar 13, 2008 6:40 pm
by Weakling
You could tell them so they at least could make a kind of upgrade kit or something.

Your bad experience should be a warning to others to look out for such things happening.

I had an incident with my SmartBike recently. Happily I saw it and could stop before me went into a free fall. The Quick Release was set too lose so the steering didn't steer the wheel. But it was easy to tighten and now I check it every time I use the bike.

My Microbike had an incident too. It started to fold itself while me was riding it. But I managed to click it in locked position with a fast reaction.

Since then it has not happen but it was a scary experience.

PostPosted: Tue Apr 22, 2008 6:04 am
by JazJon
Hey everyone, I just discovered the A-Bike after a random google search for a small bike. This looks like the perfect bike for me! After carefully reading all the feedback on this site, I figured it was worth waiting for the plus version to arrive. I hope it comes out soon! (can hardly wait) I was one click away from ordering the 1'st gen one from a 3rd party site, but held back just in time.

I live down town san francisco, so I plan to zip down to the gym, whole foods or the mall several blocks away from me etc. Lucky for me I live on a flatter side of the city. (no hills to the places I'd go short distance via bike to)

I look forward to reviewing my new bike! I'll be sure to post videos and pix.

PostPosted: Thu Apr 24, 2008 1:49 am
by JazJon
Does anyone have a best guess when the A-Bike Plus will be available? I'm looking for a ball park figure. (more or less than 1 month away?)

PostPosted: Thu Apr 24, 2008 9:24 pm
by newcross
JazJon wrote:Does anyone have a best guess when the A-Bike Plus will be available? I'm looking for a ball park figure. (more or less than 1 month away?)


According to somebody wrote in Sell/trade section of this forum, official is saying Plus will be out in June, if we get lucky.

I can relate to your anticipation!!

Maybe you can buy secondhand genuine A-bike from eBay cheaply for time being?

Response from A-Bike

PostPosted: Thu Apr 24, 2008 9:33 pm
by JazJon
response..........
________________________
Hi Jon

The new A-bike plus is expected in July 08 but we are completely sold out of the original A-bike at the moment and I don’t know of any other company with stock. If you do find one please check the authenticity of the A-bike before buying it as there are counterfeit copies out there and, apart from being illegal, they are potentially dangerous. One surefire way of checking the authenticity of the A-bike is to check the serial number with us (this can be found on the underside of the cross-piece).

Best regards
________________________
hmmm I dont want to wait until July. I'll have to make do with the first gen model and upgrade later. I cant find any second hand ones for sale on ebay. the ebay ones I see right now all look to be china knock-offs.

Is this retro36 company trustworthy to sell authentic A-Bikes?

http://abikecentral.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1013
www.retro36.co.uk
http://www.retro36.co.uk/index.php?main ... cts_id=323

If it's authentic I'll order it from above. I'm tempted to keep the old one as a secondary bike for friends that want to join me on a bike ride. I've been reading about the comfort seat upgrades but I'm not sure if it's worth the add weight and fold delay.

PostPosted: Thu Apr 24, 2008 10:50 pm
by kenwshmt2
san francisco eh?

The one thing needing fixing is what you need to wait for, the free wheel.. it breaks under strain, mostly from hills.

PostPosted: Thu Apr 24, 2008 10:53 pm
by JazJon
kenwshmt2 wrote:san francisco eh?

The one thing needing fixing is what you need to wait for, the free wheel.. it breaks under strain, mostly from hills.


Ok, that's a good point. The area of SF I'm in is flat, but not perfectly flat. 3 Months is a long time to wait thogh, oh well. :-/

Non of the other bikes out there are compact enough. I like how light and easy this thing is. I could hang it in coat check if I went out even. I'll keep waiting thanks!

PostPosted: Fri Apr 25, 2008 6:02 pm
by Garry
www.retro36.co.uk looks quite respectable to me, however it does state "0 units in stock" :(

PostPosted: Fri Apr 25, 2008 6:54 pm
by JazJon
Garry wrote:www.retro36.co.uk looks quite respectable to me, however it does state "0 units in stock" :(


Ok I couldnt wait until July for the Plus so I went for it! I placed an order last night. It looks like I might have gotten the very last one!

I'm still going to order the new plus when it's out. I'll eithr keep this as a spare for a friend to ride with me, or sell it later down the road.

The note on Retro 36 said they dont ship the a-bike internationally but he did for me for an added shipping charge. I think it's worth the premium though since I really want one pretty bad.