Folding bicycle small enough to fit in hand luggage

I&#x27;ve spent a long time with folding bikes over the years. My advice: bite the bullet and buy a Brompton[1].<p>Yes, Bromptons are expensive. But they ride like a bicycle, have gears, a stiff enough frame, luggage racks etc. There&#x27;s very little compromise. The fastest I&#x27;ve done on mine is 45 kph and I&#x27;ve ridden 70km in a day. I carry it on and off buses and trains multiple times a day without issue.<p>In the past I had an A-bike[2]. It&#x27;s a fun and cute little design but the wheels are absolutely tiny and has no gears. You feel like you&#x27;re riding a folding contraption rather than a bicycle. The build quality was rather plasticky too. I like the idea of an A-shape with telescoping tubes. It&#x27;s quite an ingenious fold.<p>I&#x27;ve also ridden (but not owned) a Pacific CarryMe[3]. The ride experience again suffers for the short wheels and no gears, but it could be useful for some. The fold still leaves you with quite a long package.<p>I&#x27;d love to try the Kwiggle bike. I don&#x27;t think the strange seat will cause as many problems as people think, but I suspect the overall ride experience to be a bit bouncy and flexy. Maybe it&#x27;s worth it for the small fold.<p>For a more out-there design I think the Halbrad&#x2F;Half-Bike[4] could be quite nice but it never really got past the prototype stage. Under-seat steering is a bit of an adjustment too.<p>[1] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.brompton.com&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.brompton.com&#x2F;</a><p>[2] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;A-bike" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;A-bike</a><p>[3] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;pacificcarryme.com&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;pacificcarryme.com&#x2F;</a><p>[4] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=TQIC138vmlE" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=TQIC138vmlE</a>

Thank you for having us here to discuss Kwiggle. I am the inventor and owner of Kwiggle and would like to give you some insights:<p>We have been developing Kwiggle for 10 years and producing Kwiggle for almost 3 years.<p>Every detail has been carefully designed to create a 10kg lightweight folding bike that can even be folded into hand luggage and still go as fast as a normal bike. We have selected materials and manufacturing processes for the drive unit and rims with the highest wear resistance in the bicycle market. We use high-strength aluminum and stainless steel parts for the frame and have extensively tested the stability of the frame and drive unit dynamically and statically.<p>Our 35 suppliers for material, components and parts manufacture according to our requirements with highest precision, because precision is another important factor for stable and durable components of a folding bike.<p>In the meantime, our greatest motivation is the many enthusiastic feedbacks from our many customers, who at the moment still come mainly from Germany. We are already shipping the Kwiggle all over the world and Kwiggle already is ridden on every continent.<p>So we are happy if you take a close look. Please assume that we have already thought about almost every little critical detail that is discussed.<p>So if you are looking for a very compact folding bike, feel free to take a close look.<p>The movement on the Kwiggle is new, but very close to your natural walk. And when even a 85-year-old man writes to us, &quot;I can only do two things: ride a rollator and ride a Kwiggle, but I enjoy the Kwiggle more.&quot; Then you can assume that you can ride the Kwiggle very well, too.

It looks absolutely amazing, but calling it &quot;affordable&quot; at €1600+ is a stretch. You can find non-electric folding bikes for under €200 that are quite sturdy and dependable (although not that small when folded).<p>A few months ago I bought a used folding bike for €100, equipped it with a motor and battery that cost less than €400, for use on train trips.<p>Nothing feels better than getting out of a long-distance train trip, unfolding your bike and going about your way in a different city... No taxis, no complex public transport map to understand, nothing but freedom.

I&#x27;ve owned a Bike Friday[1] gnu since 2007 and my wife has both a Tikit and larger touring one which I don&#x27;t think has a name (Edit: she reminds me it is a &#x27;new world Tourist&#x27;). (they are basically custom bikes). I carried mine on Caltrain while commuting, it folds quickly and even if the bike car is full you could easily just stash it in the luggage rack car. They even had a Samsonite suitcase that was the correct size so that you could fold it, put it in the case, and check it as luggage on airplane flights. We both really enjoy them.<p>The Tikit (which is closest to the Kwiggle which is linked here) is similarly quick to fold and unfold, and quite portable. Before the scooter craze people were leery of riding a bike with smaller wheels but for most things it is fine.<p>My general impression has been that if you are worried about how you are going to store your bike when you get where you are going, folding bikes can be a big win.<p>[1] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;bikefriday.com&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;bikefriday.com&#x2F;</a>

I think the Brompton with their 16” is the lowest I’d want a grown adult human to ride. Even in urban areas, there’s lots of uneven surfaces, speed bumps, pot holes, cobbles, you name it. So even 18” is a compromise - I live pretty rural and a 29” MTB with chunky tires and full suspension is as comfy as it gets, but also a must for rooty singletrack etc

I don&#x27;t think I could ever get over the look of the small wheels.<p>It seems like the fanny pack of bikes: pretty useful but you gotta look dorky if you want to use it.<p>It&#x27;s vain but I&#x27;d find it hard to believe I&#x27;m alone here.

I am puzzled by the choice of derailleur gears over intra-hub gears.<p>The motivation must have been that it allows the integrated rims and hubs, which are probably much easier to manufacture than spoked wheels at this size. The downsides seem significant though: A derailleur with gears this small is going to wear very quickly, and when it is time to replace it, you just have to hope that Kwiggle is still around to supply you with spares.<p>I have been a bike-fiddler since my teenage years, but it was only recently (40+) I tried taking apart an intra-hub gear. To my surprise, the whole gear mechanism is fitted to the axle an can be replaced in one go [0]. The only functional parts of the hub&#x2F;housing is half-bearings and ratchets. The cool approach for Kwiggle would be to replicate these and just pop in a Shimano gear.<p>[0]: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;si.shimano.com&#x2F;pdfs&#x2F;sm&#x2F;SM-IHG-INTER7_ENG.pdf" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;si.shimano.com&#x2F;pdfs&#x2F;sm&#x2F;SM-IHG-INTER7_ENG.pdf</a> page 43 ff.

Intriguing design and it looks like they&#x27;ve sold enough to see some real-world success, but I can&#x27;t help but think the headset must be under extreme torque with a 150+ lb person sitting on essentially a large lever.<p>That and the small wheels don&#x27;t inspire confidence dealing with the typical curbs &amp; potholes that one is likely to encounter in an urban environment.<p>What&#x27;s the use-case for folding bikes like this? Is there a pervasive lack of bike racks in certain places that would necessitate stowing a bike in such small quarters?

so i bought a folding bike from decathlon about 1.5yr ago and never been happier since. its following model:<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.decathlon.fr&#x2F;p&#x2F;velo-pliant-oxylane-120&#x2F;_&#x2F;R-p-120068?mc=8500543" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.decathlon.fr&#x2F;p&#x2F;velo-pliant-oxylane-120&#x2F;_&#x2F;R-p-120...</a><p>they actually went up in price since then. swapped stock tires because they were rubbish and also bought better seatpost from upper model. removed all the unneccessary stuff like ringer or mudguards and this thing flies. im getting average speed about 18km&#x2F;h on my rides and done about 4000km so far without any problems. this is perfect city bike in my opinion. if this thing had disc brakes it would be even better.

Seems like it&#x27;s bordering on push-scooter levels of top speed and stability...what&#x27;s the benefit of such a small bike compared to a scooter?

So the Kwiggle can mount a Ortlieb or VAUDE bag on its luggage rack. How about an Ortlieb or VAUDE bag that can carry the Kwiggle, then double as a bag on its luggage rack? Is that possible?

Honestly, you&#x27;d go flying over the handle bars upon hitting the tiniest twig.<p>I&#x27;ve been riding Montague Bikes for years -- on the other end of the folding bike spectrum. Full-size wheels, rides so much smoother. Doesn&#x27;t fold down as small but it goes in the trunk of a car or can be carried on the train and that&#x27;s all I really need.

If portability is the ultimate goal then its probably better to go with learning how to ride unicycle instead of buying a intricate folding bike with a lot of compromises.<p>Sometimes the the problem can&#x27;t be fixed with a technical solution and the user simply needs to learn to use a new tool ;)

I think the niche of &quot;personal vehicle that you can take on the metro&quot; is better filled by PEVs. Shrinking down a bike&#x27;s drivetrain size is harder than just putting together a single wheel, some circuit boards, batteries, and an electric motor to make an electric unicycle.<p>A big advantage EUCs have is you don&#x27;t have to bother with folding like a bike, just hop off, grab the trolley handle and walk on.<p>Electric scooters have similar advantages but they have to compromise range, performance, and compactness for their ease of learning.

Going to be really inefficient and possibly unstable for anything that is longer than a few blocks or anything where the terrain changes. Bike wheels are large for a reason

I tried a Brompton and a Birdy, and I went with the 9-speed Birdy with shocks when I lived in Macao. It took me a week to get the folding down in a variety of situations, but it rode just like a full-size road bike. The Brompton didn&#x27;t seem anywhere near the comfort or ease of getting up to speed. Maybe Brompton makes a better model now? I bought the Birdy in 2010-11. I still have it, and it rides great.

The question to ask is: how do you carry your hand luggage with the bike that fits in the hand luggage?<p>Brompton can sorta solve this by having front and rear cargo carry (bias: I own an older Brompton and have travelled from seattle to california by train with it. see also knockoff versions of it like <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;jcat.bike&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;jcat.bike&#x2F;</a> )

I have a Tern Eclipse X20 (hard to find) which is a folding bike with a different design point, trunk rather than luggage. It weighs about 23.6 lbs and has 24&quot; wheels with an SRAM Rival and Force groupset. I&#x27;ve upgraded the front derailleur to an SRAM Yaw which is by far the best FD I&#x27;ve ever had. I also swapped out the FSA crank (the worst) for a Shimano 105 (working man&#x27;s groupset).<p>It&#x27;s a folding bike which lives in my car&#x27;s trunk. It&#x27;s also easily and quickly adjustable so that I can bring one of my other bikes for me and then set the Tern up for pretty much anyone else.<p>It&#x27;s a little small for me and with a short wheel base, there&#x27;s a limit to how steep it will go without the front wheel just lifting off the ground.<p>One of the positives that I&#x27;ve found with this bike is that I like smaller wheels, 24&quot; rather than 700C. You accelerate faster. It might not work for a road bike doing a loop ride but for urban riding, I do like it.

Unless you really need the act of pedaling, you should also strongly consider an EUC. They have trolley handles, fit under a seat more easily, go as fast as you could ever want, have much larger 16&quot; wheels, and can easily handle any hill. Kingsong 16s got me to and from the bus every day.

If you&#x27;re willing to develop a new skill, an electric unicycle is much better on several dimensions. The IPS i5 easily fits in backpack.<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.aliexpress.com&#x2F;i&#x2F;4000043671440.html" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.aliexpress.com&#x2F;i&#x2F;4000043671440.html</a>

&quot;When kwiggling&quot; told me everything I need to know about their target market.

Montague makes various full sized folding bikes. I’m quite pleased with the Navigator, but they even make a folding mountain bike, the Paratrooper.<p>When unfolded, you can’t tell at all that they’re folding bikes.

For those who ride&#x2F;own folding bikes, what are your reasons for favoring them over a regular bike?<p>Every metro area I’ve lived in allows bikes on trains and city busses have racks on the front. Leaving a bike in a secure lobby&#x2F;hallway, garage has almost always been an option. That said, I don’t hesitate to chain mine up on the street either, so I’m having trouble seeing a folding bike as offering any advantage in most situations, especially considering the compromises that are often made in comfort and performance.

I am a bit of a folding bike enthusiast in that I love foldable&#x2F;small means of transport in general. I&#x27;ve been tempted by a few folding bikes over the years, but in the end after looking at display models, reading reviews, etc, I haven&#x27;t purchased anything to replace my trusty 2013 Brompton. Sure it&#x27;s not the lightest or the smallest, but the thing is a tiny tank that just keeps going and going. It&#x27;s durable, folds elegantly, and feels nice to ride on even for longer distances.

You can&#x27;t actually bring any of these folding bikes on an airplane as carry-on can you? I wasn&#x27;t able to bring a tent cause of the thin poles after all.

I was riding my Brompton bike in Manhattan a couple months ago, and a guy pulled up on his Kwiggle !!! I was shocked that someone had a smaller bike :)

I&#x27;m happy to see such a lively discussion of folding bikes &#x2F; bikes as a mode of transport in general on here. So many different solutions! Given how small the wheels are, I&#x27;d love to see something that counters the consequent instability (very little angular momentum compared to a &quot;real&quot; bike).<p>For this particular one, what a unique way to mount the seat.

These small bicycles have one major disadvantage: The wheels are too small to provide much of a gyroscopic effect while riding, so they are far less stable than a traditional bicycle. <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.exploratorium.edu&#x2F;snacks&#x2F;bicycle-wheel-gyro" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.exploratorium.edu&#x2F;snacks&#x2F;bicycle-wheel-gyro</a>

How much smaller than the classic Brompton is this

Does anyone make a less compact folding bike that uses larger tires? The Brompton at 16&quot; is starting to get interesting and while the Kwiggle does look very nice for certain situations. But I think what I would want the most is something with more standard size bicycle wheels that can still fold to be a bit more compact for use on public transit.

My cousin designed and built a prototype of a folding <i>trike</i> that fit in a suitcase. He&#x27;d check it on a trip, and on arrival unfold it. Then mount its case on the back and <i>put his normal suitcase in that</i>. He could then tour around whereever independently with his luggage. Had a blast touring Costa Rica he said.

That is still Brompton money, and the seat position looks terrifying. For a cheap folding bike with gears, my Tern Link B7 was £400 a few year ago (£600 now) and has been all my London transport when I travel down alone. It&#x27;s a lump (12kg) compared to a Brompton, but it feels very solid to ride and gets into a train luggage rack.

Looks interesting, but the claims are a bit questionable. The brake limiter is also very suspicious---&quot;in the heat of the moment&quot; is exactly when I don&#x27;t want my brakes not working. Plus it&#x27;s a proprietary drivetrain that I have no reason to have any confidence in its reliability.

Segway Ninebot Electric GoKart is not that much bigger, has a battery, and looks so much cooler.<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.amazon.com&#x2F;Segway-Ninebot-White-GoKart-Bundle&#x2F;dp&#x2F;B07PZ95ZV9&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.amazon.com&#x2F;Segway-Ninebot-White-GoKart-Bundle&#x2F;dp...</a>

People who liked this might also be interested in Halfbike (<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;halfbikes.com" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;halfbikes.com</a>), a standing bike which also is reasonably portable. I tried it once and while it does need some getting used to, I like the idea.

Folding bikes are really cool but the small wheels mean you really feel any unevenness it the road.

Couldn&#x27;t someone make rollerblades that strap on like snow shoes? Seems like it would be the ultimate compact design. If you&#x27;re already riding the <i>tiniest folding bike in the world</i>, I doubt the dork factor of blades would be significant.

I&#x27;m pretty skeptical about &quot;effortlessly 25 km&#x2F;h with the folding bike, without much pedaling&quot;. Other small-wheel folding bikes I&#x27;ve tried (of, I&#x27;m sure, much inferior quality) were not so efficient. Awesome if true.

Useful for a very brief stay, but in general I&#x27;d much rather rent a full-sized bike.

FTA: effortlessly 25 km&#x2F;h with the folding bike, without much pedaling<p>25 km&#x2F;hour is fairly fast for a regular ’upright’ bicycle, and certainly not obtained effortlessly. I don’t see that being better for this bicycle with its small wheels.

&gt; the Kwiggle weighs only 9 - 10 kg and can be carried comfortably... with one hand<p>I don&#x27;t know why you&#x27;d want to actually carry it around, but surely nobody is &#x27;comfortable&#x27; wandering around with 10kg in one hand?!

What&#x27;s really practical about th Strida is that it uses a belt instead of a chain and keeps the brakelines internal. So it has very little to rust and folds in 20 seconds.

What’s so special about it? It looks like any other folding bike

I was mentally prepared for a steep price because of all the &quot;Made in Germany&quot; copy, but it still surprised me when I finally found it.

1700 Euro not counting tax doesn&#x27;t look like affordable TBH...I&#x27;m thinking something around 500 bucks at most.

Looks like it would tip forward if you needed to brake fast but cool to see a new type of foldable bike.

Nice one, base model with 1-speed costs 1340€ (+50€ shipping for EU) and rider can be up to 100kg.

I&#x27;m interested in folding bikes. This is a great device if you can afford the price tag $1300+ there is also the a bike. <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;a-bike.co.uk&#x2F;product-category&#x2F;bikes&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;a-bike.co.uk&#x2F;product-category&#x2F;bikes&#x2F;</a>

&quot;Precision German engineering!&quot;

Isn’t it a scooter that you pedal?

Max weight 220lbs. Oh well.

is the dude in the video deliberately doing 90 mph?

Gonna stick with my Brompton.