Winter commuter ?

[ijsbrand]

is there a lightweight chain cover for a fixie like Raleigh roadsters use to have

You could put some cable ducting over it, like Dahon do.

nice idea ( I first saw it circa 1984) but according to the LBS who sold the first ones local to me, what I saw on several parked bikes in the very first winter wasn't unusual; after a short time the ducting just fills up with (salty) water and the chain rots at a truly ferocious pace.  I have never seen chains so rusty that were still attached to a bike, in fact.

I can see the attraction for a folder though; you don't get chain grease on you or other things so badly. [...]

Those things are noisy though. So I had three problems with them on my folder:
- the noise;
- the extra quick rust on the chain;
- the mud that stuck to them that could not removed well, unless I separated the chain and cover for that;

Also, given that no bus will transport my folder unless it is covered completely, its main quality was not that useful in practice.

[quixoticgeek]

Also, given that no bus will transport my folder unless it is covered completely, its main quality was not that useful in practice.

That's news to me. Have taken my folded but uncovered Brompton on many buses in many countries...

J

[ijsbrand]

Also, given that no bus will transport my folder unless it is covered completely, its main quality was not that useful in practice.

That's news to me. Have taken my folded but uncovered Brompton on many buses in many countries...

Could be a local thing then, of bus drivers being extra law abiding where I live; or just being dicks. You don't have to be refused a ride often though, to bow down to rules -- especially not if those are actually mentioned on the bus company's websites, and in their timetables before that.

[Jakob W]

Bromptons are a bit special though; in the UK at least they seem to give rise to two conflicting thoughts in bus drivers: 'that's a bike' and 'oh, that's the one that is allowed on public transport'; whichever thought is uppermost determines whether you get any grief...

[rogerzilla]

If you fold a Brompton and walk with a vastly exaggerated limp, the driver might assume it's a folding wheelchair.

[Kim]

If you fold a Brompton and walk with a vastly exaggerated limp, the driver might assume it's a folding wheelchair.

If you leave the left pedal attached/unfolded, you won't need to exaggerate the limp after the first few steps or so.  Not sure it would pass for a wheelchair in the way that the folded main frame of an ICE trike might^[1], but the average non-cyclist has so little clue that anything's possible.


_{[1] I had someone offer to vacate a disabled parking bay for me when he spotted me loading such into the boot of a car (which I'd stopped on double-yellows for loading purposes).  Confusingly random.}