New bike: Giant Halfway

This is the new bike in my stable, the Giant Halfway folding bicycle. I'd long wanted--but didn't need--a folding bicycle. Many of my friends had them, and they're just very practical and fun. After test riding a few folding bikes from different makers, I bought this Giant Halfway a week ago at Pacific Bicycles in San Francisco, using my San Francisco Bicycle Coalition membership to save an additional 10 percent. (Yes, membership pays for itself.)

What finally prompted my purchase of a folder? Short answer: higher gas prices. As most conscious bicycle commuters understand, recent increases in gas prices have caused many motorists to reexamine their standard commute mode. Many drivers are flocking to bike shops and emerging as bicycle commuters, and many are also fleeing to transit. Which means increasingly crowded transit systems, and growing competition by multimodal bike commuters for space on buses and trains. As many bike commuters who rely on Caltrain in the Bay Area will tell you, overcrowded transit can mean bicyclists waiting for later trains or buses.

A folding bike avoids this challenge. Nearly all transit systems in the U.S. allow folded bikes onboard, even during peak rush hour periods. My present commute--between home in Sacramento and office at UC Davis 17 miles away--is made with a combination of bicycling and transit. I usually board with my bike on the Amtrak Capitol Corridor, but I also occasionally use the UC Davis shuttle bus or Yolobus. (Most days I use transit for morning commute, and bicycle the entire distance home.) All these transit services have been much--much!--more crowded, and I have been anxious about getting stranded or delayed by a lack of bike capacity. Hence the Giant Halfway acquisition.

Of all the folding bikes available, what was appealing about this bike? First, the Giant Halfway is relatively affordable, sold at an attractive price point. Depending on your needs, it might work for your budget. Second, it is relatively quick to fold. Many folders, such as some models of the Bike Friday line--are really travel bikes--offering great ride quality but requiring more time to collapse; suitable for a trip to Europe or elsewhere, but maybe not the best option for quick folding as you rush to your bus or train.

This Giant Halfway is affordable and quick folding. It is also very smartly designed. The geometry is great; meaning the ride quality doesn't feel cramped, "squirrelly," or uncomfortable. The single front fork (above) facilitates quick folding, and also easy repairs of flats. You don't need to remove the entire wheel, just the inntertube.

The Giant Halfway also offers great features, such as fenders, kickstand, and a rear rack. The designers even created a special mount (above) for the fenders and kickstand, showing the Halfway's intended purpose as a practical commuter. It's a smartly designed bicycle.

Again, there are many great folding bicycles on the market today, another sign that the bicycle industry is moving to better serve the commuter market. Great folders include the Breezer Zigzag, the Brompton, and the KHS Mocha/Latte. If you are a multimodal bicycle commuter fearful of rapid crowding on transit systems, or live in a small apartment, or lack secure bike parking and need to bring your bike into your office/workplace--you might want to consider a folding bike.

Any other suggestions you might share? Your experiences with folding bikes?

Images: Paul Dorn.
Visit: Folding bikes win new fans on region's packed buses, Arizona Republic
Visit: The Best of the Best: Folding Bikes, ecogeek
Visit: The Folding Bike Solution, Transportation Alternatives
Visit: The Folding Cyclist
Visit: Folding bikes for crowded transit, Bike Commute Tips Blog
Visit: Paul Dorn's Bike Commuting Tips Site

Bikes crowding onto transit

From Oregon Public Broadcasting, 07.29.08:

TriMet Tries To Keep Up With Needs Of Bike Commuters
High gas prices are getting more Americans out of their cars, and some are even plotting a new course to work. That could mean jumping on public transit, or hopping on a bicycle. In Portland many commuters are combining those two options.

It's a Tuesday morning, and the MAX Blue line train from Beaverton to Gresham is packed. In fact ridership on TriMet has jumped more than 10 percent over a year ago. Colin Maher: "This is where we have our highest ridership, on these crowded rush hour trains."

That's Colin Maher. He's the Bike Programs Planner for TriMet. Maher says the relationship between high gas prices and record ridership is obvious...Maher says right now four percent of MAX users bring a bike, but that number is rising steadily. Colin Maher: "There's no way...we could pack more bikes on here."

No, more bikes are definitely out of the question headed into the city, but 20 minutes earlier, Cameron Adamez was doing a head count on her westbound train. Ten cyclists, with only four bike hooks to fight over. Adamez just joined the bike commuter movement a few months ago. Cameron Adamez: "I hardly ever...get to bike except on the weekends cause commuting took up a chunk of my time. But I found that when I took my bike I felt better in the morning, and I felt better in the afternoon, and it took me only an hour." (Read more, includes audio.)

This is an encouraging article. No, not because multimodal bicycle commuters are having trouble finding space on transit systems (an encouraging problem to have). But because journalists are starting to deal more substantially with the issues confronting bicycle commuters.

Much of the news coverage this year has been about the novelty of bicycle commuting--"Local Man Rides Bike to Work." In recent weeks, we've seen more articles about specific issues confronting bike commuters: challenges finding bike parking at workplaces; the issue of dressing for work; reducing bicycling injuries; selecting a suitable bike for commuting; improving safety of existing bicycling infrastructure (such as bike lanes or sharrows); and other topics.

Problems don't get addressed until attention is raised about them. There are many existing street and community conditions that challenge wide-spread bicycle commuting. It's gratifying to see the media begin to pay attention.

What bicycle commuting issues would you like to see journalists expose?

Image: BikePortland.org.
Visit: Train 'n Wheels: Caltrain Threatens the Perfect Commute, Wired.com
Visit: Dallas transit agency to add bike racks to buses, Dallas Morning News
Visit: Bicycles Oversaturate Metro Rail & Busway, LAist.com
Visit: City could open bike transit center, Daily Utah Chronicle (Salt Lake)
Visit: Bicycles crowd out riders on commuter rail cars, KSL-TV (Salt Lake City)
Visit: Florida: Cyclists flocking to trains, Bike Commute Tips Blog
Visit: Connecticut bicyclists fight for train access, Bike Commute Tips Blog
Visit: Bikes on rails, Bike Commute Tips Blog
Visit: Bicycling on transit in Sacramento, Bike Commute Tips Blog
Visit: Amtrak Capitol Corridor celebrates 15 years, Bike Commute Tips Blog
Visit: Paul Dorn's Bike Commuting Tips Site