Been selling off some of my bicycles, the idea was to refresh my “stock” with something new & exciting.

One bike which I was very sad to let go of was the R&M Birdy, a full suspension folding bike that was super great on long-distance rides, unfortunately, a design flaw made the fork crack… not saying it was totally the manufacturer’s fault, but it was very obvious that it could have been designed much sturdier.

The other was the Marin Gestalt 1, quite honestly I never really liked this particular “gravel bike”, something about the aluminum frame and carbon forks was like death waiting to happen…. yes I’m very old school, give me pure steel or chromoly bike and I won’t say bad things about it. Anyway, after a couple of rides, it was like one of those bikes that you just want to hammer into the pavement, the ride comfort was pretty good I have to admit, but offroad, it was pretty crap and that’s usually where I spend most of my time.

I tried to replace the 700c with 650b wheels, but it wouldn’t fit fat tires, and that was the factor that got me thinking I should get rid of it.

Since then I’ve been trying to find a replacement for my folder and fast touring/gravel bike, but I guess I’m a little picky, not to mention my budget is somewhat limited, I guess the former plays more into the criteria, I’ve ridden enough bikes to know what I want.

I find that the 18″ wheels on the Birdy were the ideal size for compactness, weight, etc. which basically rules out 99% of folding bicycles. I would buy another Birdy, but they are no longer available in Thailand. I’m still contemplating buying it overseas and having them shipped here, but the import duty is ridiculously expensive.

So far now, all I have left is my On One 45650b, I guess I’ll run that into the ground first.