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Had a longer post but the forum ate it.
Still like the bike. Feels very agile compared the the 100 pounds long john urban arrow we got.
Didn't know the was a quick long haul now. That still looks pretty short for a long tail and we manage with the comparatively ungainly long john that has a turn radius like a car fine in 99% of trips. Like compared to a long tail with 26+ wheels, too, it looks short.
If you got two kids get a bike for two I'd say. Seems way more flexible. Also a front carrier for bags or so.
Also I'm a big fan of gates belts for a daily driver.
If you can manage to get a test ride definitely do that. I tried the quick haul, too and the lack of front wheel suspension made it feel a bit too wobbly for my taste when going over curbs and bumbs.
I have eight (spare) brackets for a particular type of rear bike light -- which in itself is not so bad, except that I only have one of those lights any more, so I guess they seem to be a type of light that breaks/gets lost a lot and maybe I should have been buying a different one all those times?
The most unnecessary thing, though, is that not only do I have a bunch of spare handlebar end plugs:
but I also at some point seem to have thought "you know what I need more of? bar end plugs" and bought _another_ bunch of the things:
On one end, the classic example, Danny MacAskill. Red Bull rider, high production values, location shooting, big tricks, possibly a bit gimmicky at this point, but still very impressive stuff:
In the middle, Fabio Wibmer, who really does just make everything look easy. A lot of video editing in this one, but still very impressive.
And today, it showed me this, which is just a guy doing _insane_ tricks. I don't know I've seen someone use a bike to climb up obstacles as if he was a mountain goat like that before; this is very close to just "doing parkour while holding a bike". And it seems like they just went to the seaside, one of his mates got his phone out and that was how they filmed it.
The descent after the cannon jump, or the rail sequence after that, are some of the most "well, I guess it must be possible because he did it" things I've ever seen. And, I mean, I can work out how the physics of it all happened, but his ability to control weight and momentum so precisely is just ridiculous.
Doc: That's right, twenty five years into the future. I've always dreamed on seeing the future, looking beyond my years, seeing the progress of mankind. I'll also be able to see who wins the next twenty-five world series.
Sounds like maybe they're talking about a fold up bike like these? https://us.brompton.com/c/bikes
There are definitely cheaper options. And electric options. That's just one nicer brand.
https://www.ternbicycles.com/en
for some small wheeled options
From my experience with an electric Tern shorttail I have to say the small wheels do not nessecarily make the bike easier to handle. it drives pretty dynamic and wiggly, compared to a bike with larger wheels.
So depending on what they mean with ease of use a regular bike with a step through frame might be the better choice.
Like anything, though, you can get used to it and there were a few occasions that I ended up doing 10+ mile trips on it after missing a train, or the train getting cancelled, or the train being delayed by hours and I never hated the experience.
Going back to a proper racer bike was very weird after spending so long with the Brompton.
The thing about small wheels is that they make the bike a lot more sensitive to surface quality. On a perfectly smooth road/path there's not much in it, but a pot hole that a typical 26" or 700c wheel will just roll over will swallow a small wheel (especially very small wheels like the 16" wheel bromptons). As a rule it's a design choice that is trading off ride quality to reduce the overall size of the bike.
honovere is probably right that they might be thinking small wheels = easier to ride which is not straightforwardly true, so it's likely worth unpicking why they think they would prefer small wheels
I wish I could have them try out different styles of bikes to actually see how these styles change the ride, but the portability factor will limit the options too. Step through sounds interesting.
Doc: That's right, twenty five years into the future. I've always dreamed on seeing the future, looking beyond my years, seeing the progress of mankind. I'll also be able to see who wins the next twenty-five world series.