A couple of questions for those of you with foldling bikes on yur boats.

Do they need to be made of stainless or some such in order to hold up to
the marine environment or will cheap ones like this hold up?
http://www.heartlandamerica.com/Item...asp?SKU=22881#

What do y'all do to protect them from the salt air and how well does it
work?

Thanks - Dan

Dan Best - (707) 431-1662, Healdsburg, CA 95448
http://home.comcast.net/~rangerbest/TriciaJean.JPG
Tayana 37 #192, "Tricia Jean"

For that price, you could replace them when ever they get too rusty to
fuction.

Seriously, I don't think they really have to 'all' corrosion resistant. I
think that it might be worth while to have alum rims and stainless spokes.
But, then even steal should last several years if you don't dunk them in sea
water.

If your going to fold them up and store them below, then your only concern
will be transporting them in the dingy.

I just purchased a Chinese made 21 spd, 26", mountian bike. It has alum rims
but the spokes turned out to be 'fake' stainless and seems to be zinc
plated. I'm planning to cut the frame, install hinges for a folding bike.
The frame members are nearly identical to another boater true folding bike.
I will just copy his set up..

However, I have been carrying this bike, fully assembled, on deck, lashed to
the main rigging.. At first I thought the genoa sheet would foul on the
handle bars but I just wrapped a bungy cord around the hand grips and then
to the lifelines and the sheet never fouls. (Mind you I have very wide side
decks so passage, going fwd is no problem.)

This bike is getting wet when ever I take it ashore in the dingy.. from
spray when there is a chop. Sometimes I have to wheel it through mud or damp
beach sand..

I expect I will have to replace the spokes eventually.

Other than that, I think a good shot of spray oil every couple weeks should
keep things working..

For $60, at the local "hock shop", I'm happy with my bike and I anyone who
steals it will have a hard time selling it.

I once had a Dahon folding bike (small wheels).. I felt like a circus clown
riding around on it. I sold it to the first cruiser who expressed a serious
interest in it.


--
My opinion and experience. FWIW

Steve
s/v Good Intentions

Dan Best wrote:

Do they need to be made of stainless or some such in order to hold
up to the marine environment or will cheap ones like this hold up?

I have used Dahon for several years. Only rarely do I encounter stainless
versions, and their owners have indicated to me that they felt stainless was
not particularly worth the extra cost, _as_long_as_ the bikes were kept
bagged below. That has been my experience also.

What do y'all do to protect them from the salt air and how well
does it work?

One winter I completely disassembled the Dahon and started from scratch. I
replaced any fasteners I could with stainless fasteners, re-painted the
frame, replaced all the cables, changed the gearing etc. I ended up
essentially with a new bike. This bike has seen a lot of use, and has
encountered salt water (it went for a "swim" twice at Marina Hemingway in
Cuba). After the re-fit, I had a heavy canvas bag built for storage. Since
then (about 5 or 6 years ago) it has performed flawlessly.

--
Good luck and good sailing.
s/v Kerry Deare of Barnegat
http://kerrydeare.tripod.com

x-no-archive:yes Dan Best wrote:

A couple of questions for those of you with foldling bikes on yur boats.

Do they need to be made of stainless or some such in order to hold up to
the marine environment or will cheap ones like this hold up?
http://www.heartlandamerica.com/Item...asp?SKU=22881#

I don't like those little wheels

Our children gave Bob a Dahon (?) which was fairly expensive ($300+).
He's used it a lot. Mine he got from Ocean Outfitters in Annapolis
(consignment ship) for a lot less. He says that he's heard that
Walmart has an aluminum one for about $69.00


What do y'all do to protect them from the salt air and how well does it
work?

Keep it in a bag and spray it Bob says. Sometimes we have them on
deck and sometimes below - depending on what we are doing. If they
are on deck, they are lashed to the pushpit railing at the top of the
ladder under the radar arch. This is a center cockpit boat. We had a
regular non-folding bike there, not in a bag and it got very rusty.


grandma Rosalie

S/V RosalieAnn, Leonardtown, MD
CSY 44 WO #156
http://home.mindspring.com/~gmbeasley/id2.html